Boom time for B2B as UU裸聊直播 turnover grows 37% to £60m
Nov 23, 2022
Profits before tax at UU裸聊直播 were up 54% to £9.4m in the year to 31 March 2022.
B2B publisher UU裸聊直播 is celebrating 鈥測et another record year鈥� in 2021/2022 and is ahead of budget for the current financial year despite the economic turbulence facing many in the media.
UU裸聊直播 has reported turnover up 37% to 拢60m and pre-tax profit up 54% to 拢9.4m in the year ending 31 March 2022.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation were up by 28% to 拢13.1m.
The news
Chairman Mark Allen told Press Gazette: 鈥淚鈥檓 delighted with the results given the fact that we weren鈥檛 able until the second half of the year to run a single live exhibition or event and exhibitions and events are normally getting on for about a third of our revenue, so we were firing on one cylinder as far as events were concerned last year.鈥�
The MA Exhibitions division made a 鈥渟mall token profit鈥� last year, he said, compared to a loss of 拢2m the year before. However overall the听听even without live events, with profit growth of 20% in the year ending 31 March 2021.
UU裸聊直播 has record year in 2022
The group has been continuing the 鈥渃ontrolled and sensible鈥� rollout of digital products for its brands, many of which including Farmers Weekly are still highly reliant on print subscriptions, and digital now makes up 拢16m, or 27%, of total revenues.
The current听听have "accelerated some of our movement to digital" but UU裸聊直播 still does not want to "impose digital on all our readers and advertisers" if it is not what they want.
Nonetheless the continued digital rollout will be part of how the group "move[s] forward" this year, the听, while it also plans to continue growing both organically and by acquisition.
听
'Small growth' expected in 2022/23
Advertising was the biggest revenue driver last year, making up 44% of the total, followed by 26% coming from subscriptions and bookstall sales and 25% from conferences. Three-quarters of all revenue came from within the UK.
听
UU裸聊直播 revenues: Advertising remains largest slice of the pie
Allen acknowledged that the current financial year was 鈥渢ougher鈥� due to the 鈥減olitical, economic, cost of living turbulence which everyone is facing鈥� but said it is nonetheless running slightly ahead of budget and is expecting 鈥渟mall growth鈥�.
Halfway through the financial year, the group was budgeted to make 拢6.9m but had crossed the 拢7m mark, putting it about 拢123,000 above budget.
Allen said: 鈥淕iven the scenario that鈥檚 quite pleasing and we are hoping that the results for 2023 will be on a par or slightly better than 2022.鈥�
He added: 鈥淏ut there are some considerable challenges鈥� print production, distribution has shot up alarmingly and we are trying to do the best we can with our staff.鈥�
To help staff, everyone earning under 拢30,000 was given a 拢1,000 pay boost in October. Allen said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to me, to all of us, that we do right by those that have helped to ensure that we are successful.鈥�
Staff costs last year increased slightly from 拢22.3m to 拢24.4m although staff numbers were down from 452 to 443. Editorial decreased from 132 to 127 and sales from 92 to 88.
In May, Allen told Press Gazette鈥檚 Future of Media Explained podcast that he听听Now, he has said: 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 changed, this year is a harder slog than last year. I think we will come in with similar if not slightly better results to this year mainly because we鈥檙e doing live events and that鈥檚 performing very well and that will make a big difference.鈥�
In a statement, he also said "the challenges are formidable and should not be under-estimated. If we can come through the year on a par or slightly ahead of 2022 this would be an unbelievable achievement".
听
Advertising and subscriptions 'mixed bag'
Advertising and subscription revenues are both experiencing a 鈥渕ixed bag鈥� across brands, he said, which he put down to the wider turbulence.
Despite a "downward trend" beginning to be seen in subscriptions in the industry, Allen said the group's music titles, which include Music Teacher, Classical Music and Gramophone, were doing well on that basis - as are its institutional subscriptions.
"It鈥檚 a slightly mixed bag but on the whole given the state of the world we are not too displeased," he said.
Similarly, in advertising, some sectors such as aviation, transport and manufacturing are holding up "extremely well" but others less so and "it鈥檚 difficult to determine why some sectors are doing better than others," Allen said.
"The only real test is against the budgets and advertising is holding up well," he went on. "Generally it's probably not as good as last year but that's just the state of the world."
As the group's highest paid director, Allen's remuneration increased from 拢371,850 to 拢568,466, according to the Companies House accounts.
听
UU裸聊直播 companies by order of profitability:
- MA Agriculture
- MA Healthcare
- MA Business
- MA Education
- MA Dentistry
- MA Music, Leisure and Travel
- MA Exhibitions
Allen said MA Dentistry was 鈥渉ighly profitable鈥� in terms of profit to turnover which is more than 50%, but that it is small compared to some of the other companies.
He added that MA Exhibitions would likely be more profitable and rise back up the rankings in 2023 as it has been able to run live events since the start of the financial year unlike last year.
UU裸聊直播 chief executive Ben Allen said in a statement: "Our financial performance tells one part of the story and it is a very good one. However, these results have come about as a result of the extraordinary efforts made by our teams. The way they have performed has been magnificent. No challenge is too much for them. They have shown amazing skill, spirit and resilience. We will need these same qualities in abundance if we are still to rise above the dark economic clouds which hover above."