Relx PLC (ADR) ((RELX)) has held its Q4 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.
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Relx PLC’s latest earnings call painted a largely upbeat picture, with broad-based growth, expanding margins, and aggressive cash returns to shareholders. Management acknowledged headwinds from print decline, portfolio changes, and currency, but stressed that AI-driven products and high-value analytics are now the core profit engines across all four divisions.
Strong Group Financial Performance
Relx delivered 7% underlying revenue growth, 9% underlying adjusted operating profit growth, and a 10% rise in adjusted EPS at constant currency. The group’s adjusted operating margin improved by about 90 basis points to 34.8%, underscoring significant operational efficiency and pricing power despite top-line drags from print and portfolio actions.
Robust Cash Generation and Capital Return
Cash conversion remained exceptionally strong at 99%, with EBITDA surpassing £3.8bn and free cash flow above £2.3bn after £525m of CapEx. Management combined this with a 7% dividend increase to 67.5p and sizeable buybacks, completing £1.5bn in 2025 and launching a further £2.25bn programme for 2026, of which £250m is already deployed.
Risk: High Growth and Deep AI Integration
The Risk division continued to act as a growth engine, posting 8% underlying revenue growth and 10% profit growth. More than 90% of divisional revenue now comes from machine-to-machine interactions using embedded AI analytics and decision tools, reinforcing Relx’s position in data-driven risk scoring and fraud prevention.
STM Momentum and Scientific Volume Growth
In STM, underlying revenue grew 5% with adjusted operating profit up 7%, supported by rising article volumes. Primary Research submissions surged more than 20% in 2025 and published articles grew 10%, while new platforms like LeapSpace showed early positive traction in higher-value, workflow-oriented solutions for researchers.
Legal: AI Adoption and Strong Profitability
The Legal division reported 9% underlying revenue growth and 12% profit growth, powered by rapid AI adoption. The enterprise base for Lexis+ AI more than doubled over the year, with usage rising even faster, and the company is rolling out nearly 300 Protege AI workflows, aiming to embed its tools directly into legal professionals’ daily tasks.
Exhibitions: Revenue Recovery and Margin Expansion
Exhibitions maintained its post-pandemic recovery with 8% underlying revenue and 9% profit growth, while margins expanded by about 250 basis points. Management credited portfolio upgrades and digital initiatives for pushing profitability well above historical levels, even as the global events cycle normalizes.
Operational Leverage and Margin Upside
Across the group, cost growth was held below revenue growth, creating clear operational leverage. Risk, STM, and Legal all delivered profit expansion 2–3 percentage points ahead of revenue, and management signalled that adjusted operating profit growth should continue to outpace revenue growth over the medium term.
Strategic Positioning Around Content + AI
Executives repeatedly highlighted a strategy built around proprietary content combined with AI and analytics, rather than generic tools. By leveraging curated databases and contributory data, Relx aims to deliver differentiated, hard-to-replicate decision tools that lock in customers and defend against broader software and AI platform competitors.
Print and Print-Related Revenue Decline
The company is deliberately shrinking its exposure to legacy print, which drove a more than 20% drop in print-related revenue. Profit from these activities is now on a managed glide path and is expected to decline in the high single digits annually, freeing focus and capital for digital and analytics-led products.
Portfolio Effects and Revenue Drag
Portfolio reshaping and the print step-down weighed on reported growth, cutting total group revenue growth at constant currency to 4% versus 7% underlying. In sterling, headline revenue growth was just 2%, but management argued that these moves enhance mix quality and should support more sustainable growth and margins over time.
Currency Headwinds
A stronger pound against the U.S. dollar created a translation drag on reported numbers, muting otherwise solid performance. Adjusted operating profit growth in sterling came in at 4%, and adjusted EPS rose 7%, both below constant-currency growth rates, highlighting an external headwind rather than a deterioration in fundamentals.
M&A Spend Below Long-Term Average
Acquisition spending reached £270m in 2025, below the roughly £400m ten-year average, as Relx remained selective on deals. Management emphasized that organic development of AI and workflow solutions is the top priority, which may limit near-term inorganic growth but supports disciplined capital allocation.
Gradual Adoption and Timing Risk
Some newer markets, especially STM corporate solutions and institutional monetization opportunities, are still in early build-out phases. Management expects these to scale over several years, implying that while the upside is meaningful, investors should anticipate a gradual rather than sudden contribution to group growth.
Competitive and Market Uncertainty around Workflow Tools
Investors pressed management on the risk of large software and AI players encroaching on legal and professional workflows, as well as general market volatility. Relx pointed to its deep content moat and integrated tools as a durable advantage, but acknowledged that competitive dynamics and sentiment remain execution risks to monitor.
Forward-Looking Guidance and Outlook
Management guided to continued strong underlying revenue growth with profit expanding faster than sales and robust EPS gains on a constant-currency basis. Divisional targets for 2025 call for mid to high-single digit revenue growth with even stronger profit growth, steady CapEx at about 5% of revenue, ongoing buybacks, disciplined leverage around 2–2.5 times, and a continued managed decline in print-related profit.
Relx’s earnings call underscored a business shifting decisively toward AI-intensive, high-margin analytics while still returning substantial cash to shareholders. Despite currency pressure, print runoff, and competitive questions around workflows, the tone was confident and the numbers supported it, leaving investors focused on how far the company can extend its data and AI advantage.