Informa boosts dividend and share buyback as sales rise in first half
Informa PLC on Thursday increased its share buyback as it delivered an improvement in underlying revenue.
The London-based business information and exhibitions group swung to a pretax profit of £232.0 million in the half-year that ended June 30 from a £254.2 million loss a year prior.
Revenue edged up 1.4% to £2.06 billion from £2.04 billion, or by 5.1% on an underlying basis.
On an underlying basis, revenue grew 10% in Informa Markets, 5.4% in Informan Connect, and 1.9% at Informa Festivals.
Adjusted operating profit fell 5.3% to £548.3 million from £578.9 million but improved 2.4% on an underlying basis. Adjusted operating margin narrowed to 26.6% from 28.4%.
Informa raised its interim dividend by 6.9% to 7.48 pence from 7.00p, and it increased its share buyback to £350 million from £250 million.
Free cash flow totalled £283.9 million, down from £356.9 million.
Looking ahead, Informa reaffirmed 2026 guidance for around 6% underlying revenue growth and double-digit underlying growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share. Adjusted diluted EPS was 26.6 pence in the first half of the year, down 11% from 29.8p a year before
Chief Executive Stephen Carter said Informa continues to have "forward momentum".
Shares in Informa rose 1.9% to 922.20p each in London on Thursday.
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