Informa has raised its annual profit outlook by £70m ($89.7m) thanks to a strong performance in its B2B exhibitions and academic markets.
In a statement the company said: “Informa has fully recovered from Covid disruption, with growth exceeding pre-pandemic levels and demand increasing in key international markets, including China.”
The London listed plc has announced it predicts a 10% rise in its adjusted operating profit for the year ending 31 December 2023 to between £750m and £790m.
The firm’s revised revenue forecast is also optimistic, expecting between £2.95bn and £3.05bn, a 7% increase on previous estimates, and above 2019 pre-Covid levels.
Shares in the events organiser, rose 4% in the first half-hour of trading on Thursday following following the announcement of the revised revenue forecast to the London Stock Exchange.
In a statement the company said: “Over the last decade we have progressively built a portfolio of 600+ major B2B brands serving 20+ attractive and growing market categories in all major regions of the world.
“Through Covid we took a long-term view, protecting and preserving these brands, supporting colleagues, investing in digital and data, and maintaining the strength of our relationships with customers. This has enabled us to return to live events post-Covid with a better-quality product and a broader B2B service offering, resulting in a very strong rebound in revenues and overall activity.
“In 2023, we have run more than 60 major live events to date, attracting c.40,000 exhibitors, 1.5m+ attendees, covering more than 12m square feet of floor space.”
Informa Markets delivered 43.5% growth in the first five months of the year, the company reported.
Informa Connect, has also seen strong performances in its core verticals of life sciences (BioEurope) and finance (SuperReturn), as well as in its portfolio of fan-oriented pop culture events (MegaCon Orlando), delivering divisional underlying revenue growth of +19.2% to the end of May.
With Informa’s acquisition of Tarsus now complete “trading across its portfolio is strong, reflecting the quality of its brands and customer relationships,” they said. Tarsus will remain an operating entity inside Informa and reported as a separate operating division in their half year results. It will then be reported within Informa’s existing divisional structure at the 2023 full year results.
This week, Informa’s London Tech Week, attracted more than 30,000 attendees from 150 countries including a keynote address by UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
Group chief executive, Stephen Carter, said: “The Informa Group is delivering accelerating growth in revenues, profits, earnings and cashflows, with a strong balance sheet and increasing shareholder returns. This enables us to increase our guidance for 2023 and create further opportunities for growth and acceleration in 2024 and beyond.”
