Business information and events business Informa has posted a recession-busting trading update reporting underlying revenue growth of 41% in the year from January to October 2022.
The performance is being fuelled by a bounce back in events, which were severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
It is also being helped by strong performance in B2B information, especially in the US where Informa has brands covering pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, private capital and healthcare.
Informa’s share price stood at £5.83 today, giving it a market cap of £8.3bn. This was well below the post-Covid slump of around £4, but behind the £8 shares were attracting in 2019.
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In April 2020 Informa’s share price slumped to £5bn versus the £11bn the company was worth at the end of 2019.
Informa bought US B2B and events business Industry Dive in July this year for £323m. And it sold Lloyds List for £385m in August.
The Industry Dive acquisition has given the group access to better marketing and lead-generation technology and boosted its audience development capabilities. The Industry Dive titles cover 27 verticals with strong editorially-led free-to-air sites backed by strong newsletters and marketing solutions.
[Read more: CEO interview – B2B without paywalls, how Industry Dive grew into $80m ‘journalism-first’ business]
Informa has increased both its revenue and operating profit predictions for the year, to at least £2.3bn and £490m respectively.
Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, Informa said: “The operating momentum across both our businesses, combined with the strength of our positions in North America, put us in a strong position for continued growth and acceleration in 2023, with incremental growth in China as the market reopens.”
Over the first ten months of the year, live and virtual events generated £1.1bn of revenue for the group. Overall it is predicting to reach 85% of 2019 revenue this year on a like-for-like basis.
Informa’s live events business in China has been impacted by ongoing coronavirus restrictions in the country.
Informa’s brands include Taylor and Francis academic publishing group, B2B brands such as World of Concrete and a range of live and on-demand events such as Biopharm America.
Informa CEO Stephen Carter said: “B2B market demand is growing across many industries and most geographies, with the current exception
of China, which will provide incremental growth as it reopens. Informa and its Brands are at the heart of this B market strength.”
(Picture: Informa annual report)
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