The prospect of real growth has been a remote one for Informa, the trade show giant. Cancelled conferences and events have pushed the FTSE 100 group into fire-fighting mode, selling a swathe of disparate businesses and raising roughly £3 billion to strengthen the coffers and pay down debt. But investors can now think more seriously about Informa outgrowing pre-pandemic earnings.
The group expects revenue to come in at more than £2.38 billion for last year, up from the £2.15 billion-£2.25 billion range expected, and adjusted operating profit north of £530 million, ahead of previous guidance of between £470 million and £490 million. That puts the group on a firmer track to return both metrics to 2019 levels by next year.
Investors have responded accordingly to
