13
February 2025
RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2024
RELX, the global provider of
information-based analytics and decision tools, reports results for
2024.
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2024 highlights
Ø Revenue
£9,434m (£9,161m), underlying growth +7%
Ø Adjusted
operating profit £3,199m (£3,030m), underlying growth
+10%
Ø Adjusted
EPS 120.1p (114.0p), constant currency growth +9%
Ø Reported
operating profit £2,861m (£2,682m)
Ø Reported
EPS 103.6p (94.1p)
Ø Proposed
full year dividend 63.0p (58.8p) +7%
Ø Net
debt/EBITDA 1.8x; adjusted cash flow conversion 97%
Ø Completed
five acquisitions for a total consideration of £195m, and seven
disposals for £95m
Ø Completed
£1,000m share buyback
2025 outlook
Ø We
continue to see positive momentum across the group, and we expect
another year of strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted
operating profit, as well as strong growth in adjusted earnings per
share on a constant currency basis.
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Chief Executive Officer, Erik
Engstrom, commented:
"RELX delivered strong revenue and
profit growth in 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."
Operating and financial review
Revenue £9,434m
(£9,161m); underlying growth +7%: Electronic revenue
representing 83% of the total, also grew +7%, with the strong
growth in face-to-face activity offsetting the print decline.
Adjusted operating
profit £3,199m (£3,030m); 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 33.9% (33.1%).
Reported operating
profit £2,861m (£2,682m): Reported operating profit includes
amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £258m (£280m).
Adjusted profit
before tax £2,903m (£2,716m): The adjusted net interest
expense was £296m (£314m). The average interest rate on gross debt
was 4.4% (4.6%).
Reported profit
before tax £2,557m (£2,295m). Reported net interest was
£298m (£315m).
Tax: The
adjusted tax charge was £652m (£553m). The adjusted effective tax
rate was 22.5% (20.4%). The reported tax charge was £613m
(£507m).
Adjusted EPS 120.1p
(114.0p) +5%; constant currency growth +9%.
Reported EPS 103.6p
(94.1p).
Dividend: We
are proposing a full year dividend of 63.0p (58.8p), an increase of
+7%. The final dividend proposed by the Board is 44.8p per
share (subject to shareholder approval at the 2025 AGM). If
approved, the final dividend will be paid on 19 June 2025, with an
ex-dividend date of 8 May 2025 and a record date of 9 May 2025.
Shareholders appearing on the Register of Members or holding shares
in CREST will automatically receive their dividends in pounds
sterling but have the option to elect to receive their dividends in
Euro. Shareholders who hold shares through Euroclear Nederland (via
banks and brokers) will automatically receive their dividend in
Euro but have the option to elect to receive their dividends in
pounds sterling. The closing date for currency elections is 27 May
2025. Dividend Reinvestment Plans are available for shares trading
on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam (further
information is available at www.relx.com).
Portfolio
development: In 2024 we completed five small acquisitions
for a total consideration of £195m, and seven small disposals for a
total consideration of £95m.
Net debt/EBITDA 1.8x
(2.0x): Net debt at 31 December 2024 was £6,563m (£6,446m).
EBITDA was £3,724m (£3,544m). Adjusted cash flow conversion was 97%
(98%).
Share
buybacks: We deployed £1,000m on share buybacks in 2024. In
recognition of our strong financial position and cash flow we
intend to deploy a total of £1,500m on share buybacks in 2025, of
which £150m has already been completed.
Corporate
responsibility and sustainability: We performed well on our
corporate responsibility priorities in 2024, on our unique
contributions to society, and on our key metrics. Our performance
was again recognised by external agencies: RELX achieved a AAA MSCI
rating for a ninth consecutive year, ranked second in our sector by
Sustainalytics, and was included in the S&P Global
Sustainability Yearbook.
