Tarsus exhibits promising signs as shares jump

Exhibition and conferences operator Tarsus saw its share price jump more than 10 per cent this afternoon, as investors welcomed an expected rise in bookings over the year ahead.

The London-listed group led the market risers today, as it struck a confident tone over the group’s bookings business for larger events such as the Dubai Airshow.

Pre-tax profits at the business-to-business media group slipped from £27.9m in 2017 to £16.5m last year.

However, the group blamed the fall on the timing of its events, adding that profits compared with 2016 had more than doubled, while revenues soared 46 per cent over the same time period.

Analysts said that the group’s 2019 outlook looked "promising" in the wake of today’s statement, in which the group also reported a rise in the dividend from 10p to 11p.

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Shares in the group climbed 11 per cent to 298p in afternoon trading.

Fiona Orford-Williams, an analyst at Edison, said: "Tarsus’s results show the benefits of concentrating on being a market leader in its chosen segments…The outlook for financial year 2019 is promising, with a recovery in Turkey and strong forward bookings (top of forecast range) for the Dubai Airshow and LabelExpo Europe, with the confidence underlined by a 10 per cent increase in the recommended dividend."

Douglas Emslie, group managing director of Tarsus, said: "2018 saw the launch of the latest phase of our Quickening the Pace strategy and we are delivering against that strategy with another good year of progress both operationally and strategically."

Emslie added: "Our buyer/visitor growth of 10 per cent was especially pleasing and results from the Group's focus on deepening our presence in higher-growth markets, maximising the scale of our events and constantly seeking to deliver high-quality buyers."