In a statement, UBM reported that revenue in the first half of 2014 was £361m, 7.9% lower than the first half of 2013, (£391.8m) reflecting a foreign exchange headwind which had an adverse impact on revenues of £31.7m.
It said that the geographic mix of its events porfolio continues to shift towards emerging markets, where it saw a 15.5% underlying revenue growth. Emerging markets accounted for 41.4% of annual events revenue in the first half.
Events in China accounted for 29% of annual events (mainland 19.2% and Hong Kong 9.8%), while underlying revenue growth in China was 15.3%.
Tim Cobbold, chief executive officer at UBM, said: "UBM has had a solid first half and remains on track to meet expectations for the full year.
"Although the reported performance was adversely impacted by currency headwinds, the group performed well with good underlying revenue growth in both the events and PR newswire businesses and with higher operating margins in each of the three businesses."
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