Centaur Media trots out encouraging update

Centaur Media gave investors an upbeat update on the first four months of the year, as revenues grew 5% and the B2B publishing and events group made a significant improvement in cash collection.

Although the year is still young, directors said they anticipate trading for the full year will be in line with market expectations.

The publisher of Marketing Week, The Lawyer and Fashion Monitor said paid-for content continued to grow well and exhibitions revenues, from a stable that includes National Homebuilding & Renovating Show, Marketing Week Live and Employee Benefits Live, also continued to grow well.

On the downside, Centaur said it was currently "experiencing some market pressure" on its advertising and sponsorship revenues.

However, cash conversion for the first four months of the year was up by an impressive 170% and directors expect conversion rates for the rest of the year to remain strong.

Net debt was down by £2.7m to £15.2m by 30 April from the calendar year end and there was confidence that the ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA will be tracking below 1.0 by the end of the year.

House broker Numis helpfully noted that Centaur shares looked "very good value at current levels", trading at a 2016 p/e ratio of under 10 times and offering a dividend yield in 2016 of 6.3%.

Shares in the group, which last month sank to their lowest level since September 2013, were up 1.5% at 51p on Wednesday.