LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Relx reported a "strong" set of financial results for 2024 on Thursday, reporting revenue of £9.43bn, up 7% on an underlying basis.
The FTSE 100 information and events specialist said adjusted operating profit rose 10% to £3.2bn, with its adjusted operating margin improving to 33.9% from 33.1%, driven by process innovation and cost control.

Adjusted earnings per share increased 9% at constant currency to 120.1p, while reported earnings reached 103.6p per share, up from 94.1p a year earlier.

The company continued its capital return strategy, completing £1bn in share buybacks in 2024 and announcing a £1.5bn buyback programme for 2025, with £150m already executed.

Relx also raised its full-year dividend by 7% to 63p per share, reflecting its strong financial position.

Portfolio development included five acquisitions for £195m, and seven disposals for £95m.

Net debt-to-EBITDA declined to 1.8x from 2.0x, with net debt standing at £6.56bn at the end of the year.

Relx said it was confident in its outlook, citing positive momentum across the business, expecting another year of strong underlying growth in revenue, profit, and earnings per share.

"Relx delivered strong revenue and profit growth in 2024," said chief executive officer Erik Engstrom.

"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."

At 0818 GMT, shares in Relx were up 0.51% at 4,146p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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