Informa abandons £1bn profit target as the events company faces FX hits
- Informa expects to achieve an adjusted operating profit of more than £975 million this year
- The company organizes the Arab Health, Dubai Airshow and Cityscape Global events
Taylor & Francis owner Informa has cut its annual profit forecast in response to adverse currency movements.
The publisher and events organizer expects to achieve an adjusted operating profit of more than £975 million this year, having previously targeted more than £1 billion.
However, the London-based company still expects sales of more than £3.5 billion thanks to a “consistently strong performance” through the first ten months of 2024.
During the period, Informa reported a 10.7 percent increase in underlying sales, driven by growth in all major regions, especially India, the Middle East and Africa.
Exhibitions organized by the group in the latter area include Arab Health, the Dubai Airshow and Cityscape Global, a real estate conference that took place last week in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.
Informa’s recent £1.2 billion acquisition of Ascential was partly motivated by a desire to expand its fintech business into the Middle East and Africa.
New prospects: Event organizer Informa expects to achieve adjusted operating profit of more than £975 million this year, after previously targeting more than £1 billion
The company is focusing on Saudi Arabia, where it operates the Tahaluf joint venture and plans to host a Money 20/20 event in January.
The acquisition also gave Informa control of the Cannes Lions Festival, one of the world’s largest gatherings in the advertising and marketing industry.
Cannes Lions and Money20/20 will be part of Informa’s new live events division, Informa Festivals, launching in early 2025.
Informa noted that advance bookings for its portfolio of live B2B shows and renewals of its subscription business for next year were “on track.”
The company also revealed that revenues from ‘major events’ in its Informa Markets segment, which organizes the Monaco Yacht Show and World of Concrete, rose 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
Stephen A. Carter, CEO of Informa, said the group “continues to deliver strong performance in 2024, with bookings boosting going forward into 2025.”
The exhibition industry has steadily recovered over the past two years after the Covid-19 pandemic led to widespread postponements and cancellations of exhibitions.
Info shares were down 2.1 per cent at 837.6p on Tuesday afternoon, making them one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index.
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