Results for the six months ended 30 June 2017

28 July 2017: for immediate release

Results for the six months ended 30 June 2017

· Group revenue up 18.0% at £448.4m (+8.3% at constant currency)

· Events revenue growth of 2.7% on an adjusted underlying basis1 (H1 2016: +1.3%)

· Allworld H1 performance ahead of business case and integration on track

· Adjusted operating profit1 up 19.6% to £111.7m

· Increase in adjusted operating profit margin1 to 24.9% (H1 2016: 24.6%)

· Adjusted earnings1 up 23.6% to £77.5m

· Diluted adjusted EPS1 up 37.3% to 19.5p

· Free cash flow1 of £141.9m and cash conversion1 of 160%

· Long-term funding secured to replace Allworld acquisition financing

· Net debt1 at 2.0 times LTM EBITDA2

· Interim dividend of 5.5p per share

Continuing Results only

1 See page 3 and page 44 for definition of non-IFRS metrics

2 proforma for Allworld

Tim Cobbold, CEO of UBM plc said:

"In the first half of the year the focused implementation of the Events First strategy has delivered an acceleration in organic growth and an improved operating margin. The business is well positioned for stronger organic growth and further margin progression in the second half when we run many of our fastest-growing 'major' annual events.

"We saw strong revenue growth in China, India and South East Asia underlining the logic of the Allworld acquisition, where excellent progress is being made with the integration.

"While conscious of global macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, we are confident in the quality of our portfolio and the outlook for the year is therefore unchanged. As a result of continuing operational improvement and strong cash flow generation, the full year dividend is likely to grow at a faster rate than in recent years. Ahead of the full year results the Board will review the dividend policy for future years."

* See page 3 and page 44 for definition of non-IFRS metrics

** CAGR compared to 2015 editions

3) Uses weighted average number of shares over the period of 397.4m (H1 2016: 441.3m)

4) Uses post consolidation number of shares of 397.4m for H1 2016

Notes to business and financial review

Unless otherwise stated:

· Underlying revenue growth measures are adjusted for the effects of acquisitions, disposals, foreign exchange movements and peripatetic and biennial events

· Adjusted underlying growth measures additionally remove the impact of portfolio rationalisation

· 'Major' events refer to annual events generating more than £1m revenue

· Biennial events occur once every two years

· Adjusted operating profit excludes amortisation of intangible assets arising on acquisitions, exceptional items and share of taxation on joint ventures and associates

· Strategic opex relates to Events First strategy implementation

See page 44 for explanation of non-IFRS items.

Contacts

UBM will host a presentation today at 10.30am at 240 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8BF. A live webcast of the results presentation will be made available via UBM's website. To access the webcast please go to www.ubm.com/investor/results-and-reports. A recording of the webcast will also be available on-demand on UBM's website after 4pm.

Notes to Editors

UBM plc is the largest pure-play B2B Events organiser in the world.

In an increasingly digital world, the value of connecting on a meaningful, human level has never been more important. At UBM, our deep knowledge and passion for the industry sectors we serve allow us to create valuable experiences where people can succeed. At our events people build relationships, close deals and grow their businesses.

Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different industry sectors - from fashion to pharmaceutical ingredients. Our global networks, skilled, passionate people and market-leading events provide exciting opportunities for business people to achieve their ambitions.

For more information, go to www.ubm.com; for UBM corporate news, follow us on Twitter at @UBM.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement may contain certain statements, statistics and projections that are or may be forward-looking. The accuracy and completeness of all such statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial position, strategy, projected costs, plans and objectives for the management of future operations of UBM plc ("UBM") and its subsidiaries (the "Group") are not warranted or guaranteed. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may occur in the future. Although UBM believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a number of factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Group, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, factors such as: future revenues being lower than expected; increasing competitive pressures in the industry; and/or general economic conditions or conditions affecting the relevant industry, both domestically and internationally, being less favourable than expected. We do not intend to publicly update or revise these projections or other forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, and we do not assume any responsibility for doing so.

This announcement contains inside information for the purpose of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

END

BUSINESS REVIEW

For the six months ended 30 June 2017

Strategic progress

UBM continues to be focused on delivering the Events First strategy, with the objective of becoming the world's leading events business. This set of results show the Group's financial performance is reflecting increasingly the attractive characteristics of the events industry, with good organic growth supported by acquisitions, high margins and strong cash generation.

