27th Jul 2023 09:31
(Alliance News) - Relx PLC on Thursday touted its "long-term growth trajectory", as a recovery in face-to-face activities helped contribute to an uptick in earnings and revenue over the first half.
For the six months ended June 30, the London-based professional information and analytics firm reported revenue of GBP4.50 billion, up 13% from GBP3.97 billion year-on-year.
Electronic revenue, representing 84% of the total, grew 7%, with a further recovery in face-to-face activity "more than offsetting" the print drag.
Pretax profit was GBP1.14 billion, up 14% from GBP998 million, while operating profit was up 21% to GBP1.31 billion from GBP1.08 billion a year prior.
Relx told investors that its strategy of driving continuous process innovation to manage cost growth below revenue growth, together with the recovery in face-to-face activity, was the reason behind this improvement in operating margin.
Earnings per share were 46.00 pence, up 16% from 39.50p.
Looking ahead, Relx said that momentum has thus far remained strong in the second half. It expects underlying growth rates in revenue and adjusted operating profit to remain above historical trends.
"Relx delivered strong revenue and profit growth in the first half of 2023. The 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," said Chief Executive Officer Erik Engstrom.
"By embracing artificial intelligence technologies for well over a decade we have been able to develop and deploy these analytics and decision tools across the company, and we believe that our ability to leverage AI, as it evolves, will continue to be an important driver of our business going forward."
The firm declared an interim dividend of 17.0p, up 8.3% from 15.7p year-on-year.
Relx shares were trading 4.2% higher at 2,648.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter
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