24th Mar 2020 14:33
(Alliance News) - Bonhill Group PLC on Tuesday said 2019 was a strong year for organic growth but confirmed Covid-19 has significantly hurt operations.
This comes after the media company, whose business includes running events, on Monday said it will not be paying dividends going forward amid the uncertainty caused by Covid-19.
London-based Bonhill had paid an interim dividend during 2019 of 0.28 pence per share.
Revenue in 2019 was GBP24.4 million, compared to GBP8.0 million for the nine months ended December 2018.
Bonhill's pretax loss widened to GBP4.0 million from GBP1.8 million, with the adjusted pretax profit figure surging 72% to GBP896,000.
"Bonhill saw strong organic growth in 2019 complemented by the acquisition of Last Word in April 2019, bringing exposure to fast-growing international markets. There was also an important shift in the InvestmentNews business model with strong growth in its events portfolio and a manageable decline in advertising in its print title," said Chief Executive Simon Stilwell.
"We have seen continued progress developing our integrated business serving the key asset management/financial advisor market and also invested in our technology infrastructure to develop a robust global IT platform that will support our growth going forward."
Turning to Covid-19, Bonhll said costs are being tightly managed, but the uncertainty has led to no final dividend being paid for 2019 and dividends will not be paid until things become more clear, as confirmed Monday.
"After a strong start to 2020, Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the business, with several events being postponed. The board has taken swift action to protect shareholder value and will continue to mitigate the impact through a series of measures as appropriate. The need for businesses to communicate and connect with core communities remains and we will be well-positioned to support our clients and partners when the pandemic subsides," said CEO Stilwell.
Shares were 9.4% lower on Tuesday in London in afternoon trade at 8.15 pence each.
By George Collard; [email protected]
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