Group revenues of £448.4m increased by 8.3% at constant currency, adjusted operating profits rose by £18.3m to £111.7m with the operating margin improving by 0.3%pts. Adjusted operating cash flow was strong at £179.0m, a conversion of 160%.

The sectoral and geographic spread of the portfolio, combined with its overall scale, provides an inherent breadth and resilience which underpins the revenues and earnings of the business. The distribution of the events through the year is such that the second half of the year, in which we run the many of the fastest growing large events (including our large odd year biennials), produces a stronger revenue growth, operating profit and margin performance than the first half. The current forward bookings and visibility provide confidence in a strong performance in the second half.

One of the two priorities in the business is to accelerate the organic growth of the events portfolio. During the first half the adjusted underlying growth of the Events business increased from 1.3% to 2.7%. We saw strong growth in mainland China, India, South East Asia and Japan, supported by good growth in Continental Europe and this was more than sufficient to offset the market based challenges of 'Fashion' (which was down 3%). The US business was broadly flat in the first half and will grow in the second half when 'Fashion' is proportionately less significant and technology events, notably BlackHat, run. OMS revenues, which now account for only 15.2% of Group revenues and 6.9% of Group operating profits, were down 2.1% on an adjusted underlying basis - a reasonable result given the 12.1% decline in print: the result of delays to drug approvals in the US which adversely affected advertising volumes.

During the first half, in Events, we saw particularly strong growth in the 'Food, Hospitality & Leisure' sector, up 20%, the result of creating opportunities to utilise additional space in Shanghai for two phases of Hotelex and Fine Food. 'Pharma & BioPharm' also grew strongly, up 13% in the first half with the launch of CPhI North America and strong performances at Pharmapack, P-MEC and CPhI China. 'Lifestyle & Brands' grew well, up 7%, as the Malaysian International Furniture Fair performed strongly. 'Jewellery' was down 7%, as the smaller shows continued to struggle; however, the June Hong Kong show exceeded our expectations and we are confident that performance at the September show will be good, marking a turning point in the sector, which is expected to grow for the full year. 'Life Sciences & Healthcare', which is small in the first half, was down 11% but is expected to return to growth in the second half. Overall we expect all sectors, bar 'Fashion', to be growing in the full year. This reinforces the value of our large, sectorally diversified portfolio.

Central to the Events First strategy is a focus on enhancing the quality of the portfolio: organically (through improving performance), inorganically (through acquisition) and by rationalising and disposing of underperforming events.

In January 2017 we completed the Allworld acquisition with the purchase of Arabian Exhibition Management WLL (AEM) in Bahrain and paid the remaining £48.4m of the total consideration. Allworld has strengthened our market-leading position in Asia and has secured a leadership position in the high-growth ASEAN region. Allworld has improved the overall growth profile of the Group contributing a portfolio of large, market-leading events with a high level of geographic and sectoral complementarity to the existing UBM portfolio. It is this high degree of complementarity which is the basis for the strong revenue synergies that underpin the rationale for the acquisition. The integration is progressing well with both trading and synergy plans ahead of the business case.

During the year we also acquired two small bolt-on businesses for £2.3m. The pipeline for further acquisitions is good with multiple conversations ongoing, although we remain very disciplined with respect to price.

The second of the business' two priorities is to deliver further margin improvement in the Group's operating margin. We have set a medium term goal of 30%, 2.8%pts higher than was delivered in 2016. In the first half we made progress with the margin up 0.3%pts but we expect this to accelerate in H2, with the benefit of good operational gearing from the stronger revenue growth in the second half.

2017 is the final year of the three-year programme to dispose of and/or rationalise smaller, lower-margin, lower-growth events and OMS activities that are not well-aligned to events. In the first half we rationalised 15 events and various US OMS activities which generated £5.0m of Events revenue and £6.1m of OMS revenue in the H1 2016 comparable period. Additionally, during 2016, we disposed of events and the Electronics business which had contributed £5.3m to Events revenues and £6.1m to OMS revenue in H1 2016. Further disposal and rationalisation activity is expected in the second half, dependent on the outcome of negotiations. As previously communicated at the preliminary results, for the full year we expect £20-25m of disposal and rationalisation activity for Events and c£19m for OMS. The rationalisation programme enhances the group operating margin and contributes to group operating profit.

