Downsizing, along with improved corporate events spending and a decent showing from the academic publishing arm, helped to support business publisher Informa. Indeed, adjust for one-off items - such as restructuring charges and aborted transaction costs - and pre-tax profit grew 13 per cent in the period to £133.4m.
True, organic revenue at the events and training business did fall 1.5 per cent year on year to £304m as the company axed marginal exhibitions. But higher-margin events, such as Arab Health and its IPTV exhibition, meant underlying operating profits there grew more than 11 per cent higher to £55.6m. What's more, 2011's divisional re-bookings are up around 9 per cent. Meanwhile, Informa - whose range of publications include the shipping newspaper, Lloyd’s List - experienced a typically robust showing from its academic publications arm. Operating profits there rose 6.1 per cent to £45.5m and divisional organic revenue grew 5 per cent to £141.5m. Although the professional and commercial information side was held back by financial sector weakness, prompting a 2.9 per cent revenue decline to £178.5m.
Panmure Gordon expects full-year pre-tax profit of £281m and EPS of 35.3p.
INFORMA (INF) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 401p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.4bn | |
TOUCH: | 400-401pp | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 439p | 225p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.1% | PE RATIO: | 18 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 230p* | NET DEBT: | 65% |
Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Net div per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 636 | 32.1 | 4.40 | 3.60 |
2010 | 624 | 66.4 | 8.10 | 4.50 |
% change | -2 | +107 | +84 | +25 |
Ex-div: 18 Aug Payment: 17 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £2.84bn, or 473p a share |