Informa shares surge on planned £1bn payout to investors
Informa surges jumped as much as 6.9 per cent today after a fresh growth strategy the promise of a bumper payout went down a treat with investors.
The intelligence group was the FTSE 100’s top performer today after the events group said it will sell its data and research unit Informa Intelligence to fund growth in the rest of its business. Subject to the sale, Informa will also return £1bn to shareholders through a share buyback programme and special dividend.
Stephen Carter, Informa’s chief executive, said: ”today we are announcing Informa’s growth and acceleration plan for the next three years, which commits the Group to faster growth and increased investment in the two markets where we have leading brands and leadership positions of scale: Academic Markets and B2B Markets.
“As part of this investment and growth strategy we are starting a process to divest our portfolio of high quality, high performing brands in Informa Intelligence,” he added.
The company also shared plans to invest up to £150m in incremental capital and net operating expenditure over 2021 to 2024, by the end of the period the investment expected to generate £150m-£200m of incremental revenue which will contribute to the company’s operating profit.
In addition to shareholders expecting a bumper payout subject to divestment from Informa Intelligence shareholders will be treated to the reinstatement of the company’s ordinary dividends with a 2022 interim payment, at an initial annual pay-out ratio of one third of annual adjusted earnings.
Shares jumped as much as 6.9 per cent following the update, trading at highs of £5.15. At the time of writing shares remain up by 3.84 per cent.
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