Informa plc

In H1 2025, group underlying revenue grew just below 8%; B2B Events grew just over 8%; and Academic grew around 12%. Management said like-for-like revenue growth was 8% and profits grew slightly better than revenue, with margin up about 80 basis points year over year. Net debt came down to about 2.5x leverage, back within target range. Full-year guidance was raised from 5% growth to 6% plus/minus, and the company added another GBP 150 million to buybacks through year-end 2025. Management also said 2026 bookings were up 15% year over year on an absolute basis and that about GBP 0.5 billion of revenue is already booked for next year.

Stephen Carter framed the quarter as evidence that Informa’s chosen markets—live events and specialist knowledge—remain structurally strong. He emphasized that larger brands are growing faster, that geographic diversification is helping, and that the company is using pricing, capacity expansion, and new value-added offerings to lift growth. His tone was confident and upbeat, especially around EMEA, the Middle East, and the quality of revenue visibility into 2025 and 2026.

Gareth Wright said H1 margin improved by about 80 basis points year over year, driven mainly by trading performance and operating leverage. He guided to a similar margin profile in the second half, implying full-year operating profit margin should broadly match H1. He also pointed to strong cash generation, disciplined capital allocation, and a comfortable debt structure, noting the group is back within its targeted leverage range. On Academic, he quantified roughly GBP 15 million of incremental nonrecurring data licensing revenue in H1, which helped drive the 12% growth, and said core research services growth remains in the low single digits while open research is growing at double digits.

Analysts focused on Taylor & Francis renewal risk, especially around NIH funding cuts and whether subscription behavior could weaken in 2026. Management said the exposure to NIH-related cuts is limited because the business is weighted more toward humanities and only a small portion is directly tied to government funding; they also said they are not seeing lower submission volumes or weaker demand. Questions also centered on B2B margins, Europe’s strength, 2026 bookings, price vs. volume, Middle East attendance, and TechTarget. Management said Europe is strong because a few large brands hosted there are effectively global events, bookings for 2026 are building early with around GBP 0.5 billion already booked, and Middle East attendance in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh is not showing any slowdown.