Operationally, Events First implementation continues to progress well. These initiatives deliver improvements in both the organic growth performance of the portfolio and the operational efficiency of the business. During the first half we rolled out the common sales model and supporting CRM platform into Turkey, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. We also made good progress with planning the Americas roll-out of the common sales model, and in planning the implementation of the Marketing Excellence programme, including the related technology, in EMEA. There is already evidence of the new systems and processes delivering more pertinent and timely management information, the first step in better sales and marketing outcomes as well as efficiency improvement

The procurement programme continued to generate savings and secured a further £2.0m of annualised savings during the first half to bring total procurement savings to £9.0m per annum. We have further developed the Event planning process which is now embedded in our management processes. This has allowed us to improve the performance of a number of underperforming events as well as providing much improved long-term planning and investment decisions.

During the first half strategic expenditure, which includes the costs of portfolio rationalisation, restructuring, strategy implementation and the development of the common Sales, Marketing and Data platforms, was £5.6m. Of this £3.7m was capital expenditure and £1.9m opex (all spent on Events). At the end of H1, the Events First programme has delivered cumulatively total savings of £10.9m at an annualized run rate of £15.6m. We are confident of delivering annual savings of £20m by the end of 2019.

The Events First strategy has, since its launch at the end of 2014, delivered an Events business with accelerating growth, better operational performance driving improvements in the operating margin and very strong cash generation. This is resulting in strong growth in earnings per share and a strengthened balance sheet.

Outlook

The business is well positioned for stronger organic growth and further margin progression in the second half when we run many of our fastest-growing 'major' annual events. Trading will also benefit from the large biennials which take place in the second half of odd years.

While conscious of global macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, we are confident in the quality of our portfolio and the outlook for the year is therefore unchanged.

As a result of continuing improvements in operating performance and strong cash generation, the company expects to grow into its target dividend cover (averaged over the biennial cycle). Consequently, we expect to be able to grow our full year 2017 dividend at a faster rate than in recent years.

During the second half of the year the Board will review the future dividend policy for the company, looking at the dividend relative to future earnings, whilst being mindful of the biennial cycle, economic cycle and foreign exchange. At the full year results the dividend policy will be updated, if the board determines that this is appropriate.

Events

Total Events revenue was £380.4m (H1 2016: £306.7m), benefiting from an FX tailwind of £30.1m and revenue from the acquisitions (which generated £30.7m of annual event revenues in H1 2016 prior to acquisition). During the period we rationalised events which had contributed £5.0m of Annual Event revenues in H1 2016 and the results also exclude events we disposed of in 2016, which had contributed £5.3m of revenues to H1 2016. Adjusted underlying* revenue from Annual Events, which excludes the impact of portfolio rationalisation, grew 2.7% in H1 2017. Unless otherwise stated, all commentary below relates to adjusted underlying* revenue.

The growth of the events portfolio improved significantly during the first half, with the benefit of improved growth performance from the portfolio (particularly in Asia), a small number of new launches and a small contribution from Allworld more than offsetting a weaker 'Fashion' performance in North America. To combat the softness in this sector we are investing in initiatives to improve our market penetration, to expand into adjacencies and to make the events "must-attend" for visitors by improving the educational and experiential content at the shows.

We saw strong performances in our 'Food, Hospitality & Leisure', 'Pharma & BioPharm' and 'Lifestyle & Brand' sectors, where curation of our events enabled us to capitalise on the long-term opportunities in these sectors . This was partially offset by the 'Fashion' performance and the refresh of InteropITX as a smaller more focused event. Our 'Jewellery' events in H1, which are relatively smaller in scale compared to the September event, declined 7% although the June event performed better than expected.

In H1 2017, North America accounted for 53% of Annual Events revenue (H1 2016: 54%), China (inc HK) accounted for 21% (H1 2016: 23%) and Emerging Markets accounted for 16% (H1 2016: 11%). This weighting differs to the full year when the proportion of 2016 Annual Events revenue were 43%, 30% and 11% respectively.

During H1 North American revenue was down 0.1%. Good performances in the 'Pharma & BioPharm', 'Advanced Manufacturing' and 'Transport & Logistics' sectors were more than offset by the impact of 'Fashion' and InteropITX.

