Relx shares fall despite flagging solid start to year

(Sharecast News) - Relx said in an update on Thursday that it has started the year well across all four of its business areas, reporting strong underlying revenue and profit growth alongside robust new sales, as it reaffirmed its full-year outlook ahead of its annual general meeting. The FTSE 100 group said its improving long-term growth trajectory was still being driven by a shift in business mix towards higher-growth analytics and decision tools, supported by the integration of advanced artificial intelligence technologies with its proprietary content and data sets.

It said it expected another year of strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit, with adjusted earnings per share also set to grow strongly on a constant currency basis, reflecting what it described as continued positive momentum across the business.

In its Risk division, the company highlighted strong underlying revenue growth driven by AI-enabled analytics and decision tools, with Business Services benefiting from Financial Crime Compliance and digital Fraud and Identity solutions, while Insurance performance was supported by innovation in contributory databases and market-specific offerings.

The firm said it expected adjusted operating profit growth in the division to exceed revenue growth over the full year.

Its Scientific, Technical and Medical unit saw improving revenue growth, underpinned by a shift towards higher-value analytics and tools, a faster pace of product launches, and strong new sales.

Growth in primary research was supported by "very strong" increases in article submissions across the portfolio.

Relx said it expected good to strong revenue growth in the division, with profit growth again outpacing revenue.

In Legal, the company reported strong underlying revenue growth driven by demand for higher-value legal analytics, with double-digit expansion in Law Firms and Corporate Legal supported by adoption of its AI-enabled platform Lexis+ with Protégé.

Government, Academic and News & Business segments also contributed through further expansion of analytics and decision tools.

The group said it expected both revenue and profit to continue growing strongly in the division.

It said its Exhibitions business delivered strong revenue growth, supported by improvements in the event portfolio and progress in digital initiatives.

Despite some event rescheduling in the Middle East, Relx said it still expected strong revenue growth for the full year, alongside an improvement in adjusted operating margin.

"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," the company said.

At 0851 BST, shares in Relx were down 3.03% at 2,657p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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