Time Out in ‘advanced talks to open food markets in London and Porto’: Time Out Market, which is owned by Time Out Group and brings together a city’s best restaurants, food shops, and culture under one roof, is in advanced talk to open sites in London and Porto. The company stated: “At the time of the IPO, the group acquired the Time Out Market business comprising the market in Lisbon and a central team who are developing the format for expansion into further cities worldwide. The performance of the market in Lisbon has been very encouraging with record numbers of visitors and top ratings on review sites, contributing to a doubling in revenues year-on-year. The Lisbon market’s strong revenue growth is ahead of expectations and has been profitable in each month of 2016. In line with our stated growth strategy, as set out at the time of IPO, the intention is to expand this format internationally to other cities. Plans for new locations are in advanced discussions in London and Porto, and are progressing well in New York and Miami. The group continues to find a high level of interest in the concept from landlords in many other cities.” On admission to trading on AIM in June 2016, the group raised gross funds of £90 million, which after fees and debt repayment generated net funds to the company of £59 million. As part of the admission process, the group acquired Time Out Market Limited, the holding company of the Time Out Market in Lisbon and a 41.5% stake in Flypay, a provider of mobile technology based ordering and payment solutions to restaurants and venues. Reported group revenue for the first six months has increased by 12% from £13.5m to £15.1m primarily through organic growth aided by acquisitions and favourable foreign exchange movement. Growth on a constant currency basis was 10%. Time Out Market Limited was acquired by the group on 14 June 2016 and therefore only 17 days of trading are included in the reported figures. Taking into account a full six months of Time Out Market in 2016, group revenue grew by 16%. Julio Bruno, chief executive of Time Out Group, said: “We opened an exciting new chapter for Time Out when we became a listed company in June and presented an ambitious growth strategy for this iconic brand. In the first six months of 2016 we traded well and in line with our expectations, delivering material revenue increases across key growth areas. We made strong progress against our strategy as we increasingly monetise our audience, develop e-commerce and provide unique advertising opportunities to businesses. I’m also very pleased with the excellent results for Time Out Market Lisbon. It has been a successful and profitable proof of the format and we can’t wait to roll it out to other cities. The second half of the financial year has begun well, with good year-on-year growth as we continue to inspire people to discover, book and share the very best of the world’s cities.”