TIDMINF
RNS Number : 9896V
Informa PLC
09 November 2017
Press release
9 November 2017
Informa PLC
Trading Update
Continued Performance & Delivery; On Track for Full Year
Expectations
London: Informa (LSE: INF.L), the international B2B Events,
Information Services and Upper Level Academic Publishing Group,
today reported continued performance and delivery for the
ten-months ending 31 October 2017 and re-confirmed expectations for
the full year.
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, said: "At Informa, the
combination of increased operational fitness, the delivery of the
2014-2017 Growth Acceleration Plan and the integration of Penton
Information Services continues to serve us well."
He added: "While the fourth quarter is always an important
period for us, our increased scale and international breadth give
us confidence we can deliver another year of growth in revenue,
profit, cash flow and dividends in 2017."
Trading Highlights
The Informa Group delivered underlying revenue growth of +3.2%
in the ten-month period to the 31 October 2017. At a reported
level, revenue growth was around +40% year-on-year.
B2B Events...leading Brands in growing B2B verticals
Our combined B2B Events businesses, comprising the Global
Exhibitions and Knowledge & Networking Divisions, recorded
underlying revenue growth of +5.2% through the first 10 months of
the year.
Global Exhibitions...international B2B platforms for trade and
commerce
The benefits of international expansion and scale, combined with
our focus on major B2B Brands within attractive growth verticals
continue to deliver a consistently strong performance across our
Exhibitions business, with underlying revenue growth of +9.2% for
the 10-month period.
We run fewer of our Top 30 Exhibitions during the second half of
the year but those held so far have performed inline or ahead of
expectations, including in Real Estate & Construction
(Cityscape Global), International Yachting (Monaco Yacht Show, Fort
Lauderdale International Boat Show), Agriculture (Farm Progress),
Health & Nutrition (Natural Products East, SupplySide West) and
Pop Culture (Fan Expo).
The outlook remains encouraging with more than 95% of 2017
revenue now received or contracted, and a continued positive trend
in forward bookings for 2018. This gives us confidence we can
continue to deliver underlying growth and margins ahead of the
wider Exhibitions market next year and beyond.
Knowledge & Networking...international B2B communities for
learning and engagement
Our strategy to streamline and focus the portfolio on our high
quality, Brand-led confexes in the three-end markets of Global
Finance (SuperReturn, Finnovate), Life Sciences (BioEurope, Boston
Biotech) and TMT (Internet of Things World, AfricaCom), is
delivering progressive improvement. After four years of proactive
portfolio management, the period since the half year saw a return
to positive growth for the first time since the launch of the
Growth Acceleration Plan ("GAP"). This helped to improve the
ten-month position, reducing the underlying revenue decline to
-2.5% year-to-date.
Our programme of portfolio management continues with the sale of
Euroforum, our domestic conference business in Germany and
Switzerland, which completed on 1 November. After some exploratory
discussions, we decided to retain our business in Australia and
Singapore, which is modest in size but owns and operates some
valuable Brands and delivers steady cash flow.
November and December are always important months for the
Division, with a number of our largest Branded events taking place.
The improved mix and focus of the business provides greater
visibility, with forward pacing of delegate sales on track.
However, this remains a transactional business so our focus
continues to be on full year delivery to ensure we enter 2018 on a
positive growth trajectory.
Business Intelligence...specialist B2B insight and
intelligence
The benefits of GAP investment into core products and platforms,
combined with continued focus on strengthening our customer
relationships is producing a steady improvement in operating and
financial performance, with underlying revenue growth of +1.7% over
the first 10-months of the year.
The last few months of the year are a key period for
subscription renewals. We are entering it with a positive trend in
Annualised Contract Values and a healthy sales pipeline,
particularly in Agribusiness, Transportation and Finance following
a number of recent product upgrades and new launches.
We also continue to focus on our contingent businesses, with our
re-launched Consulting offering gaining good customer traction.
Similarly, in Marketing Services we recently re-launched the
business as Informa Engage to coincide with the busy fourth quarter
trading period, when customers traditionally look to allocate
budgets on marketing and research initiatives.
Together, this gives us confidence we will deliver further
steady improvement in growth in 2017, leaving us well placed to
meet our target of 3%+ underlying revenue growth in 2018.
Academic Publishing...scholarly research and specialist
reference-led content
The trends in Academic Publishing remain broadly consistent,
with continued strength in Academic Research Journals and steady
trading in Upper Level reference-led Books balanced by ongoing
volatility in the Lower Level textbook market. In aggregate, this
produced modest +0.9% underlying revenue growth across the
ten-month period, similar to the first half of the year.
In September, we announced the addition of independent open
access ("OA") publisher Dove Medical Press. This enhances our
Journals business and strengthens our position in Health Sciences,
adding a valuable portfolio of established and indexed OA journals
and a platform for future expansion in this attractive and growing
market.
The outlook remains robust and consistent. The Journal
subscription season has started well, with renewals still strong.
While the back end of the year is a key period for Books trading,
we are confident of a solid outcome, and a second consecutive year
of modest positive growth for the overall business.
Enquiries
Informa PLC
+44 (0) 20 7017
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive 5771
+44 (0) 20 7017
Gareth Wright, Group Finance Director 7096
Richard Menzies-Gow, Director of +44 (0) 20 3377
Investor Relations 3445
Teneo Blue Rubicon
+44 (0) 20 7420
Tim Burt / Zoe Watt 3141
----------------------------------------- ---------------
Analysts and investors
Gareth Wright, Group Finance Director, and Richard Menzies-Gow,
Director of Investor Relations, will be hosting a short conference
call for analysts and investors today to discuss the Trading
Update, commencing at 8.00am UK time. Dial-in details: +44 (0) 330
336 9105 / Confirmation Code: 9599017.
Notes to editors
About Informa PLC
Informa operates at the heart of the Knowledge and Information
Economy. It is one of the world's leading B2B Events, Information
Services, and Upper Level Academic Publishing businesses.
With more than 7,500 colleagues globally, it has a presence in
all major geographies, including North America, South America,
Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
To learn more, please visit www.informa.com
Cautionary Statements
This Trading Update contains forward looking statements. These
statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and
actual results and events could differ materially from those
currently being anticipated as reflected in such forward looking
statements. The terms 'expect', 'should be', 'will be' and similar
expressions identify forward looking statements. Factors which may
cause future outcomes to differ from those foreseen in forward
looking statements include, but are not limited to: general
economic conditions and business conditions in Informa's markets;
exchange rate fluctuations, customers' acceptance of its products
and services; the actions of competitors; legislative, fiscal and
regulatory developments; changes in law and legal interpretation
affecting Informa's intellectual property rights and internet
communications; and the impact of technological change. These
forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this
Trading Update. Except as required by any applicable law or
regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward looking statements contained in this document to reflect
any change in the Group's expectations or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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