RELX report as follows:
Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented: “RELX delivered strong revenue and profit growth in the first half of 2024. Our improving long-term growth trajectory continues to be driven by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers across market segments.”
“We develop and deploy these tools across the company by leveraging deep customer understanding to combine leading content and data sets with powerful artificial intelligence and other technologies. This has been a key driver of the evolution of our business for well over a decade, and will remain a key driver of customer value and growth in our business for many years to come.”
Revenue £4,641m (£4,499m); underlying growth +7%: Electronic revenue, representing 84% of the total, also grew +7%, with the strong growth in face-to-face activity offsetting the print decline.
Adjusted operating profit £1,583m (£1,486m); underlying growth +10%: Our strategy of driving continuous process innovation to manage cost growth below revenue growth led to an improvement in the group adjusted operating margin to 34.1% (33.0%).
Reported operating profit £1,431m (£1,308m): Reported operating profit includes amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £131m (£143m).
Adjusted profit before tax £1,450m (£1,350m): The adjusted net interest expense was £133m (£136m). The average interest rate on gross debt was 4.1% (4.2%).
Reported profit before tax £1,295m (£1,137m).
Tax: The adjusted tax charge was £334m (£284m). The adjusted effective tax rate was 23.0% (21.0%), with the prior period benefitting from non-recurring tax credits. The reported tax charge was £309m (£264m).
Adjusted EPS 59.5p (56.2p); constant currency growth +10%. Reported EPS 52.6p (46.0p).
Dividend: We are declaring an interim dividend of 18.2p (17.0p), an increase of +7%.
Portfolio development: In the first half of 2024 we completed two small acquisitions, for a total consideration of £61m, and three small disposals for a total consideration of £52m.
Net debt/EBITDA 2.0x (2.2x): Net debt at 30 June 2024 was £6,973m (£6,883m). Adjusted cash flow conversion was 95% (95%).
Share buybacks: Of the previously announced £1,000m share buyback, £700m was completed in the first half. A further £50m has been completed since 1 July, and the remaining £250m will be deployed before the end of the year.
Corporate responsibility and ESG recognition: RELX currently has an AAA MSCI ESG rating which it has held for nine consecutive years, is ranked second in our sector by Sustainalytics, and has been a constituent of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for six consecutive years.
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