Trading Update

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
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive	[phone]
Gareth Wright, Group Finance Director	[phone]
Richard Menzies-Gow, Director of Investor Relations	[phone]
Teneo Blue Rubicon
Tim Burt / Zoe Watt	[phone]

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: [phone] / 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.

 

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