Euromoney boasts strength in 'year of transition'

The FTSE 250 firm said its adjusted operating profit was also up 6%, at £107.1m, while adjusted profit before tax rose 4% to £106.5m.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 15% firmer at 76.4p.

On a statutory basis, revenue rose 6% to £386.9m and operating profit surged 17% to £43.4m, while profit before tax was 22% higher at £40.7m.

Statutory diluted earnings per share were 37.9p - a 56% improvement year-on-year.

The company had net debt of £154.6m at year-end, swinging from a net cash position of £83.8m at the end of the 2016 financial year.

Euromoney’s board confirmed a 33% uptick in its final dividend, however, to 21.8p, compared to the 16.4p distribution at the end of the prior 12 month period.

“The full-year results demonstrate good progress with our strategy: investing in strategic themes; creating a best-of-both-worlds operating model which combines Euromoney's well-known entrepreneurial culture with the benefits of a more corporate approach; and active portfolio management,” said CEO Andrew Rashbass.

“DMGT's sell down has given us the financial independence and flexibility to accelerate this strategy.”

On the operational front, Euromoney said its strategy was on track in what it called a “year of transition”, with the recent DMGT sell-down giving it the financial flexibility to accelerate that strategy.

It said currency conversion was a significant factor, after the dollar strengthened 14 cents, but was no longer a tailwind.

The company also benefitted from an upturn in banking and commodities cycles, with its Price Reporting Agency (PRA) investment and self-help actions in training and event businesses helping to mitigate headwinds in the asset management sector, particularly from MiFID II.

It said it had a “strong” 12-month underlying cash conversion of 118%, up from 105% year-on-year.

Looking at Euromoney’s portfolio, the board said its strategy of active management was ongoing, having secured three acquisitions in the year - 100% of RISI, 61% of Layer123 and 49% of BroadGroup.

It also completed six disposals - HedgeFund Intelligence, II Intelligence, LatinFinance, Euromoney Indices, Adhesion and World Bulk Wine Exhibition.

“During the year, we continued to invest for growth in particular around the big theme price discovery, with the acquisition of RISI following the successful integration of FastMarkets within Metal Bulletin,” Andrew Rashbass added.

“Improving market conditions for banking and commodities together with cutting low-margin training courses and events helped mitigate the cyclical headwinds that affected, and continue to affect, our asset management businesses particularly in the second half.”

Rashbass explained that, while a near term challenge, the board still believed asset management would be a long term driver for the business.

“As flagged at the half year, the board has changed the company's dividend policy to increase the pay-out to approximately 40% of adjusted after-tax earnings each year.

“2017 has been a year of transition and as we enter a new financial year, it remains our view that, subject to the usual caveats, Euromoney remains on track to return to underlying growth in 2018.”

In a separate announcement on Wednesday, Euromoney said it was selling off its minority stake in Dealogic for $135m, boosting its cash position.