Informa to divest Pharma Intelligence for £1.9bn

Informa, the international B2B markets, knowledge services and business intelligence group has agreed to divest Pharma Intelligence, the largest business within its Informa Intelligence division, to Warburg Pincus for £1.9bn, while separately commencing a share buyback.

Pharma Intelligence is a provider of specialist intelligence and data for Clinical Trials, Drug Development and Regulatory Compliance. In 2020, this business accounted for approximately 40% of Informa Intelligence reported divisional revenues of £305m and c.50% of reported divisional adjusted operating profit of £103m.

The last reported Profit Before Tax of Pharma Intelligence was £55.3m for the year ended 31 December 2020 and the last statement of Gross Assets was £479.9m, as at 30 June 2021.

The agreement with Warburg Pincus, values Pharma Intelligence at £1.9bn, equating to an EV/EBITDA multiple based on 2020 reported figures or 2021 expected outcomes.

Under the agreement, 85% of equity value will be realised immediately, equating to c.£1.7bn in cash, pre-tax, with Informa retaining a c.15% shareholding in the business going forward. This c.15% equity interest ranks pari passu with Warburg Pincus’ equity and includes customary rights in the event of a sale of the business.

The sale is expected to complete by early June subject to relevant regulatory clearances.

Adarsh Sarma, Co-Head of Europe, Warburg Pincus LLC said:

“We are delighted to be the partner of choice for Informa and to have the opportunity to acquire Pharma Intelligence with its operating management team. Pharma Intelligence plays a critical role in supporting and maintaining the ecosystem that surrounds clinical trials, drug development and regulatory compliance, and we intend to invest and significantly grow the business and its product offerings. We are also pleased to be working again with Jay Nadler, who we worked with at MLM Information Services and Interactive Data Corp and he was previously CEO of Clarivate. He will also be joining the Board of the newly separated company.”

Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, Informa PLC, commented:

“We received significant interest in the Pharma Intelligence business. We are delighted to partner with Warburg Pincus and share their view on its future growth potential, hence, we welcomed an agreement that represented value today and growth and value tomorrow.”

Share Buyback Programme

The group has previously announced its intention to return a proportion of the proceeds from the divestment of Informa Intelligence to shareholders. Following the sale agreement for the Pharma Intelligence business, Informa has entered into an arrangement with its broker, Merrill Lynch International (BofA Securities), to purchase on its behalf and within certain pre-set parameters, ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company, with the intention to cancel those shares purchased.

The programme will commence with immediate effect and run through to the AGM in June, including through the Company’s close period (30 days from 13 February to 14 March 2022). The maximum amount allocated to the initial tranche of the buyback programme will be £100m. The share buyback programme will take place in accordance with the Company’s current approved buyback authorities and be effected in accordance with Chapter 12 of the FCA’s Listing Rules. The maximum number of ordinary shares that may be repurchased under those authorities is 150,311,000.

Trading Update

Informa will report its 2021 Full Year Results on 15 March 2022. Ahead of this, Group has reported that it expects to report trading in 2021 in line with guidance of £1.8bn± Group Revenue and £375m± of Adjusted Operating Profit. Free cash flow is expected to be ahead of previous guidance of £325m+.

UK, London

Utilitywise plc Final Results

utilitywiseUtilitywise plc, an AIM listed, independent utility cost management consultancy, has announced its audited full year results for the year ended 31 July 2015.

 Highlights:

  • Revenue: £69.1M (2014 – £48.9M) up 41%
  • Gross profit: £30.3M (2014 – £22.4M) up 35%
  • EBITDA: £17.8M (2014 – £14.5M) up 23%
  • Profit before tax: £16.7M (2014 – £13.4M) up 25%
  • Continued investment in multi-channel routes to the customer
  • Management strengthened with appointment of new COO, Brin Sheridan
  • t-mac Technologies acquisition completed in April
  • UK customers now exceeds 27,000
  • Review of accounting procedures to enable more accurate consumption variance tracking

Geoff Thompson, Chief Executive of Utilitywise, commented:

“The past year has been one of continued progress. We have maintained our growth aspirations and we are well advanced in the roll out of our multi-channel approach to the entire addressable market. We have complemented our capabilities in the year with the acquisition of t-mac Technologies and now can take a customer through the entire journey of procuring their energy, ensuring compliance, monitoring and reporting usage, and controlling and reducing their energy consumption. 

Our management team has been further strengthened and I am delighted to welcome Brin Sheridan to the Group. Brin will assist us along with the rest of the Executive team to deliver this exciting opportunity we have to increase our market share.

