Global events company Hyve says its transformation has concluded and a platform for growth has been established. The company announced its full year (FY) 2022 financial results, 13 December, and says it is now “unrecognisable” from how the company looked in 2017, with a new streamlined and de-risked portfolio of global, market-leading events and almost 95% of revenue now in advanced economies.
Hyve says it ran a full schedule of FY22 events outside China delivering revenue of £122.5m (2021: £21.8m1) with a number of events outperforming pre-Covid-19 levels.
Headline profit before tax was £11.5m (2021: £13.9m) and headline EBITDA of £23.7m (2021: £28.0m). Excluding the impact of insurance proceeds of £19.3m (2021:£65.m), headline EBITDA has increased by £41.4m to £4.4m (2021: loss of £37.m).
Positive cash generation resulted in adjusted net debt of £71.m (2021: £79.9m), which was however, at the lower end of the £70- 0m guidance range from the beginning of FY22.
As a result of the £135m refinancing completed in October 2022, the Group has a strengthened balance sheet with facilities committed to autumn 2026. It believes this financial security can drive future growth.
Hyve is entering 2023 with some momentum and good visibility of earnings through strong forward bookings of £98m (FY22: £67m).
Mark Shashoua (pictured), CEO of Hyve Group plc, commented: “2022 has been a year of significant achievements for Hyve as we drew a line in the sand on the past. The business is unrecognisable from its form in 2017. 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. This is a testament to the hard work of everyone at Hyve and I want to express my sincere thanks to our whole team.
“Our portfolio of market-leading events is now de-risked, with almost 95% focused on advanced economies with an emphasis on digital-ready growth sectors. The most significant change to our portfolio during the year was the sale of the Russian business following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I am pleased that we were able to find an outcome which answered our compliance with sanctions and moral obligations, while also offering stability to our 200+ former Russian colleagues and providing the best opportunity to realise value for the business.
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.
“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 £98m. 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.
Results for the year ended 30 September 2021 have been restated for the treatment of the Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish businesses as discontinued operations.
As no events were able to run in China in the year, FY22 China revenues were £nil.
Hyve adds that significant progress has been made this year towards its ESG strategy. It has measured its carbon footprint, including scope 3 emissions, and conducted an in-depth review of the climate-related risks facing the business.
