Informa flags further growth after 'outstanding' year

(Sharecast News) - Media blue chip Informa posted a jump in annual revenues and profits on Thursday, fuelled by strong demand for live events. The publishing-to-exhibitions specialist saw revenues rise 13.7%, or by 6.3% on an underlying basis, to £4.04bn in the year to December end. Adjusted operating profits rose 14.6% to £1.14bn.

Within that, revenues at academic publishing business Taylor & Francis eased 2.1% to £670.8m, although once non-recurring data contracts were stripped out they rose 3.6%. Revenues fell 1.7% in digital services division TechTarget, to £368m.

However, offsetting that was a 9.5% spike in revenues in live events, Informa's biggest division, to £3bn.

Stephen Carter, chief executive, said the group had delivered an "outstanding performance" in 2025.

He continued: "The power of live, the value of proprietary first party data, deep international reach and the deployment of AI technology are driving strong customer demand for our specialist brands, underpinning our confidence in the compounding growth opportunities for Informa."

Looking to the current year, Informa said it was set to benefit from various structural tailwinds including business-to-business specialisation and countries using conferences and major exhibitions to help support economic growth.

"These structural growth foundations underpin our business and growth prospects for 2026," Informa said, "and we are targeting underlying revenue growth of 6%, above our medium-term guidance range.

"This is expected to translate to a sixth-consecutive year of double-digit underlying earnings per share growth."