United Business Media (UBM), the business publications group, today brushed aside the impact of the weak dollar on the company when it said it had made a strong start to the second half while revealing a hike its share buyback programme.

Shares in the Music Week and Property Week owner rose 2.93 per cent to 596.5p from a 17-month low as the company said it will return £405 million this year, up from a promised £300 million, through a share buyback and special dividend. UBM also said it will return between £200 million to £300 million to shareholders by the end of 2009.

UBM said that it expected underlying revenue growth for the second half of the year to be 6 to 7 per cent, significantly ahead of first half and full-year underlying revenue growth to be close to 5 per cent.

However, it admitted that the outlook for 2008 was uncertain on the back of the weakened dollar which will reduce comparative revenue for the second half by about £11 million and operating profit by around £3 million.

UBM earns more than half of its profits in US dollars, and movements in the sterling/US dollar exchange rate and the macro performance of the American economy during the course of 2008 will influence next year’s trading results.

UBM said revenue and profit from its PR Newswire business in the second half was strongly ahead of the first six months, while the global exhibitions portfolio also performed strongly during the period.

UBM said that CMP Medica has continued its disappointing performance, with a like-for-like decline in revenue and operating profit. Restructuring costs of about £6 million will be reported as an exceptional charge in 2007.

In February, UBM said that it would take between 18 months and 24 months to restructure CMPMedica.

Despite concerns about the dollar, the company said that contracted forward bookings for 2008 were strong. It said that in total UBM’s top 20 annual exhibitions, which generate about £100 million of revenue, are more than 10 per cent ahead of the equivalent position last year.

This year, many of the leading shows, such as Marintec, a biennial event which is Asia’s largest shipping event, fell in November.

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