What better way to buy time with investors than promising to hand back a straight £1 billion? Announcing plans to sell its data and consultancy business Informa Intelligence did the trick for the FTSE 100 corporate exhibitions specialist Informa, lifting the shares out of the 12-month low at which they were languishing.
The sale of the division provides a short-term salve for investors. Analysts at Citigroup reckon the assets will fetch £2 billion, half to be returned to shareholders next year via share buybacks and a special dividend. The aforementioned investment bank forecasts the latter at around 33p, which alone would attach a potential dividend yield of around 6.6 per cent to the shares at their current battered price.
Remaining proceeds will be used to
