Informa recovers from the downturn

Rachel Stevenson
Tuesday 10 September 2002 00:00 BST
Comments

Informa, the conference and publishing group, yesterday said it had turned a corner after the downturn at the end of 2001 and was now well placed to survive until the market recovers.

The group's chairman, Peter Rigby, said the company – which has published Lloyd's List since 1734 – was starting to recoup the drop-off in profits experienced in the second half of 2001.

Mr Rigby said the group's US conferences, "where bums on seats go straight to the bottom line", saw attendance figures fall after the 11 September terrorist attacks.

Profits before tax for the group fell 28 per cent to £16.2m, while turnover was down 15 per cent to £151m.

But revenues have recovered from the second half of 2001, when the group posted a turnover of £144m and profits of £7.5m.

"Compared with the second half of last year the business has stabilised," Mr Rigby said. "There is normally a 50/50 split between the two halves of our year. Last year we saw a 75/25 split. We have seen a considerable improvement in the past six months and we take great solace from that." Only 10 per cent of the group's revenues rely on advertising, which Mr Rigby said meant the group had managed to escape a more severe downturn.

Revenues from subscriptions to its range of business titles rose 3 per cent in the first six months of the year. This accounts for a third of group sales and Mr Rigby is confident they will continue to grow.

The board has been executing a tough cost-cutting programme and has reduced staff numbers by 20 per cent to 2,500 in the past 18 months. This will reduce costs by £20m a year.

The dividend has been kept stable at 2.66p a share.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in