Relx PLC (LSE:REL), the international leader in information analytics and decision-making solutions, announced on Thursday robust financial results for the first half of 2025, recording an underlying revenue increase of 7% to £4,741 million.
The adjusted operating profit grew by 9% on an underlying basis, reaching £1,652 million, while adjusted earnings per share rose 10% at constant currency to 63.5p.
RELX declared an interim dividend of 19.5p, up 7% from last year’s 18.2p, scheduled for payment on September 11, with an ex-dividend date of August 7.
The company reported maintaining a strong balance sheet, with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.2x, and achieved full (100%) adjusted cash flow conversion throughout the period.
In the first half, RELX completed three acquisitions totaling £262 million and has repurchased £1,000 million of its announced £1,500 million share buyback plan. Since July 1, an additional £75 million has been bought back, with £425 million remaining to be deployed by year-end.
CEO Erik Engstrom highlighted the performance: “RELX delivered strong revenue and profit growth in the first half of 2025, in line with full year 2024 but with a higher quality growth profile: Risk with continued strong growth, Scientific, Technical & Medical with continued good growth and developing momentum, Legal with a further step up in growth, and Exhibitions now established at strong ongoing growth.”
The company confirmed its full-year guidance, anticipating “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.”
RELX’s operating margin improved to 34.8% from 34.1% a year ago, a result the company attributes to its focus on continuous process innovation that keeps cost increases below revenue gains.
Reported operating profit was £1,490 million, slightly higher than £1,431 million from the first half of 2024. Reported earnings per share were 52.9p, compared to 52.6p in the previous year.
The company pointed out that its “improving long-term growth trajectory continues to be driven across the group by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers.”
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