Shares in Informa PLC (LSE:INF) jumped over 4% as it reported strong results for the first half of 2025, hiking its dividend, adding £150 million to its share buyback and raising its full-year guidance.
Revenue for the FTSE 100 events and publishing company rose 20.1% to £2.04 billion, slightly ahead of City forecasts, while adjusted operating profit increased 24% to £578.9 million, which was well ahead of the £559 million analyst consensus.
Adjusted earnings per share jumped 25.2% to 29.8p, ahead of the 27.9p average forecast, and free cash flow climbed 25% to £356.9 million.
The company declared a 9.4% increase in the interim dividend to 7p and announced a further £150 million in share buybacks for the second half, bringing the total for 2025 to £350 million.
CEO Stephen A. Carter said: “Informa is further increasing the pace of performance, delivering 20%+ growth in our four key performance measures: revenues, profits, earnings and free cash flow.”
Underlying revenue growth was led by 8.5% in live B2B events and 11.9% at academic publisher Taylor & Francis.
Informa upgraded its 2025 guidance for underlying revenue growth to roughly 6% and maintained reported revenue guidance at around £4 billion.
Looking ahead, the company highlighted strategic priorities including international expansion, AI-driven productivity gains via its Elysia platform, and growing exposure in markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India and Vietnam.
The shares rose 4.5% to 863.4p on Wednesday morning.