Relx PLC on Thursday reported increased earnings in 2024 as demand for its analytics and decision tools continued to rise.
The London-based provider of business, scientific and legal information-based analytics and decision tools said revenue climbed 3.0% in 2024 to £9.43 billion from £9.16 billion in the previous year.
Pretax profit was up 6.9% to £2.90 billion from £2.72 billion in 2023.
The firm said electronic revenue represented 83% of the total, with ‘strong growth’ in face-to-face activity offsetting the decline in print.
Relx proposed a full-year dividend of 63.00 pence per share, up 7.1% from 58.80 pence in the previous year. The final dividend proposed by the board is 44.80 pence.
It intends to deploy £1.50 billion on share buybacks in 2025 due to its ‘strong financial position and cash flow’.
The company said £150 million of buybacks has already been completed in 2025, following £1.00 billion in 2024.
Looking ahead, Relx said it continues to see positive momentum across the company.
It expects ‘strong underlying growth’ in revenue and adjusted operating profit, alongside ‘strong growth’ in adjusted earnings per share on a constant currency basis.
Chief Executive Officer Erik Engstrom said: ‘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.’
Relx shares were up 1.2% to 4,175.00 pence in London on Thursday morning.
Relx said it has appointed former chief financial officer of Standard Chartered PLC and Vodafone Group PLC as a non-executive director, with effect from April 24 subject to his election at the annual general meeting.
The company said Non-Executive Director Robert MacLeod will retire from the board in April.
Chair Paul Walker said: ‘I am very much looking forward to Andy joining our board. Andy is a highly accomplished and well-respected senior executive with a strong financial background and reputation for delivering shareholder value in major, complex, international organisations. With his considerable experience, I am confident Andy will make a significant contribution to the Relx board.’
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