Released: 14/09/2009
com:20090914:RnsN9502Y
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RNS Number : 9502Y
Tarsus Group PLC
14 September 2009
14 September 2009
Tarsus Group plc
Corporate Update
Tarsus Group plc ('Tarsus' or 'the Group' or 'the Company'), the international
business-to-business media group, is pleased to announce the following corporate
update for the period since the announcement of its record interim results on
29th July 2009..
France
The Group has disposed of its 50% shareholding in MD Management SAS to its joint
venture partner, Reed Exhibitions France, for a net cash consideration of £ 0.4
million.
This transaction has resulted in a small book profit and continues the strategy
of rationalising the Group's portfolio to focus on larger events, with
established brands, which tend to be more resilient throughout the economic
cycle.
China
Tarsus has entered into an agreement with its joint venture partner Hubei Hope
to invest together a further RMB 10 million (approximately £ 0.9 million) of
cash into their joint venture, Tarsus Hope.
The monies will be used to fund acquisitions and new launches in the joint
venture's core exhibition sectors of medical equipment and industrial equipment
in Central China. The investment is conditional on Chinese regulatory approval,
but marks a further step in the development of the Group's portfolio of events
in one of the fastest growing exhibition markets in the world.
Trading
The Group's second half exhibitions have begun well, with the Off-Price Show in
Las Vegas in August and the Medical event in San Jose in September both now
currently trading slightly ahead of management's previous expectations.
Importantly, revenues for the two largest exhibitions in Tarsus' portfolio,
Labelexpo Europe in September and the Dubai Airshow in November, continue to
remain comfortably ahead of the comparable events in 2007.
Douglas Emslie, Group Managing Director, said:
"We continue to execute against our strategy of increasing our business in the
faster growing emerging markets while actively managing our portfolio in our
mature markets.
Trading for the Group for the full year continues to be in line with the
Board's expectations and we anticipate a very satisfactory outcome for 2009."
For further information please contact:
Tarsus Group plc
Douglas Emslie, Group Managing Director 020
8846 2700
Ashley Milton, Group Finance Director 020
8846 2700
Media
Matthew Moth, Madano Partnership 020
7593 4000
Investor Relations
Neville Harris, IR Focus
020 7593 4015
Stephen Scott, Jeremy Wiseman, Scott Harris 020 7653
0030
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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