Strong revenue and profit growth at RELX as exhibitions business recovers profitability

RELX, the parent company of Elsevier and RX, formerly Reed Exhibitions, saw revenue increase to £8.6bn for the year to 31st December 2022, up 18% from £7.2bn the year before. Adjusted operating profit was up 14% at constant currencies to £2.7bn from £2.2bn in 2021. 

The Exhibitions division, which includes the London Book Fair, recorded a 78% jump in revenues to £953m from £534m the year before. Adjusted operating profit was £162m compared to just £10m in 2021—a good recovery in profitability of the division.  

Revenue growth was driven by a “significant” increase in face-to-face activity as exhibition venues reopened across most places. RELX said it continued to manage its event schedule flexibly, responding to changes in local government policies. By the end of the year it said it was operating “without material disruption in most geographies”.  

The company continued: “We made good progress on digital initiatives, with a growing range of digital tools supporting our physical events. The improvement in profitability reflects the increased activity levels and a lower cost structure in a streamlined portfolio.” 

For 2023, it expects a year of strong underlying revenue growth. It noted: “The operating result will continue to benefit from the structurally lower cost base, with margins expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels.” 

The Scientific, Technical and Medical division, which comprises Elsevier, reported a 10% increase in revenues to £2.9bn from £2.6bn the year before. Adjusted operating profit was up 4% at constant currencies to £1.1bn from £1bn in 2021. RELX said this was driven by "further evolution of the business mix, with the higher growth segments representing an increasing proportion of divisional revenue, and electronic formats now representing around 90% of overall revenue".

It added: "In primary research academic and government segments, which also represent around 45% of divisional revenue, growth was driven by higher volumes of articles submitted and published, with pay-to-publish open access articles growing particularly strongly, and by increasingly sophisticated analytics and evolving technology platforms." For 2023 it expects underlying revenue growth "to remain above historical trends, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth slightly exceeding underlying revenue growth".

C.e.o. Erik Engstrom said: “RELX delivered strong revenue and profit growth in 2022. The improving long-term growth trajectory is being driven by the ongoing shift in our business mix towards higher growth analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers across market segments. 

“We also performed well on our corporate responsibility priorities during the year, making good progress with our unique contributions to society, further improving our key performance metrics, and again being recognised by a number of external agencies through high ESG ratings.”