Profit and revenue rise in Elsevier's first half

Publisher Elsevier saw revenue up 11% in the first half of 2017, to £1,171m, although underlying growth was a more modest 2%. Meanwhile adjusted operating profit increased 11% to £414m, an underlying growth rate of 4%.

Parent company the RELX Group, which also has Risk & Business Analytics, Legal and Exhibitions divisions, reported a 4% hike in its overall underlying revenue to £3,718m (a 14% rise in headline figures), with a rise of 5% in underlying adjusted operating profit growth to £1,154m (15% up in headline figures).

RELX c.e.o. Erik Engstrom noted: "We achieved good underlying revenue growth in the first half of 2017, and continued to generate underlying operating profit growth ahead of revenue growth.

"Our strategy is unchanged: 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 believe that the systematic evolution of our business has driven an improvement in our business profile and the quality of our earnings, with more predictable revenues, a higher growth profile, and improving returns."

Key business trends in the rest of the year would be "unchanged", he predicted.