Informa issues trading update

Stephen A. Carter, group chief executive, Informa, said: ”At Informa, we have built leading positions serving B2B and Academic Markets around the world, embedding our products and services with customers, and creating long-term opportunities for growth and scale.”

He added: ”We are confirming an upgrade to revenue and profit in 2023 and extending our share buyback programme to £1.15bn. In 2024, our task is to continue to improve our product and service offering, grow organically, and use our cash flows and balance sheet to seize opportunities to build and buy further scale.”

Key highlights as reported by Informa:

• 2023 Outperformance...Strength and momentum across the portfolio (10-month Group underlying revenue growth of 31.7%), lead to a further increase in 2023 full year expectations to Revenues of £3.15bn+ (from £3.05bn) and Adjusted Operating Profit of £840m+ (from £790m);
• Specialisation…75+ Research subject areas, 600+ major B2B Brands, 20+ B2B market categories, 15 specialist Tech Research sectors, 40+ Digital Media Brands, 20m+ known, engaged audience;
• First Party Data & Technology...The scale and depth of our First Party Data, delivered by IIRIS, and the increasing application of artificial intelligence in customer service, search, content and data analytics, is enhancing customer value, improving efficiency and creating growth opportunities;
• B2B Leadership…In an increasingly digital world, demand for high quality face-to-face connections, B2B market access and highly qualified sales intelligence is higher than ever, fuelling strong underlying growth at Informa Markets (+65.0% after 10 months), Informa Connect (+15.6%) and Informa Tech (+5.6%);
• Academic Strength…The market for specialist, verified knowledge and research is also in structural growth, underpinning the continuing strength of Taylor & Francis (+3.2%). Underlying strength in Pay-to-Read Subscriptions and Advanced Learning is being supported by growth in open research volumes and other Pay-to-Publish services;
• International Breadth…The power of our Brands and operating reach across 10+ major markets deliver breadth and growth, with full year revenues expected to exceed 2019 pre-covid levels in North America, South America, ASEAN, the Middle East, Europe and China;
• Targeted Expansion...In 2023 we have redeployed £1bn+ of Informa Intelligence proceeds (c.£2.5bn value / c.28x average EV/EBITDA) into M&A, at an average post-synergy multiple of c.9x EV/EBITDA. These businesses are immediately contributing to growth, whilst further strengthening our market positions in Foodservice (Winsight), Specialist Tech Research (Canalys), Packaging and Aviation (Tarsus) and Healthcare Technology (HIMSS);
• Accelerating shareholder returns...An improving underlying performance, cash flow and balance sheet strength enables us to extend the share buyback programme to £1.15bn, an increase of up to £150m through to our Full Year Results on 7 March 2024.

Click here to read the full update.