Wilmington PLC Update on COVID-19 Coronavirus (3583F)
09 Marzo 2020 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMWIL
RNS Number : 3583F
Wilmington PLC
09 March 2020
9 March 2020
Wilmington plc
('Wilmington', 'the Group' or 'the Company')
Update on COVID-19 Coronavirus
Wilmington plc, the provider of data, information, education and
networking services in Risk & Compliance, Healthcare and
Professional knowledge areas, today announces an update on the
potential impact of COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") with a particular
focus on the Group's US events. Currently there is not expected to
be a material impact on profit for the year to 30 June 2020 and no
impact on the following financial year. However, the situation is
fluid and subject to change.
The Group is closely monitoring the developing situation with
regard to Coronavirus and the advice from the World Health
Organisation and other relevant agencies. The health and safety of
our employees, customers and partners remains the priority
consideration for the Group. The Group is also mindful of the need
to deliver quality events for both delegates and sponsors to
maintain the long term reputation of its events businesses through
this challenging period. Over the last week, in response to the
Coronavirus, a significant number of US companies have placed
travel restrictions on their staff. This appears to be having a
disproportionate impact on larger events, and involves not only
delegates but also sponsors and speakers.
The Group operates a multitude of face-to-face training courses,
workshops, seminars, awards events and conferences, and many of
these are held in the US. The period from March to June is
particularly busy in the US with a significant volume of events
planned to run. These include the Group's flagship RISE Nashville
event which was due to run from 15(th) to 17(th) March 2020 and the
Compliance Week Annual Conference which runs in mid May in
Washington DC. In addition to these two major events there are a
number of other relatively smaller US based events in the
Healthcare, Legal and Compliance areas. In total these US events
are expected to deliver around GBP8m of revenue in the remainder of
this financial year, with GBP5m of that due to be delivered in
March.
In response to the situation the Group has taken the following
decisions regarding US events:
-- RISE Nashville, previously planned for 15(th) to 17(th) March
2020 has been deferred, along with its sister event, Social
Determinants of Health which was due to run at the same time in an
adjacent facility.
-- These two events will now take place at the end of June 2020.
-- The Group expects to incur some additional costs from the
change in date, but these are expected to be partly offset by
incremental revenue which was running ahead of expectation prior to
the Coronavirus impact.
-- The deferral of these events is overall expected to have a
GBP0.5m adverse profit impact on the Group's financial results for
the year to 30 June 2020.
-- Based on current information, our other US events scheduled
for the rest of the financial year are not seeing the same level of
challenge as RISE. Generally, these are smaller events with lower
attendance levels and currently most organisations are allowing
staff to travel to these types of events. Accordingly, all other US
events scheduled by the Group are currently still planned to go
ahead. However, we are monitoring the situation very closely and
will act as circumstances dictate.
Outside of the US, the Group is currently seeing limited
disruption to events and face to face training as follows:
-- Relatively small events in Hong Kong, Dubai and Madrid have
been postponed, but again these are expected to be rescheduled to
run before the financial year end.
-- Insurance Week, the Group's major event in Madrid, ran
successfully two weeks ago with strong delegate and sponsorship
attendance.
Inevitably the turmoil being caused by Coronavirus will have
some negative impact both in and outside of the US on delegate and
sponsor revenues and on costs for the rest of the year, other than
the GBP0.5m impact detailed above. However, based on current
observed effects, as explained above, these are not expected to
have a material adverse impact on profit for the year to 30 June
2020 and no impact on the following year. Clearly if travel bans
are imposed in other parts of the world or are extended beyond the
end of April then that could result in a more material impact.
Following the investments made over the last few years in
upgrading our IT infrastructure, the Group is well placed to deal
with potential disruption to our own office access. We have tested
remote working provisions across the Group and are confident that
we could operate without significant disruption in the event of
current predicted containment scenarios.
The Group is working proactively to anticipate, assess and
mitigate the challenges that the Coronavirus situation presents.
The Board would like to thank its employees for the exceptional
efforts they are making in these difficult times. It remains
confident that the actions being taken will protect employees,
customers and partners, whilst maintaining the quality and long
term value of the events and activities undertaken and hence the
interests of shareholders.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse
Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement this inside information is now considered to be in the
public domain.
For further information, please contact:
Wilmington plc
Mark Milner, Chief Executive Officer
Richard Amos, Chief Financial Officer 020 7490 0049
FTI Consulting
Charles Palmer / Dwight Burden /
Emma Hall / Leah Dudley 020 3727 1000
Notes to Editors
Wilmington plc is the recognised knowledge leader and partner of
choice for information, education and networking in Risk &
Compliance, Healthcare and Professional areas. Wilmington employs
close to 1,000 people and sells to around 120 countries. Wilmington
is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
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