Informa Says Events-related Business Hurt By COVID-19; Suspends Dividends

(RTTNews) - Informa plc (INFMF.PK, INF.L), an Exhibitions, Events, Business Intelligence and Academic Publishing Group, on Thursday issued an update on its trading as well as further details on its COVID-19 Action Plan.

The company announced further cost-reductions including pay cuts, the temporary suspension of dividends, discussions on a debt covenant waiver and the issue of additional new equity.

Informa said its approach through the period of the COVID-19 pandemic is to focus on the long-term strength and value of its Brands and customer relationships.

Regarding its trading, the company said the impact on Events-related businesses, about 65 percent of revenue, has intensified significantly since the initial disruption early in the first quarter in Mainland China, with no events of any scale scheduled to take place in April.

The company now expects the reduced level of activity to stretch through the second quarter and much of the third quarter, with a gradual and phased recovery from the third quarter into the final quarter of the year.

Further, subscriptions-related businesses, around 35 percent of revenue, have remained resilient and continue to grow consistently.

"Whilst the power of Informa's B2B events businesses continue to be evidenced by customer enquiries and re-bookings, it is now clear the path to the other side of COVID-19 will be more gradual and phased than initially anticipated," the company said.