H2 bounce allows Hyve to regain its show buzz

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Dec 16, 2021

​Since the outbreak of Covid, Hyve Group hasn’t been alone in its quest to “emerge stronger” both in terms of attracting customers and its finances. So how’s that working out for the UK-based global events business?

According to its fiscal 2021 trading update Thursday, the financial performance for the group, which organises Pure London, Scoop and Moda, Spring Fair and Shoptalk, has been “solid… driven by recovery and momentum on H2”.

And that solid foundation has “prepared us well to meet significant pent-up demand and accelerate our omnichannel offering as markets reopened,” noted CEO Mark Shashoua.

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Its ability to successfully reopen in-person events in all major markets has been key in the turnaround.

There were “strong and encouraging performances across our key indicators - particularly in the second half - where our shows performed well on a wide range of important metrics, including like-for-like customer spend, visitor density, net promoter scores and forward bookings,” added Shashoua.

But there’s no getting away from the fact that Hyve’s business was slow in returning to full-buzz mode compared to the pre-Covid era. Revenue for the year to 30 September fell to £55.23 million from £99.4 million in the year ago period, when the pandemic was at its fiercest but that also included pre-Covid events.

But to show just how important the return of in-person events in all major markets in H2 was to the business, revenues for the latter six months totalled £55.2 million.

Pre-tax headline profit hit £20.8 million compared to a loss of £18.1 million a year ago, but Hyve had to thank insurance proceeds of £65 million for the bounce, compared with £22 million proceeds a year ago. Adjusted net debt, however, rose to £79.9 million from £67.7 million in the previous year period.

Shashoua concluded: “Looking ahead… we are well-placed to benefit from a continued recovery of physical events.

“Whilst there has been an encouraging return in domestic demand, uncertainties remain around the timing of full recovery, the speed of which is likely to be influenced by the reaction to new variants by governments across our key markets.

"We continue to monitor any developments and adapt our operations accordingly, based on extensive scenario planning and thorough processes in place.”