Business information giant Informa grew revenue by 11.4% to £3.6bn in 2024 helped by a booming B2B events business.
Adjusted operating profit (excluding certain exceptional costs) grew by 23% on an underlying basis to £995m.
Informa said B2B events are being fuelled by the “rising value of face-to-face connections in a digital world” and what it calls the “AI time dividend” as technology gives people more time for “innovation and impact”.
It said its business information and events businesses are also being helped by the fact industries are becoming more segmented and specialist – creating new market categories and fresh demand for networking and information. Informa noted that “meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions” are particularly important in developing industries.
Shifting the group’s focus away from the UK and Europe towards higher growth economics has been another factor in its success.
Some 45% of Informa revenue is now based in North America, 40% in the Middle East and Asia, 10% continental Europe and less than 5% UK.
Informa claims to be largest owner of B2B brands globally with more than 800 specialist titles. According to Press Gazette’s ranking it is the fourth biggest news media company in the UK.
Informa bought rival B2B events and information business Ascential in a £1.2bn deal in July. In December, Informa completed a deal in which it paid $350m for a majority stake in Techtarget, the US technology website publisher.
It runs events across a range of B2B verticals including health, construction, technology and finance. Informa also runs 220 specialist B2B information brands within the Techtarget division and publishes more than 2,700 peer-reviewed journals in the Taylor and Francis academic research business.
Informa gave an update on its use of AI in-house having signed a deal with Microsoft last year. It said: “Applying this benefit to our own business by expanding the AI tools available to colleagues and customers to enhance productivity, deepen connections and create more time to focus on innovation and new growth opportunities by reducing process and administration.
“This includes the full deployment of Elysia across the company, our AI personal assistant for colleagues, providing efficient and secure search/retrieval, summaries, analysis, translation etc.”
Chief executive Stephen Carter said: “On every measure, the Informa Group delivered an outstanding result in 2024, from revenue growth to higher dividend returns, alongside further International and Portfolio expansion. This is a performance we aim to repeat in 2025.”
See the Informa 2024 results statement in full.
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