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Shares in Informa PLC rose early Tuesday in London after the business information and events firm extended its share buyback programme on the back of strong results in the first 10 months of 2023. Informa shares were up 5.6% at 741.20 pence, while the wide FTSE 100 index was essentially flat. Informa said it will make an additional £150 million in share repurchases between Tuesday and the time of its full-year results on March 7 next year. This extends its total buyback programme to £1.15 billion. Informa launched the programme last year to return proceeds from the divestment of its intelligence business portfolio. It has bought back £1.00 billion in shares so far, about 10% of its equity. Informa noted that it has returned a total of £650 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks so far in 2023. Also Tuesday, Informa raised its 2023 guidance, saying this was on the back of a 32% rise in underlying revenue in the first 10 months of the year. The London-based company guided for full-year revenue of £3.15 billion, up from previous guidance of £3.05 billion. This will compare to £2.26 billion in 2022. It also guided for adjusted operating profit of £840 million, up from previous guidance of £790 million and 2022’s £496.3 million. Looking further ahead to 2024, Informa said it has visibility on about £1 billion in revenue for next year already, in the form of subscriptions and advance bookings for events. It cautioned, however: ‘Ongoing conflict and macro-economic challenges in some countries, including heightened inflation, higher interest rates and variable demand, is creating a degree of market uncertainty and volatility.’ Chief Executive Stephen Carter added: ‘In 2024, our task is to continue to improve our product and service offering, grow organically, and use our cash flows and balance sheet to seize opportunities to build and buy further scale.’ Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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