China (inc HK) revenue grew 7.1% in H1, with particularly strong growth in the 'Food, Hospitality & Leisure' and 'Pharma & BioPharm' sectors, where the healthy sector growth plus the decision to run Hotelex/FineFood in two phases resulted in faster growth. This strong growth was moderated slightly by the softness in 'Jewellery', albeit the performance was ahead of expectations.

Emerging Markets revenue grew 2.7%, principally driven by strong growth in South East Asia, which was more than sufficient to offset the weakness in the much smaller businesses in Turkey and Brazil.

Revenues in the UK fell 0.9% influenced in the main by IFSEC which was slightly down on last year. In Continental Europe revenue rose 4.8% while the Rest of World events rose 29%, principally reflecting the successful launch of IFF Magic Japan.

Biennial Events contributed £29.6m of revenue (H1 2016: £12.8m) reflecting the inclusion of £17.9m of revenue from Allworld biennial events, notably HOFEX and Food & Hotel Indonesia. The existing UBM biennial portfolio has changed over the last two years with £4.0m of biennial revenue moving to H2 or being rationalised. The remaining portfolio showed 10.0% CAGR over their 2015 editions.

Adjusted operating profit* was £113.3m, up from £91.2m in H1 2016. The Annual Events adjusted operating margin* was 30.1% (H1 2016: 30.0%). During the period there was good margin progression with Events First initiatives delivering improvements through the stronger organic growth, procurement savings and the benefits from rationalising and discontinuing events. This was largely offset by the decline in the 'Fashion' portfolio and investment in the visitor experience, coupled with the impact of the new launches and some lower-margin acquired events.

The Total Events adjusted operating margin* was 29.8% (H1 2016: 29.7%) benefiting from the higher Annual Events margin and from higher-margin H1 biennial shows (following inclusion of the Allworld biennials).

Other Marketing Services (OMS)

OMS revenue declined by 2.1% on an adjusted underlying basis. In Q4 2016 we restructured the non-aligned US activities thus rationalising £6.1m of OMS revenue which had featured in the H1 2016 comparative. We also disposed of a further £6.1m of H1 2016 revenues through the Electronics disposal in July 2016. The remaining online activities showed good adjusted underlying growth of 5.8% although this was more than offset by the 12.1% decline in the print activities. Print revenues, which represented 6% of Group revenues in the first half, were affected by uncertainties over healthcare reform in the US which are impacting the level of drug approvals.

Adjusted operating profit* was £8.4m (H1 2016: £12.1m), representing an operating margin* of 12.4% (H1 2016: 16.4%.) This reduction in the margin was principally driven by the decline in print revenues and challenges in adjusting the cost base in the short-term. We expect the margin to partially recover in the second half of the year.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

For the six months ended 30 June 2017

SUMMARY INCOME STATEMENT

All non-IFRS measures are noted with a '*' and additional information on these measures is set out on page 44

Revenue

** CAGR on a like for like basis versus 2015

Revenue in H1 2017 was £448.4m, up 18.0% (H1 2016: £380.0m) due to growth in the annual events portfolio, a positive contribution from acquisitions (including Allworld and BJI, net of the disposal of Electronics and Ecobuild) and favourable FX movements. This was partially offset by product rationalisation. On an adjusted underlying basis, revenue grew 1.9% with 2.7% growth in Events and 2.1% decline in OMS.

Adjusted operating profit*

Adjusted operating profit* rose by 19.6% to £111.7m (H1 2016: £93.4m) reflecting the contribution from acquisitions and favourable FX. The adjusted operating profit* for Annual Events rose 20% to £105.6m reflecting the positive impact of FX, acquisitions, product rationalisation, synergies and procurement initiatives.

The adjusted operating margin* grew to 24.9% (H1 2016: 24.6%) given the stronger Annual and Biennial Events margin, in part thanks to the inclusion of Allworld events coupled with the benefits of Events First initiatives.

On a reported basis, operating profit of £70.8m was level with 2016 (H1 2016: £70.8m) owing to the above 19.6% increase in adjusted operating profit*, offset by a higher acquisition amortisation charge and acquisition-related costs.

Diluted adjusted EPS*

Diluted adjusted EPS* increased by 37.3% to 19.5p (H1 2016: 14.2p) reflecting the earnings growth in the period and the FX tailwind. The share consolidation in 2016 added 1.6p of benefit during the period.

