17th Dec 2007 07:00
Informa PLC17 December 2007 17 December 2007 TRADING UPDATE FOR YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007 Informa, the global information specialist, continues to perform well in thesecond half of the year. Strong trading in our important September, October andNovember months which account for around 35% of Group operating profit, iscarrying on into December. The Board is confident that the 2007 performance willbe in line with our significant growth expectations. Organic revenue on aconstant currency basis* is projected to increase by 9%. All three of Informa's divisions: Academic & Scientific, Professional andCommercial, are contributing well to the year on year increase. Commercial ishaving a particularly strong 2007 of double digit growth. Trading within each ofthe divisions is good across all of Informa's business activities: events,performance improvement and publishing. Publishing Publishing is finishing the year strongly across the Academic & Scientific,Professional and Commercial markets. Publishing revenues are primarilysubscription driven with advertising revenues accounting for only c. 3%. In 2008publishing, which includes Datamonitor, will represent approximately 60% ofInforma's profits. Academic publishing is concluding a good 2007. The LEA, Haworth and ProductivityPress acquisitions have all been successfully integrated. In 2008 Informaexpects to benefit from strong renewal rates of over 95%. In addition, contentgrowth driven price increases in the 7 - 9% range and a robust pipeline of newbook launches promises well for next year. The 14th edition of the best sellingspecialist book Microbiology of the Cell (which has sold over a million copiesin its lifetime) is published this month providing a strong start to 2008. Publishing in the Professional and Commercial divisions is benefiting fromhigher yields through the increased utility of digital delivery. Renewal ratesin both these divisions, as well as in Informa Healthcare, are tracking ahead ofthis time last year. PI The Performance Improvement (PI) group of companies, working with corporate andgovernment clients to solve business issues in different operationaldisciplines, continue to experience good global demand for their products andservices. This growth is largely driven by multi-nationals seeking efficienciesand consistency of best practice across their global operations. The PI sales pipeline for 2008 is 8% ahead of where it was at this same pointlast year. The softening of some US commercial markets is being offset by stronginternational growth and the high percentage of PI revenue from the currently 16agencies of the US Federal government. Robbins-Gioia, the Program Management specialists, has around 90% of revenuesfrom the US Federal Government. Robbins-Gioia is on track to finish the yearwith double digit growth. Events The Events businesses continue to benefit from the focus on "must attend" LargeScale Events. These strong brands create high barriers to entry, good pricingpower, substantial levels of repeat business and the opportunity forreplications elsewhere in the world, known as 'geo-cloning'. All of thesefactors have contributed to strong trading in September, October and Novemberand position Informa well for 2008. The Dubai events business is completing another particularly good year withgrowth in all its flagship products including the newly cloned Cityscape series.In October Cityscape Dubai, the world's largest property event, attracted morethan 50,000 participants from 120 countries. Over 1,000 exhibitors showcasedtheir projects and services on 70,000 square metres of exhibition space. Recordshow revenues were 35% ahead of 2006. In November the first Cityscape India washeld beating expectations on both exhibitor and delegate figures and providing astrong platform for further growth in India. In the Professional division, the geo-cloning strategy is also producing goodresults. ICBI, the market leading international financial events specialists,has continued to perform strongly in the second half of the year. In Decemberthe business held its largest ever inaugural geo-cloned event with the extensionof its Large Scale Event, SuperReturn, the world's largest private equityconference, to the Middle East. ICBI's sponsorship and exhibition revenues for2008 are currently over 15% ahead of this same point last year. Datamonitor Datamonitor, which delivers its business intelligence via electronicsubscriptions, is performing well in the second half of the year. It is on trackfor an organic revenue growth rate of over 20% in 2007. The recent introductionof a multi-tiered global marketing plan to drive synergies between Datamonitorand legacy Informa businesses is building a strong pipeline for 2008. The acquisition of Datamonitor, which follows Informa's merger with T&F in 2004and the acquisition of IIR in 2005, has further strengthened Informa's abilityto deal with market volatility. In 2008, Informa's subscription revenues, whichare now almost all electronically delivered, will account for around 30% oftotal revenue. Financials As previously reported, in cash flow terms Informa is largely unaffected bycurrency movements as we structure our bank debt to reflect the currencies inwhich we transact our business. Informa receives around 50% of its revenue andincurs around 40% of its costs in US dollars and is therefore affected bymovements in the exchange rate of the US dollar to sterling in translationterms. For each one cent movement in the sterling to dollar exchange rate thetranslation impact on our revenue is around £3m and on our operating profit isaround £1m but this is offset by around £0.2m in tax and interest. Against a background of pressure in the debt markets, the syndication ofInforma's new £1.45bn multi-currency debt facility that was taken out in Julyhas been successfully completed. This syndication process was completed onbudget and to plan; a testament to the resilience and attractiveness of theInforma business model and the strength of its cash flows. David Gilbertson, Informa's Chief Executive notes: "Our strategy to rebalance the company with a broader focus is paying off. Wenow have a good balance of high growth capturing and more defensive businesses.We are not over-exposed to any single sector or geography. Our publishingrenewal rates, PI repeat business and Large Scale Events portfolio give us goodvisibility into 2008. We move into the new year with confidence." The full Preliminary Results will be announced on 27 February 2008. ENDS * Adjusted for acquisitions, IPEX (the quadrennial print show) and newcontractual terms for 3GSM. Further Enquiries:- Informa plc Tel: 020 7017 5000Peter Rigby, ChairmanDavid Gilbertson, CEOAnthony Foye, Finance DirectorSusanna Kempe, CMO and IR Director Tel: 020 7017 5796 Maitland Tel: 020 7379 5151William ClutterbuckEmma Burdett This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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