RELX PLC (REL) — Company Research
Last Updated: 7 June 2026
RELX PLC is a FTSE 100 global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools, serving professional and business customers across four divisions: Risk, Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM), Legal and Exhibitions. The group combines proprietary data sets with advanced technology to sell subscription and transactional analytics that are embedded in customer workflows. RELX reported its results for the year to 31 December 2025 on 12 February 2026, with revenue of £9,590m and adjusted operating profit of £3,342m. Despite a record financial performance, the shares have de-rated sharply over the past year on concerns that generative artificial intelligence could disrupt the demand for traditional information and analytics products. This report sets out the figures from RELX’s own filings and the publicly available record. Explore the price action on our Live Charts and track scheduled catalysts on the Economic Calendar.
1. Company Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | RELX PLC |
| Primary listing / ticker | London Stock Exchange (REL); also Amsterdam (REN) and NYSE ADR (RELX) |
| Index | FTSE 100 |
| Sector | Information-based analytics & decision tools (data & technology) |
| CEO / Leadership | Erik Engstrom (Chief Executive Officer); Nick Luff (Chief Financial Officer) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Employees | ~36,000 |
| Financial year end | 31 December |
| Market cap | ~£45bn (~US$58bn), June 2026 |
| FY2025 revenue | £9,590m |
| FY2025 net income (reported, attributable) | £2,065m (reported EPS 112.6p) |
| FY2025 dividend per share | 67.5p |
| Share price (June 2026) | ~2,475p |
RELX is led by Chief Executive Erik Engstrom, who has driven the group’s long-running shift from print publishing toward electronic analytics. The company employs around 36,000 people and generated roughly 58% of FY2025 revenue in North America.
2. Bull & Bear Case
Bull Case
- Recurring, embedded revenue: Subscriptions were £5,190m of the £9,590m FY2025 total, giving high revenue visibility and pricing power as the tools sit inside customer workflows.
- Mix shift to higher-growth analytics: Risk grew +8% and Legal +9% on an underlying basis in 2025, lifting the group adjusted operating margin to 34.8% from 33.9%.
- AI as an enabler, not only a threat: Management states AI lets it embed more functionality and launch products faster while keeping cost growth below revenue growth, leaning on proprietary, hard-to-replicate data sets.
- Strong cash generation and capital return: Adjusted cash flow conversion was 99% and free cash flow rose to £2,313m; RELX intends to deploy £2,250m on buybacks in 2026 alongside a 7% dividend increase.
- Diversification: Four end-markets and a global customer base reduce reliance on any single product cycle or geography.
Bear Case
- Generative-AI disruption fears: Investors worry that AI tools could erode demand for legal research, scientific search and analytics, the core of RELX’s franchise; the shares fell roughly 38% over the year to June 2026.
- Valuation de-rating risk: RELX has long traded at a premium multiple, and a further re-rating lower is possible if AI competition compresses growth expectations.
- Rising leverage: Net debt increased to £7,201m (2.0x EBITDA) from £6,563m, partly to fund buybacks and acquisitions.
- Exhibitions cyclicality and event risk: The Exhibitions division depends on live events that are exposed to economic cycles and disruption.
- Currency translation: With most revenue in US dollars but reporting in sterling, reported growth can be diluted by adverse FX (reported revenue rose only +2% in GBP versus +7% underlying).
3. Business Segments
RELX reports four business areas, with print and print-related activities now managed and disclosed separately. Percentages are of FY2025 group revenue of £9,590m.
| Segment | % of revenue | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Risk | 36% | Information-based analytics and decision tools for insurance, business services and government, combining proprietary data with risk-scoring models (FY2025 revenue £3,485m). |
| Scientific, Technical & Medical | 28% | Research publishing and data platforms (including ScienceDirect and Scopus) serving scientists, doctors and institutions (FY2025 revenue £2,714m). |
| Legal | 19% | Legal research, analytics and workflow tools (LexisNexis) for law firms, corporations and governments (FY2025 revenue £1,806m). |
| Exhibitions | 12% | Live and digital events connecting buyers and sellers across many industries (FY2025 revenue £1,186m). |
| Print & print-related | 4% | Legacy print activities now managed separately and being proactively wound down (FY2025 revenue £399m). |
4. Business Model & Moat
How it makes money. RELX sells information-based analytics and decision tools, predominantly on a subscription basis (54% of FY2025 revenue) with the remainder transactional. Roughly 96% of group revenue is now electronic, generated by combining proprietary content and data with advanced technology and selling the output into professional workflows.
