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Shares of midcap firm fall more than 2% in morning trade

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Company sees 2024 operating profit at over 975 mln pounds

By Aby Jose Koilparambil

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Informa ( IFPJF ), the UK events and

academic publishing group, rowed back on Tuesday from its

ambition of an annual profit of up to 1 billion pounds ($1.3

billion), blaming a negative currency impact from its

acquisition of Ascential ( AIAPF ).

Shares in the FTSE 100 firm, which have gained about

6% since early October, fell more than 2% in early trade.

Richard Menzies-Gow, director of investor relations at

Informa ( IFPJF ), told Reuters that the net currency impact of the

Ascential ( AIAPF ) deal was "a slight negative".

He added that, as a result, the company had "come off the

ambition to get up to a billion" pounds in annual profit.

Informa ( IFPJF ) said it now expected 2024 adjusted operating profit

of over 975 million pounds, compared with the previous forecast

of more than 970 million pounds with a potential to reach up to

1 billion pounds.

"There may well be a lull in positive catalysts for a time

now, and with significant U.S./ China exposure, fears over

future tariffs or trade disruption in 2025 could weigh on

sentiment," Investec analysts said in a note.

However, London-based Informa ( IFPJF ) also nudged up its annual cash

flow forecast to more than 750 million pounds, including the

Ascential ( AIAPF ) deal, from more than 740 million before.

Informa ( IFPJF ) in July agreed to buy Ascential ( AIAPF ), which produces

advertising festival Cannes Lions, for 1.2 billion pounds.

The world's largest exhibition group posted a 10.7% rise in

revenue for the first 10 months of this year, driven by its live

events businesses.

The events sector has seen a resurgence over the past two

years as businesses have resumed in-person conferences and

exhibitions, steadily rebounding from the COVID-19

pandemic-induced downturn.

($1 = 0.7919 pounds)