19th Sep 2018 09:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Arena Events Group PLC on Wednesday said its loss narrowed in the first half of 2018, helped by acquisitions and higher income from events in the US.
The event design & delivery company said pretax loss narrowed to GBP200,000 in the first six months of 2018 compared to GBP3.2 million loss reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue grew 23% to GBP54.9 million from GBP44.8 million.
Arena Events noted that the acquisitions of GLD, Ice House Ltd and Events Solution Ltd contributed GBP1.4 million of revenue in the period, with the remaining GBP8.7 million delivered organically from new and expanding events.
In the US, revenue was boosted by the Warrior Games event and three new events on the West Coast in addition to several annually recurring events including Super Bowl, the US Open golf and the Kentucky Derby.
The company said revenue in both the UK and Middle East regions was higher year-on-year, excluding acquisitions, with an average organic revenue increase of 10%.
Given the growth in the period, Arena Events upped its interim payout to 0.50 pence per share from 0.45p paid the year ago.
"I am delighted with the progress we have made in the first half of the year," said Chief Executive Greg Lawless.
"These robust first-half results put us in a strong position and gives us confidence to deliver on full-year expectations," added Lawless.
Shares in Arena Events were trading 3.5% lower on Wednesday morning at 70.00 pence each.
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