RELX FINANCIAL SUMMARY
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Year
ended 31 December
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Adjusted figures
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2023
GBPm
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2024
GBPm
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Change
in GBP
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Constant
currency
growth
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Underlying
growth
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Revenue
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9,161
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9,434
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+3%
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+6%
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+7%
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EBITDA
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3,544
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3,724
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Operating profit
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3,030
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3,199
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+6%
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+9%
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+10%
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Operating margin
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33.1%
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33.9%
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Net interest expense
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(314)
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(296)
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Profit before tax
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2,716
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2,903
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Tax charge
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(553)
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(652)
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Net profit attributable to
shareholders
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2,156
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2,241
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Cash flow
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2,962
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3,101
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Cash flow conversion
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98%
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97%
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Return on invested
capital
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14.0%
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14.8%
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Earnings per share
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114.0p
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120.1p
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+5%
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+9%
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Dividend
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2023
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2024
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Change
in GBP
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Ordinary dividend per
share
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58.8p
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63.0p
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+7%
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Reported figures
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2023
GBPm
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2024
GBPm
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Change
in GBP
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Revenue
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9,161
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9,434
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+3%
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Operating profit
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2,682
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2,861
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+7%
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Profit before tax
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2,295
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2,557
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Net profit attributable to
shareholders
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1,781
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1,934
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Net margin
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19.4%
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20.5%
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Net debt
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6,446
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6,563
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Earnings per share
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94.1p
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103.6p
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+10%
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RELX uses adjusted figures as additional performance measures.
Adjusted figures primarily exclude the amortisation of acquired
intangible assets and other items related to acquisitions and
disposals, and the associated deferred tax movements. Underlying
growth rates are calculated at constant currency, excluding the
results of acquisitions until twelve months after purchase, and
excluding the results of disposals and assets held for sale.
Underlying revenue growth rates also exclude exhibition cycling,
and timing effects. Constant currency growth rates are based on
2023 full-year average and hedge exchange rates.
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ENQUIRIES:
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Colin Tennant (Investors)
+44 (0)20 7166 5751
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Paul Abrahams (Media)
+44 (0)20 7166 5724
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DISCLAIMER REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This announcement contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the US
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
or outcomes of RELX PLC (together with its subsidiaries, "RELX",
"we" or "our") to differ materially from those expressed in any
forward-looking statement. We consider any statements that are not
historical facts to be "forward-looking statements". The terms
"outlook", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "plan", "intend",
"expect", "should", "could", "will", "believe", "trends" and
similar expressions may indicate a forward-looking statement.
Important factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to
differ materially from estimates or forecasts contained in the
forward-looking statements include, among others: regulatory and
other changes regarding the collection or use of personal data;
changes in law and legal interpretation affecting our intellectual
property rights and internet communications; current and future
geopolitical, economic and market conditions; research integrity
issues or changes in the payment model for our scientific,
technical and medical research products; competitive factors in the
industries in which we operate and demand for our products and
services; our inability to realise the future anticipated benefits
of acquisitions; compromises of our cybersecurity systems or other
unauthorised access to our databases; changes in economic cycles,
trading relations, communicable disease epidemics or pandemics,
severe weather events, natural disasters and terrorism; failure of
third parties to whom we have outsourced business activities;
significant failure or interruption of our systems; our inability
to retain high-quality employees and management; changes in tax
laws and uncertainty in their application; exchange rate
fluctuations; adverse market conditions or downgrades to the credit
ratings of our debt; changes in the market values of defined
benefit pension scheme assets and in the market related assumptions
used to value scheme liabilities; breaches of generally accepted
ethical business standards or applicable laws; and other risks
referenced from time to time in the filings of RELX PLC with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date of this announcement. Except as may be required by law,
we undertake no obligation to publicly update or release any
revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this announcement or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
Notes for Editors
About
RELX
RELX is a global provider of
information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and
business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180
countries and territories and has offices in about 40 countries. It
employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North
America.
The shares of RELX PLC, the parent
company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock
exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL;
Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is
approximately £77bn/€92bn/$95bn.
The RELX 2024 Annual Report is
expected to be available on the RELX website at
www.relx.com from 20 February 2025. Copies of the RELX 2024 Annual Report
are expected to be posted to shareholders of RELX PLC on or around
7 March 2025. Copies of the 2024 Results Announcement are available
to the public on the RELX website and from:
RELX
PLC
1-3 Strand
London WC2N 5JR
United Kingdom
Click on, or paste the following link
into your web browser, to view the associated PDF
document.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9294W_1-2025-2-12.pdf
