29th Jul 2014 08:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Informa PLC Tuesday maintained its expectations for its full-year results despite taking a hit from the strength of sterling, as it saw pretax profit rise in the half year to end-June, driven by its Exhibition and Academic Publishing businesses.
The business media and events company proposed an interim dividend of 6.4 pence, unchanged from the previous year.
Informa posted a pretax profit of GBP100.2 million, up from GBP74.6 million, as revenue rose to GBP569.6 million from GBP564.0 million, and operating expenses reduced to GBP457.3 million from GBP473.4 million.
The company has split its operations into four divisions in an effort to reduce the complexity of its existing business structures and reporting lines in the first phase of its strategic review. With this complete, the company is now undertaking the second phase of its review, which is seeking to accelerate the company's growth.
This three-year growth programme is expected to cost between GBP60 million to GBP90 million, split over the three years, Informa said, though it said it is still finalising the projects and initiatives within the plan. A significant portion of the investment will be within the company's Business Intelligence division, where it is targeting a return to positive organic growth by the end of 2016.
During the half year the company saw a strong performance at its Exhibition and Academic Publishing businesses. However, this was offset by weakness by in the Business Intelligence division.
Informa said that, as it receives around 45% of its revenues and incurs around 36% of its costs in US dollars, it has been hurt by the strength of sterling against the dollar. The strength of sterling against the euro also has damped its performance. Informa estimates that the overall hit from these currency movements was GBP26.7 million during the year.
The company posted restructuring and reorganisation costs of GBP6.8 million, lowered from GBP7.3 million in the previous year, as it re-domiciled back to the UK, and restructured its Business Intelligence business.
Informa also Tuesday acquired US-based trade show and conference company Virgo Holdings LLC, subject to the receipt of US anti-trust clearance, for an undisclosed amount. It expects Virgo to add to earnings in its first full year after acquisitions.
"We remain disciplined in our approach to the remainder of 2014, retaining operational focus whilst simultaneously taking further steps to reposition the Group to simplify its structure, leverage its scale and deliver future growth," said Chief Executive Stephen Carter in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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