Tough trading conditions hit Euromoney FY results

Financial publishing house Euromoney said full year pre-tax profits fell to £43.9m from £123.3m due to exceptional items and amortisation.

Total revenue for the year of was flat at £403.1m, Euromoney said, largely due to pressures on banking and finance and on commodity events, which together constituted 26% of revenue.

This continued to offset the improving performance in the group's businesses focused on price discovery, data and market intelligence and those serving the asset management sector, it added.

The final dividend was held at 16.4p a share.

The exceptional items hitting pre-tax profits were goodwill impairment charges, an overseas sales tax dispute and restructuring costs associated with the group's strategic review in 2016, partly offset by profits realised on businesses sold during the period.

The company said it it did not expect markets to improve in the year ahead and “our plans are built around them not doing so”, with a return to growth pencilled in for 2018.

“Trading conditions have remained challenging throughout the year, but the group is starting to reap the benefits from strategic initiatives focused on new products, pricing and sales,” Euromoney said.

Chief executive Andrew Rashbass said: "The strategy we unveiled in March is working. It's a tough environment for our customers, and therefore for us, but we are beginning to see the results of the strategy, for instance in the acceleration in subscription growth, which constituted a record 58% of our business in 2016, and in the flow of successful product launches.”

“Despite lower year-on-year profits, our strong balance sheet means that we are recommending to shareholders that we maintain the dividend at 2015 levels. This is a mark of our measured confidence about the future."