RELX reports strong revenue and profit growth

RELX, the parent company of Elsevier and RX, formerly Reed Exhibitions, saw revenue increase to £9.2bn for the year to 31st December 2023, up 8% from £8.6bn the year before. Adjusted operating profit was up 13% to £3bn, up from £2.7bn in 2022. 

The Exhibitions division, which includes the London Book Fair, recorded a 17% jump in revenue to £1.1bn from £953m the year before. Adjusted operating profit was £319m compared to £162m in 2022, up 97%. 

Revenue growth was driven by “a significant increase in face-to-face activity across geographies, with average like-for-like event revenue across the portfolio ahead of pre-pandemic levels”.  

RELX said: “We continue to make good progress on digital initiatives, with increased usage of a growing range of value enhancing digital tools for the customers of our face-to-face events. The improvement in profitability reflects the higher activity levels and the structurally lower cost base of the streamlined event portfolio, with the adjusted operating margin now above pre-pandemic levels.” 

For 2024 it expects "strong underlying revenue growth with a further improvement in adjusted operating margin”. 

The Scientific, Technical and Medical division, which comprises Elsevier, reported a 5% increase in revenue to £3.1bn from £2.9bn the year before. Adjusted operating profit was up 6% to £1.2bn from £1.1bn in 2022.  

RELX said this was driven by “the evolution of the business mix, with higher growth segments representing an increasing proportion of divisional revenue”.  

Chief executive officer, Erik Engstrom, said: “RELX delivered strong revenue and profit growth in 2023, driven by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth information-based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers across market segments. 

“We have been able to develop and deploy these tools across the company for well over a decade by leveraging deep customer understanding to combine leading content and data sets with powerful technologies. We are confident that our ability to leverage artificial intelligence and other technologies, as they evolve, will continue to be an important driver of customer value and growth in our business for many years to come."