WillItSurvive
Broadcast and traditional media · United Kingdom

Informa plc

informa.com ↗

UK group running B2B trade shows and Taylor & Francis academic publishing.

Hard to displace
Assessed 24 July 2026 · Evidence as of 24 July 2026
Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.
On the recordSince 24 July 2026 · Checkable from 30 July 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: H1 2026 results, where Informa TechTarget must show a return to growth
The call

Events and publishing keep growing while one media division absorbs the AI traffic hit that management says it must reverse in 2026.

Informa runs big trade shows and conferences for business customers, plus owns Taylor & Francis, a major academic publisher with thousands of journals and books. The company is hard to replace because exhibitors and researchers have spent years building relationships and habits with these platforms, and AI search tools have not yet threatened the live events or academic publishing sides, though they already hurt its tech-media news websites (which management wrote down in 2025). The key question is whether the tech-media division can start growing again in 2026; if it shrinks for another year or takes another big loss, it could shake investor confidence that the rest of Informa's business is as durable as it looks.

Why
01
AI pressure: AI search and answer engines (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT) cutting B2B media traffic. Informa TechTarget lost ad and lead-gen traffic to AI answers, triggering a £484m writedown and $1bn 2025 net loss. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: RELX plc. RELX, roughly twice Informa's size, runs its own exhibitions and data units but competes alongside rather than displacing Informa's events. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Decades-old exhibitor and researcher lock-in: physical trade shows and Taylor & Francis's 2,700-journal backlist are hard to copy fast.
What would change this call
Informa TechTarget reports growth (not decline) in H1 2026 results due 30 July 2026. Would show AI-driven media traffic loss is stabilizing, not spreading further.
A second material impairment charge at Informa TechTarget in 2026. Would show the AI-search threat is deeper than the 2025 writedown assumed.
Underlying B2B Live Events growth rate for FY2026 (vs 9.5% in 2025). Would show whether the events moat is holding or also losing ground to rivals.
Key numbers
  • FY2025 revenue £4,041.4m, up 6.3% underlying (2025-12-31)
  • B2B Live Events grew 9.5% underlying in 2025 (2025-12-31)
  • Informa TechTarget posted ~$1bn net loss on AI-linked impairment (2025-12-31)
Named risks
  • Informa TechTarget fails to return to growth in 2026 after ~$1bn 2025 net loss. Severity: high
  • IMEA regional conflict disrupts events; 15+ brands already rescheduled into 2026. Severity: medium
  • Data breach litigation following Aug 2025 Informa TechTarget cybersecurity incident. Severity: medium
  • AI-native search erodes content-discovery traffic beyond TechTarget into other media brands. Severity: medium
  • Chair succession transition creates temporary governance uncertainty into early 2027. Severity: low
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
RELX plccontestingRELX ~£9.4bn revenue vs Informa £3.55bn in 2024, stronger recurring data model, per Mar 2026 analysis
AI-native search enginesgaining onInforma TechTarget took £484.2m impairment and ~$1bn net loss in 2025 from AI traffic cannibalization
Wiley, Springer Nature, ClarivatecontestingAcademic publishing peers compete with Taylor & Francis on journals and open-access economics, per Dec 2025 analysis
Hyve Group, Clarion Events, EmeraldcontestingPrivate events organizers compete on niche and regional shows against Informa Markets/Connect/Festivals
Questions people ask
Is Informa plc profitable in 2026?
Yes. Informa posted record FY2025 adjusted operating profit of £1,139.8m, up 14.6%, on revenue of £4,041.4m. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 11.0% to 55.6p, the fifth straight year of double-digit EPS growth, as of December 31, 2025.
Did Informa TechTarget lose money?
Yes. Informa TechTarget, 57%-owned by Informa and listed on Nasdaq as TTGT, reported a roughly $1bn net loss in 2025, driven by a £484.2m non-cash impairment tied to AI-driven media traffic decline, per results published March 11-12, 2026.
Who is Informa's biggest competitor?
RELX plc is Informa's closest large rival, with 2024 revenue of about £9.4bn versus Informa's £3.55bn and over 80% recurring revenue via Elsevier, LexisNexis, and Reed Exhibitions, according to analyst commentary published March 8, 2026.
Could AI replace Taylor & Francis or Informa's events business?
Unlikely soon. Taylor & Francis holds 2,700+ journals and 150,000+ books creating researcher lock-in, and even licenses content to Microsoft for AI training. Informa's live events grew 9.5% underlying in 2025, both resistant to AI substitution unlike TechTarget's media model.
How much did Informa return to shareholders in 2025?
Informa returned £620m to shareholders in 2025, including a full-year dividend up 10% to 22.0p per share, and increased its buyback program to £250m for 2026, according to results reported March 12, 2026.
Is Informa TechTarget expected to recover in 2026?
Management has explicitly committed to Informa TechTarget getting 'back into growth' in 2026 after its roughly $1bn 2025 net loss from a £484.2m impairment. This division is the key swing factor watched by investors for the year, per March 2026 disclosures.
Timeline
  • 2026-06-18AGM update: 6.4% underlying growth for five months to end-May 2026; 15+ IMEA event brands rescheduled
  • 2026-04-17Informa TechTarget mailed consumer notices for Aug 2025 data breach discovered Nov 2025
  • 2026-03-12FY2025 results: £4,041.4m revenue, £1,139.8m adjusted operating profit, 55.6p adjusted EPS
  • 2026-03-11Informa TechTarget reports ~$1bn 2025 net loss on £484.2m impairment
  • 2025-08-18Informa TechTarget breach window (Oracle E-Business Suite vulnerability) ends
  • 2025-06-30Microsoft pays Taylor & Francis initial $10m fee to license content for AI training
  • 2024-12-31Informa Tech merges with Nasdaq-listed TechTarget; Informa takes 57% stake
  • 2024-10-31Informa completes ~£1.2bn acquisition of Ascential
  • 2022-02-28Informa sells Informa Pharma Intelligence to Warburg Pincus for $2.6bn
  • 1998-12-31Informa formed via merger of IBC Group plc and LLP Group plc
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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