Berenberg cuts Informa target price as regional rescheduling weighs on outlook

(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg trimmed their target price on Informa from 1,040p to 1,005p on Friday as the broker rebased forecasts following the group's ninemonth trading update and the rescheduling of major Saudi events.

Berenberg said it had reduced its FY26 and FY27 EPS estimates by 2% to 4%, reflecting no contribution from Saudi Arabia for the remainder of FY26 and a more cautious stance on India, Middle East and Africa operations next year amid weaker attendance and booking trends.

Berenberg noted that Informa's shares trade on a twoyear forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14.4x for FY26/27, falling to 12.4x on FY27/28 estimates, which it viewed as attractive. It added that a potential disposal of Taylor & Francis would leave Informa with a cleaner equity story and higher earnings growth supported by buybacks.

In divisional terms, B2B live events delivered 8% underlying growth, ahead of the 7% guidance, with strength across the Americas, Europe, ASEAN and IMEA excluding Saudi Arabia. Academic markets grew 4% on an underlying basis, in line with consensus, while Informa TechTarget declined 1.6% yearonyear. It also said IMEA rescheduling had been positive, with more than $530m traded yeartodate and $230m since H1.

Informa cut its underlying revenue guidance from roughly 6% to approximately 3% after converting Global Health Exhibition into a virtual event and deferring Cityscape Global, removing around $110m of revenues, plus a further $60m from smaller shows. However, it maintained guidance for doubledigit underlying EPS growth, supported by cost savings and portfolio strength.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com