On a reported basis, diluted EPS from continuing operations of 10.3p increased 28.8% (H1 2016: 8.0p) reflecting the increase in the adjusted measure (see above), partially offset by higher charges from adjusting items (amortisation, acquisition-related costs).

Corporate operations and strategic operating expense

Corporate costs before non-recurring items were down 5.7% at £10.0m (H1 2016: 10.6m).

Strategic operating and capital expenses relate to the implementation of our Events First strategy. Strategic opex in the period of £1.9m included costs relating to the continued roll-out of the common sales model plus the CRM and marketing platform development (H1 2016: £1.7m). Strategic capital expenditure of £3.7m was invested in CRM platform development during the period.

Income statement adjusting items

The following table provides a summary of the income statement adjustments that have been excluded from the adjusted operating profit* of £111.7m.

Amortisation on intangible assets increased due to the 2016 acquisitions of Allworld Exhibitions, CMI and BJI.

Advanstar and BJI integration costs of £2.8m and £2.5m respectively related to operations integration into the Americas business and alignment and migration of processes. Total costs incurred to date amount to £19.6m for Advanstar and £5.7m for BJI. Final costs are expected to be incurred during 2017, to bring total integration costs to $33m for Advanstar and $10m for BJI.

Initial Allworld integration costs of £0.7m have been incurred. Total integration costs of $20m are expected to be incurred over the next two to three years.

Total acquisition costs of £1.2m have been expensed as exceptional items and relate mainly to due diligence and professional fees paid to various advisors. Of these, £1.1m relate to the acquisition of Allworld Exhibitions (in addition to £4.7m recognised in 2016). A charge of £0.2m (H1 2016: £nil) has been recognised for changes in earnout estimates relating to acquisitions from prior years.

Net financing expense

The net financing expense of £11.7m (H1 2016: £13.3m) represents interest payments on our bond, the Bridge financing (until June), US Private Placement Loan Notes (from June), the RCF and pension interest, net of interest receipts on cash holdings. The net expense for the period is lower than in the prior year primarily due to interest on the temporary Bridge facility used to fund the Allworld acquisition being lower than interest on the £250m sterling bond which was repaid in November 2016.

As indicated at the time of the Allworld acquisition, the Bridge facility was replaced with new long-term debt towards the end of the period. See page 18 for more detail.

Discontinued operations

The PR Newswire (PRN) disposal completed on 16 June 2016 and a gain on disposal was reported in 2016. In the period to 30 June 2017, the Group has recognised an additional £7.8m gain on disposal of PRN primarily due to the release of expired provisions for warranties and indemnities recognised in accordance with specific clauses in the sale agreement.

Part of the consideration received in respect of the sale of PRN to Cision, a business controlled by GTCR Canyon Holdings (Cayman), L.P, in 2016 was Class A Limited Partnership Units ("partnership units"). These partnership units had a par value of $40m and an interest coupon of 8% and were valued at £26.8m on the balance sheet at 31 December 2016. GTCR Canyon Holdings (Cayman) LP, who recently changed their name to Canyon Holdings (Cayman) LP ("Canyon"), are the ultimate parent company of the combined Cision and PRN business. On 29 June 2017, Cision merged with Capitol Acquisition Holding Company Ltd, who is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As a result of the merger, Canyon owns 68% of the ordinary shares of the listed entity, which is now called Cision Ltd. (CISN). Our partnership units in Canyon, were valued at $43.4m on 30 June 2017. The investment continues to be reported as an available-for-sale asset on the balance sheet, with movements in fair value taken to other comprehensive income.

TAX

Current tax

The tax charge on continuing adjusted operating profit* was £16.0m (H1 2016: £12.8m), representing an effective rate of taxation* for the period of 16.0% (H1 2016: 16.0%). A bridge showing the main factors affecting the rate is shown below:

A breakdown of the main geographies in which we pay tax is as follows:

CASH FLOW

Conversion of adjusted operating profit* into cash

The ability to turn our profits into cash is a key focus for management as it provides the funds to invest in the business. We track this using the cash conversion* measure which expresses our adjusted cash generated from operations* as a percentage of adjusted operating profit*. Cash conversion* varies with our biennial cycle and event phasing.

