Informa's profit up on strength in global events unit

(Reuters) - British business media group Informa Plc said adjusted pretax profit rose 6 percent in the first half, driven by a strong performance at its global events business.

The company, which publishes real-time news, research, market data and 55,000 academic books and journals, said adjusted pretax profit rose to 155.2 million pounds in the six months ended June 30, from 146.5 million pounds a year earlier.

Revenue rose 1 percent to 569.6 million pounds.

The company's global events division, which consists of trade shows, exhibitions and conferences, accounted for 43 percent of total revenue in the first half and was up 6.8 percent from a year earlier.

London-based Informa, which moved back to the UK from Switzerland in June, said it expected to spend up to 90 million pounds over three years to meet its organic growth objectives, as part of a strategic review it started in January.

"This will be weighted to the Business Intelligence Division, where we believe the potential for improvement is greatest," Chief Executive Stephen Carter said in a statement.

The majority of the investment will be capital expenditure and is expected to impact group margins by about 150-250 basis points, the company said.

Analysts with Liberum said the extent of the investment was indicative of challenges the company faces and that it expected consensus estimates for earnings per share to be lowered.

Shares of the FTSE 250 component were down 1.2 percent at 484.6 pence in morning trade on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange.

Informa was formed by the 1998 merger of IBC Group Plc and Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. Its oldest business, the Lloyd's List, was started in 1734 and is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Abhiram Nandakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)