Concerto Group has announced a ‘recovery year’ after filing
profits before tax of £291k for the year ending February 2011, turning around a
loss before tax of £42k recorded the previous year. Turnover increased by 23 per cent to £26.4m and gross profit
rose by 22 per cent to £7.1m.
Concerto Group chairman Mike Kershaw said:
“Last year saw a year of recovery and market share gain, although as a group we
are not yet back to where we were a few years ago. Much of the competition saw
sales retreat in a tough marketplace, whereas Concerto grew sales by an
impressive 23 per cent. The cash-flow generated by our core business has
enabled us to invest in our Olympic based team ready to service the needs of London’s Olympics in
2012."
The balance sheet shows a net current liability of £406k,
with creditors of £7.9m falling due within one year, however, £3.4m of this is
accruals and deferred income.
CEO and group finance director Mark Greaves said: “Overall,
with net assets of £1.9m, we feel that we have a strong balance sheet. Even if
we exclude intangible assets, we have net assets of £780k and no net bank
borrowings.”
He added that performance had been strong across the group’s
subsidiaries, which include event management companies Concerto Live,
Eventwise, Mask and The Ultimate Experience; caterers Create and Touch of
Taste; event venues Delfina, Plaisterers’ Hall, The Conservatory at Painshill Park and The Conservatory at Luton
Hoo; and event services through 50 per cent joint ventures
Lola Staffing and Full Circle Performance and Entertainment.
“Performance was better across the board, but with
particularly strong growth at both Create and Ultimate Experience and both our
joint ventures, Lola Staffing and Full Circle,” he said. “The team building side
of the business at Eventwise was particularly hit by the reduction in
discretionary spend over the last two years. In general, however, most
divisions saw healthy rebounds from the previous year.”
Group chairman Kershaw added that he was optimistic about
the outcome for the current financial year: “We increased gross profit by some
8 per cent in the first seven months of this financial year and the final five
months are well ahead of this time last year,” he said. “Despite the
competitive marketplace, we still expect to post healthy profits for the year
and hope to advance on our performance last year.”
Pictured: Concerto Group chairman Mike Kershaw
