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Informa PLC on Thursday announced the acquisition of business-to-business events group Tarsus Group as it confirmed strong full-year performances across all its businesses, and continued operating momentum into 2023. Informa, a London based publishing and events firm, said its $940 million acquisition of London-based Tarsus enhances its presence in the growing regions such as Asia, China, the Middle East and the Americas. Tarsus Chief Executive Officer Douglas Emslie said: ‘I could not think of a better partner than Informa to lead our brands and colleagues through the next phase of growth and expansion. Meanwhile for 2022, Informa reported a pretax profit of £168.8 million, up sharply from £78.4 million in 2021. Revenue jumped 43% to £2.26 billion from £1.58 billion. Informa proposes a final dividend of 6.8 pence per share, bringing the full-year dividend to 9.8p, compared to no payouts in 2021. It added that its ’strong cash flow performance and divestment returns‘ enable a further increase in share buybacks to £1 billion from £725 million, with £589 million completed to date. Informa Chief Executive Stephen Carter said Informa was ’firmly back in growth‘. The company noted that the progressive removal of Covid restrictions and strong rebound in business activity in China was accelerating Live & On-Demand Events schedule in the country, with full return expected through 2024. Looking forward, it confirmed revenue guidance between £2.75 billion and £2.86 billion for 2023, with adjusted operating profit between £675 million and £725 million. In 2022, adjusted operating profit was £496.3 million. Informa shares rose 3.0% at 699.60 pence each on Thursday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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