ITE Group PLC (LON:ITE) shares rose in early trading on Wednesday after several events it acquired helped lift revenues in the first half of its fiscal year.
The exhibitions and conferences organiser said in a trading update for the six months ended 31 March that revenues were up 42% year-on-year (YOY) at £107mln, a 6% increase on a like-for-like (LFL) basis and in line with expectations.
READ: ITE to buy Mining Indaba from Euromoney for £30.1mln, sees higher annual revenue
The revenue surge was attributed to acquired events from Ascential PLC (LON:ASCL) and investment conference firm Mining Indaba, which ITE bought for £30.1mln in October from Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (LON:ERM).
Looking ahead, ITE said as of 28 March its forward bookings were £191mln of revenue for the full year, 89% of market expectations.
On an LFL basis, booked revenues were 6% ahead of the same time last year, while for the 2020 fiscal year booked revenues were 18% ahead.
ITE added that it remained “positive in achieving full year expectations”.
In a note to clients, analysts at broker Peel Hunt upped their target price for the firm to 80p from 75p and retained their ‘add’ rating on the stock based on what they said was a “good trading performance and stable guidance”.
Shares were up 1.4% at 71.8p.