Cash conversion* at 160% (H1 2016: 114%) increased principally due to strong cash in flows ahead of the large biennial events running in H2 2017.

Capital expenditure for the period was £5.1m (H1 2016: £7.6m) and £3.7m of this expenditure related to strategic spend on our new CRM platform. The level of capital expenditure is expected to increase in the second half of the year.

Free cash flow

Free cash flow* was £141.9m (H1 2016: £81.6m).

Free cash flow* in H1 2017 has benefited from positive working capital in the first half of a biennial up year, and a lower level of spend on non-operating items (namely the PRN disposal expenses) and provisions, offset in part by higher interest and tax paid.

We generated adjusted cash from operations* of £179.0m whilst free cash flow* was £141.9m. Dividend payments and purchases of shares totalled £72.3m.

We spent £45.9m (net of cash acquired) on the acquisitions of Arabian Exhibition Management WLL (AEM), the Bahrain business of Allworld Exhibitions which completed in January 2017, Marmara, in February 2017, and AMA Research, in April 2017. We also made payments for contingent and deferred consideration for acquisitions made in prior years totalling £5.6m plus acquisition costs of £1.2m.

Reconciliation of IFRS to adjusted cash generated from operations

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

Net debt

Our net debt at 30 June 2017 was £548.0m representing 2.0 times EBITDA on a proforma basis.

Our Financial Policy is to target a leverage ratio of between 1.5-2.0 times net debt/EBITDA which provides flexibility for biennial cycles, capacity to invest in bolt-on acquisitions, and is consistent with investment grade metrics. There is flexibility to move outside of the corridor (up to 2.5 times and down to 1.0 times), specifically due to M&A activity, with the intention of returning into the corridor within 12-18 months. We continue to maintain investment grade ratings from each of Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

5 Includes fair value adjustments

6 Includes Allworld on a last twelve months basis

7 H1 2016 reflects last 12 months of continuing operations EBITDA only and adjusts for £244m special dividend payment made in July 2016

Debt facilities

Our funding strategy is to maintain a balance between continuity of funding and flexibility through the use of capital markets, bank loans and overdrafts.

During the period, to replace the $365m Bridge Facility (which was put in place in December 2016 to fund the Allworld acquisition), $370m of US Private Placement Loan Notes were issued on 15 June 2017 in three tranches: $45m of 5-year notes, $175m of 7-year notes and $150m of 10-year notes.

At 30 June 2017, we had drawn £111.9m from the revolving credit facility, leaving an unutilised commitment of £288.1m available. Our debt facilities and maturities as of 30 June 2017 are summarised below:

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Details of related party transactions in the 6 months ended 30 June 2017 are disclosed in Note 19.

FOREIGN CURRENCY

The Group closely monitors its exposure to foreign currencies, and seeks to match revenue and costs when possible. The revolving credit facility may be drawn in currencies other than Pounds Sterling. We also hold cash and cash equivalents in Pounds Sterling, the Renminbi and US Dollars and other currencies closely linked to the US Dollar. Given our large and diverse customer base, there are no significant concentrations of credit risk.

The following table outlines the currency profile of our revenues and adjusted operating profit* for H1 2017:

8 $ or quasi-$ pegged

During the period approximately 74% of UBM's revenues and 98% of UBM's adjusted operating profit* were generated in US Dollars or quasi Dollar-pegged currencies, which has benefited the Group's reported financials given FX movements during the year. In H1 2017, the FX tailwind added £35.6m to revenue and £9.8m to adjusted operating profit*.

The income statement exposure to foreign exchange risk is shown for our most important foreign currency exposures in the sensitivity analysis below, based on 2016 operations:

9 The actual impact of currency on Group profit may be different to that implied due to the timing of profit receipts, with financials translated on a monthly basis using the average for that month

DIVIDENDS 

We have a progressive dividend policy, which targets two times cover through economic and biennial cycles. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 5.5p (2016: 5.4p) in line with the policy of the interim dividend per share representing 33% of prior year's final dividend per share.

As a result of continuing improvements in operating performance and strong cash generation, the company expects to grow into its target dividend cover (averaged over the biennial cycle). Consequently, we expect to be able to grow our full year 2017 dividend at a faster rate than in recent years.

