Digital growth drives decent year at Haynes Publishing

Haynes Publishing Group announced its results for the 12 months ended 31 May on Wednesday, reporting a 13% improvement in adjusted group revenue year-on-year to £33.8m.

The London-listed company said its adjusted EBITDA was 11% higher at £11.5m, while adjusted group operating profit rose 9% to £3.5m.

Group profit before tax was ahead 12% on an adjusted basis at £2.9m, and basic earnings per share surged 40% to 13.2p.

The board confirmed a total dividend of 7.5p for the year, in line with that paid last year, while net cash slipped £1.2m to £2.5m at year-end.

On the operational front, Haynes pointed to the acquisition of the E3 Technical business in September - which provides repair and maintenance information and vehicle registration mark look-up - as adding an incremental £1.9m to group revenue.

It said revenue from the group's digital products increased 42% year-on-year to £16.9m, representing 50% of total group revenue, up from 40%.

UK and European segmental year-on-year revenue was ahead 28%, which was reportedly driven by HaynesPro growth in Europe and “strong” sales of UK practical lifestyle titles.

Like-for-like North American and Australian segmental revenue fell 3% year-on-year.

Haynes said group investment in new content, products and platforms was 6% higher during the year at £8.4m, with net cash generated from operating activities after tax rising 2% to £10.1m.

“2017/18 has been a strong year for the Haynes Group as we continue to build, develop and expand our global automotive content, data and solutions business,” said chairman Eddie Bell,

“Our unique breadth of content and data combined with our specialist automotive technological knowhow allows us to supply our partners with high quality, innovative and commercial solutions to improve workflow and business efficiency.

“Through a programme of continuing investment in people, content and platforms we can help to ensure the Haynes Group is well placed to take advantage of the growth opportunities which lie ahead.”