Business publisher UBM has reported a 9.8 per cent revenue rise and a 16.4 per cent profit hike in the first nine months of 2011.
Revenue at UBM, which publishes Farmers Guardian and Property Week, was up to £706.2m from £642.m in the nine months to September 2010 while adjusted operating profit rose from £109.5m to £127.5m, giving it a 18.1 per cent profit margin.
According to an intermim management statement released this morning, events was the company’s strongest performing sector accounting for £278.5m of turnover (up 26.6 per cent year on year), while revenue from its print division was down 17 per cent from £103.9m to £86.2m.
But this includes the effect of the sale of 10 print titles over the last year including the £1.65m sale of the The Publican to William Reed and its French medical newspaper business for £8.8m.
Related
In June UBM sold its entertainment and technology portfolio to independent publisher Intent Media for £2.4m, which included titles such as Mobile Entertainment, Bikebiz and Musical Instrument Professional, Music Week and Pro Sound News Europe.
UBM chief executive David Levin said: “UBM performed in line with our expectations. Our events continue to demonstrate excellent growth and strong margins, particularly in China and across the emerging markets, while our other businesses performed as anticipated with the usual Q3 seasonal effects on revenue and margins.
‘We remain on track to deliver results in line with the guidance we gave in July for the full year 2011 on both a consolidated and divisional basis.
Content from our partners
“Given the growing concerns over the global economic environment, we continue to be vigilant for signs of an economic slowdown but to date we have seen no material impact across UBM.
‘Moreover, given that events now comprise a significantly larger part of our business, that 22 per cent of our revenues are generated in emerging markets and that we have substantially lower exposure to print, we believe UBM is a stronger, more resilient business than in previous years.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
