RELX announces fiscal year 2024 results: revenue growth of 7%, AI-driven product expansion kit has promising prospects!

Investing.com -- RELX PLC (LSE:REL) shares rose 1.5% after the information and analytics company reported full-year results for fiscal 2024 roughly in line with expectations while announcing a larger-than-expected share buyback.

The company's full-year revenue was £9,434 million, in line with market expectations of £9,545 million, with underlying growth across all divisions remaining stable.

Adjusted EBITA was £3,199 million, slightly lower than the market expectation of £3,219 million, with a deviation of about 1%, but the company achieved a profit margin of 33.9%, slightly higher than the expected 33.7%. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at 120.1p, just shy of expectations for 120.9p, while dividends per share came in at 63p, beating expectations for 62.2p.

In terms of segment performance, the company's Science, Technology and Medical (STM) division grew 4%, in line with expectations, with strong growth in article submissions despite an accelerated decline in the printing business. The Risk division grew 8%, benefiting from a favorable insurance market environment and new sales growth in commercial services. The Legal and Exhibitions divisions achieved growth of 7% and 11% respectively, both in line with expectations.

A key highlight of the announcement was RELX’s announcement of a £1.5 billion share buyback program by 2025, exceeding market expectations of a £1.05 billion to £1.4 billion range. The move is seen as a vote of confidence by the company in its financial strength and future prospects.

Commenting on the announcement, analysts at Bank of America (BofA) said: “The biggest positive surprise is likely to be the announcement of a £1.5 billion buyback plan for 2025, which is likely to be above the upper end of market expectations.

We do not expect this report to lead to much change in market expectations, but we still believe in the thesis that accelerating revenue growth in the STM and legal divisions (accounting for ~50% of sales) through 2025 will drive further valuation upside. RELX is one of our '25 Stocks for 2025' and a member of our European Preferred Stocks list. "

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