We have slowed and refocused our recruitment in recent months to ensure that we have the highest quality of staff capable of delivering our Trusted Advisor strategy effectively and increasing our new customer conversion rates. Since period end the Group’s UK customer base has increased further to 27,265 as at 30 September, with a corresponding increase in secured but not yet recognised revenue to £28.3 million as at 30 September compared to £26.2 million at period end.

Our outlook for the coming years remains extremely positive and we look forward to welcoming thousands of new customers to the services and products we can deploy to help them  optimise their energy usage and to save money.”

For more information click here

UK, North Tyneside

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Utilitywise plc – Year End Trading Update

utilitywise-logoEnergy management consultancy Utilitywise PLC has provided a trading update for its financial year ended 31 July 2014.

The announcement

Revenue and adjusted profit before tax is expected to be in line with market expectations. Net cash balances at 31 July 2014 stood at approximately £9.7 million, comfortably ahead of market expectations, in part as a result of improved commercial terms with a number of energy suppliers.  The Group’s  revenue pipeline, representing revenue secured but yet to be recognised, was £28.2 million as at 31 July 2014 compared to £16.6 million as at 31 July 2013 (31 Jan 2014: £23.8 million).

(Fusion DigiNet – As at 31 January 2014 the Company reported revenues from H1 2013 to H1 2014 of £21m.)

Trading remains strong and the Board is confident in the Group’s ability to deliver continued organic growth. The customer base continues to grow across all business units and the Group’s new business run rate remains in line with management expectations.

 Utilitywise expects to announce its full year results to 31st July 2014, in the final week of October 2014.

Geoff Thompson, CEO of Utilitywise, commented: “We are delighted to provide an update on what has been another period of growth for the business, both organically and through acquisition. The strong trading momentum from the first half of the year has continued into the second half and as a result, we anticipate results to be in line with market expectations which were revised upward at the time of the Group’s interim results. Progress with the strategic scaling of the business has continued as expected and the planned move to our new facility is on schedule for occupancy to commence in October, providing the necessary capacity to grow total Group headcount to 1,400 over the next two years. Additionally, following its acquisition in April, ICON is performing as planned, and the Board remains confident in the Group’s future prospects.”

The company has also announced that it is moving to larger premises at Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside.

UK, South Shields

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UBM results for the six months ended 30 June 2014

Highlights

  • Reported revenue of £361.0m (H1 2013: £391.8m), down 7.9%; broadly flat at constant currency (0.3%), with underlying growth of 2.0%
  • Adjusted operating profit up 8.7% to £87.4m (H1 2013: £80.4m), margins up by 3.7%pts, driven largely by non-recurring gains of £11.0m
  • Events underlying revenue growth of 4.8%(2), led by Emerging Markets with operating margins up 0.4%pts to 28.8% (H1 2013: 28.4%)
  • Other Marketing Services adjusted operating profit up to £4.4m (H1 2013: £3.6m) on reduced revenue of £48.5m (H1 2013: £66.4m)
  • PR Newswire revenue up 2.6% (underlying) at £98.3m (H1 2013: £105.0m) at an operating margin of 22.8% (H1 2013: 22.4%)
  • Adjusted diluted EPS up 12.1% to 24.0p (H1 2013: 21.4p)
  • Interim dividend of 6.8p (H1 2013: 6.7p) up 1.5%, in line with policy
  • Net Debt up at £452.1m (2013: £443.4m); Net Debt/EBITDA steady at 2.2x (2013: 2.2x)

Tim Cobbold, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“UBM has had a solid first half and remains on track to meet expectations for the full year. Although the reported performance was adversely impacted by currency headwinds, the Group performed well with good underlying revenue growth in both the Events and PR Newswire businesses and with higher operating margins in each of the three businesses.”

During my first three months as UBM’s CEO I completed the first stage of my review of the business. We will host a Capital Markets Day late in the year to present the plan for UBM’s future development.”

Read the full announcement here.

UK, London

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Reed Elsevier PLC – Results for the year to December 2013

Reed ElsevierReed Elsevier has announced its results for the year ending December 2013.

 

Reed Elsevier results 2013Click on the above table for a full screen view

Highlights

Revenue of £6,035m/€7,121m; underlying growth +2% (+3% excluding biennial exhibition cycling): The overall underlying growth rate of +3% reflects +5 to +7% growth in electronic and face-to-face revenues, which now account for 81% of the total (2012: 79%), partially offset by continuing print revenue declines.

Adjusted operating profit £1,749m/€2,064m; underlying growth +5%: Underlying operating profit growth across Reed Elsevier reflects a combination of process innovation and portfolio development. Reported operating profit, after amortisation of acquired intangible assets, was up +3% to £1,376m/down -1% to €1,624m.

