Interim Results

INFORMA GROUP PLC
24 August 1999


INFORMA GROUP PLC
INTERIM RESULTS
FOR THE SIX MONTHS TO 30 JUNE 1999

Highlights

- Turnover up  17% to £116m (1998: £99m)
- Profit before tax and exceptionals up 36% at £15m (1998: £11m)
- Operating margin up over 1% to 15%
- Adjusted earnings 9.17p (1998: 7.64p)
- Integration producing expected benefits
- Electronic media profit grown by 29%

Peter Rigby, Chairman of Informa Group commented:

'These  results for the first half of the year are  encouraging.
The  merger has led to a number of initiatives that have already
contributed  to the bottom line in 1999.  We expect  the  second
half  of  1999,  combining both organic growth and  growth  from
recent acquisitions, to contribute to a satisfactory result  for
the year.'


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Peter Rigby / David Gilbertson / Jim Wilkinson
Informa Group  Tel: [phone]

William Clutterbuck / Charlotte Hamilton
The Maitland Consultancy Tel: [phone]

INTERIM RESULTS

These  results are the first to reflect the group  as  a  single
entity  following the merger late last year.  They already  show
some  of the benefits of merging with underlying pre-tax profits
up   by   23%   to   £16.1m  (1998:  £13m)  excluding   goodwill
amortisation,  MBO  interest  and exceptional  items.   Headline
profit  before tax excluding exceptional items rose 36% to  £15m
(1998: £11m).  Turnover was up 17 % at £116m (1998: £99m).

On an adjusted basis earnings per share were 9.17p (1998: 7.64p)
a  rise of 20%.  An interim dividend of 2.33p will be paid on  8
November to shareholders on the register on 8 October.

INTEGRATION BENEFITS

In   practice,   the   merger  has  provided   more   commercial
opportunities than we anticipated.

An  ability  to  package quality information in  many  different
formats  and  deliver it according to customer preference  is  a
strong  advantage in an age where tailored information is vital.
It  is  Informa's aim to continue to produce relevant  and  high
quality information which is not freely available elsewhere.

Most  of  our  divisions have now formed themselves into  market
facing  'buddy' groups covering the various sectors in which  we
operate. These cross-divisional groups are starting to take full
advantage  of  cross-selling  and marketing  opportunities.   In
particular, they are developing new products to ensure  that  we
fully  leverage  our  various leading  brands  and  exploit  the
synergies between our conference and publishing activities.

For  example, accompanying the annual conference and exhibition,
GSM  World Congress, we also produced a CD Rom of the  event,  a
GSM  Directory,  a  special  edition  of  Mobile  Communications
International  magazine  and  a  daily  newspaper.   It  is  the
creation  of such product 'clusters' that will drive the  future
growth of Informa.

Separately  we have begun to draw on the strength of  our  major
publications  to  support  and build  our  conference  activity.
Among  examples  of  this  are Lloyd's  Ship  Manager,  now  the
official   publication  for  a  Ship  Registers  Conference   in
September,  Lloyd's List which is the official  publication  for
the Salvage and Wreck event in October and Bunker News, which is
associated  with  a  number of events in the environmental  risk
area.

Much  of the reorganisation identified at the time of the merger
has  been successfully completed.  The reorganisation costs  and
savings are in line with our expectations.  So far we have spent
£6.7m  on exceptional costs in 1999 and are on target to achieve
annualised cost savings across the group of some £2m.   Of  this
some £0.7m is expected to flow through this year.

We have amalgamated the two UK conference businesses, merged the
UK  business  publishing  operations and  established  one  head
office.  We have also merged our offices in Australia, Hong Kong
and Singapore.  In addition we have closed two loss-making South
African offices and downsized our Middle East operations.

The  merger  has  also  enabled us to review  our  portfolio  of
businesses to concentrate on core activities.  We have  disposed
of Marcus Bohn Associates Limited, a UK sales training business;
Assetrac,  a small US publishing business; and are closing  down
our French IT training business.

TRADING

Our  results  for the first six months of 1999 are  encouraging.
They  reflect  the  benefits of the reorganisation  as  detailed
above  and  strong  trading performances in most  parts  of  the
group.  Operating  profit margin (before exceptional  items  and
goodwill  amortisation) has improved to 14.8% (1998: 13.6%)  and
we expect further improvements as the merger benefits unfold and
the potential of our developing overseas businesses is realised.

