Stable revenues for Taylor & Francis in 2018

Taylor & Francis saw a 0.6% revenue rise in the 2018 calendar year, to a total of £533.2m (£530m in 2017), with an underlying revenue rise of 2.2%. Adjusted operating profit dropped 4.6% to £198.4m (£208m in 2017), but underlying profit rose 0.3%.

Parent company Informa said the academic publishing division had shown "consistent performance in Journal subscriptions, good growth in Open Access and improved growth in specialist Books following operational improvement programme to deliver a +2.2% increase in underlying revenue."

The company added: "Our investment in Open Access over recent years, most recently through Dove Medical Press, is now really reaping rewards as the market matures and we start to leverage Dove's brands and production capabilities across our full OA portfolio.

"Similarly, our investment in improving digital production processes and digital marketing within our Books business, as well as the development of a single electronic books platform, has led to strong momentum on the back of increased front list output and better discoverability of our backlist content.

"These investments, combined with the transaction impact of a weaker US dollar, impacted margins in 2018, reversing the positive currency effects we have seen on margins over recent years."

For 2019, Informa said it expected T&F's "consistent" performance to continue, with the target of another year of 2%+ underlying growth and margin strength.

The Informa business as a whole saw 3.7% underlying growth (34.9% reported growth) to produce total 2018 revenues of £2,369m. Underlying adjusted profit was up 2.3% (34.4% reported) at £732.1m (£544.9m in 2017).

Group chief executive Stephen A Carter said it was a "fifth consecutive year of improving growth, increasing adjusted profits, adjusted earnings per share, cashflow and dividends", adding: "In 2019, our focus is on continuing Performance and Growth as we consolidate our market positions and further reduce complexity. This will enable us to make the most of our increased operating scale and industry specialisation, creating attractive opportunities for incremental growth and returns."