LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - GlobalData reported broadly flat revenue growth in its final results on Monday, at £178.4m, as its subscription revenue rose 7%, offset by a decline in event revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The AIM-traded firm said adjusted EBITDA was ahead 14% at £56.7m, while its adjusted EBITDA margin improved four percentage points to 32% for the year ended 31 December.

Statutory profit before tax was £20.6m higher for the year, at £28.6m.

The company said its invoiced forward revenue was 9% higher at £92.7m, with organic growth in invoiced forward revenue standing at 8% for the year.

Cash generated from continuing operations was 13% higher year-on-year at £59.8m, standing at 105% of adjusted EBITDA, down slightly from the 106% it reported in 2019.

The board declared a final dividend of 11.6p, up 16% year-on-year, and making for a total dividend for 2020 of 17.0p, up 13% over 2019.

On the operational front, GlobalData said "business as usual" was maintained throughout 2020, as it made "significant advancement" in product and platform, responding rapidly to customer demand for Covid-19 intelligence.

"GlobalData made significant progress in 2020 despite the challenges of Covid-19," said chief executive officer Mike Danson.

"We continued to execute on our strategic priorities and delivered an impressive operational and financial performance.

"Excluding events, which account for less than 10% of our revenues, revenue grew at 7%, driving adjusted EBITDA growth of 14% with margins improving by four percentage points to 32%."

Danson said the company had invested "considerably" over several years to develop its business around a 'One Platform' model.

"In 2020, this model proved its worth by enabling us to rapidly pivot our global workforce to remote working with little operational disruption, and to deliver the trusted, actionable intelligence our customers rely on us to provide when it matters most." 

Mike Danson added that the company's performance in 2020, and the attractiveness of the information services sector, have given the firm a strong strategic, operating and financial position from which to grow in 2021.

"We can look forward to strong organic revenue growth and continued margin improvement in 2021 as we progress towards our medium term adjusted EBITDA margin target of between 35% and 40%, and have the ambition to accelerate our organic revenue growth to at least 10% annually."

At 1058 GMT, shares in GlobalData were up 1.69% at 1,200p.

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