Hyve Group PLC (LON:HYVE) has swung into profit in its first half as the group saw its bottom line boosted by insurance payouts from cancelled events during the coronavirus pandemic.
In its results for the six months to March 31, the exhibition and conferences group reported a pre-tax profit of £18.7mln, swinging from a £168.7mln loss a year ago, while revenues tumbled to £10.4mln from £90.6mln.
The company highlighted that the profit figure included £49mln of insurance proceeds in respect of cancelled events, while Hyve also said its adjusted net debt had fallen to £92.4mln from £157.2mln following cost control and a rights issue in May which raised £126.6mln.
READ: Hyve better positioned for pandemic recovery than peers, says broker
Looking ahead, the group said it while its near-term outlook remains fluid, it is “cautiously optimistic” as it continued to see “strong pent-up demand” for its events through “continued strong rollover of customer deposits and sales”.
Hyve also said it expects “a gradual return of customer participation as international travel resumes and restrictions are lifted”.
"Hyve is focused on emerging from the pandemic a stronger business, with a robust financial platform and strategy in place to meet pent-up event demand, while accelerating our omnichannel offering. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 we have secured insurance proceeds totalling £84.9mln, achieved cost savings above our projections and ensured we have sufficient liquidity to make the most of the opportunity in front of us as markets begin to reopen”, Hyve chief executive Mark Shashoua said in a statement.
"COVID-19 has provided Hyve an opportunity to reset, renew and evolve. We are enhancing our already market leading in-person events by significantly building out our capability to deliver bespoke facilitated meetings programmes at a number of our events in FY22…Our recent acquisition of Retail Meetup is tracking ahead of expectations, demonstrating a successful monetisable model for future virtual Meetup events. With the speed of vaccine rollouts providing optimism and the strong liquidity headroom we have created, we enter the second half with the right talent, portfolio and omnichannel strategy to meet pent-up demand now and into FY22", he added.
The company’s shares were up 0.4% at 117.5p in late morning trading on Tuesday.