Back in February, business information and data analytics firm Relx (REL) reported a strong set of full-year results and investors will be hoping for more of the same when it posts its first-quarter earnings on 24 April.

The shares are up 12% over the past year, hitting a 52-week high of £42.05 on 13 February, and have fared relatively well during the recent bout of global stock market volatility.

So, what makes Relx a success? It reported 10% growth in full year operating profit and underlying revenue for the year to December increased by 7% to £9.43 billion.

In addition, the company announced £1.5 billion in share buybacks.

The secret sauce seems to be the shift towards higher-growth analytics and decision tools which is being delivered to customers across the business, according to the company.

Relx has also been using artificial intelligence across its four core segments: risk, legal, exhibitions and scientific, and technical and medical.

In January, it launched Protégé, an AI assistant which drafts documents for lawyers and automates tasks.

Exhibitions have also proved to be a bright spot for Relx in terms of profit growth and revenue, with operating profit up 31% year-on-year to £398 million.

Global ratings agency S&P recently upgraded the stock due to the company’s consistent earnings growth and prudent financial policy, with revenue expected to grow between 5% and 6% annually on an organic basis from this year to 2027.

S&P rates Relx’s earnings stability, profitability and free cash flow generation favourably compared to its peers Wolters Kluwer (WKL:AMS), Thomson Reuters (TRI:NASDAQ) and Experian (EXPN). 

UK UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

FULL-YEAR RESULTS

21 April: Elixirr International, Frenkel Topping

22 April: MPAC Group

23 April: Sanderson Design Group, Strix Group

24 April: Keystone Law Group

FIRST-HALF RESULTS

22 April: Arecor Therapeutics

23 April: AB Dynamics, Northcoders, Ten Lifestyle

24 April: ASOS, Pennant International, Tracsis

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

23 April: Bunzl

24 April: Inchcape, Jupiter Fund Management, RELX, Spirent Communications, Unilever

‹ Previous2025-04-17Next ›