B2B and academic publisher Informa, whose properties include Lloyd’s List and Routledge, saw adjusted pre-tax profit rise 13 percent in 2007 to £202.6 million, on nine percent better revenue of £1.12 billion, as digital publishing continued to player a bigger and bigger part.
Online-only reference sites and e-books gave £5m turnover and 48 percent growth: “Revenue growth in pure digitally designed products is outstripping all other delivery media.”
The company said most of its readers now want to get their journals in electronic form: “This has enabled us increasingly to sell enterprise-wide information packages, moving away from more traditional personal subscription based models.” It helped revenue in the academic and scientific division up 15 percent and operating profit up 25 percent.
With a third of its book collection now available electronically, Informa said “virtual stock” had rejuvenated the collection by allowing out-of-print titles to remain on sale. Online book sales make up 30 percent of sales in the academic and scientific unit.
Update: Informa CEO Peter Rigsby told Thomson the company is not interested in buying Reed Elsevier’s (NYSE: RUK) Reed Business Information unit, a B2B publisher, which was essentially offered up to bidders last week.