15th Jan 2008 07:00
Huntsworth PLC15 January 2008 Huntsworth plc ("Huntsworth" or the "Group") Trading Statement for the year ended 31 December 2007 Group will meet all 2007 performance targets Confident about prospects for 2008 Huntsworth, the international public relations and healthcare communicationsgroup, today issued the following trading statement in advance of the release ofits preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2007, which will beannounced in March 2008. The strong momentum achieved in the first half was sustained throughout theyear, and as a result, the Group expects to meet or exceed each of the five keyperformance targets that were established at the beginning of 2007. These were: • Underlying operating margins before central costs of 20%; • 15% operating margins post central costs; • Like-for-like revenue growth of between 5% and 6%; • Full year cash conversion of at least 100% of operating profit; • Net debt at the year end to be less than £57 million. Underlying profit before tax and underlying basic earnings per share for 2007are therefore expected to be at the high end of market expectations. Following the strategic review announced at our interims, the Group has disposedof its non-core US events business, Broadstreet, which has underperformed inrecent years. Peter Chadlington, Group Chief Executive of Huntsworth, commented: "The Group's performance over the past year has been extremely strong, driven byour expanding international network and the investment in our healthcarebusiness. We enter 2008 with a substantial new business pipeline and two-thirds of ourincome on annual retainer and repeat business. We therefore look forward to thecoming year with confidence." New clients, including multi-country assignments, won during the second half of2007 include Pearl Insurance, Nike, Virgin Money, Innocent Drinks, Bovis, DSSDigital Switchover Strategy, BBC, NBC, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Allos Therapeuticsand HSBC. We have also taken on new assignments from existing clients including CreditSuisse, TNT, Schroder Investment Management, SNCF, Schering Plough,Sanofi-Aventis and Lehman Brothers. Enquiries: Huntsworth 020 7408 2232Peter Chadlington, Group Chief ExecutiveSally Withey, Group Finance Director Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571Simon RigbyGeorge Cazenove This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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