Informa returned to profit in 2021, with the business information publisher and events organiser expressing confidence on Tuesday about the year ahead as Covid restrictions are fully relaxed.

Revenue for 2021 rose 8.4% to £1.80 billion from $1.66 billion the year before, with the firm swinging to a pretax profit of £137.1 million from a staggering loss of £1.14 billion in 2020.

‘Through the 2021 transition year, as the world progressively began to start living alongside Covid-19, the group’s focus gradually shifted from stability and security to revitalisation and growth,’ said Informa.

It is continuing to see a return in confidence and levels of activity in Live and On-Demand events. To date, the majority of brands that have run in 2022 have been in North America and the Middle East, with major brands in Europe traditionally scheduled from the second quarter.

For 2022, Informa aims to achieving revenue between £2.15 billion and £2.25 billion with adjusted operating profit of £470 million to £490 million.

‘The robust return of Live and On-Demand Events, combined with consistent and improving growth at Taylor & Francis, and continued expansion in B2B Digital Services, gives us confidence of further growth and acceleration in 2022,’ said Chief Executive Stephen Carter.

Informa shares were up 0.2% early Tuesday, bucking a lower open for the FTSE 100 as a whole.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:

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MARKETS

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FTSE 100: down 1.4% at 7,093.74

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Hang Seng: down 5.7% at 18,415.08

Nikkei 225: closed up 0.2% at 25,346.48

S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.7% at 7,097.40

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DJIA: closed up 1.05 points at 32,945.24

S&P 500: closed down 0.7% at 4,173.11

Nasdaq Composite: closed down 2.0% at 12,581.22

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EUR: up at $1.1006 ($1.0991)

GBP: down at $1.3037 ($1.3059)

USD: unchanged at JP¥117.97 (JP¥117.98)

Gold: down at $1,932.86 per ounce ($1,957.83)

Oil (Brent): down at $101.53 a barrel ($105.30)

(changes since previous London equities close)

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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL

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Tuesday’s key economic events still to come

1100 CET EU industrial production

1100 CET Germany ZEW indicator of economic sentiment

1100 GMT Ireland goods exports and imports

0830 EDT US producer price index

1630 EDT US API weekly statistical bulletin

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The Office for National Statistics said the UK labour market continued to recover at the start of 2022. The unemployment rate in the three months to January was 3.9%, down from 4.1% in the three months to December and returning to pre-pandemic levels. The ONS said the number of payrolled employees in February stood at a record 29.7 million. Meanwhile, job vacancies rose to a new record of 1.3 million. Growth in average total pay - which includes bonuses - was 4.8% and growth in regular pay, stripping out bonus payments, was 3.8%. But when adjusted for inflation, growth in total pay was 0.1% and regular pay fell on the year by 1.0%, likely to heighten concerns about a cost-of-living squeeze in the UK. Data last month showed the UK’s annual inflation figure raced to just shy of a 30-year high in January at 5.5%. The Bank of England meets this week, unveiling its latest interest rate decision on Thursday.

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Nearly 30 million people were under lockdown across China on Tuesday, as surging virus cases prompted the return of mass tests and hazmat-suited health officials to city streets on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic. China reported 5,280 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day’s tally, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads across a country that has tethered tightly to a ‘zero-Covid’ strategy. That approach, which pivots on hard localised lockdowns and has left China virtually cut off from the outside world for two years, appears to be on the line as Omicron finds its way into communities. At least 13 cities nationwide were fully locked down on Tuesday, and several other cities had partial lockdowns.

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Unemployment in China rose and youth unemployment spiked in the first months of the year, amid the surge of coronavirus cases. The unemployment rate in cities edged up to 5.5% by the end of February, compared with 5.1% in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Job seekers aged 16-24 were struggling with a 15% increase in unemployment. But China reported better-than-expected retail sales and industrial output in January and February. Retail sales for the first two months rose 6.7% on-year, it said. This was well above the 3% forecast by Bloomberg analysts. Industrial production was up 7.5% for the first two months, beating analysts’ expectations of a 3.9% growth.

