17th Apr 2012 07:15
17th April 2012
Daily Mail and General Trust plc (`DMGT') Trading Update
Ahead of DMGT's Investor Day tomorrow afternoon, this statement provides an update on the Group's progress in the current year. It covers the six month period to the end of March 2012.
Summary
- Solid Group revenue performance, up 2% underlying#
- Good underlying# growth from B2B operations
- Resilient revenue performance at Associated; circulation and digital revenue
growth largely offsetting print advertising weakness
- Active portfolio management; targeted acquisitions and disposal
of non-core assets
- Outlook for the year remains unchanged.
6 months to end March 2012~ Revenue growth Revenue growth Reported Change Underlying# Change Year-on-Year Year-on-Year Group revenue -2% +2%B2B 0% +8%RMS +3% +7%dmg information +10% +12%dmg events -45% +12%Euromoney Institutional Investor +13% +5%Consumer Media -4% -2%Associated Newspapers -2% -1%Northcliffe Media -10% -6%Business to Business (B2B)
- RMS delivered continued growth driven by core modelling performance as well
as new product areas. The difference between underlying and reported revenues
reflects the sale of RMSI in the second half of 2010/11.
- Strong growth at dmgi driven by Property (Landmark and EDR) and
Education (Hobsons) businesses.
- dmg events performing as expected with encouraging forward
bookings. The movement in reported revenues reflects the low biennial half
year and the sale of GLM.
- Continued good performance from Euromoney, particularly from its
subscription revenues.
Consumer Media
6 months to end March 2012~ Revenue growth Revenue growth
Reported Change Underlying# Change Year-on-Year Year-on-Year Q1 Q2 HY Q1 Q2 HYAssociated Newspapers 0% -4% -2% +1% -3% -1%Advertising -4% -7% -5% -2% -5% -3%Circulation +5% +4% +4% +5% +4% +4%Northcliffe Media -9% -11% -10% -5% -7% -6%Advertising -10% -12% -11% -6% -9% -7%Circulation -7% -4% -5% +1% +3% +2%
- Associated Newspapers - circulation revenues up 4%, benefiting
from the effect of cover price increases at the Daily Mail and continued
market share improvement; underlying# advertising revenues down 3%, comprising
newspaper operations down 7% (print -10%, digital +58%, including Mail Online
+69%) and digital advertising (primarily jobs and property) up 10%. March saw
an improvement in trading with underlying# advertising revenues for Associated
up 1%.
- Northcliffe Media - circulation revenues up 2% on an underlying#
basis, reflecting the benefit of recent cover price increases. Underlying#
advertising down 7% in a difficult market across both quarters. Continued
focus on efficiency with costs reduced by 13%.
- Overall headcount across A&N Media reduced by 593 (-9%) to the
current level of 6,280.
Group
- On an adjusted basis*, both operating profits and profit before tax for the
first half of the year are expected to be lower than in 2011, although the
outlook for the full year remains unchanged. The half year results will
reflect the expected reduced profitability from dmg events and lower profits
from Associated due in part to lower advertising revenues, higher average
newsprint costs and additional promotional activity in respect of our digital
businesses. Net finance costs will also be higher due mainly to the
acceleration of interest of £6 million, being the premium on redemption of
£110m of 7.5% Bonds due 2013, purchased in December 2011.
- The Group is likely to report exceptional costs for the half year of around
£40 million (around half of which are cash items), mainly in A&N
Media. This charge will include reorganisation costs and accelerated
depreciation of property, plant and equipment, principally relating to the
move of printing facilities to Thurrock.
- Net debt at the half year has risen since the year end, as expected, due to
acquisitions, payment into the Group's pension schemes, the timing of interest
payments and the usual seasonal cash outflows. Net debt is expected to fall in
the second half of the year.
