Tag: Investor news

PPHC Announces Full Year Results for 2022

Posted on by ally

Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2022

Strong financial performance and sustained growth, driven by robust market demand.

Public Policy Holding Company, Inc., (“PPHC”, the “Group” or the “Company”), the government relations and public affairs group providing clients with a fully integrated and comprehensive range of services, is pleased to announce its Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Financial Highlights:

  • Revenue of $108.8m (2021: $99.3m) reflects an increase of 9.5%, and 6.6% organic growth.
  • Underlying EBITDA of $31.2m (2021: $32.0m) is in line with guidance and was achieved at a margin of 28.7%, within our target range of 25 to 30%. This followed a truly exceptional 2021 which was driven by a combination of high pandemic-related spending and the change of control in the White House
  • Underlying Profit after tax was $23.3m (2021: $23.9m), reflecting a margin of 21.4%
  • Year-end Net Cash stood at $21.0 million, an increase of 17.9%
  • Declared a final dividend of $0.095 per Common Outstanding Share. This would take the total dividend for 2022 to $0.14 per share.

Operational Highlights:

  • Successful acquisition of California based KP Public Affairs on 1 October 2022, proving attractiveness of holding company value proposition and equity + cash offer.
  • Key talent additions into Group’s founding firms, including deepening specialisations in new/renewable energy policy, defence contracting, financial services, and trade policy, all service areas that are central to today’s policy agenda.
  • Improved client diversification, with the top 10 Group clients representing 9.6% of total revenue, down from 13.1% in 2021.
  • 2022 total clients greater than 850, up from over 730 in 2021; includes over 100 Fortune 500 clients and related trade associations.
  • Number of clients spending $100,000 or greater per year was 384, a gain of 11%, and representing 43% of our total clients.

Current Trading and Outlook:

  • MultiState Associates acquired on 1 March 2023, elevating our number of clients to over 1,000.
  • Continued growth into 2023, fuelled by ongoing policy debates over government spending and the passage of historic spending measures in 2021-22 into sectors such as healthcare, essential manufacturing, renewable/alternative energies, and infrastructure.
  • Management expects revenue to grow by 5 to 10% organically, supplemented by growth from past and future M&A transactions.
  • The Group continues to manage the business such that the Underlying EBITDA as percentage of revenue is estimated to be between 25% and 30%.
  • Continuing to build an attractive pipeline of strategic acquisition opportunities in the federal and state advocacy markets, as well as in the adjacent strategic communications and public affairs markets in the US and abroad.

“PPHC is well placed to deliver continued growth, both organically and via acquisitions. We have already completed the acquisition of MultiState, expanding our service offering and opening new opportunities for collaboration between our operating businesses. We look forward to continued strategic and financial progress in 2023.“

-Stewart Hall, CEO

Read the full report here.

PPHC Acquires MultiState to Broaden Client Offering and Footprint

Posted on by ally
  • $22m acquisition “fits perfectly” with PPHC strategy – PPHC CEO, Stewart Hall
  • Geographical footprint broadened to all 50 US states and across Canada
  • Enables PPHC to extend client offering into more areas, e.g. research and compliance
  • Significant cross-referring of business between MultiState and existing PPHC brands expected

The government relations and public affairs holding company PPHC is continuing to execute on its stated growth strategy and has acquired MultiState Associates, one of the largest state and local government relations specialists, for $22m. Read the full acquisition announcement here.

The deal gives PPHC a significantly expanded footprint with operations in all 50 US states as well as across Canada. It also enables PPHC to broaden its client offering given MultiState’s strength in the areas of research and compliance.

The combination of the two businesses is therefore highly complementary and a significant level of cross-referring of business between MultiState and the six other brands within PPHC’s broader network is expected. PPHC’s other brands include Crossroads Strategies, Forbes Tate Partners, Seven Letter, O’Neill & Associates, Alpine Group Partners and KP Public Affairs.

MultiState was founded in 1984 and has its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. It has over 300 corporate clients including several Fortune 500 constituents and has gained particular expertise over the years in representing some of the world’s best-known organisations on issues of local, state, and national importance. MultiState’s 77 employees – including all senior executives – will remain with the business.

PPHC has been undergoing significant growth and acquired KP Public Affairs, the largest advocacy and PR firm in California, for $25m in October 2022 – the most recent acquisition prior to MultiState. The pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities under development remains strong and, in considering each possible deal, PPHC will continue to look to broaden its geographical footprint, both in the US and internationally, and its service offering.

Stewart Hall, CEO of PPHC, commented:

“The acquisition of MultiState fits perfectly with our strategy of broadening our geographic footprint into key US state capitals and metropolitan areas, while extending our offering by adding key service capabilities in research and compliance. MultiState has a talented team and its strategic capabilities will solidify PPHC’s leadership position as the largest and most comprehensive public policy firm in the US. Linking our well-established businesses in Washington DC, Sacramento, California and Boston, Massachusetts to MultiState’s network in 50 states makes the Group uniquely suited to support corporate clients in the most complex risks and opportunities they face.

“Our growth in the resilient and fragmented $17+bn US strategic communications market is driven by increased inter-connectedness of federal, state and international policies and risk exposure. I am confident that our combined businesses will benefit greatly from new capabilities, new geographies and new client opportunities.”

Joseph Crosby, CEO of MultiState, commented:

“PPHC is bringing together highly specialised government relations businesses at a scale that’s never been seen. This acquisition marks a significant milestone ​during​​ ​​​MultiState​’s 40th year in business as well as for each of my talented partners and colleagues.  It also marks a milestone for our clients and the industry, as federal and state policy issues are evermore interdependent and require the professionalism and seamless integration that only PPHC and MultiState now offer.”

PPHC announces interim financial results for the first half of 2022

Posted on by thomas

PPHC interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022

Strong performance driven by organic revenue growth, high client retention, increased demand for new capabilities and expertise

Washington DC, US, 22 September 2022, Public Policy Holding Company (AIM: PPHC), a leading bi-partisan, full-service US government affairs business, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022, which show continued organic growth and strong trading momentum into the second half.

Financial highlights

*      Strong financial performance, driven by increased activity levels from new and existing clients, with organic revenue growth of 9.6% to $51.7m

*      Underlying EBITDA of $14.4m with underlying EBITDA margin of 27.9%

*      High client retention during the period as PPHC continues to see a high level of mandate from its blue-chip client base for its offerings of public affairs, crisis management, lobbying and issue advocacy, research, and media management services

*      Increased investment in notable new hires across the holding and operating companies following IPO, in line with management’s expectations

*      Strong cash generation with an increase in net cash of 35.2% to $17.9m

*      Interim dividend of $0.045 per Common Share, in line with the Group’s dividend policy stated at the time of IPO

HY22HY21Change
Group revenue$51.7m$47.2+9.6%
Underlying EBITDA1$14.4m$14.5m-0.6%
Underlying EBITDA margin27.9%30.8%-2.9ppts
Underlying profit before tax1$14.4m$14.4m-0.5%
Net Cash2$17.9m$13.2m+35.2%
Interim dividend per Common Share$0.045N/AN/A
1Underlying EBITDA and underlying profit before tax are stated prior to non-cash items of amortisation of customer intangibles, LTIP expense and ASC 718-10-S99-2 share-based accounting charge. For the prior period both measures are presented on a normalised, illustrative basis and calculated on the basis that 25% of pre-bonus EBITDA is paid as bonus in line with the Group’s policy post IPO. See the Financial Review below for further detail.

2Net cash excludes long term operating lease liability

Read the full results statement here.