Informa plc (LON:INF), the international B2B Events, B2B Digital Services and Academic Markets Group, has issued an update on trading, key appointments and progress on its TechTarget combination.
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, said:”All Informa’s businesses are performing ahead or in line with 2024 targets, delivering growth and momentum which sees us delivering at the upper end of guidance range. Consequently, we are increasing our 2024 share buyback program by c.50% to £500m. At the same time, we are strengthening our Leadership Team with key appointments, both in our Academic Markets business, as well as in the management of our Data, Brands and Intellectual Property.”He concluded: “I am thrilled to see Executives of Penny and Jill’s quality and experience joining the leadership team at Informa. Our business is in growth, it is expanding, and we see lots of opportunities ahead. I am convinced they will help us get there faster and capture more of them.”
Highlights
· Strong operating performance…All businesses delivering ahead of or in line with 2024 targets; we are now performing to the upper end of market guidance on revenues, adjusted operating profit and free cash flow;
· Executive appointments:
o Taylor & Francis Chief Executive…Penny Ladkin-Brand joins the Informa Leadership Team as the Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis; bringing extensive experience of specialist publishing, online platforms and digital acceleration;
o Group Chief Marketing Officer… Jill Dougan joins the Informa Leadership Team in the newly created role of Group Chief Marketing Officer to create further value from Informa’s extensive Brand portfolio, Intellectual Property and growing First Party Data;
· TechTarget combination progress…Proposed creation of NASDAQ-listed New TechTarget, as a Leading B2B Growth Accelerator for Technology companies, on track for Q4 2024;
· Accelerating Shareholder Returns… 2024 share buyback programme increased to £500m, expanded by a further £160m;
· AI Partnership and Data Access Agreement…Non-exclusive agreement signed with Microsoft, including Access to Advanced Learning content and data, and a Partnership to explore AI expert applications.
Market Guidance
| 2024 Updated Guidance | 2024 Current Guidance | 2023 Reported | |
| Group Underlying Revenue Growth | High single digit | High single digit | 30.4% |
| Revenues | Upper end of range | £3,450m – £3,500m | £3,189.6m |
| Adjusted Operating Profit | Upper end of range | £950m – £970m | £853.8m |
| Adjusted Free Cash Flow | £720m++ | £720m+ | £631.7m |
| B2B Markets Underlying Revenue Growth | High single digit | High single digit | 39.2% |
| Academic Markets Underlying Revenue Growth | 5%+ | 4% | 3.0% |
*Guidance excludes any effect of the proposed combination with TechTarget; GBP/USD 1.25
Strong Operating Performance
The Informa Group has continued to deliver strong performances through the first four months of the year, with underlying revenue growth across both B2B Markets (Informa Markets, Informa Connect and Informa Tech) and Academic Markets in line or ahead of our expectations.
Momentum is strong across all major geographic regions, including North America, Asia and IMEA (India, Middle East & Africa), with notable performances in B2B Markets in Healthcare (Arab Health), Manufacturing (IME West), Technology (LEAP), Real Estate & Construction (World of Concrete) and Aviation (MRO Americas), amongst others.
Our first major B2B brand that traded in Mainland China in 2024 was in Hospitality & Food in April (Hotelex Shanghai & Expo Food), delivering healthy year-on-year growth, and our major Beauty brand (China Beauty) in May is tracking to plan.
Key 2023 portfolio additions (Tarsus, Winsight, HIMSS) are contributing as planned to our momentum and growth. The flagship HIMSS healthcare technology brand took place in March, delivering attendee and exhibitor growth, and the major Food Services brand (National Restaurant Association Show) is similarly on track to deliver strong year-on-year growth in May.
In Academic Markets, we completed the first quarter with strong subscription renewals and continued growth in Open Research submission and publishing volumes. Today’s Partnership and Data Access Agreement with Microsoft, which runs from 2024 to 2027, will extend the use of AI within our business and underlines the unique value of our Intellectual Property. The combination of operating performance and this partnership agreement sees us performing to full year underlying revenue growth of 5%+.
Executive Appointments
Informa has confirmed two key additions to the Informa Executive Leadership Team, adding further strength both in the management of our Brands and Intellectual Property and in the Leadership of our Academic Markets business.
Penny Ladkin-Brand appointed Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis
Penny Ladkin-Brand joins the Informa Leadership Team as the Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis. She brings considerable growth-oriented leadership experience in specialist publishing, digital acceleration and the development of online platforms.
