TIDMDMGT
RNS Number : 3280S
Daily Mail & General Trust PLC
02 October 2017
2 October 2017
Daily Mail and General Trust plc ('DMGT')
Trading Update
Following the year end on 30 September 2017, this statement
provides an update on the Group's progress. It covers the eleven
month period to the end of August 2017.
Group outlook for 2017 in line with current market
expectations
-- Group underlying(#) revenue growth of 1%; pro forma* reported
revenues up 5%, including 6% benefit from foreign exchange
rates
-- B2B underlying(#) revenue growth of 1%
-- dmg media underlying(#) revenues up 1%, including strong digital advertising growth
-- Continued execution on increasing portfolio focus; disposal
of Hobsons' Admissions business in September
-- Outlook for the Full Year unchanged; adjusted EPS towards
high end and adjusted PBT towards low end of market
expectations
Revenue Growth v Prior Pro Forma* Underlying(#)
Year reported
11 months to August
2017
------------------------ ------------ --------------
Group revenue +5% +1%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
B2B +9% +1%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
RMS +14% +0%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
dmg information +7% +1%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
dmg events +12% +4%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
Euromoney +6% N/A
------------------------ ------------ --------------
dmg media -1% +1%
------------------------ ------------ --------------
* Pro forma reported growth rates are calculated after restating
prior year revenues, to treat Euromoney as a subsidiary during the
first quarter and as an associate during the eight months to August
2016.
Business to Business (B2B)
-- Underlying(#) revenue growth of 1% for the eleven months
-- Pro forma* reported revenue growth of 9% for the eleven
months, including 9% benefit from foreign exchange rates, notably
the stronger US dollar
Risk Management Solutions (RMS): revenues were in line with last
year on an underlying(#) basis. The roll-out of the Risk Modeler
application on the RMS(one) platform continues and the response
from clients remains encouraging. The underlying(#) revenue growth
rate for the Full Year is still expected to be low-single digit, at
around 1%.
dmg information: revenues grew by an underlying(#) 1% and the
Full Year underlying(#) growth rate is still expected to be in the
low-single digits. The year-on-year performance of the European
property information business has improved slightly, albeit not as
much as expected. Hobsons' Admissions business was disposed of in
September 2017.
dmg events: revenues grew by an underlying(#) 4% in the eleven
months and the Full Year underlying(#) growth rate is still
expected to be in the mid-single digits. The larger events
continued to perform encouragingly, although there was some
weakness from smaller events, notably in the Canadian energy
market.
Consumer: dmg media
Revenue Growth v Prior Reported Underlying(#)
Year
11 months to August
2017
------------------------ --------- --------------
dmg media -1% +1%
------------------------ --------- --------------
Advertising +0% +3%
------------------------ --------- --------------
Circulation +0% +0%
------------------------ --------- --------------
dmg media: revenues for the eleven months grew by an
underlying(#) 1%. Circulation revenues were in line with last year,
with declining volumes offset by the 2016 cover price increases of
the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. Both the Daily Mail and The
Mail on Sunday continue to hold significant and growing market
share of 23.5% and 22.3% respectively .
Total advertising revenues across dmg media grew by an
underlying(#) 3%, with 21% underlying growth in digital
advertising, partially offset by an underlying 6% decline in print
advertising. Reported revenue growth was adversely affected by the
disposal of Elite Daily in April 2017.
Mail businesses: MailOnline's advertising revenues in the eleven
months increased by an underlying(#) GBP19 million (22%),
reflecting encouraging growth in both the US and the UK, more than
offsetting a decline of GBP15 million (11%) at the Daily Mail and
The Mail on Sunday. Advertising revenues across the Mail businesses
as a whole, for print and digital combined, consequently grew by an
underlying 2%. MailOnline's average global monthly unique browsers
during the eleven months, excluding Snapchat and Facebook, stood at
229 million, in line with last year, and average global daily
unique browsers were 15.0 million, an increase of 4% on last
year.
dmg media's Full Year revenues are expected to be stable on an
underlying basis, in line with previous guidance.
Outlook
The Group has made good progress over the year against its
strategic priorities of improving operational execution, increasing
portfolio focus and enhancing financial flexibility. The disposal
of Hobsons' Admissions business marked another step in refocusing
the DMGT portfolio. The balance sheet continues to strengthen,
enhancing DMGT's financial flexibility, and the year end ratio of
net debt to EBITDA is expected to be 1.5 or less, comfortably below
the Group's preferred upper limit of around 2.0 times. The
strategic review of DMGT, including the identification of which
businesses and sectors merit further investment, is reaching
completion and an update on the Group's strategy to deliver
long-term growth will be provided at the Full Year results
presentation.
Whilst market conditions remain challenging for some specific
Group companies, the guidance for the Full Year remains unchanged.
