Huntsworth's shares up on pleasing FY results outlook

Huntsworth Group's shares rose more than 10% as investors liked confirmation that its full-year results would be ahead of current consensus.

The healthcare communications and public relations group said it had traded well through the first four months of the year, led again by strong growth at Huntsworth Health.

On a like-for-like basis, Huntsworth Health's revenues increased by more than 10%, with good margin performance despite ongoing investment in talent and further diversification in two of the agencies.

"All of Huntsworth Health's main agencies grew in the period, led by the two largest - Evoke and Apothecom - which together account for circa 80% of divisional revenue," it said.

Grayling's UK business returned to profitability in the period, which meant that, together with its European businesses, a large part of Grayling (representing circa 70% of annual divisional revenues) is now profitable.

"The US and META regions, however, remain challenging. Although we expect a decline in Grayling's like for like revenues this year, the division is trading in line with management's expectations," said Huntsworth.

The company added that Red had performed strongly in the period with revenues up by more than 10%, with a number of new client wins. Some client churn was expected in the second half of the year, which will dampen the overall annual growth rate.

"Citigate Dewe Rogerson has experienced a mixed trading period with revenues down 2% on a like-for-like basis.

"Operations in the Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong have performed well, but slower transactional markets in the UK and mainland China have impacted overall revenue growth and profitability and will likely weigh on the business further during the year."

At 10:52 BST, shares in Huntsworth were up 10.17% to 55.5p each.