RELX report as follows:
Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented: “RELX delivered strong revenue and profit growth in 2023, driven by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth information based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers across market segments.”
“We have been able to develop and deploy these tools across the company for well over a decade by leveraging deep customer understanding to combine leading content and data sets with powerful technologies. We are confident that our ability to leverage artificial intelligence and other technologies, as they evolve, will continue to be an important driver of customer value and growth in our business for many years to come.”
“In recognition of our strong performance and outlook for the company we are proposing an 8% increase in the full year dividend to 58.8p (54.6p).”
Revenue £9,161m (£8,553m); underlying growth +8%: Electronic revenue, representing 83% of the total, grew +7%, with the strong growth in face-to-face activity more than offsetting the print decline, bringing the overall group underlying revenue growth rate to +8%.
Adjusted operating profit £3,030m (£2,683m); underlying growth +13%: Our strategy of driving continuous process innovation to manage cost growth below revenue growth, together with the recovery in face-to-face activity, resulted in an improvement in the group adjusted operating margin to 33.1% (31.4%).
Reported operating profit £2,682m (£2,323m): Reported operating profit includes amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £280m (£296m).
Adjusted profit before tax £2,716m (£2,489m): The adjusted net interest expense increased to £314m (£194m). This includes a non-recurring early bond redemption charge of £26m, bringing the average effective net interest rate on gross debt to 4.6%, or 4.2% excluding the early bond redemption charge.
Reported profit before tax £2,295m (£2,113m): Reported net interest was £315m (£201m).
Tax: The adjusted tax charge was £553m (£530m). The adjusted effective tax rate was 20.4% (21.3%), with the current period benefitting from non-recurring tax credits. The reported tax charge was £507m (£481m).
Adjusted EPS 114.0p (102.2p) +12%; constant currency growth +11%.
Reported EPS 94.1p (85.2p).
Dividend: We are proposing a full year dividend of 58.8p (54.6p), an increase of +8%.
Portfolio development: In 2023 we completed six small acquisitions, for a total consideration of £130m, and one small disposal.
Net debt/EBITDA 2.0x (2.1x): Net debt at 31 December 2023 was £6,446m (£6,604m). EBITDA was £3,544m (£3,174m). Adjusted cash flow conversion was 98% (101%).
Share buybacks: We deployed £800m on share buybacks in 2023. In recognition of our strong financial position and cash flow we intend to deploy a total of £1,000m on share buybacks in 2024, of which £150m has already been completed.
Corporate responsibility and environmental, social and governance (ESG): We performed well on our corporate responsibility priorities in 2023, on our unique contributions to society, and on our key metrics. Our performance was again recognised by external agencies: RELX achieved a AAA MSCI ESG rating for an eighth consecutive year, ranked second in our sector by Sustainalytics, maintained fifth place in the Responsibility100 Index, and was a constituent of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for a fifth consecutive year.
To read the full financial results click here.
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