LONDON, June 22, 2026, 11:43 BST
- Informa (LSE: INF) slipped 6.8p, or 0.78%, to 868.2p after gaining 1.32% on Friday.
- Informa bought back 992,560 shares last week as part of the minimum £250 million buyback plan running to 2026, according to a new RNS.
- Citi sticks with a 990p target on the stock, looking at potential upside of 14.0%. Earnings forecasts are steady, so this call is about valuation moving up, not a change in earnings.
Informa PLC (LSE: INF) slipped 6.8p to 868.2p by 11:43 BST on Monday, off 0.78%. Shares had gained 1.32% on Friday. The move looks mostly like some profit-taking after shares rallied for two sessions following a positive AGM statement and Citi moving to a “buy” rating. Monday’s only news was a routine buyback update. The stock started the day at 877.2p, hit 878.2p at the high, and dropped to 867.0p at the low. Google
LSE: INF is still trading above last Wednesday’s pre-update close at 840.4p. Monday’s drop hasn’t erased gains, with the stock holding 27.8p, or 3.31%, over that mark and staying 4.6p above Thursday’s 863.6p close. The move cooled off the chart, but the market’s positive read on the trading update remains.
Informa’s RNS out Monday said the company bought 992,560 shares between June 15 and June 19, paying between 832.8p and 881.0p per share. These shares will be cancelled, taking total shares and voting rights down to 1,262,495,096. On the figures given, the average cost was around £8.44 million or 850.45p each—about 2.1% under Monday’s quoted price.
Thursday’s AGM update is still the main driver here. Informa posted 6.4% underlying revenue growth for the first five months of the year. B2B Live Events rose 7.6%, Taylor & Francis saw 5.5% growth. The company kept its full-year target for double-digit underlying adjusted EPS gains. CEO Stephen Carter said, “We have momentum in both our businesses, B2B Live Events and Academic Services, and are reconfirming full year earnings guidance.” Informa
Management said B2B event revenue traded to date tops $1.5 billion, and group revenue already traded, booked or visible for 2026 is above $4 billion. Over 15 brands impacted by regional disruption have been rescheduled this year. Some launches are now pushed to 2027. Booked or confirmed forward revenue for H1 2027 is already more than $600 million.
Citi on Friday bumped Informa up to “buy” from “neutral” and lifted its 12-month price target to 990p from 850p. The move came as the broker pointed to looser UK travel rules for people going to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Even so, Citi kept its numbers the same, seeing revenue at £4.36 billion in 2026 and £4.68 billion in 2027, with adjusted EPS of 57.6p and 66.6p for those years. Investing.com Australia
This leaves the setup largely ignored. Informa trades at 868.2p, or about 15.1 times Citi’s 2026 EPS estimate and 13.0 times 2027. Citi’s 990p target signals 14.0% upside; the new target itself was 16.5% above the earlier level. Profit forecasts stayed the same, so most of the higher target comes from lower geopolitical risk and a higher multiple—not any change in earnings.
The bear case hangs on B2B Events’ 7.6% growth being pulled forward, more Middle East disruption pushing revenue into 2027, or softer numbers at TechTarget and Taylor & Francis holding back the forecast multiple expansion. On the technical side, if shares close below 863.6p, that wipes out Thursday’s breakout close. A move under 840.4p would clear the whole post-update rise and signal the market isn’t buying the re-rating even with the buyback.
Informa’s July 30 interim results land five weeks before its first big rescheduled shows, LEAP in Riyadh and Middle East Energy in Dubai. The update needs to prove revenue visibility is actually turning into cash and earnings. That will tell investors if Citi’s 990p call goes beyond just Friday’s bounce, or not.