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BROKER RATING CHANGES

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Kepler Cheuvreux cuts Hunting to ’hold’ (buy) - price target 390 (220) pence

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COMPANIES - FTSE 100

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Tobacco firm Imperial Brands said constant currency net revenue growth in its financial year ending September 30 is now seen between flat and 1%, after evaluating the financial fallout of an exit from its Russian assets and operations and the suspension of operations in Ukraine. The company said it has started negotiations with an unnamed ‘local third party’ about a transfer of its Russian assets and operations. ‘We believe that, in the current circumstances, an orderly transfer of our business as a going concern would be in the best interests of our Russian colleagues,’ said Imperial, which has 1,000 employees in the country. In financial 2021, Russia and Ukraine represented in total around 2% of net revenue and 0.5% of adjusted operating profit.

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Plumbing and heating products supplier Ferguson bumped up its shareholder returns after a strong first half, despite battling inflationary pressures. Net sales in the six months to January 31 rose to $13.31 billion from $10.31 billion a year before, boosting net income to $996 million from $429 million. Inflation in the period was ‘in the mid teens’, but despite this the firm reported gross margin expansion and good cost control. Ferguson raised its interim dividend by 15% to $0.84 and said it is increasing its share buyback programme by $1.0 billion to $2.0 billion. ‘Our associates delivered another excellent performance with continued market share gains and strong price realization while navigating industry supply chain pressures,’ said Chief Executive Kevin Murphy. He added: ‘Markets remain supportive and we anticipate solid revenue growth in the second half as we begin to lap tougher comparatives. We continue to be mindful that first half tailwinds on gross margin will likely moderate but we are confident in our full year expectations.’ Ferguson is set to move its primary listing to New York from London on May 12 and so will be removed from the FTSE 100 index.

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Anglo American said subsidiary Anglo American Capital has priced an issue of $500 million senior notes due 2029 at 3.875% and $750 million senior notes due 2052 at 4.750%. The bonds will be issued by Anglo American Capital, which operates as a special purpose entity, and guaranteed by Anglo American. The offering is expected to settle on Wednesday. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, the miner said.

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Interdealer broker TP ICAP reported a plunge in profit in 2021, despite a slight rise in revenue, blaming ‘unusually quiet secondary markets’, particularly in the first half of last year. TP ICAP reported £24 million in pretax profit, down from £129 million in 2020, though revenue rose by 4.0% to £1.87 billion from £1.79 billion. Despite the fall in profit, the company boosted its annual dividend by more than 50% to 9.5 pence per share from 6.0p. Revenue in 2022 so far is up 16% from a year earlier at constant currency, or up 4% excluding Liquidnet. ‘Market volatility has continued at more elevated levels in 2022, with the return of inflation and geopolitical uncertainty driving higher volumes across many of our markets,’ said Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Breteau.

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Car dealership chain Inchcape gave an update on its Russian operations, saying it has decided that the ownership of its business interests in Russia is ‘no longer tenable’. It has initiated a process to ‘transition’ the business, while aiming to preserve the jobs of its employees. Inchcape noted that, having sold its operations in St Petersburg last year, the remaining business in Russia contributed £750 million in revenue in 2021, about 10% of group sales. Historically, the Russian business has accounted for less than 3% of operating profit.

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Spread betting platform CMC Markets said it now has launched the £30 million share buyback programme it had previously announced. RBC Europe will conduct the buyback, which will run until the end of June next year and involve up to 29.1 million shares.

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COMPANIES - GLOBAL

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The UK Competition & Markets Authority said it has decided against a full competition review of the acquisition by Deutsche Post’s DHL subsidiary of ocean freight forwarding firm JF Hillebrand. Deutsche Post agreed to buy Hillebrand in mid-August last year in a deal valued at €1.5 billion.

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Tuesday’s shareholder meetings

abrdn PLC - GM re proposed acquisition of interactive investor

BlackRock Energy & Resources Income Trust PLC - AGM

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