The  IT  and  Telecommunications area is performing particularly
strongly.   Profits  are up 58% on last  year  as  the  telecoms
industry  prepares  itself for the third  generation  of  mobile
phones.   In February the GSM World Congress in Cannes had  some
4,500  delegates and a further 4,000 exhibition visitors.   This
reflects  significant growth over 1998.  June saw two successful
mobile telecoms events covering Bluetooth and UMTS technologies.

The  first  half  of  1999 has seen a number  of  other  notable
successes.   The  re-launch of Lloyd's List in  June,  only  the
fourth in its 265 year history, was extremely well received  and
coincided  with  a  highly successful Cruise + Ferry  exhibition
held in London.

The  European  operations, particularly in Holland and  Germany,
have  traded strongly.  The conference business in Brazil turned
around   to   make   a  small  profit.   Our  Asian   businesses
performedwell as the regional economies continued to recover.

In  the U.S. our publishing businesses, Townsend and Schupp  and
Bradshaw  Financial Network both won major consulting  contracts
and  all  our  other electronic financial data  businesses  grew
encouragingly.

We  also launched several new titles the most notable being Risk
Professional and AgraFood Biotech.

ACQUISITIONS

Informa has made four significant acquisitions so far this year.
The  Australian Daily Commercial News was purchased  and  merged
with Lloyd's List Australian Weekly to create Lloyd's List Daily
Commercial  News.   This  is the major source  of  import/export
information  for  the  Australian  market  and  provides   niche
branding opportunities for our conference operations.

We   also  acquired  Linkraven,  a  market  leader  in  aviation
information and International Media Limited with titles in sugar
and confectionery.

In  June  we completed the acquisition of Washington Policy  and
Analysis.   This US based high level energy consultancy,  backed
by  publications and events, will significantly  strengthen  our
worldwide energy business.

E-COMMERCE

Demand  for the electronic delivery of our information continues
to  grow  at  a  rapid  rate.   All  our  electronic  publishing
businesses  saw  strong  growth in the  first  half.  Electronic
publishing profits grew by 29% and now account for over a  third
of total publishing profit.

Most  of  our  businesses  are  now  capable  of  marketing  and
providing  products  electronically.  Different  countries'  and
industries'  demands for electronic products are  developing  at
vastly  differing paces, but the strength of our niche positions
and  the proprietary nature of our information means we are well
placed to meet their demands.

We continue to integrate our data and text information databases
allowing  us  to  offer  a growing range  of  comprehensive  and
bespoke information packages as required by the market.

We  are  also  generating  increasing  sales  revenues  via  the
Internet. The ability to market our events and publications  on-
line  is  enabling us to reach, cost effectively, parts  of  the
market not accessible by traditional means.

OUTLOOK

We are pleased with these encouraging results for the first half
of  the year.  We have also established a strong base for future
growth.

The  merger has led to a number of initiatives that have already
contributed  to  the bottom line in 1999 and this  process  will
accelerate  into  2000,  as  we  focus  on  our  core   markets,
developing new products and enhancing our existing portfolio.

We expect the second half of 1999, combining both organic growth
and  growth  from  recent  acquisitions,  to  contribute  to   a
satisfactory result for the year.


PETER RIGBY                                  DAVID GILBERTSON
CHAIRMAN                                     CHIEF EXECUTIVE

CONSOLIDATED PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 1999


                  1999    1999     1999    1998     1998    1998
                  Half    Half     Half    Half     Half    Half
                  Year    Year     Year    Year     Year    Year
                Before Except-    Total  Before  Except-   Total
               except-   ional          except-    ional
                 ional   items            ional    items
                 items (Note2)            items
                unaud-  unaud-   unaud-  unaud-   unaud-  unaud-
                  ited    ited     ited    ited     ited    ited
                 £'000   £'000    £'000   £'000    £'000   £'000
               ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Turnover       116,077       -  116,077  99,306        -  99,306
Note1
                                                                