Penny is currently Chief Financial and Strategy Officer at Future plc, having previously been Commercial Director at Autotrader Plc. Penny joined Future, a print-led specialist media business in 2015 and partnered with the CEO to grow the business tenfold into a specialist media platform through a combination of organic and inorganic growth. Penny is also Chair of Next 15 Group Plc, the data-driven growth consultancy.
Penny Ladkin-Brand, said:
“I am delighted to be joining Informa, an ambitious, growth-oriented business. Taylor & Francis is a leader in Scholarly Research, an international business and an innovator in both Humanities and Science, with significant potential for further growth, innovation and expansion. I am excited by the many opportunities ahead.“
Jill Dougan appointed Group Chief Marketing Officer
Jill Dougan joins the Informa Leadership Team in the newly created role of Group Chief Marketing Officer. She brings over 30 years’ experience in Sales, Marketing, Customer Insights, Data Insights and Brand, both in B2B and B2C companies, latterly through a number of senior roles at Centrica plc.
As the Group continues to expand internationally, the effective management of our First Party Data, Brands and Intellectual Property is becoming increasingly important in unlocking new revenue opportunities. This is illustrated by today’s Partnership and Access Agreement (Intellectual Property) and similarly through our recent expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Brands) and the TechTarget combination (First Party Data).
Jill will focus on creating further value from Informa’s First Party Data, Brands and Intellectual Property.
Jill Dougan, said:
“I am excited to be joining such a fast-paced, international business as Informa. The Group has a unique set of specialist brands and first party data, and significant embedded value across its portfolio of intellectual property, creating numerous growth opportunities in today’s increasingly data-driven, digitally enabled world. I am looking forward to contributing to the Group’s future success.“
AI Development and Deployment
We continue to drive product benefits and operating efficiencies through the deployment of AI across both our B2B Markets businesses (Informa Markets, Informa Connect, Informa Tech) and our Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis, including in research submission, authenticity screening, validation and accuracy, customer response and content summaries.
Special expert agents are becoming a feature of many AI deployments, and today we are increasing our focus on this area with Microsoft through a non-exclusive Partnership and Data Access Agreement. This expands on our existing enterprise technology partnership to explore how the use of AI can drive innovation and improve productivity across the Informa Group.
Specifically, this agreement includes exploring the development of specialised expert agents based on unique content, starting with Taylor & Francis’ Advanced Learning content and data.
The partnership will focus on four core areas:
1. Improved Productivity: Explore how AI can enable more effective ways of working at Informa, streamlining operations, utilising Copilot for Microsoft 365 to enable Colleagues to work more efficiently, and enhancing the capabilities of Informa’s existing AI and data platforms (IIRIS);
2. Citation Engine: Collaborate to further develop automated citation referencing, using the latest technology to improve speed and accuracy;
3. Specialist Expert Agent: Explore the development of specialised expert agents for customers such as authors and librarians to assist with research, understanding and new knowledge creation/sharing;
4. Data Access: Provide non-exclusive access to Advanced Learning content and data to help improve relevance and performance of AI systems.
The agreement includes payment to Informa of both an initial data access fee ($10m+) and a recurring payment across three years (2025, 2026, 2027).
Similar to other Informa contracts, the agreement protects intellectual property rights, including limits on verbatim text extracts and alignment on the importance of detailed citation references.
TechTarget proposed combination on track for Q4 2024
We continue to make good progress on the proposed combination of Informa Tech’s Digital Businesses (Industry Dive, Omdia, Canalys, NetLine and the Digital Media Brands) with US-listed TechTarget.
New TechTarget, which will be headquartered and listed in the US, will accelerate Informa’s ambition in B2B Digital Services, with a clear goal to become a leading B2B growth accelerator for Technology companies.
The procedural elements of the combination continue to progress to plan, with the Hart-Scott Rodino’s waiting period having expired and with the focus now on preparing the Proxy Statement for filing with the SEC. On current course and speed, we continue to expect completion in the second half of the year, with New TechTarget launching from Q4 2024.
Accelerating Shareholder Returns
Informa’s strong operating performance, continuing cash flow strength and forward visibility lead to a c.50% increase in our 2024 share buyback commitment to £500m.
To date in 2024, we have bought back c.£180m of shares at an average share price of c.798p, leading to the cancellation of c.22.5m shares.
