Centaur Media plc

Incorporated in England and Wales

Registration number: 04948078

LEI: 2138005WK87G7DQRQI62

ISIN: GB0034291418

19 January 2023

Centaur Media Plc

("Centaur" or the "Group")

Trading Update and Declaration of a Special Dividend

Centaur Media Plc, an international provider of business information, training and specialist consultancy, provides a trading update ahead of publishing its results for the full year ended 31 December 2022 ("FY22") on 15 March 2023.

Trading Update

The Board is pleased to report that the Group saw good year on year growth in revenue, profit and cash performance in FY22. Centaur expects to deliver at least £41m of revenue. In addition, the Group's adjusted EBITDA¹ performance for FY22 is expected to generate a margin above 19.5% reflecting the high-quality revenue streams and the operational leverage inherent within the Group.

Set against an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, this growth demonstrates the Group's overall resilience as it continues to make progress into the final year of its Margin Acceleration Plan 2023 ("MAP23").

As expected, the worsening macroeconomic conditions and inflationary pressures seen in FY22 resulted in growth slowing in the second half. Accordingly, the Board maintains a cautious outlook on the global economy for 2023 and remains focussed on the execution of its MAP23 strategy.

Centaur's net cash balance (including short-term deposits) stood at £16.0m as at 31 December 2022 (£13.1m as at 31 December 2021).

Special Dividend

The Board believes in the long-term fundamentals of Centaur and, given the continued robust performance of the business in FY22 resulting in surplus cash, it is pleased to announce a special dividend of approximately £4.4m, equivalent to 3p per share.

This special dividend is in addition to Centaur's ordinary dividend policy which aims to distribute 40% of adjusted¹ earnings after taxation, subject to a minimum aggregate total of 1p per share per year.

The special dividend will be paid on 10 February 2023 to shareholders on the register as at 27 January 2023.

Swag Mukerji, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Centaur continues to perform well despite the macroeconomic uncertainty that characterised 2022 for our customers. During this time, we have taken operational and financial steps to improve the quality and efficiency of our business. Whilst there remains a lack of visibility around how the macroeconomic landscape will shift in 2023, I am pleased that the Group's strong balance sheet and sustainable cashflows have given the Board the confidence to return over £4m to our shareholders. As a business we remain focused on our strategic objectives and achieving our ambitious MAP23 targets."  

-Ends-

¹   Adjusted EBITDA is adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortisation. Adjusted results exclude adjusting items, such as amortisation of acquired intangible assets, as detailed in note 4 of the Interim Report for the period ended 30 June 2022.

Enquiries

Note to editors

Centaur is an international provider of business information, training and specialist consultancy that inspires and enables people to excel at what they do, raising the standard for insight, interaction and impact.  Leading brands include The Lawyer, Econsultancy, Influencer Intelligence, MW Mini MBA, Marketing Week, Festival of Marketing, Creative Review, Fashion & Beauty Monitor, Oystercatchers and Really B2B.