Return on invested capital 12.1%, up by 0.4%pts on 2012: The ROIC increase was driven by the increase in adjusted operating profit.

Interest and tax: Adjusted net interest expense was £39m lower at £177m (€56m lower at €209m) reflecting the benefits of term debt refinancing initiatives over the last 18 months. The adjusted effective tax rate was unchanged at 23.5%.

Adjusted EPS up +9% to 54.0p for Reed Elsevier PLC; up +5% to €0.99 for Reed Elsevier NV; constant currency growth +7%: Reported EPS growth was +9% to 48.8p for Reed Elsevier PLC, +5% to €0.91 for Reed Elsevier NV.

Equalised full year dividend up +7% to 24.60p for Reed Elsevier PLC; up +8% to €0.506 for Reed Elsevier NV: The proposed average full year dividend growth rate is in line with adjusted EPS growth at constant currency rates. The proposed final dividend for Reed Elsevier PLC is up +6% to 17.95p following an +11% increase in the interim dividend. The proposed final dividend for Reed Elsevier NV is up +11% to €0.374, following a +2% increase in the interim dividend. The difference in interim and final dividend growth rates reflects exchange rate movements between the declaration dates. The Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV full year dividends are covered 2.2x and 2.0x by adjusted EPS respectively.

Net debt / EBITDA 2.1x on a pensions and lease adjusted basis (unadjusted 1.6x): Net debt was £3.1bn/€3.7bn on 31 December 2013. Capital expenditure remained at 5% of revenues. The adjusted operating cash flow conversion rate was 97%.

Acquisitions & Disposals

In 2013 the company completed 20 small acquisitions of content and data assets across all market segments for a total consideration of £230m. They also completed the disposal of 26 assets for a total consideration of £331m. 

Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented, “In 2013 we remained focused on transforming our business profile and improving the quality of our earnings. We did this primarily through organic investment, supported by a small number of targeted acquisitions, and by exiting from several businesses that no longer fit our strategy. Early trends across our business in 2014 remain broadly consistent with 2013, and we are confident that, by continuing to execute on our strategy, we will deliver another year of underlying revenue, profit, and earnings growth”.

UK, London & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

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Wilmington Group – financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2013

wilmington-logoWilmington Group plc, the provider of Information, Compliance and Education to professional markets today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2013.

 

Financial highlights

  • Adjusted EBITA increased 15% to £8.2m (2012: £7.1m)
  • Adjusted EBITA margin improved to 19.0% (2012: 17.4%)
  • Adjusted Profit before Tax was up 18% to £7.1m (2012: £6.0m)
  • Adjusted Earnings per Share were up 14% at 6.2p (2012: 5.5p)
  • Group revenues for the period increased 5% to £43.1m (2012: £40.9m)
  • Profit before tax at £3.7m (2012: £5.1m)
  • Deferred revenue increased by 23% to £19.2m (2012: £15.6m)
  • Resumption of progressive dividend policy; interim dividend increased from 3.5p to 3.6p

Operational highlights

  • Acquisition of Compliance Week
  • Growing international revenues; now 35% of consolidated revenue (2012: 29%)
  • Subscriptions and repeatable revenue at 77% (2012:77%)
  • Disposal of surplus freehold property for £700,000 in cash
  • Strong momentum in Banking & Compliance and Pensions & Insurance
  • Some challenging conditions in Healthcare and Legal markets

Current Trading

Trading in line with management expectations, outlook for 2014 remains unchanged

Wilmington also announced today that Charles Brady is to retire as Group Chief Executive. Until the right successor is in place, Brady will remain as CEO..

Mark Asplin, Chairman, said, “Wilmington has had a good start to 2014. Recent acquisitions have been integrated and are contributing to Group performance. Our bigger businesses Banking & Compliance and Pensions & Insurance are performing well with each enjoying strong organic growth. As expected, Legal had a difficult end to the Legal CPD year and continues to face challenging market conditions. There have also been strong competitive pressures in our Healthcare division but our prognosis for the medium term is encouraging with new products and potentially new markets opening up for us.

Given our solid performance overall I am pleased to report that we have decided to reinstate our progressive dividend policy. In addition, cash flow is strong enabling us to invest in important internal systems which will provide the foundation for future growth, re-engineer the way we interact with our customers and transform the way we run our businesses.

The overall trading environment has not changed significantly since the full year 2013 results announcement.  Wilmington is a well-balanced business which is increasingly international and, as we move into the second half, our financial performance is on track to support our current expectations for the full year.”

For full details and notes on the accounts, click here.

UK, London

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Informa plc – 2013 Full Year Results

Informa plc has announced full year results for the year ended 31 December 2013.

