Proactive Investors - Informa PLC (LON:INF) shares gave a lukewarm welcome to confirmation that trading remained in line with guidance and news of its new corporate structure after completing the acquisition of Ascential PLC (LON:ASCL) this week.
The FTSE 100 events and exhibitions group, which agreed the £1.2 billion takeover of the Cannes Lions owner in July, said underlying trading performance "remains strong" and it remains on track to meet previously upgraded full-year guidance, with the acquisition of NASDAQ-listed TechTarget also expected to be completed this year.
Full-year targets include double-digit underlying revenue growth, adjusted operating profit of at least £970 million and free cash flow of at least £740 million.
For next year, Informa is creating three distinct event businesses, with the key events in a business called Informa Festivals, wrapping Ascential's Cannes Lions advertising week and Money20/20 for the fintech industry with cybersecurity conference Black Hat and London Tech Week.
The other two businesses are Informa Markets for "transaction-led B2B events" and Informa Connect for "content-led B2B events".
Chief executive Stephen Carter, the former boss of Ofcom and PR group Brunswick and Gordon Brown's chief of strategy, who has led Informa since 2013, said the strategy over the last four years has been "to build further strength and depth in B2B businesses, targeting new growth opportunities as the live B2B events market segments and becomes increasingly sophisticated, and B2B digital services mature".
He said completing the Ascential acquisition to create the Informa Festivals and the prospective creation of Informa TechTarget division "will establish leadership and scale in all our chosen B2B market segments, complementing our strength in academic markets and creating a platform for growth from 2025 to 2030".