- Active portfolio management has seen further bolt-on acquisitions,
including:
- Intelliworks - a top provider of relationship management solutions for
higher education (dmgi - Hobsons)
- PrepMe - a leader in adaptive learning technologies and test preparation
programs (dmgi - Hobsons)
- SpringRock - a cutting-edge provider of dynamic production forecasts for the
oil & gas industry (dmgi - Genscape)
- Global Grain Geneva and Global Grain Asia - international grain trading
conferences (Euromoney)
- Jobrapido - one of the world's largest job search engines (Associated -
Evenbase)
- This continuing portfolio management activity has also seen A&N Media selling
its interests in Top Consultant, motors.co.uk and Teletext. Yesterday,
the Office of Fair Trading gave clearance for the proposed merger between the
Digital Property Group and Zoopla to go ahead.
Weighting of DMGT's `A' shares in the FTSE Indices
As explained in last year's Annual Report, as a consequence of the FTSE's adoption of listing classifications for determining the weighting of share classes in their indices, DMGT's weighting in the UK Index Series will fall from 75% to 0% when its `A' shares are re-designated by the Financial Services Authority as having a standard listing on 31st May, 2012.
Notes
# Underlying revenue is revenue on a like-for-like basis, adjusted for acquisitions, disposals, closures and non-annual events in the current and prior year and at constant exchange rates. In particular, the underlying percentage movements of RMS and dmg information exclude RMSI and Sanborn. For dmg events, the comparison is between events held in the period and the same events held in the previous comparable period. For Euromoney the comparisons exclude the acquisition of Ned Davis Research. For A&N Media: Associated underlying advertising excludes the effects of the sale of Teletext Retail last year and Teletext Holidays and motors.co.uk this year. Northcliffe underlying advertising and circulation revenue excludes the effects of the sale and closure of titles last year, adjusts for the move of several titles from daily to weekly publishing frequency and the move to a wholesale circulation model last year.
~ Movements in revenues are expected movements as this trading update is derived from the management accounts. The half year results are not yet finalised, being subject to the financial consolidation and audit review. These results will be announced on 24th May.
References to Q1 and Q2 relate to the 13 weeks to 1st January 2012 and to 1st April 2012 respectively. A detailed analysis of Q1 revenue trends was set out in the Group's Interim Management Statement, released on 8th February, 2012.
* References to profits are to adjusted profits, which exclude amortisation (other than that of software and internally generated intangible assets) and impairment of intangible assets and exceptional items.
The average £:$ exchange rate used for the half year is £1: $1.57 (against £1:$1.59 in the same period last year).
DMGT's weighted average number of shares in issue for the half year is 382.7 million (2011: 382.8 million). The total number of shares in issue (after deducting shares held in Treasury) is currently 382.6 million.
For further information
For analyst and institutional enquiries: Stephen Daintith, Finance Director, DMGT +44 20 3615 2907 Nicholas Jennings, Company Secretary, DMGT +44 20 3615 2905
For media enquiries:Kim Fletcher / Will Carnwath, Brunswick Group LLP +44 20 7404 5959
Conference Call
A conference call will be held with City analysts at 8.00 a.m. on 17th April, 2012 hosted by Stephen Daintith, Finance Director. The dial-in number is 0800 073 1807 or +44 (0) 1452 541 076; conference code: 67681875. A replay of the call will be available on DMGT's website at www.dmgt.com.
Investor Day
DMGT is holding an Investor Day for City analysts and investment institutions on 18th April 2012 to give them an opportunity to learn more about the Group, its finances and strategy for growth. There will be no additional update at the Investor Day on current trading.
Next Trading Update
The Group's next scheduled announcement of trading will be its results for the half year ended 1st April which will be released on the morning of Thursday 24th May, 2012.
About DMGT
DMGT is an international group quoted on the London Stock Exchange.It operates in more than 40 countries, with a portfolio of businesses inmedia, information and digital markets that serve both business and consumeraudiences. Daily Mail and General Trust plc Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT Tel 020 7938 6000 Fax 020 7938 4626 www.dmgt.co.uk Registered in England and Wales No. 184594
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