HIGHLIGHTS

Financial

  • Group organic revenue growth (continuing) of 1.5% to £1,132.4m (2012: £1,110.6m)
  • Adjusted operating profit (continuing) up 1.5% to £335.5m (2012: £330.5m)
  • Adjusted diluted EPS growth (continuing) of 5.0% to 40.1p (2012: 38.2p)
  • Statutory loss of £6.4m (2012: £90.7m profit), reflecting loss from discontinued operations of £109.5m
  • Strong cash flow – cash conversion (continuing) increased to 99% (2012: 94%)
  • Net debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.2 times (2012: 2.1 times)
  • Deferred income growth of 8% at constant currency
  • Final dividend maintained at 12.50p; total dividend up 2.2% to 18.90p (2012: 18.50p)

Operational

Stephen-Carter-HeadStephen Carter, Group Chief Executive, said: “I was delighted to take over as Group Chief Executive of Informa at the start of this year. As the reported figures highlight, the Group delivered a solid earnings and cash performance last year. This has led the Board to pay a total dividend for the year of 18.90p.

Succeeding such a long-standing Chief Executive is a privilege and comes with attendant responsibilities. The privilege lies in being given the opportunity to work with the people and the businesses that make Informa so unique, all of which operate in the Knowledge and Information Economy. The responsibilities are to transition the business, the culture and the operating model post such long-term leadership.”

He added, “For Informa, 2014 will be a year of measured change, operational focus and building a platform for the future growth of the Group.”

Divisional Highlights – continuing operations

2013 2012 Actual Organic
£m £m % %
Academic Publishing*
Revenue 367.1 340.3 7.9 5.3
Adjusted Operating Profit 130.9 126.1 3.8 3.1
Adjusted Operating Margin (%) 35.7 37.1
Business Intelligence*
Revenue 350.6 356.6 (1.7) (3.9)
Adjusted Operating Profit 109.1 120.7 (9.6) (12.8)
Adjusted Operating Margin (%) 31.1 33.8
Global Events*
Revenue 414.7 413.7 0.2 3.0
Adjusted Operating Profit 95.5 83.7 14.1 12.6
Adjusted Operating Margin (%) 23.0 20.2

* Following the disposal of the Corporate Training businesses, the three divisions have been renamed: Academic Information has been renamed Academic Publishing; Professional and Commercial Information has been renamed Business Intelligence; Events and Training has been renamed Global Events. Please note that in 2012 the results for Global Events include a contribution from Robbins Gioia which was sold in May 2012.

UK, London

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Progressive Digital Media Group – preliminary results for 2013

progressiveProgressive Digital Media Group Plc has issued its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2013

Highlights

  • Group revenue increased by 6.3% to £57.3m (2012: £53.9m)
  • Business Intelligence revenue increased by 12.1% to £33.8m (2012: £30.1m)
  • Adjusted EBITDA(1) increased by 26.0% to £11.5m (2012: £9.1m)
  • Adjusted EBITDA margin(1) increased to 20.0% (2012: 16.9%)
  • Reported EBITDA(2) increased by 31.1% to £9.7m (2012: £7.4m)
  • Reported profit before tax of £7.1m (2012: £4.3m) inclusive of £0.6m restructuring costs and £1.1m share based
  • payments charge
  • Deferred Revenue increased by 17.9% to £14.3m (2012: £12.1m)
  • Net cash(3) of £8.3m (2012: £6.2m)
  • Acquisition Pyramid Research from UBM 

Simon Pyper, Chief Executive of Progressive Digital Media Group Plc, commented:

“We continue to make good progress towards achieving our strategic objective of building a scalable, premium business information company. This past year we have recorded strong revenue growth, increased revenues from our Business Intelligence products and continued to invest in our content and delivery platforms. We have also completed the integration of Kable and agreed to acquire Pyramid Research; two acquisitions which complement our business model in the Technology market. I believe we have set ourselves the right objectives, are following the correct strategy and have in place the foundations for further growth.”

UK, London

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Centaur Media plc publishes its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2013

centaurCentaur Media plc, the business information, events and media group, has published its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2013. 