The outlook for the Group as a whole is in line with market
expectations with adjusted EPS towards the higher end of the range
and adjusted PBT towards the lower end of the range.
For further information
For analyst and institutional enquiries:
+44 20 3615
Tim Collier, Chief Financial Officer 2902
Adam Webster, Head of Management Information
+44 20 3615
and Investor Relations 2903
For media enquiries:
+44 20 3615
Alex Moorhouse, Head of Communications 2245
Conference call
A conference call will be held with City analysts at 8.00am on 2
October 2017. The dial-in number is +44 (0)20 3059 8125. A
recording of the call will be available on DMGT's website at
www.dmgt.com.
Next trading update
The Group's next scheduled announcement of financial information
will be its results for the year ended 30 September 2017, which
will be released on the morning of Thursday 30 November.
About DMGT
DMGT manages a diverse, multinational portfolio of companies,
with total revenues of almost GBP2bn, that provide businesses and
consumers with compelling information, analysis, insight, events,
news and entertainment. DMGT is also a founding investor and the
largest shareholder of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC and ZPG
Plc.
Notes
Current City analyst expectations for DMGT for FY 2017 range
from GBP1,647 million to GBP1,731 million for revenue, from GBP210
million to GBP239 million for adjusted profit before tax and from
46.5 pence to 52.7 pence for adjusted basic earnings per share with
a consensus of GBP1,676 million, GBP221 million and 51.1 pence.
Adjusted results are from continuing and discontinued operations
and are stated before exceptional items, other gains and losses,
impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, pension finance
charges and amortisation of intangible assets arising on business
combinations.
# Underlying revenue is revenue on a like-for-like basis,
adjusted for constant exchange rates, the exclusion of disposals
and closures and for the inclusion of the year-on-year organic
growth from acquisitions. For events, the comparisons are between
events held in the year and the same events held the previous time.
For dmg media, underlying comparisons exclude low margin newsprint
resale activities. Euromoney ceased to be a subsidiary of DMGT on
29 December 2016 and Euromoney is excluded from DMGT's underlying
revenues.
* Pro forma reported growth rates are calculated after restating
Full Year 2016 revenues, to treat Euromoney as a subsidiary during
the first quarter and as an associate during the eight months to
August 2016, consistent with the ownership profile during the
eleven months to August 2017. Treating Euromoney as a subsidiary
for all of Full Year 2016, the absolute reported growth rates for
the year to date were Euromoney -73%, B2B -17% and
Group -11%.
dmg media's results are for the forty seven weeks to Sunday 27
August 2017 and are compared to the same forty seven week period of
the prior year.
Daily Mail's 23.5% compared to 23.1% last year and The Mail on
Sunday's 22.3% compared to 22.0% last year. Circulation market
share figures are calculated using ABC's August 2017 and August
2016 National Newspapers Reports, excluding digital
subscribers.
The average GBP:$ exchange rate for the eleven months was
GBP1:$1.26 (against GBP1:$1.43 in the same period last year).
This trading update is prepared for and addressed only to the
Company's shareholders as a whole and to no other person. The
Company, its Directors, employees, agents and advisers accept and
assume no liability to any person in respect of this trading update
save as would arise under English law. Statements contained in this
trading update are based on the knowledge and information available
to the Group's Directors at the date it was prepared and therefore
facts stated and views expressed may change after that date.
This document and any materials distributed in connection with
it may include forward-looking statements, beliefs, opinions or
statements concerning risks and uncertainties, including statements
with respect to the Group's business, financial condition and
results of operations. Those statements and statements which
contain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate",
"expect" and words of similar meaning, reflect the Group's
Directors' beliefs and expectations and involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future and which may cause
results and developments to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by those statements and forecasts. No representation is
made that any of those statements or forecasts will come to pass or
that any forecast results will be achieved. You are cautioned not
to place any reliance on such statements or forecasts. Those
forward-looking and other statements speak only as at the date of
this trading update. The Group undertakes no obligation to release
any update of, or revisions to, any forward-looking statements,
opinions (which are subject to change without notice) or any other
information or statement contained in this trading update.
Furthermore, past performance of the Group cannot be relied on as a
guide to future performance.
No statement in this document is intended as a profit forecast
or a profit estimate and no statement in this document should be
interpreted to mean that earnings per DMGT share for the current or
future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the
historical published earnings per DMGT share.
Nothing in this document is intended to constitute an invitation
or inducement to engage in investment activity. This document does
not constitute or form part of any offer for sale or subscription
of, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for,
any securities nor shall it or any part of it nor the fact of its
distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with,
any contract, commitment or investment decision in relation
thereto. This document does not constitute a recommendation
regarding any securities.
Daily Mail and General Trust plc
Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street,
London, W8 5TT
www.dmgt.com
Registered in England and Wales No. 184594
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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