Results ahead once again Informa’s momentum continues, in all senses. As a starting point today, H1 results were ahead of expectations, with revenue up 11% organically to £1695m, and EBITA up 19% organically to £466.9m, 2-3% ahead of consensus. As a result, FY performance is now expected to be above the top end of the guidance range, and management note they expect double digit organic growth and have ‘an ambition to deliver £1bn of EBITA’. Notably by division, Markets was up 12.9%, with strong events demand across all geographies, and Academic Publishing was up 7.5%, boosted by the recent AI deal with Microsoft. Informa highlights that it has now signed a second AI partnership and expects AI-related revenues of $75m+ this year. Management lastly have announced a review of the retained minority interests given the strong performance and interest from third parties. Ascential offer Informa have separately announced a 568p recommended offer for Ascential (N/R), representing a value of £1.2bn, with estimated £12m of cost synergies, plus other revenue synergies – combining these with tax benefits, Informa estimate a ‘low double digit’ EV multiple for the deal based on Ascential 2025 EBITDA estimates and expect c5%+ accretion to earnings. Pro-forma leverage is expected to be at the higher end of the targeted 1.5-2.5x range at YE. Earnings momentum continues Informa is currently trading at c10x FY25 EBITDA / 15x PE – as we have discussed previously, it continues to deliver impressive momentum in earnings, but a question still remains over the scope for re-rating if, as, and when that slows.