Return of live events drives recovery at Informa as the trade show organiser bounces back from the pandemic
The return of face-to-face events has boosted the trade show organiser Informa.
It is on course to make an annual profit of £375million on revenues of £1.8billion.
This would be an improvement on last year’s performance when it made revenues of £1.7billion and profit of £268million.
Recovering: Recent events for Informa have included the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Florida and the China Beauty Expo in Shanghai (pictured
As the company bounces back from the pandemic, with shows all over the world cancelled, it said revenues from events would be 12.5 per cent higher this year than in 2020, at £900million.
Its shares fell 3per cent, or 15.4p, to 507p and are down more than 40 per cent since the start of 2020.
But AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: ‘Informa’s message remains the same, loud and clear: sales and profits are expected to rise rapidly this year, helped by strong subscription sales for its specialist publications and data services and the long-awaited industry conferences and events. Confidence is clearly returning.
‘The company has restarted events in all of its key markets and has even seen rebookings start to build for 2022.’
Informa has held more than 250 events this year and said participation and rebookings are improving thanks to growing confidence. Events included the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Florida and the China Beauty Expo in Shanghai.
In Europe, momentum has been building, it said.
Some events have run above 2019 levels and average engagement was above half what it was in 2019. The trend is ‘clear and consistent’, it said, with strong demand and positive customer feedback.
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