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Novel Coronavirus has become one of the biggest threats to global markets and businesses. It is being said that small and mid-size companies are more prone and will get severely impacted due to the global slowdown caused by the outbreak. But today, we are going to discuss three LSE listed media and entertainment related companies which have declared positive financials and disclosed the low or minimal impact of Novel Coronavirus in their businesses till now. The management of Informa Plc, STV Group Plc and Team17 Group Plc have while releasing their financial results have stated that till now their respective businesses have not been much impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak.
Informa Plc
Informa Plc (LON:INF) is a prominent global events & exhibitions, intelligence and scholarly research group. The company works with professionals and businesses in the specialist market via many influential brands. It is listed on London Stock Exchange under FTSE 100 index. The company has more than 11,000 employees working in over 30 countries.
INF â Financial Updates
On 10th March 2020, the company announced twelve-month results to 31st December 2019.
During the year 2019, the company achieved strong growth in revenue of 22 per cent. The adjusted operating profit also improved by 27.5 per cent during the year 2019.
Statutory Operating Profit increased significantly by 48.2 per cent to £538.1 million as compared to £363.2 million in the year 2018. Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share increased by 4.3 per cent to 51.3 pence during the year 2019. In contrast, Statutory Diluted Earnings per share decreased to 18.0 pence in the year 2019 as compared to 19.7 pence in the year 2018 due to effect of full-year UBM, mainly increased amortisation levels and the higher share count.
Free cash flow increased to £722.1 million in the year 2019 versus £503.2 million in the year 2018. The balance sheet of the company strengthened due to reduction in the leverage ratio to 2.5x, which was in-line with the plan of the company.
INF â Impact of COVID-19
The company expects its information and specialist knowledge businesses to improve in the year 2020, with very less effect from the eruption of Novel Coronavirus, mainly backed by the forward-booked subscriptions that offer predictability and visibility, with attractive cash flows. However, as per the company is facing an impact of the Novel Coronavirus in event-related businesses as the broader industry has been affected due to it in 2020. Though, the company is taking the required actions to help its consumers, its workforce and the and the specialist Communities which it serves by swiftly deploying a significant Rescheduling Programme.
INF â Share Price Performance
Daily Chart as on 11-March-20, before the closing of the Market (Source: Thomson Reuters)
On 11th March 2020, at around 13:12 PM (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of Informa Plc traded at a price of GBX 572.80 per share, down by 26.80 points or 4.48 per cent on the London Stock Exchange, against the previous day close.
The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported at a value of 0.96, which shows that movement of the share price is slightly less volatile versus the movement in the comparative benchmark index.
At the time of writing, the companyâs market cap was reported at GBX 7.51 Million with respects to the stockâs current market price. The outstanding shares of Informa Plc stood at 1.25 billion.
STV Group Plc
STV Group Plc (LON:STVG) is a News and Entertainment company of Scotland which serves people with quality content online, on-air and on-demand. The companyâs channel is available free to air on all TV platforms in Scotland, telecasting some most trendy shows.
STVG â Financial Highlights
On 10th March 2020, the company announced the financial result for the year ended 31st December 2019.
The companyâs adjusted operating profit increased by 13 per cent to £22.6 million during the year 2019, which is the highest level in the last over ten years. The adjusted operating margin also increased by 230 bps to 18.2 per cent during the year as compared to 15.9 per cent in the year 2018.
Due to the 11 per cent increase in regional advertising and strong digital revenue growth, the total advertising revenue increased by 2 per cent to £101.6 million during the year 2019. The digital revenue increased by 37 per cent to £13.0 million in the year 2019 as compared to £9.6 million in the year 2018.
Adjusted earnings per share also increased by 13 per cent, to 46.4 pence per share (2018: 41.1 pence per share). On a Year on year basis, the full-year dividend increased by 5 per cent with the final ordinary dividend of 14.7 pence per share.
The Net Debt: EBITDA ratio at the end of the year decreased to 1.29 times as compared to 1.36 times in the year 2018. This ratio comes within a target range of 1.0 - 1.5 times and contained in the covenant maximum of 3 times.
The Net debt improved marginally by £1.2 million to £37.5 million, even though operating cash conversion was robust at 92 per cent.
STVG â Impact of COVID-19
As per the company, it is positive about the year 2020 outlook, despite the UKâs exit from the European Union and Novel Coronavirus, the company has made a robust start in the financial year 2020. The company is continuously monitoring the Novel Coronavirus effect as its implications are still not clear.
STVG â Share Price Performance
Daily Chart as on 11-March-20, before the closing of the Market (Source: Thomson Reuters)
On 11th March 2020, at around 12:47 PM (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of STV Group Plc traded at a price of GBX 366.5 per share, up by 3.50 points or 0.96 per cent on the London Stock Exchange, against the previous day close.
The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported at a value of 0.53, which shows that movement of the share price is less volatile versus the movement in the comparative benchmark index.
At the time of writing, the companyâs market cap was reported at GBP 142.27 Million with respects to the stockâs current market price. The outstanding shares of STV Group Plc stood at 39.19 million.
Team17 Group Plc
Team17 Group Plc (LON:TM17) is a well-known individual developer of premium games. Till now, the company has released more than 90 premium games. It works in collaboration with developers throughout the world and share skills from development to launch across PC, console and mobile devices.
TM17 â Financial Highlights
On 10th March 2020, the company announced Unaudited Final Results for the year ended 31st December 2019.
The companyâs revenue increased by £61.8 million in the year 2019 as compared to £43.2 million in the year 2018. The gross profit margin increased to 48 per cent during the year versus 46 per cent in the year 2018.
The Adjusted EBITDA increased by 44 per cent to £22.1 million versus £15.3 million in the year 2018.  Basic and diluted Earnings per Share increased by 111 per cent to 12.9 pence during the year. Basic and diluted Adjusted Earnings per Share increased by 68 per cent to 13.6 pence during the year 2019.
TM17 â Impact of COVID-19
As per the company, it is keeping eyes on the situation related to Novel Coronavirus carefully, till now there is no sign of an impact on the business. The companyâs pipeline for the year 2020 remains robust, and it will be launching numerous new titles and further digital content over the current financial year.
TM17 â Share Price Performance
Daily Chart as on 11-March-20, before the closing of the Market (Source: Thomson Reuters)
On 11th March 2020, at around 12:59 PM (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of Team17 Group Plc traded at a price of GBX 534.90 per share, up by 10.90 points or 2.08 per cent on the London Stock Exchange, against the previous day close.
At the time of writing, the companyâs market cap was reported at GBP 688.55 Million with respects to the stockâs current market price. The outstanding shares of Team17 Group Plc stood at 131.40 million.
