Huntsworth PLC (LON:HNT) on Wednesday said it continued to trade well and expects to reach at least market consensus for full-year profit, sending its shares higher.
The healthcare communications and PR firm said trading has been led by continuing strong growth in the medical and immersive divisions, with both showing double-digit annual revenue growth.
READ: Huntsworth says full-year profits to exceed market forecasts
Its marketing division, led by Evoke, returned to like-for-like revenue growth in the second half, posting 2% growth, although as expected annualised revenue performance will decline around -3% on a like-for-like basis, the firm said.
Huntsworth said that Giant and Navience - acquired by the group this year - have both been integrated well and are trading in line with the board's expectations and are increasingly engaged in joint new business with the broader Evoke group.
The communications division continues to trade in line with the board's expectations with annual revenue decline stabilised at 5%, and the second half margin improved over the first half, it added.
“The group is focused on delivering superior growth led by its healthcare agencies and recent acquisitions continue to complement this. Management is confident about the group's future trading and expects continued good growth across all of its businesses into 2019,” the company said in a statement.
Huntsworth shares were 14.4% up at 111p in early trade.