Ad revenue slump, weak commodities hit Euromoney H1 results

A slump in advertising revenues and weak energy and commodities markets saw first half pre-tax profits at media group Euromoney plunge to £23.4m from £93m.

Revenues at the Daily Mail and General Trust-owned group fell to £194.2m from £197.7m. Underlying advertising fell by 13% and underlying event revenues by 7%.

Adjusted operating profit fell by 7% to £46.8m, with the decline in revenues and margin partially offset by favourable currency movements. The strength of the US dollar had a positive impact on the results with an average sterling-US dollar rate falling to $1.47 (2015: $1.56).

“This improved the first-half reported revenue growth rate by three percentage points and adjusted operating profit by approximately £3m. Each one cent movement in the US dollar rate has an impact on profits on translation of approximately £0.6m on an annualised basis,” Euromoney said.

“The challenging market conditions we experienced in the last 12 months continue. Nonetheless, there are early signs of progress from the strategic actions we are taking, the comparatives are becoming less challenging and currency is on our side at the moment,” the company said.

“We therefore expect, subject to currency movements, to deliver a second-half performance similar to last year's and a full-year performance in line with the board's expectations.”