Tarsus Group PLC Year-end trading update (7136B)

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RNS Number : 7136B

Tarsus Group PLC

09 January 2015

9 January 2015

Tarsus Group plc

Year-end trading update

Overview

Tarsus Group plc (LSE: TRS, "the Group", "Tarsus"), the international business-to-business media group, has ended the year well. Group like-for-like revenue growth, at constant exchange rates, increased by approximately 10%. The Board anticipates that results for the year ended 31 December 2014 will be in line with its expectations. The outlook for 2015 remains positive.

Trading

The Group has held a number of key events since the issue of its Interim Management Statement on 11 November 2014. The Flower Show (Turkey - landscaping equipment and services), MEBA (Dubai - business aviation) and Plastimagen (Mexico - plastics) all registered strong performances. In the US, the World Anti-Aging Congress (Medical) in Las Vegas saw trading in line with expectations with a good attendance.

Strategy

We continue to concentrate on the execution of our "Quickening the Pace" strategy, which is focused on accelerating the financial returns to shareholders.

Delivery is driven by organic revenue growth, brand replications, visitor/ buyer generation and the identification of small acquisitions that will accelerate our strategic goals. The structure of the Group and its entrepreneurial culture allow us to respond efficiently and effectively to the growth opportunities of business markets in transition.

Strategic achievements in this respect in 2014 were as follows:

-- Visitor growth across the portfolio was 6% - the US CEIR index (US exhibition barometer) of visitor attendance was up 1%.

-- Two brand replications were successfully launched with editions of AAITF and Zuchex held in Jakarta.

   --     Five strategic acquisitions within the Group's key geographical markets were completed:

o Emerging Markets - SIUF, China's leading underwear exhibition and Komatek, Turkey's largest construction equipment show;

o Medical - The Cardiometabolic Health Congress (Cardio) and The Southbeach Symposium (SBS) - cardiology and dermatology events respectively in the US; and

o 3D Printshow - a disruptive sector in transition with good growth potential.

   --     Partial exit from French market with sale of up to 18% of the French business to management.

As anticipated, 2014 was a year of transition for the Medical Division as we repositioned the business to address the broader mainstream medical market with the launch of the Metabolic Medical Institute. We are optimistic that this division will see a return to growth during 2015.

Outlook

AAITF is the first large event of 2015 and takes place next week at its new venue in Shenzhen. This is a transitional year for the event given its new venue. Forward bookings are encouraging and the exhibition is anticipated to perform better than our earlier expectations.

Forward bookings for the Group's major events in 2015 are strong and the two largest exhibitions - Labelexpo Europe and the Dubai Air Show - are well ahead of their previous editions. Across the portfolio, bookings are tracking 10%+ ahead on a like-for-like basis. However, given the current geopolitical environment we have been deliberately cautious in our budgets for 2015.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

"We had a good end to the year with strong performances from our key shows in the fourth quarter. The Medical event in December performed solidly and this division is now well placed to serve the mainstream medical market.

"We continue to execute our Quickening the Pace strategy through organic growth, brand replications, buyer focus and bolt-on acquisitions in markets that are in transition. We start 2015 with our portfolio well positioned and Tarsus' entrepreneurial culture enables the Group to move quickly to ensure our leading brands fulfil their potential."

The Group expects to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2014 on 4 March 2015.

The Company will be hosting a presentation to analysts at 11.00am today at the offices of Investec Bank plc at 2 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QP. No new material information will be made available.

For further information:

 
 Tarsus Group plc: 
 Douglas Emslie, Group Managing Director    +44 (0)20 8846 2700 
 Dan O'Brien, Group Finance Director 
 IR Focus 
  Neville Harris, Investor Relations        +44 (0)79 0997 6044

Notes to editors

Tarsus Group plc (LSE:TRS) is an international business-to-business media group with interests in exhibitions, publishing and online media. The Group operates globally in key verticals including aviation, medical, labels and packaging, discount clothing (Off-Price), housewares and automotive. Tarsus runs more than 80 events and websites and its flagship brands include the Labelexpo exhibitions in Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Dubai Airshow.

The Group operates across a worldwide network of offices in Dublin, London, Paris, Milwaukee, Boca Raton (Florida), Dubai, Shanghai, Jakarta, New Delhi and Istanbul. Tarsus is building on its strong presence in the emerging markets of the Middle East, China, Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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