RELX PLC (LON:REL) said its exhibitions business is heading for a big loss in the current year with little sign of an upturn in trading.
The provider of information-based analytics and decision tools expects exhibitions to generate £330-360mln in revenue in 2020, down 70% in the year to date.
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Total costs are expected to be £530-540mln excluding one-off costs related to restructuring and cancellations, which are yet to be quantified, pointing to a full-year loss of at least £170mln.
Exhibitions generated revenues of £1.27bn in 2019.
The other business areas – scientific, technical & medical (STM), risk & business analytics, legal – have continued to see a gradual improvement in underlying revenue growth rates since the end of the first half, RELX said.
The FTSE 100 expects modest underlying revenue growth for STM and legal, while performance in risk & business analytics will depend on how business activity continues to improve over the next months.
Shares dipped 1% to 1,639p early on Thursday.