Events and exhibitions organiser UBM PLC (LON:UBM) was the biggest FTSE 250 gainer this morning as the firm reported a solid set of full-year results which “beat at all levels”, according to analysts at Liberum Capital.
The mid-cap group saw its headline pretax profits edge up to £120.1mln in 2016, an increase from £119.6mln a year earlier, held back by £45.5mln in one-off items booked as the group transforms itself into a pure-play exhibitions firm.
Stripping out the one-off charges, UBM’s pretax profit rose to £163.7mln, up from £132.6mln a year earlier as revenues rose to £863.0mln, up from £769.9mln in 2015.
Over the course of the year, the group made significant progress in refocusing the business on the events industry, acquiring Asia-focused exhibitions firm Allworld and completing the sale of its PR Newswire business, in addition to other non-core publishing assets.
UBM’s chief executive, Tim Cobbold said: "During 2016 we made significant strategic progress and delivered performance ahead of expectations.”
He added: "While remaining conscious of the global macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, in 2017 the board expects to see higher underlying revenue growth, enhanced by the consolidation of Allworld and the positive impact of odd-year biennials.”
In a note to clients, the analysts at Liberum said: “We would expect consensus upgrades (we were 3-4% below consensus) following these results and reiterate our thesis that investors should increase exposure to stocks with exposure to US growth."
In early trading, the stock was up nearly 5%, or 36p at 762.5p.