Hyve PLC announced strong trading for the fourth quarter, underpinned by the return of events in the UK and US after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
In a trading statement issued ahead of its results for the year to end-September, the global events company said it expects full-year revenues of around £55mln, adding that it is in a strong financial position with net debt improving to £80mln at the period end.
Hyve ran 11 shows across the UK, US, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia in the fourth quarter, with the Western events performing better than expected due to pent-up demand. International travel restrictions meant the events were on a smaller scale than before the pandemic.
However, the reintroduction of restrictions in Shanghai resulted in two Chinese events scheduled for August being postponed.
Since markets reopened, there has been an increase in like-for-like customer spend and visitor density, Hyve said.
The group ran its first Groceryshop event since acquiring the Shoptalk and Groceryshop businesses in 2019. Groceryshop took place in September in Las Vegas and performed in line with expectations.
In September, Hyve ran its first in-person events in the UK since the outbreak of the pandemic, including Autumn Fair. It said the event received “extremely positive feedback from its customer community”.
The group continues to develop and refine its omnichannel strategy and said it ran a successful trial of its facilitated meetings programme in September.
"Q4 has been a very positive step on the road to recovery, with events returning for the first time in the UK and US and exhibitors at many of our events increasing their spend compared to pre-pandemic levels,” Mark Shashoua, CEO of Hyve, said.
“We have delivered strong performances wherever we have been able to hold shows. Our omnichannel rollout continues at pace with the successful trial of our Curated Meetings programme at Autumn Fair, and we look forward to our next fully online networking event, Shoptalk Fall Meetup, taking place in October."
Shares were 0.63% lower at 109.80p in midmorning trade.