New-look Hyve Group back to its best with strong sales and outlook

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Dec 13, 2022

International events business Hyve reported its latest results on Tuesday and also said that “it is now unrecognisable from its form in 2017” as the effects of Covid hit hard and forced a radical ops rethink.

Now Hyve, which stages Pure London, Scoop and Moda fashion trade shows among others,has made it through to the other side “with a streamlined and de-risked portfolio of global, market-leading events and almost 95% of revenue now in advanced economies”, it proudly said when delivering its fiscal 2022 preliminary figures.

Its achievements included running a full schedule of FY22 events (outside of China) delivering revenue of £122.5 million, way ahead of the £21.8 million recorded in 2021, with a number events even outperforming pre-Covid-19 levels. 

There was also a 110% revenue recovery compared to pre-Covid-19 levels in the second half and 90% revenue recovery for FY22, on a pro forma basis after excluding China.

Meanwhile, headline profit before tax came in at a respectable £11.5 million, down from £13.9 million a year ago, while headline EBITDA dipped to £23.7 million from £28 million a year ago. Excluding the impact of insurance proceeds of £19.3 million (2021: £65 million), headline EBITDA increased by £41.4 million to £4.4 million compared to a loss of £37 million in 2021.

As a result of the £135 million refinancing completed in October 2022, the group has a strengthened balance sheet with facilities committed to autumn 2026 and the financial security to drive further organic growth.

Entering 2023 “with momentum and good visibility of earnings through strong forward bookings of £98 million”, a confident CEO Mark Shashoua said: "We have successfully delivered on our ambitious structural transformation and today's results show the significant progress we have made delivering an industry leading recovery and performance.

“We continue to invest in our digital diversification and product extensions to deliver the highest quality customer experience and unbeatable return on investment. Hyve now has a strong platform from which to deliver growth and sustainable long-term value.”

He added: “While we are mindful of the global economic headwinds, we are reassured by the strong visibility of future earnings, cash generative business model and forward bookings of £98 million. We continue to see customers choosing market leading events even in times of economic downturn, as evidenced by double-digit growth in like-for-like customer spend for the third consecutive year going into 2023.”