Informa maintains guidance amid some market struggles

Exhibitions, events, information services and education provider Informa updated the market on the 10 month period ending 31 October on Monday, reporting continued growth in revenue, adjusted profit, earnings and cash flow, adding that it was on track to achieve its forecast full-year performance.

The FTSE 100 company said it saw group underlying revenue growth of 2.8% for the period, ahead of “significant, seasonally-stronger” November to December trading.

It said its progressive portfolio management strategy had continued, with the divestiture of the industry and infrastructure media brands portfolio, following the sale of the life sciences media brands portfolio and the agribusiness portfolio, as well as portfolio changes in Informa Connect.

On the expansion front, Informa noted the minor investment it had made in Founders Forum, and the launch of a joint venture with Informa Tech, which it said was a combination of strengths to support the next phase of growth in technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

It also said the issue of a new €500m (£430.65m) bond had further strengthened its balance sheet, lowering the overall cost of debt and extending average maturity to 5.5 years.

Informa noted two “market-specific, in-year impacts” through the period - the first in Dubai, where an increasing commitment to World Expo 2020, combined with challenging market conditions, had a “significant effect” on traditional exhibitions investment, particularly in real estate and construction, impacting the Cityscape Global event in September.

In Hong Kong, where the company generated around 4% of its revenue, recent civil protests had a “small impact” on revenue growth at some events.

That, Informa said, affected its largest brand in the region during September - the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Show - although a strong programme of support, including investment in additional security and transport, ensured the show still ran effectively.

The board said the underlying performance of Informa Markets was strong in the first 10 months of the year, despite those impacts in Dubai and Hong Kong, delivering 3.4% underlying revenue growth across the period.

“After 10 months trading in 2019, despite an unpredictable economic [and] geo-political backdrop, the enlarged Informa Group continues to demonstrate resilience and performance, remaining on track for a sixth consecutive year of growth in underlying revenue, profit, adjusted earnings and cash flow,” said chief executive officer Stephen A Carter.

Looking ahead, Informa said November and December were “significant” trading months for the enlarged group, representing around 20% of annual revenue, with November alone accounting for more than £350m.

That would include a “key period” for subscription renewals and consulting business at Informa Intelligence, Informa Tech and Taylor & Francis, while the company was also running a number of major event brands through the period, including in pharma and healthcare in CPhI Worldwide, CPhI India and BioEurope, and in technology with AI Summit, AfricaCom and Blackhat Europe.

Despite ongoing economic and geo-political uncertainty, Informa said its forward pacing for the rest of 2019 provided reassurance on its group revenue guidance of 3.5% for the year.

“Furthermore, the breadth and balance of the enlarged group, the quality of our revenue growth and strong visibility of forward bookings and renewals into the first quarter of 2020 gives us confidence in the strength and resilience of future growth,” the board explained.

At 0811 GMT, shares in Informa were down 1.18% at 790.6p.