Wilmington PLC Trading Statement (4771F)
18 May 2017 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMWIL
RNS Number : 4771F
Wilmington PLC
18 May 2017
18 May 2017
Wilmington plc
Q3 Trading Update
Wilmington plc ("Wilmington" or "the business") the provider of
information, education and networking services in Risk &
Compliance, Professional, and Healthcare knowledge areas is today
providing a trading update for the nine-month period to 31 March
2017.
Trading Update
Group revenue was up 13% (up 8% in constant currency) during the
nine months ended 31 March 2017. Overall, revenue is in line with
expectations, with good organic growth coming from our core growth
areas of Risk & Compliance and the Healthcare businesses.
Revenue growth was further supported by good contributions from the
acquisitions made over the last two years and from the beneficial
impact of currency translation. Offsetting this growth was, as
previously reported, declines in some areas of the Professional
division and the legacy charities and data suppression
businesses.
During the nine-month period, Wilmington continued to see growth
in reported operating profits, although this profit growth has been
partially offset as reported in the interim results by continued
investment across the business particularly in the US and in the
compliance training areas where we see significant scope for
stronger growth in the medium term.
Operational Review
Risk & Compliance
Risk & Compliance again delivered strong revenue growth up
11% driven mainly by compliance training. In support of this growth
and as reported in the interim results, we have continued to invest
in new products, in the new North American operation and in
additional support staff to expand our infrastructure and drive ICA
membership. We have also been successful recently in winning two
large international training programs which will benefit the
business over the summer and we have brought in additional
resources accordingly. This additional resource has further
impacted margins in the short term but is expected to benefit
contribution in 2017/18. Further investment continues to be made in
our new North American compliance training business and in
Compliance Week to expand its geographical reach in terms of events
and information coverage.
Professional
Revenue was up 5% benefitting from favourable currency
translation and the strong maiden performance from SWAT as well as
our other accountancy training operations. However, the division
continues to see the impact of the challenging conditions within
the legal market as well as the impact of the weaker start to the
financial year for AMT albeit we have recently regained stability
in the Asia Pacific market.
The process for the planned disposal of Ark is underway and
negotiations continue with potential buyers. Whilst Project Sixth
Gear will provide benefits to the whole group, much of the work is
centred around integrating the training businesses making up the
bulk of the Professional division. This initiative is progressing
well and we are attracting high calibre applicants for the
divisional head role.
Healthcare
Revenue was up 23% driven by organic growth across the board
from our healthcare businesses and acquisitions made over the last
two years. This was partially offset by continued declines in our
legacy non-healthcare data suppression and charities businesses
which make up around 20% of the division. HSJ, acquired on 31
January 2017 has also performed well and the HSJ team has been
transferred to our Underwood Street premises. Integration is
progressing on plan and is expected to be largely completed by the
end of our 2016/17 financial year.
Cash Flow
Net debt as at 31 March 2017 was GBP51.4m (2016: GBP34.5m). This
reflects strong cash generation and includes GBP20.3m paid in cash
for two acquisitions made during the period. The Group has an
overall borrowing facility of GBP85m which was extended from GBP65m
in January 2017.
Adjusted measures
Effective from 30 June 2017 Wilmington will include share based
payments costs within its definition of adjusted results. Share
based payment costs amounted to GBP0.6m in 2015/16 and are not
expected to be materially different during 2016/17.
Outlook
Wilmington continues to see the trends of tighter regulatory
control and more complex legislation being implemented in most of
our key markets, which in turn is driving demand for many of our
products and services. We have and will continue to invest in our
Compliance business to provide the infrastructure and support for
anticipated future growth.
Despite the continued investment in infrastructure, the
financial performance is in line with the Board's expectations and
Wilmington is on track to deliver against expectations for the full
year.
The information communicated in this announcement is inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of Market Abuse
Regulation No. 596/2014
-End-
For further information, please contact:
Wilmington plc
Pedro Ros, Chief Executive Officer
Tony Foye, Chief Financial Officer 020 7422 6800
FTI Consulting
Charles Palmer / Emma Appleton /
Adam Davidson 020 3727 1000
Notes to Editors
Wilmington plc is the recognised knowledge leader and partner of
choice for information, education and networking in Risk &
Compliance, Professional and Healthcare areas. Capitalised at
approximately GBP210 million, Wilmington floated on the London
Stock Exchange in 1995.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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