Highlights
- Profit attributable to Owners of the Company was HK$123.7 million, a slight decrease of 3.9%
- Revenue was HK$1,710.1 million, a decrease of 15.6% due to the lower exchange rates of many currencies translated into our stronger reporting currency, the Hong Kong dollars, which accounted for about 3% of the decrease
- Core business – Exhibition and Event Marketing Services segment – remained resilient
- Recommended Interim Dividend of HK4.5 cent
| Financial Summary | For the 6 months ended 30 April (HK$'000) | ||
| 2017 | 2016 | Change | |
| Revenue | 1,710,063 | 2,024,872 | -15.6% |
| Gross profit | 535,372 | 576,102 | -7.1% |
| Gross profit margin (%) | 31.3% | 28.5% | +2.8ppts |
| Profit from operations | 144,245 | 158,927 | -9.2% |
| Profit attributable to Owners of the Company | 123,744 | 128,723 | -3.9% |
| Net profit margin (%) | 7.2% | 6.4% | +0.8ppts |
| Basic earnings per share | HK10.09 cents | HK10.54 cents | -4.3% |
| Interim dividend per share (recommended) | HK4.5 cents | HK4.5 cents | - |
(Hong Kong, 27 June 2017) Pico Far East Holdings Limited (“Pico”, “the Company” or “the Group”, HKEx: 752), a leading global Total Brand Activation company, today announced its 2017 interim results for the 6 months ended 30 April 2017 (“the period”).
During the period, Pico recorded a group revenue of HK$1,710.1 million (1H FY2016: HK$2,024.9 million), decreased by 15.6% compared with the previous corresponding period. Due to better cost control, profits attributable to owners of the company decreased slightly by 3.9% to HK$123.7 million (1H FY2016: HK$128.7 million).
Notwithstanding fewer special projects recorded in the period under review and that the lower exchange rates of many currencies translated into our stronger reporting currency, the Hong Kong dollars, accounted for about 3% of the decrease in revenue compared to the previous corresponding period, the core business of Exhibition and Event Marketing Services remained resilient.
Basic earnings per share is HK10.09 cents (1H FY2016: HK10.54 cents). The Board has recommended an interim dividend of HK4.5 cents per ordinary share (1H FY2016: HK4.5 cents).
Business Review
| Revenue by segment | For the 6 months ended 30 April | ||||
| 2017 | 2016 |
Change in Revenue |
|||
| HK$’ Million |
% to Group’s Revenue |
HK$’ Million |
% to Group’s Revenue |
||
| Exhibition and Event Marketing Services | 1,381.4 | 80.8% | 1,396.5 | 68.9% | -1.1% |
| Brand Signage & Visual Identity | 143.0 | 8.4% | 199.9 | 9.9% | -28.5% |
| Museum, Themed Environment, Interior & Retail | 161.3 | 9.4% | 242.9 | 12% | -33.6% |
| Conference and Show Management | 24.4 | 1.4% | 185.6 | 9.2% | -86.9% |
Prospect
We are continuing to build on our Pico+ solutions for a growing number of leading brands, and are confident that this new area would continue to expand and bring benefits to the Group and its shareholders.
Other large-scale shows and events scheduled for the second half of this year include the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, which will be held in September, and other major events such as Ultra Music Festival, Home Team Festival and Singapore Army Open House, as well as Pico’s long-standing involvement in the Singapore National Day Parade project, which will be held on 9 August, will continue this year. We will be involved in designing and fabricating the grandstand, several corporate suites and the F1 team hospitality suites. Pico’s long-standing involvement in the Singapore National Day Parade project, which will be held on 9 August, will continue this year.
The Astana Expo 2017 is now being held from 10 June to 10 September in Kazakhstan’s capital city. Aside from providing interior fabrication services for Belarus, France, Israel, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation pavilions, we are also engaged to deliver operations management, business networking and events management services for the Singapore Pavilion, and operations management for the Israel and Belarus pavilions.
While all our Shanghai Disneyland projects have now concluded, we continue to work on potential new opportunities in the theme park segment. Among these is the expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland, and we are now participating in the first tender for this project. Other near-future tenders are Universal Studios in Beijing which is scheduled to open in 2020.
P3 Space, based in Pico Shanghai office, is expected to continue its disruptive expansion with the fostering of innovative start-ups.
Notwithstanding fewer special projects this year when compared to the last financial year, our exhibition and event core business remains resilient and stable. We anticipate that the overall business in the second half of this year would be stronger than the first half.
About Pico Far East Holdings Limited
Pico is a global agency specialising in engaging people, creating experiences and activating brands for businesses, institutions and governments. Innovative, insightful and inspired, Pico brings brands to life and creates experiences through Total Brand Activation – from strategy to execution. Leveraging a track record in experience design that spans half a century, Pico creates immersive audience engagements which harness the power of technology, content and our many production services – delivering extraordinary experiences to millions of people around the world.
The Pico Group won the Silver award in the B2B Agency category and Bronze in the Event Agency category at Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards 2017 in Hong Kong.
From 2014 to 2016, CEI Asia magazine voted the Pico Group into the top two on its Best Event Agency in Asia Pacific list for three consecutive years. In North America, the Pico Group has been listed as one of Special Events magazine’s 50 Top Event Companies since 2012.
Pico Far East Holdings Limited has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 1992 (HKEx Stock Code: 752). Our associate company, Pico (Thailand) Public Company Limited was also listed on Thailand's MAI in 2004 (Stock Code: PICO).
Please visit www.pico.com for more information.
