Trading since the publication of the Group's Annual Results on 1 March 2017 has been in-line with Board expectations, with good performances to date across the Group's portfolio.
Following the Group's strong performance in 2016, our “Quickening the Pace” strategy continues to gain momentum. Our recent major acquisitions, Connect and Hometex, are integrating well and we are seeing more opportunities for future organic growth than we anticipated at the time of the acquisitions. In line with our strategy, we continue to scale our businesses in the US and China and we expect these regions to add significantly to our organic growth over the medium term. Event replications continue to gain momentum and we are moving into the next stage of scaling them.
Overall, forward bookings for the full year are tracking 9% ahead on a like-for-like basis.
Americas
The US portfolio has seen a good performance across the business so far this year. The Connect events have performed well and we are pleased with the opportunities to develop the existing events and launch new ones. Our Medical portfolio continues its pattern of growth, as seen in 2016.
In Mexico, trading continues positively with two replications held there (GESS Mexico and Airport Solutions) in the period performing well.
EMEA
In Dubai, our leading education show GESS produced another solid performance. In Turkey, given the geo-political environment the market remains unsettled. Exhibitions held so far in Turkey have performed in line with our cautious budgeting with recent events showing modest like-for-like revenue growth.
Asia
In Asia the Group's Chinese portfolio, which is heavily first half weighted, has performed very well. The first edition held under the Group's ownership of the Spring Hometex event performed strongly, as expected. This show has a waiting list of exhibitors and will benefit in due course from the additional exhibition space being added in Shenzhen in 2019.
Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:
“Our strong focus on both the experience and return on investment that we provide to our customers continues to drive scale and momentum in our business. We have seen encouraging performances across the portfolio so far this year and our forward bookings, including those of our two largest biennial events, Labelexpo Europe and the Dubai Airshow, are strong.
“We are excited about the organic growth prospects of the business and we remain confident about the outlook for 2017.”
The Group plans to announce its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2017 on 26 July 2017.