Time Out to beat earnings expectations amid strong momentum

Time Out Group boss Chris Ohlund said the firm will ‘look to the future with confidence’ after improved recent sales.

Time Out has seen shares rise after improving sales at its media and market businesses (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

Time Out has said it is on track to surpass earnings guidance after strong trading from both its media and markets businesses over the latest quarter.

The London-listed firm saw shares rise in early trading on Thursday as a result of the upgrade.

Time Out Group boss Chris Ohlund said the firm will “look to the future with confidence” after stronger recent sales.

We are pleased with our recent trading performance and are increasingly confident that this momentum will continue as we approach the new financial year

Chris Ohlund, Time Out Group

The company said it has delivered an acceleration in sales during the current financial quarter – which is due to end on June 30 – for both its media and market divisions.

It told shareholders that it expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) to “be ahead of current market expectations” as a result.

The firm also hailed “disciplined management of costs” amid continued inflationary pressures in the sectors.

It reported a “successful opening” of its latest food and drink market in Porto, which opened its doors last month.

This brought the firm’s market portfolio to eight sites, with a further eight new markets in development and due to open over the next three years, with Barcelona set to open next, in July.

Time Out said its media business has seen its global monthly brand audience grow by 5% to 142 million, amid a rise in social media video content.

Mr Ohlund, chief executive of the group, said: “We are pleased with our recent trading performance and are increasingly confident that this momentum will continue as we approach the new financial year.

“Our growth plan and strategic decisions are delivering results; our strong brand and curated ‘best of the city’ content continues to attract more traffic to our digital media and more footfall to our markets, alongside our pipeline of openings.”

Shares in the AIM-listed firm were up 5.5% to 54.88p on Thursday morning.