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Reported revenue in the six months to 31 December 2013 up 8% to £32.7m (2012: £30.4m) 2
    • Deferred revenues up 16% to £17.5m (31 December 2012: £15.1m)
    • Digital and events revenues account for 71% of revenue (2012: 67%)
    • Paid-for content revenues up 9% to £10.6m (2012: £9.7m)
  • Adjusted EBITDA up 7% to £3.1m (2012: £2.9m)
    • Adjusted EBITDA margins stable during a period of significant change
  • Interim dividend increased by 3% to 0.85p (2012: 0.825p)
  • Successful event launches including The Meetings Show and Festival of Marketing
  • Successful digital product development includes Celebrity Intelligence and Filings Expert
  • Good progress on harnessing combined strengths across the Group to drive revenue generation
  • Andria Vidler appointed as Chief Executive – accelerated focus on audiences and markets

 

  Six months to

31 December 2013

Unaudited

Six months to

31 December 2012

Unaudited

Reported Growth Year to 31 December 2013

Unaudited

Year to 31 December 2012

Unaudited

Reported Growth
Revenue (£m) 32.7 30.4 8% 74.4 69.4 7%
Adjusted EBITDA (£m) 1 3.1 2.9 7% 13.1 12.9 2%
Adjusted EBITDA margin 1 9% 10%   18% 19%  
Adjusted profit before tax (£m)1 0.9 0.7   8.8 8.8  
Loss before tax (£m) (2.9) (5.0)   (35.3) (0.8)  
Basic LPS (pence) (1.7) (3.1)   (25.7) (1.3)  
Adjusted basic EPS (pence) 1 0.5 0.3 66% 4.7 4.5 4%
Dividend per share (pence) 0.85 0.825 3% 2.425 2.325 4%

Andria Vidler CEO of Centaur, said, “We have a number of strong brands, deep content, a talented team and considerable technical expertise.  We aim to be the first place customers turn for information and insight and to interact with their peers. To deliver this we are refocusing – using our own resources – and placing our audiences at the heart of everything we do.  This will enable us to prioritise market facing and commercial initiatives, and to harness our combined strengths across the business to drive revenue generation and value creation.”

He added, “It is early days but I am increasingly optimistic about the Group’s potential and the energy and enthusiasm of the team across the business to embrace these changes.  We have made good progress in a very short time. At this stage of the 2014 financial year, I am encouraged by the potential across the business and anticipate that trading will be in line with the Board’s expectations.”

See the full announcement here

UK, London

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APN News & Media – 2013 Full year results

APN News & Media Ltd (APN), in which Independent News & Media PLC has a 28.95% shareholding, has released its results for the twelve months ending 31 December 2013. Net profit after tax before exceptional items was $59.5m, up 10% on the prior corresponding period. EBITDA from continuing operations and before exceptional items was up 8% to $162.8m, with revenue from continuing operations down $5.8m to $817.2m.

APN Chief Executive Officer, Michael Miller said: “These are APN’s best results in a number of years with Net profit after tax and EBITDA growth at their highest level since 2007 and 2005 respectively. The results reflect strong earnings growth in our radio businesses as they increased market share, a record result at Adshel, an improved second half performance from our publishing businesses as cost saving benefits start to flow through and the impact of the sale of a number of non-core businesses.”

APN’s ongoing focus on cost reductions and generating cash, as well as the contribution from a number of small asset sales, resulted in $63m in net cash inflows during the period. This cash inflow was considerably ahead of the $40m to $50m target set at the beginning of the year. Overall net debt as at 31 December 2013 was $436.9m.

APN FINANCIAL RESULT 2013

12 months to 31 December (AUD million) 2013 2012**
Revenue from continuing operations 817.2 823.0
EBITDA* 162.8 151.4
EBIT* 129.8 120.7
Net profit after tax* 59.3 49.6
Profit/loss from discontinued operations 0.3 4.7
Net profit after tax before exceptional items 59.5 54.3
Exceptional items (56.9) (561.7)
Statutory net profit/(loss) after tax 2.6 (507.4)
*From continuing operations and before exceptional items    
**2012 exceptional items and statutory net loss restated for error in relation to impairment charge

The company is not paying a final dividend for the 2013 financial year.

APN has made progress in its efforts to streamline operations and position the Company for future growth. The sale of APN Outdoor to Quadrant Private Equity for $69m and the sale of e-commerce business brandsExclusive for $2m in cash and 8% of the equity in buyer Aussie Commerce Group were completed in January and February of this year. The sale of APN’s wholly-owned New Zealand magazine titles to Bauer Media Group has received clearance from the New Zealand Commerce Commission and is expected to complete in March. During the first half of 2013, the Company sold its Wellington, Christchurch and Oamaru newspapers in line with its focus on North Island publications. APN also moved to full ownership of performance marketing business iNC Digital Media in October.

APN also announced the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Australian Radio Network and The Radio Network from its US joint venture partner Clear Channel Communications Inc. This  gives APN greater control of cash flows, which will be used to strengthen the Company’s balance sheet.

The full announcement is available here.

Ireland Dublin & UK, London

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