Relix Group (LON:REL), today announced interim results for the six months to 30 June 2018
Highlights
Ø Underlying revenue growth +4%; H1 reported total £3,653m/€4,164m
Ø Underlying adjusted operating profit growth +6%; H1 total £1,149m/€1,310m
Ø Adjusted EPS growth constant currency +7%; in sterling +3% to 41.1p (39.9p); in euro +1% to €0.469 (€0.463)
Ø Reported operating profit £969m (£942m); €1,105m (€1,093m)
Ø Reported EPS 34.1p (33.6p); €0.389 (€0.390)
Ø Interim dividend growth: +6% to 12.4p for RELX PLC; +6% to €0.140 for RELX NV
Ø Strong financial position and cash flow; net debt/EBITDA 2.5x (including leases and pensions)
Ø £500m of share buybacks completed in H1, further £200m to be deployed in H2
Simplification of corporate structure
Ø Dual parent company structure to be simplified into a single parent company; effective 8 September
Ø RELX PLC and RELX NV shareholder approvals received; over 99.9% of votes cast in favour
Ø Single parent to be listed in London, Amsterdam and New York
Ø Full weighting in FTSE 100 index from 10 September; full weighting in AEX index expected by year end
Commenting on the results, Sir Anthony Habgood, Chairman, said:
“RELX Group continued its positive development in the first half of 2018. Adjusted earnings per share in constant currencies grew +7%, and we have announced an interim dividend increase of +6% for RELX PLC and +6% for RELX NV. This will be the last time that we will announce two separate dividends, as the measures to remove complexity and increase the transparency of our corporate structure that we announced in February 2018 were approved by RELX PLC and RELX NV shareholders in June, and will become effective in September.”
Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented:
“We achieved good underlying revenue growth in the first half of 2018, and continued to generate underlying operating profit growth ahead of revenue growth.”
“We continued to make good progress on our strategic objectives. Our number one priority remains the organic development of increasingly sophisticated information-based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers. We have also had an active first half for acquisitions, focusing on targeted data sets, analytics and assets that support our organic growth strategies.”