Where the moat comes from. The durability of the franchise rests on unique, accumulated data assets (decades of scientific, legal and risk data), deep integration into customer workflows that raises switching costs, and global scale that funds continuous product development. Management argues these data sets are a key reason AI augments rather than replaces its products.
Capital allocation. RELX combines a progressive dividend (67.5p in 2025, +7%), sustained share buybacks (£1,500m in 2025, £2,250m planned for 2026) and bolt-on acquisitions (£270m across five deals in 2025), funded by high cash conversion.
5. Financial Health
All figures below are taken from RELX’s annual results announcements. The group reports in pounds sterling; the most recent reported period is the year to 31 December 2025.
| Year | Revenue (£m) | YoY % | GAAP EPS | Adjusted EPS | Dividend/share | Net debt (£m, YE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7,244 | — | 76.3p | 87.6p | 49.8p | 6,017 |
| 2022 | 8,553 | +18.1% | 85.2p | 102.2p | 54.6p | 6,604 |
| 2023 | 9,161 | +7.1% | 94.1p | 114.0p | 58.8p | 6,446 |
| 2024 | 9,434 | +3.0% | 103.6p | 120.1p | 63.0p | 6,563 |
| 2025 | 9,590 | +1.7% | 112.6p | 128.5p | 67.5p | 7,201 |
The +18% reported jump in 2022 was flattered by a strong US dollar; underlying revenue growth was +9% that year. RELX reports half-yearly rather than quarterly. The table below shows the two halves of 2025 with the full-year total in bold (most recent half first).
| Quarter / Half | Revenue (£m) | Adjusted EPS | GAAP EPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| H2 2025 | 4,849 | 65.0p | — |
| H1 2025 | 4,741 | 63.5p | — |
| FY 2025 | 9,590 | 128.5p | 112.6p |
FY2025 adjusted operating profit was £3,342m at a 34.8% margin, EBITDA was £3,846m, and net interest expense was £283m at an average gross-debt interest rate of 3.9%. Net debt to EBITDA stood at 2.0x and return on invested capital was 15.4%.
6. Valuation
Raw metrics, June 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Market cap | ~£45bn (~US$58bn); ~1,815m shares at ~2,475p |
| Enterprise value | ~£52bn (market cap ~£45bn + net debt £7,201m per FY2025 balance sheet) |
| Trailing P/E (GAAP) | ~22.0x (2,475p / reported EPS 112.6p); ~19.3x on adjusted EPS 128.5p |
| P/E (forward) | ~17.5x (on FY2026 consensus adjusted EPS, management guiding strong constant-currency EPS growth) |
| P/S (TTM) | ~4.7x (market cap ~£45bn / revenue £9,590m) |
| EV/EBITDA (TTM) | ~13.6x (EV ~£52bn / EBITDA £3,846m) |
| P/FCF | ~19.5x (market cap ~£45bn / FCF ~£2,313m; FCF = net operating cash flow £2,836m − capex £525m per FY2025 cash flow statement) |
| 52-week high | 4,183p |
| 52-week low | 1,991p |
| Dividend yield | ~2.7% (67.5p / ~2,475p) |
| Short interest (% of float) | — not separately published for this period; no individual net short position at or above the FCA 0.5% disclosure threshold is recorded on the UK short-position register |
| Days to cover | — not applicable (no disclosed short position) |
7. Growth Drivers
RELX’s stated growth strategy is the ongoing shift of its business mix toward higher-growth analytics and decision tools that deliver more value to customers. Key drivers cited by management include: embedding additional AI-enabled functionality into existing products to raise value and pricing; continued migration of remaining print and lower-margin revenue toward electronic analytics; expansion of the Risk division, which has been the group’s fastest and most profitable grower; and a faster pace of new product launches enabled by advanced technology. Sustained acquisitions (five completed for £270m in 2025) supplement organic growth with new data sets and capabilities, while disciplined cost management keeps cost growth below revenue growth, supporting steady margin expansion.
