3rd Feb 2016 07:00
3 February 2016
Porta Communications Plc ("Porta" or "the Company")
Trading Statement
Trading at Porta Communications Plc in the second half of 2015 was very strong. Gross profit was almost £2.5m higher than the comparable period of 2014, despite the closure of the Brussels and Frankfurt offices, leaving full year growth at some 40 per cent compared with the £19.4m achieved in the previous year.
Reported EBITDA has more than doubled on the year, while Headline EBITDA is up over 40 per cent in the second half for a full year gain of nearly 17 per cent. Exceptional costs, predominantly reorganisation (closures and redundancy costs), were high following the implementation of the management programme to close non-performing companies and account groups ahead of some very senior hires in the current year. The appointment of Steffan Williams has already had a big impact at Newgate with a number of new business wins, including Glencore.
All of the benefits from these decisions will be felt in the current financial year.
On the trading front Newgate Australia continues to be one of the star performers, although the weakness of the Australian Dollar has hit the EBITDA line by more than £110,000. While Newgate Hong Kong had a very solid year with EBITDA margins of over 35 per cent. Elsewhere Redleaf Communications has enjoyed a record 12 months in its first full year as part of Porta while Publicasity has performed really well under its new management team.
Prospects for the current year look very exciting given the internal changes made and the quality of new senior recruits. New business levels and opportunities are extremely buoyant and we are looking at a number of potential acquisitions that will accelerate our growth plans if successful.
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Enquiries:
Porta Communications Plc
www.portacomms.com
David Wright, Chief Executive
Gene Golembiewski, Finance Director
+44 (0) 20 7680 6500
Sanlam Securities UK Limited
Simon Clements / Virginia Bull
+44 (0) 20 7628 2200
Redleaf Communications - Media Enquiries
Charlie Geller / Emma Kane
+44 (0) 20 7382 4769
Notes to Editors:
Porta has two divisions:
• Communications - financial, corporate and consumer public relations, public affairs and research
• Marketing & Advertising - multi-capability marketing, brand and creative communications
The Group currently has offices in Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Brisbane, Bristol, Canberra, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, London, Manchester, Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney.
The brands and companies it owns are: Newgate Communications, PPS Group, Redleaf Communications, 13 Communications, Publicasity, 2112 Communications and Summit Marketing Services.
Porta Communications' corporate website is - www.portacomms.com.
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