Informa PLC Reports Strong Growth and Reaffirms Guidance in 10-Month Trading Update

Informa PLC's 10-month update shows strong growth, reaffirmed 2025 guidance, and £1bn+ booked for 2026. A bullish signal for investors.

11 November 2025by Joshua Thompson5 min read39 views

This article covers information on Informa PLC.

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Informa’s 10-month update: growth now and momentum into 2026

Informa has served up a confident 10-month trading update, pointing to strong execution across the business and reaffirming full year guidance. The headline is double-digit adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2025 and continuing underlying growth into 2026.

Live B2B events remain the engine, Academic Markets continue to tick along, and Informa TechTarget is improving after a tougher first half. Management’s tone is upbeat, and with £1bn+ already booked or committed for 2026, visibility looks solid.

Key numbers investors should know

Metric	Detail
Group underlying revenue growth (10 months to 31 Oct)	6.6% (7.6% ex-TechTarget consolidation)
B2B Live Events underlying revenue growth	8.7% (8.5% at H1)
Academic Markets underlying revenue growth	3.0% (includes non-recurring data licences; these unwind through Q4)
Informa TechTarget underlying revenues	-2.7% for the 10 months (vs -4.3% at H1)
2025 guidance reaffirmed	Underlying Revenue Growth (6%±), Group Revenues (£4bn±), Adjusted EPS Growth (10%+)
2026 visibility	£1bn+ booked/committed via subscriptions, exhibitor pre-bookings and forward contracts
Share buyback	£350m programme in 2025; £315m acquired year-to-date at 806p average

What’s driving performance: live events lead, academic steady, TechTarget improving

Live Events are doing the heavy lifting, with 8.7% underlying growth and momentum improving from the first half. Management calls out market-leading performance in IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) and “geo-adaptation” of brands – essentially taking successful shows into new geographies. This is the virtuous cycle of trade shows in action: more exhibitors and attendees attract more of the same.

Academic Markets are growing at 3.0%, supported by demand for validated content in both Open Research and subscriptions. One caveat: non-recurring data licences are helping the reported number today but are unwinding through Q4, so the fourth quarter comp is trickier.

Informa TechTarget is still slightly negative year-on-year at -2.7% for the 10 months, but that’s a clear improvement on -4.3% at the half year. “Returning momentum” is the phrase to focus on, but we are not back to growth yet.

Guidance reaffirmed: steady as she goes, with double-digit EPS

Informa has reaffirmed all key guidance points for 2025: underlying revenue growth around 6%, group revenues around £4bn, and adjusted EPS growth of 10%+. Reaffirmation matters – it signals that trading since the half year has been consistent with plan, without needing to tap the brakes or stretch the targets.

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If you were hoping for a guidance upgrade, you will not find one here. But the combination of robust growth in live events, stable academics, and an improving TechTarget makes the quality of the earnings mix look better than it did at the half year.

Visibility into 2026: £1bn+ already on the books

Forward bookings are the real gem. With £1bn+ already booked or committed for 2026 across subscriptions, exhibitor pre-bookings and forward contracts, the company has recurring visibility and year-on-year pacing growth. In practical terms, that reduces forecasting risk and suggests the 2026 growth comment is grounded in contracted revenue, not optimism.

Capital allocation: buybacks send a clear signal

The £350m share buyback for 2025 is progressing, with £315m executed year-to-date at an average price of 806p. Buybacks do two things: they return capital to shareholders and they lift EPS by reducing the share count. The average price also gives a clue to where management is comfortable deploying capital.

The flip side is opportunity cost – cash used for buybacks is not used for acquisitions or extra investment. Given the reaffirmed guidance and strong events performance, the balance feels sensible.

AI and operating model: productivity and product focus

Informa is embedding AI into products and operations, including “Elysia”, its proprietary AI assistant for colleagues. The emphasis is that humanity, connectivity and specialist content remain core and increasingly valuable in an AI world – a good framing for a B2B information and events business.

While no explicit cost or revenue uplift is quantified, the direction of travel is efficiency, speed and better product experience. That supports margins over time, even if the benefits are not yet itemised.

What this means for investors: positives and watchouts

Positives
- Live Events growth of 8.7% with improving momentum versus H1.
- Group underlying revenue growth of 6.6% and guidance reaffirmed across revenue, growth and EPS.
- Clear 2026 visibility with £1bn+ already booked or committed and pacing ahead year-on-year.
- TechTarget trend improving, narrowing the decline from H1.
- £350m buyback supports EPS and signals confidence; £315m completed at 806p average.
Watchouts
- Informa TechTarget is still negative year-on-year at -2.7%.
- Academic Markets include non-recurring data licences that unwind through Q4, which could soften reported growth late in the year.
- No new detail on margins, cash flow or balance sheet in this update (not disclosed).
- Guidance is reaffirmed rather than raised; if you were looking for upgrades, this is steady rather than spectacular.
- 2026 growth is flagged as “underlying” with good visibility, but no numeric target is provided (not disclosed).

Key regional angle: IMEA outperformance

Management highlights market-leading outperformance in IMEA, underlining why the Capital Markets Day is being held in Dubai. The region is proving fertile for live events, and expanding established brands into these geographies is a sensible, repeatable playbook.

Dates and next catalyst: Capital Markets Day in Dubai

Informa will host its 2025 Capital Markets Day on 17-18 November in the UAE (Dubai), showcasing the IMEA opportunity with management presentations, product demos and a hosted tour of The 2025 Dubai Air Show. Expect more colour on growth categories, regional expansion, and how AI is being embedded across the portfolio.

Quick jargon buster

Underlying revenue growth: growth excluding the impact of currency and major acquisitions/disposals, giving a cleaner view of operational performance.
Ex-TechTarget consolidation: underlying growth excluding the mechanical impact of consolidating TechTarget, indicating growth would have been 7.6% without that effect.
EPS (earnings per share): profit allocated per share. Adjusted EPS removes certain items to show underlying profitability.
IMEA: India, Middle East and Africa, a key growth region for Informa’s events.
Geo-adaptation: taking successful event brands and adapting them to new geographies.

Bottom line

This is a solid, confidence-building update. Live Events are compounding nicely, Academic is steady, TechTarget is healing, and 2026 is already taking shape with meaningful forward bookings. With guidance reaffirmed and buybacks ongoing, the setup into year-end looks constructive.

The main debate now is how fast TechTarget can return to growth and how much of the academic data licence unwind is already in expectations. For now, the trajectory is positive, and the flywheel of specialist brands, first-party data and live event scale continues to turn.