FY 20 final results – Putting the best foot forward

These were impressive FY 20 results that came in at the top end of guidance given back in March. The Data & Information core has proven resilient whilst the swift digital transition with Training and Networking has mitigated the worst revenue impacts from lockdown. Underlying cash generation was healthy, and management have been able to materially de-risk the balance sheet without needing to raise dilutive, new equity capital. In this note, we are re-initiating coverage will full estimates published for FY 21 and beyond. We also discuss the revenue scenarios outlined by the company at the FY 20 results announcement and what these imply in terms of earnings outcomes. Both of these scenarios hinge on the key swing factor for FY 21; namely whether face to face events can resume in time for Wilmington’s H2. Our estimates effectively represent a middle ground between these two outcomes. In our eyes, the current valuation is difficult to justify on fundamentals, nor on a comparative basis. Although we do not know the full current year outcome for the rest of the peer group, we would be surprised if many do better than Wilmington and yet the valuation gap has widened. Looking at the components within the group, the argument can be made that Risk & Compliance alone could be worth more than the current group market capitalisation. This suggests that investors are being given a free option on the c.£70m of revenue and £6m of EBIT (£80m / £13m pre-Covid) that sit outside Risk & Compliance.