Citi sees short-term pressure on Informa shares

The bank said it expected a deeper immediate trough caused by coronavirus disruption and a shallower recovery over the next three years. Citi cut its price target on Informa shares to 600p from 650p and put the shares on a 30-day "negative catalyst watch".

Citi analyst Thomas Singlehurst cut his forecast for Informa's 2020 earnings by 62% and his 2021 forecast by 24%. He cut his long-term forecasts for the events and information company by 10-15%.

Singlehurst said much of this news was already in Informa's share price and that the shares were a good bet over 12 months. He kept his 'buy' rating on the shares.

But he said "in the very short term, however, we worry that the market may get spooked" with first-half results and into the second half, he wrote in a note to clients.

Informa's shares, which recently fell to an eight-year low, dropped 1.3% to 396.90p at 14:03 BST.