Informa hikes revenue forecasts on hopes of trade show return
Informa has increased its revenue forecasts for the full year as the exhibitions group struck an optimistic tone over the return of in-person events.
The FTSE 100 company said it now expects to pull in revenue of £1.8bn in 2021, up from previous guidance of £1.7bn.
This reflected a “progressive return” of physical events in its key markets of North America, mainland China and the Middle East, as well as increasing demand for digital services.
Informa, which runs events including the China Beauty Expo and the Monaco Yacht Show, has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, with in-person events around the world grinding to a halt.
It has been cutting costs by laying off staff and closing offices, as well as raising equity and debt and postponing events in a bid to reduce the impact of lockdowns.
For the first half of the year the company reported revenue of £688.9m — down 15.4 per cent on the same period last year. Adjusted pre-tax profit halved from £71m to £36.3m.
Informa, which is the world’s largest exhibition group, has been increasingly shifting its focus towards its subscription-led business, which includes academic publisher Taylor & Francis and the historic Lloyd’s List shipping journal.
Informa said its subscription had performed well in the first six months of the year, adding it also planned to expand its digital services business as part of a three-year growth plan that will also see the company ramp up its presence in specialist markets.
”Informa’s subscriptions-led businesses continue to deliver improving growth, reflecting our consistent investment in product development and increasing focus on specialist brands in growth markets,” said chief executive Stephen Carter.
“Our physical events business is increasingly returning in mainland China and progressively rebuilding in North America and the Middle East, with positive forward bookings and growing commercial confidence. Clearly, however, there is continuing restriction and uncertainty in other parts of the world and we continue to monitor the rules and relaxation approaches on a country-by-country basis.”
He added: “Looking ahead over the next three years, a growth acceleration plan will focus on
delivering further growth in subscriptions and services, progressive recovery in physical events and continued expansion of our range of digital services, to meet growing customer demand for data-led, digital solutions in all our businesses.”