During the second half of the year the Board will review the future dividend policy for the company, looking at the dividend relative to future earnings, whilst being mindful of the biennial cycle, economic cycle and foreign exchange. At the full year results the dividend policy will be updated if the board determines that this is appropriate.

Key dates for the payment of the interim dividend are:

Ex-dividend date: 7 September 2017

Dividend Record date: 8 September 2017

Dividend Payment date: 12 October 2017

GOING CONCERN

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that UBM has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. In reaching this conclusion, the Directors have had due regard to the following:

• After taking account of available cash resources and committed bank facilities, none of UBM's borrowings fall due within the next 12 months that require refinancing from resources not already available.

• The cash generated from operations, committed facilities and UBM's ability to access debt capital markets, taken together, provide confidence that UBM will be able to meet its obligations as they fall due.

APPOINTMENT OF NEW EXTERNAL AUDITOR

Following the completion of a comprehensive and competitive tender process the Board of UBM intends to appoint KPMG LLP as its external auditor. The appointment will be effective for the 31 December 2018 year-end and is subject to shareholder approval at the next AGM, due to be held in May 2018.

EY has been the Group auditor since 2002 and the Board would like to thank them for their contribution and dedication over the years. The Board look forward to a constructive and professional relationship with KPMG in the future.

Summary of principal risks

Macro-economic slowdown and/or exchange rate fluctuations

- A slowdown in the macro-economic environment or changes to the geopolitical environment could adversely impact the Company's revenue, as exhibitor advertising, attendee, sponsorship and other discretionary revenue may decline. As an international business UBM is sensitive to this risk.

- Foreign exchange rate fluctuations, particularly the US Dollar and UK Sterling, could adversely affect our reported earnings and the strength of our balance sheet.

Acquisition

- Acquisitions are an important part of our strategy. Acquisitions may not deliver their expected returns. Integration issues or failure to realise operating benefits or synergies may also impact the expected returns.

Specific country risk and emerging market exposure

- The geopolitical environment remains dynamic and our business operates in many geographies, particularly Emerging Markets such as Turkey, which may present logistical and management challenges due to different business cultures, languages or unfavourable changes in applicable law or compliance requirements.

- Expansion through joint ventures reduces logistical and management issues but can create governance and control challenges.

Factors and incidents affecting our ability to stage an event

- A disaster or natural catastrophe, terrorism, political instability or disease could affect people's willingness to attend our events, which could have an adverse effect on our revenues.

- UBM utilises some of the largest global venues available creating the possibility of concentration risk where few or no alternatives exists.

- A major incident at a venue during an event may give rise to significant contractual liabilities.

Changes in our business environment

- We cannot predict all the changes and impacts that may affect the competitiveness of the business, such as changes in customer behaviour, or technological innovations which would increase competition or make some products or services less relevant. Social media platforms, search engines and other online technologies could all pose a competitive threat to our businesses, as could changes in legislation or compliance requirements where we operate.

- Similarly, additional venue capacity is introducing competition as well as enhancing opportunities for growth.

Technological risk: data breach and cyber security

- The increasing threat from unauthorised access to our systems by external parties could lead to reputational damage and regulatory action.

- As part of its strategy, UBM has continued to invest in the technology platforms of the business. Having completed a system enhancement for UBM EMEA, progress has been made with UBM Americas and UBM Asia. Failure to deliver these projects effectively could lead to increased costs, delays or erosion of UBM's competitive position.

- System failure could have a significant impact on our business. The collapse of the Cloud on which various products and systems are hosted could have negative consequences for our operational activity.

Access to capital

- With the changing macro-environment and currency changes the availability or cost of financing may affect our acquisition strategy.

People recruitment and retention

- Changes in the operating model and competitive external landscape could see an increase in staff turnover.

Interim consolidated income statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

* Adjusted Group operating profit represents Group operating profit excluding amortisation of intangible assets arising on acquisitions, exceptional items and share of tax on profit in joint ventures and associates

Consolidated income statement

for the year ended 31 December 2016

* Adjusted Group operating profit represents Group operating profit excluding amortisation of intangible assets arising on acquisitions, exceptional items and share of tax on profit in joint ventures and associates

Interim consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the six months ended 30 June 2017

Interim consolidated statement of financial position

at 30 June 2017

Interim consolidated statement of changes in equity

for the six months ended 30 June 2017