-Operating      17,190 (4,003)   13,187  13,484    (803)  12,681
profit before
goodwill
amortisation
Note1
-Goodwill      (1,056)       -  (1,056)    (75)        -    (75)
mortisation
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Operating       16,134 (4,003)   12,131  13,409    (803)  12,606
profit
-Disposal of         - (1,891)  (1,891)       -  (1,148) (1,148)
subsidiary
undertakings
and
termination
of businesses
-Merger              -       -        -       -        -       -
expenses
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Profit before   16,134 (5,894)   10,240  13,409  (1,951)  11,458
interest
-Net interest  (1,108)   (772)  (1,880) (2,391)    (110) (2,501)
payable Note3
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Profit on       15,026 (6,666)    8,360  11,018  (2,061)   8,957
ordinary
activities
before tax
-Tax on        (5,468)   1,500  (3,968) (3,711)      283 (3,428)
profit on
ordinary
activities
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Profit for       9,558 (5,166)    4,392   7,307  (1,778)   5,529
the financial
period
-Dividends     (2,706)       -  (2,706) (2,443)        - (2,443)
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Retained         6,852 (5,166)    1,686   4,864  (1,778)   3,086
profit for
the financial
period
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Dividends per                                                   
share
-Informa                          2.33p                        -
-IBC                                  -                     4.1p
-LLP                                  -                     1.7p
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------
Earnings per                                                    
share
Earnings per                      3.79p                    6.02p
share
(basic)Note4
Earnings per                      3.73p                    5.94p
share
(diluted)Note
4
Adjusted                          9.17p                    7.64p
earnings per
share -
before
amortisation
of goodwill
and
exceptional
items Note4
-------------  ------- -------  ------- -------  ------- -------

CONSOLIDATED PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 1999
                                     1998      1998      1998
                                   Before   Except-     Total
                                  except-     ional
                                    ional     items
                                    items
                                  audited   audited   audited
                                    £'000     £'000     £'000
                                --------- --------- ---------
Turnover Note1                    202,895         -   202,895
                                                             
-Operating profit before           29,023   (1,674)    27,349
goodwill amortisation
-Goodwill amortisation              (671)               (671)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Operating profit Note1             28,352   (1,674)    26,678
-Disposal of subsidiary                 -   (1,148)   (1,148)
undertakings and termination of
businesses
-Merger expenses                        -   (4,707)   (4,707)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit before interest             28,352   (7,529)    20,823
-Net interest payable Note3       (3,536)       377   (3,159)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit on ordinary activities      24,816   (7,152)    17,664
before tax
-Tax on profit on ordinary        (8,115)     2,012   (6,103)
activities
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Profit for the financial period    16,701   (5,140)    11,561
-Dividends                        (7,631)         -   (7,631)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Retained profit for the             9,070   (5,140)     3,930
financial period
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Dividends per share                                          
-Informa                                               4.145p
-IBC                                                     4.1p
-LLP                                                     1.7p
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Earnings per share Note4                                     
Earnings per share (basic)Note4                        11.26p
Earnings per share (diluted)                           11.05p
Note4
Adjusted earnings per share -                          16.34p
before amortisation of goodwill
and exceptional items
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS & LOSSES
For the period ended 30 June 1999
                                       1999     1998     1998
                                       Half     Half         
                                       year     year
                                     unaud-   unaud-  audited
                                       ited     ited
                                      £'000    £'000    £'000
---------------------------------- -------- -------- --------
Profit for the financial period       4,392    5,529   11,561
Currency translation differences      2,986     (82)  (2,434)
on foreign currency net
investments
---------------------------------- -------- -------- --------
Total gains and losses recognised     7,378    5,447    9,127
since last accounts
---------------------------------- -------- -------- --------

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
For the period ended 30 June 1999
                                        1999      1998      1998
                                   Half year Half year          
                                   unaudited unaudited   audited
                                       £'000     £'000     £'000
                                                                
