25th April 2012
Interim Management Statement
Good Q1 performance - group guidance maintained
Unaudited results for the three months ended 31 March 2012
Highlights
- Q1 revenue up 11.1% to £264.2m (Q1 2011: £237.7m); underlying revenue
growth of 6.9%
- Adjusted operating profit up by 25.8% to £56.1m (Q1 2011: £44.6m)
- Adjusted operating profit margin up to 21.2% (Q1 2011: 18.8%)
- Strong performance from 2011 acquisitions, notably Ecobuild
- Group guidance for 2012 confirmed; higher organic growth in Events expected
to offset slower pace in PR Newswire and Marketing Services
David Levin, Chief Executive Officer, UBM said:
"UBM performed well in the first quarter. We were particularly pleased by the
performance of our Events businesses, most notably Game Developers Conference
and Ecobuild in its first edition under UBM ownership. PR Newswire has had a
solid start to the year with subdued growth in the US partially offset by
international growth, notably in China. Data Services revenues were lower than
anticipated, largely reflecting phasing factors which we expect will unwind
through the year. As expected, UBM's online Marketing Services revenues
exceeded Print revenues for a full reporting period for the first time.
Overall we are on track for the full year. Based on trading conditions so far,
we now expect that underlying growth for Events will be in the range of 10% -
12%, but this will offset slower growth in PR volumes and advertising activity,
particularly in print magazines. We now expect growth in both PR Newswire and
Marketing Services to come in at the lower end of our guidance ranges. Although
conditions in a number of our markets remain challenging, and year-on-year
comparisons will get tougher as the year progresses, the business is performing
well, and we maintain our consolidated guidance for 2012."
