Response to the Russia/Ukraine conflict

RNS Number : 0536D

Hyve Group PLC

28 February 2022

 

28^th February 2022

Hyve Group plc

("Hyve" or the "Group")

Response to the Russia/Ukraine conflict

Hyve continues to closely monitor the situation in Russia and Ukraine. At present colleagues in both countries are safe and the Group remains in daily dialogue with its teams to provide support.

The Group has taken the decision to postpone events in Ukraine, which represent less than 3% of the Group's revenue, until further notice. At present the Group has seen no impact on its events schedule in Russia, but anticipates disruption to Western participation as a result of the ongoing conflict. The Group is currently assessing the potential impact of the latest sanctions by the EU, the UK and the USA. Revenues from the Group's Russian events are contracted in roubles and other currencies, while the costs of organising the events are incurred primarily in roubles, limiting the Group's exposure to the impact of rouble devaluation on profitability.

In recent years, as part of its strategy, the Group has significantly evolved its portfolio of events and diversified the business geographically. In 2018, the Group divested 56 of its smaller events in Russia, and acquisitions in recent years have been of market-leading events in the UK and the USA. This has created a stronger portfolio of events with a larger global footprint, significantly reducing the Group's geographic exposure to Russia and Ukraine, which now represent less than 30% of the Group's FY19 proforma revenues.

The Group, even without taking into consideration Russian and Ukrainian contribution, continues to trade well. The Group's liquidity position remains strong and its current net debt position is approximately £57m. The Group currently holds cash in Russia of c. £5m.

 A further update will be provided in due course as appropriate.

Enquiries:

Mark Shashoua, CEO / John Gulliver, CFOO Marina Calero, Group Head of Investor Relations	Hyve Group plc	020 3545 9000
Charles Palmer / Dwight Burden / Jamille Smith / Tom Blundell	FTI Consulting	020 3727 1000

About Hyve Group plc

Hyve Group plc is a next-generation global events business whose purpose is to bring together and connect entire sector ecosystems from all corners of the globe. We meet our customer needs to learn, network and trade via both market-leading in-person and online events. Hyve Group plc is all about globally consistent best practice and unrivalled quality. Our vision is to create the world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events delivering an outstanding experience and ROI for our customers. Hyve's market-leading portfolio of global brands include: Shoptalk, Spring Fair, MosBuild, Bett, Mining Indaba and recently acquired Retail Meetup, a ground-breaking digital platform enabling online networking and trade to take place at scale.

Where business is personal, where meetings move markets and where today's leaders inspire tomorrow's.

 

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