Cash flow from operating              15,252    11,938    29,244
activities  Note5
Return on Investments and            (1,781)   (2,648)   (3,607)
servicing of finance
Taxation                               (648)   (1,285)   (5,492)
Capital expenditure                  (4,880)   (1,733)   (3,528)
Acquisitions & disposals            (10,766)  (13,802)  (30,721)
Merger expenses paid                 (2,632)         -   (2,201)
Equity dividends Paid                (4,806)   (2,689)   (5,132)
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Cash outflow before financing       (10,261)  (10,219)  (21,437)
Financing                             12,226    13,177    20,697
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Increase/(decrease) in cash in the     1,965     2,958     (740)
Period
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW TO MOVEMENT IN  NET DEBT
For the period ended 30 June 1999
                                        1999      1998      1998
                                   Half year Half year          
                                      unaud-    unaud-   audited
                                        ited      ited
                                       £'000     £'000     £'000
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Increase/(decrease) in cash in the     1,965     2,958     (740)
period
Cash (inflow)/outflow from          (11,724)    54,417    46,104
(increase)/decrease in debt
financing
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
CHANGE IN NET DEBT RESULTING FROM    (9,759)    57,375    45,364
CASH FLOWS
Translation differences                1,957      (28)   (1,574)
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Movements in net debt in the         (7,802)    57,347    43,790
period
Net debt at the start of the        (35,699)  (79,489)  (79,489)
period Note6
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net debt at the end of the period   (43,501)  (22,142)  (35,699)
Note6
---------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AT 30 JUNE 1998
                                                             
                                     1999      1998      1998
                                  30 June    31 Dec   30 June
                                unaudited unaudited   audited
                                    £'000     £'000     £'000
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Fixed assets                                                 
Tangible assets                    11,844     9,053     8,681
Intangible assets                  46,762    34,380    11,795
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
                                   58,606    43,433    20,476
                                                             
Current assets                                               
Stocks                              4,929     6,374     4,557
Debtors                            36,055    39,361    34,262
Cash at bank and in hand            6,304     4,480     9,007
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
                                   47,288    50,215    47,826
                                                             
Creditors: amounts falling due   (83,431)  (90,183)  (70,941)
within one year
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net current liabilities          (36,143)  (39,968)  (23,115)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Total assets less net current      22,463     3,465   (2,639)
liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due   (53,751)  (40,759)  (33,922)
after more than one year
Provisions for liabilities and       (91)     (556)         -
charges
Minority interests                    (4)       (4)       (4)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Net liabilities                  (31,383)  (37,854)  (36,565)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Capital and reserves                                         
Called up share capital            11,595    11,563    11,435
Share premium account              65,769    65,296    64,936
Capital redemption reserve         36,832    36,832    36,832
Other reserve                         102       105       120
Profit & loss account           (145,681) (151,650) (149,888)
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------
Deficit on shareholders' funds   (31,383)  (37,854)  (36,565)
- equity
------------------------------- --------- --------- ---------


NOTES

1.   SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS
  For the period ended 30 June 1999

Operating   profit  in  the  segmental  analysis  excludes   the
amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items.

                            Turnover          Operating Profit
                     1999   1998     1998   1999    1998    1998
                     Half   Half            Half    Half        
                     year   year            year    year
                   unaud- unaud-   unaud- unaud-  unaud- audited
                     ited   ited     ited   ited    ited
                    £'000  £'000    £'000  £'000   £'000   £'000
----------------  ------- ------  ------- ------  ------ -------
Analysis by                                                     
market sector
-IT and Telecomm   28,151 19,447   37,078  6,003   3,797   6,790
-Maritime,Trade    19,232 18,761   38,585  3,799   3,746   8,775
& Transport
-Financial and     21,907 19,201   43,529  3,514   2,388   5,689
Insurance
-Law and Tax       25,977 21,492   43,169  2,987   2,686   5,313
-Commodities and   11,723 11,194   21,190    845     830   1,807
Energy
-Biomedical and     7,606  5,222   14,498    153     270     529
Pharmaceutical
-Other              1,481  3,989    4,846  (111)   (233)     120
                  116,077 99,306  202,895 17,190  13,484  29,023
----------------  ------- ------  ------- ------  ------ -------

The amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items were incurred
centrally and cannot be attributed to individual markets.

2. EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS

a.   OPERATING COSTS
  The  £4,003,000  shown in the profit and loss  account  is  in
  respect  of  surplus  property costs, costs  relating  to  the
  harmonisation  of  the Group's systems and  employment  costs,
  principally  redundancy and compensation for loss of  options,
  arising as a result of the merger.

b.DISPOSAL   OF  SUBSIDIARY  UNDERTAKINGS  AND  TERMINATION   OF
  BUSINESSES
  During the period the Group sold its interest in Assetrac  and
  80% of its interest in Marcus Bohn, closed down operations  in
  South Africa and terminated one UK based publication purchased
  in  a  prior  year.   The  loss on sales  was  after  charging
  goodwill   previously   written  off  of   £1,382,000.    Cash
  consideration  of  £80,000 was received and closure  costs  of
  £589,000 were incurred.

c.   INTEREST CHARGE
  Included    within   exceptional   items   in   net   interest
  (payable)/receivable and other similar  items  are  the  costs
  associated  with  the termination of LLP  and  IBC's  existing
  facilities  and the establishment of the group's new  interest
  rate management policy.

3.   NET INTEREST (PAYABLE)/RECEIVABLE AND OTHER SIMILAR ITEMS
  Included within the interest payable figure for the six months
  to  30  June  1998 and year to 31 December 1998 is  £1,945,000
  interest  relating to the costs of funding LLP before  receipt
  of  the net proceeds of the Placing and the employee offer  on
  flotation in April 1998.

4.   EARNINGS AND ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE
  In  order  to  show  results from operating  activities  on  a
  comparable basis, an adjusted average earnings per  share  has
  been  calculated which excludes amortisation of  goodwill  and
  exceptional  items.  Also, an adjustment is made to  eliminate
  costs  of  LLP  funding which would not  have  arisen  if  the
  company  had  floated on 1 January 1998.  Pursuant  to  FRS14,
  this  adjustment has been included in the basic  EPS,  diluted
  EPS  and  the  adjusted EPS calculation.  The effect  of  this
  adjustment is detailed below.

                                   1999        1998        1998
                              Half year   Half year     audited
                              unaudited   unaudited
                                  £'000       £'000       £'000
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Profit for the financial          4,392       5,529      11,561
period
Net effect of management              -       1,342       1,342
buyout interest charge
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Earnings and diluted              4,392       6,871      12,903
earnings
                                                    
Adjustments:                                        
Amortisation of goodwill          1,056          75         671
Net effect of exceptional         5,166       1,778       5,140
items
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Adjusted earnings                10,614       8,724      18,714
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Weighted average number of                          
equity shares
  - for earnings and        115,802,648 114,140,459 114,560,618
adjusted earnings
                                                    
Effect of dilutive share      2,057,543   1,514,267   2,229,959
options
                                                    
Weighted average number of                          
equity shares
  - for diluted earnings    117,860,191 115,654,726 116,790,577
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Earnings per equity share         3.79p      6.02p"      11.26p
Diluted earnings per equity       3.73p       5.94p      11.05p
share
Adjusted earnings per             9.17p       7.64p      16.34p
equity share
--------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------

5.    RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROFIT TO NET CASH INFLOW FROM
  OPERATING ACTIVITIES
                              1999      1998      1998
                         Half year Half year          
                         unaudited unaudited   audited
                             £'000     £'000     £'000
                         --------- --------- ---------
Operating profit before     16,134    13,409    28,352
exceptional items
Exceptional operating      (4,003)     (803)   (1,674)
costs
Amortisation of goodwill     1,056        75       671
Depreciation charges         1,600     1,493     2,755
(Profit)/loss on sale of       333        20         4
tangible fixed assets
Decrease/(increase) in       1,811       742     (998)
stocks
Decrease/(increase) in       4,019       130   (7,835)
debtors
(Decrease)/increase in     (6,568)   (3,176)     7,523
creditors
Other operating items          870        48       446
------------------------ --------- --------- ---------
Net cash inflow from        15,252    11,938    29,244
operating activities
------------------------ --------- --------- ---------

6.   ANALYSIS OF NET DEBT
  FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 JUNE 1999

                         At 1  Cashflow  Exchange     At 30
                      January            movement June 1999
                         1999
                         £000      £000      £000      £000
------------------- ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Cash at bank and in     4,480     1,965     (141)     6,304
hand
Debt due after one   (40,179)  (11,724)     2,098  (49,805)
year
------------------- ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Total                (35,699)   (9,759)     1,957  (43,501)
------------------- ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------