Information services and events business Euromoney (ERM) fell 4.2% to 928p on a trading update which laid bare the impact of Covid-19 on the business.
The company reported a fall in revenue in the three-month period to 31 December as the pandemic-led impact on physical events outweighed a continuing strong performance from its Pricing and Data & Market Intelligence (DMI) business.
Institutional Investor, an events-based subscription business, saw revenue decline 19% without physical events, the company said.
Despite switching successfully to digital events, this part of the business as a whole saw revenue total just £8.6 million for the quarter, representing about 30% of revenue reported in the same period last year.
Pricing and DMI subscription revenue grew 14% boosted by acquisitions and strong underlying growth of 6%. Asset Management revenues declined 12%.
The company reported a net cash position of £20.3 million as at the end of 2020 and said the final dividend for the financial year running to 30 September 2020 would be paid in February.
Looking ahead, the company said it did not have visibility on when physical events would return, and kept its outlook unchanged and in line with its expectations.
The interim results for the six months ending 31 March 2021 will be announced on 20 May.
Numis analyst Steve Liechti noted the unchanged forecasts were a positive sign. He said: ‘This is good news, with better virtual event revenue offsetting lower assumed 2H physical event contribution. Subscription trends look roughly in line/ slightly better, so no change.’
