Informa lowers revenue growth outlook amid Saudi disruption

Informa has reported underlying revenue growth of 6.5 per cent for the nine months to 30 September 2026, excluding non-recurring data contracts. The B2B events group still expects double-digit underlying earnings growth for the full year, but has lowered its revenue growth outlook following further disruption in Saudi Arabia.

Informa is one of the world’s largest operators of high-profile leisure boat and superyacht shows, including the Monaco Yacht Show, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (which begins today), Miami International Boat Show and Palm Beach International Boat Show. Its wider marine portfolio also includes specialist media and digital businesses serving the global boating and superyacht markets.

Earlier this month, Informa agreed to acquire B2B live events company Clarion from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24bn, and announced plans to separate its academic markets division.

Informa nine-month revenue update

Including non-recurring data contracts in the comparison with the first nine months of 2025, underlying revenue growth was 5.4 per cent.

Stephen A. Carter, group chief executive of Informa, says: ”Informa continues to deliver strong performance and underlying growth.”

He adds: “Strong underlying demand for B2B Live Events, combined with the strength of our Brands and operating flexibility, is enabling us to deliver consistent growth and performance, and our international breadth is limiting the impact of specific in-market disruptions.”

The group’s B2B live events businesses – Informa Markets, Connect and Festivals – recorded underlying revenue growth of 8 per cent. Informa attributes this to demand for its events, particularly in the Americas, Europe, ASEAN and the IMEA region, excluding Saudi Arabia.

Academic Markets recorded underlying revenue growth of 4 per cent, excluding non-recurring data contracts. The company attributes this to demand for validated content and specialist data.

At Informa TechTarget, underlying revenue fell by 1.6 per cent year on year. Informa says enterprise technology customers are prioritising AI investment over product marketing and sales support amid continued market volatility.

In the IMEA region, more than 50 brands have traded this year under the company’s event rescheduling programme, generating over $530m in revenue. Since the half-year results, around 30 brands have traded, generating more than $230m.

These included more than 15 events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. Among them were Middle East Energy, cybersecurity event Gisec, technology events Leap and Deepfest, Money20/20 Middle East, lifestyle and investment event LiveX, human resources event HRSE and Middle East Comicon.

Further escalation in Saudi Arabia has led to more schedule changes. The 2026 Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh will take place virtually, with the physical event moving to October 2027. Cityscape Global’s 2026 Riyadh edition has moved to January 2027. Its 2027 edition remains scheduled for November 2027.

Informa says that, despite disruption in the Middle East during 2026, it had remained on course to meet group guidance of around 6 per cent underlying revenue growth and double-digit underlying growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share. It attributes this to operational flexibility in the region and better-than-expected performance in other international markets.

Following the latest force majeure developments, and assuming no further contribution from Saudi Arabia in 2026, the group now expects underlying revenue growth of around 3 per cent. It still expects double-digit underlying earnings growth, excluding in-year dilution from the share issuance associated with its acquisition of Clarion Events.

The underlying adjusted diluted earnings-per-share measure uses constant exchange rates and adjusts for biennial events and non-recurring data contracts, with a 2025 base of 49p.

All regulatory filings for the Clarion Events acquisition have been submitted. Completion is expected within the first two weeks of December, which would make Clarion part of the group for the full 2027 financial year. The acquisition will add more than 100 B2B brands, expanding Informa’s operations in North America, Asia and Europe.