Informa plc (LON:INF), the leading international B2B Live Events Group has published a Nine-Month Trading Update, reporting continuing strong underlying growth and reaffirming full year guidance for double-digit underlying earnings growth2.
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, Informa, said: ”Informa continues to deliver strong performance and underlying growth.”
He added: “Strong underlying demand for B2B Live Events, combined with the strength of our Brands and operating flexibility, is enabling us to deliver consistent growth and performance, and our international breadth is limiting the impact of specific in-market disruptions.”
Highlights
- Continuing growth…Group underlying revenue growth of 6.5% in the nine months to 30 September (excluding non-recurring data contracts)1:
- B2B Live Events (Informa Markets, Connect, Festivals)…Strong underlying revenue growth of 8.0%, reflecting continuing strong demand for high-quality live B2B Event brands, with particular strength in the Americas, Europe, ASEAN and within IMEA (excluding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia);
- Academic Markets…Underlying revenue growth of 4.0% (excluding non-recurring data contracts), reflecting continuing strong demand for trusted, validated content and specialist data;
- Informa TechTarget…Underlying revenues 1.6% lower year-on-year, reflecting continuing market volatility, with enterprise technology customers prioritising AI investment over product marketing and sales support.
- IMEA market update…Our B2B Live Events rescheduling programme has worked effectively in IMEA, with 50+ brands trading this year, totalling $530m+ revenues. Since the H1 results, 30± brands have traded at $230m+ revenue, including 15+ events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in Energy (Middle East Energy), Cyber Security (GISEC), Technology (LEAP, Deepfest), Fintech (Money20/20 Middle East) Lifestyle & Investment (LiveX), Human Resources (HRSE) and Enthusiast (Middle East Comicon).
Recent escalation in KSA has led to further rescheduling, including the 2026 edition of Global Health Exhibition (Riyadh) moving to a virtual format (with the physical event moving to October 2027) and the 2026 edition of Cityscape Global (Riyadh) moving to January 2027 (with the 2027 edition remaining in November 2027);
- Full year outcomes…Despite significant disruption in the Middle East through 2026, our business has continued to track to Group guidance on Revenue (6%± underlying growth) and Earnings (double-digit underlying growth in adjusted diluted EPS2), reflecting effective in-region operating flexibility and outperformance in other international markets. Absent KSA, this would remain the case but, in light of the latest force majeure activity, assuming no further contribution from KSA in 2026, we continue to track to double-digit growth in underlying earnings (excluding the in-year dilution from the share issuance relating to the Clarion acquisition) but with Group underlying revenue growth now tracking to 3%±;
- Addition of Clarion Events to the Informa international portfolio…All regulatory filings have now been submitted and completion is expected within the first two weeks of December. This means Clarion Events will be a full part of the Informa Group for 2027, adding 100+ B2B brands to the portfolio, bringing further scale in North America and Asia and significantly strengthening Informa’s European position.
1Underlying revenue growth of 5.4% if non-recurring data contracts are included in the 9m 2025 comparison
2Underlying adjusted diluted EPS is at constant fx, adjusted for biennials, non-recurring data contracts, with a 2025 base of 49p;