8. Peer Comparison
RELX competes with other professional-information and analytics groups. Market caps are approximate, June 2026.
| Peer | Market cap (Jun 2026) | Key 2025 metric |
|---|---|---|
| Thomson Reuters (TRI) | ~US$41bn | FY2025 revenue US$7,476m, +3% (legal, tax & news information) |
| Wolters Kluwer (WKL.AS) | ~€14bn | FY2025 revenue €6,125m, +6% organic (legal, tax, health information) |
| Clarivate (CLVT) | ~US$1.7bn | FY2025 revenue US$2,455m, −4% (scientific & academic data) |
9. Insider Activity
RELX directors and senior managers (PDMRs), including Chief Executive Erik Engstrom, periodically file dealings via the London Stock Exchange’s RNS service. The most recent transaction identified is below; named individuals are persons discharging managerial responsibilities.
| Name | Date | Type | Shares | Price | Value | Plan Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Udow | 01 Aug 2025 | Acquisition (option exercise) | 543 | £16.568 | ~£8,996 | RELX Group 2013 SAYE Share Option Scheme |
The above reflects a routine save-as-you-earn option exercise rather than open-market conviction buying. Separately, RELX announced a further Director/PDMR shareholding notification on 18 May 2026.
10. Key Risks
- Technology / AI disruption (Operational): Generative AI could reduce demand for, or commoditise, parts of RELX’s legal research, scientific search and analytics products.
- Valuation de-rating (Market): A historically premium multiple leaves room for further compression if growth expectations fall.
- Regulatory and legal (Regulatory): Data privacy rules, copyright questions around AI training, and antitrust scrutiny of information markets could raise costs or constrain products.
- Exhibitions cyclicality (Operational): The events business is exposed to economic cycles and potential disruption to live gatherings.
- Leverage (Financial): Net debt of £7,201m (2.0x EBITDA) carries refinancing and interest-rate exposure, with an average gross-debt rate of 3.9%.
- Currency (Macro): A large US-dollar revenue base reported in sterling means adverse FX can dilute reported results.
11. Recent Developments
- 13 May 2026 — Shares fall on AI fears. RELX shares declined about 3.5% amid sector-wide anxiety that generative-AI tools could disrupt data and analytics businesses; the stock was down roughly 38% over the prior twelve months.
- 18 May 2026 — Director/PDMR shareholding. RELX filed a further directors’-dealing notification via RNS.
- April 2026 — Trading update. The group reported strong demand for AI-enabled analytics across legal, insurance, compliance and scientific research markets, reaffirming its full-year growth outlook.
- 12 Feb 2026 — FY2025 results and buyback increase. Revenue £9,590m, adjusted operating profit £3,342m and adjusted EPS 128.5p; RELX raised its 2026 buyback plan to £2,250m and lifted the dividend 7% to 67.5p.
12. Key Dates
- 07 May 2026 — ex-dividend date for the 2025 final dividend
- 18 Jun 2026 — 2025 final dividend payment date
- 23 Jul 2026 — expected 2026 half-year results (provisional; the 2025 interim was reported on 24 July 2025)
Dates beyond the final dividend are indicative and subject to confirmation by RELX in its financial calendar. Join the discussion on the ChartsView Forum.
Disclaimer: This research is produced by ChartsView for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. All information is sourced from publicly available company filings, press releases, and official data. ChartsView does not use analyst opinions or third-party ratings. Always conduct your own due diligence and consider your personal financial situation before making investment decisions. Past performa
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13. Thesis Verdict
The central thesis. RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools, earning predominantly recurring subscription and transactional revenue across Risk, Scientific, Technical & Medical, Legal and Exhibitions by embedding proprietary data into customer workflows. In FY2025 it reported revenue of £9,590m, adjusted operating profit of £3,342m (a 34.8% margin) and adjusted EPS of 128.5p, with management guiding to another year of strong underlying growth in 2026 alongside a £2,250m buyback. The primary structural driver is the ongoing mix shift toward higher-growth analytics, which management argues AI augments rather than displaces.
What would confirm or break it. Continued mid-to-high-single-digit underlying growth, margin expansion and strong cash conversion in subsequent results would confirm the franchise is intact. The thesis would be undermined by evidence that generative AI is eroding demand for legal research, scientific search or analytics, by a material slowdown in the Risk division, or by any change that alters the stated capital-return and growth profile.
Watchpoints
- Confirms2026 half-year results (46 days) landing in line with or above management guidance.
- ConfirmsEvidence supporting the "Recurring, embedded revenue:" thesis continuing to build across subsequent filings.
- InvalidatesMaterialisation of the "Technology / AI disruption (Operational):" risk, or any disclosure that fundamentally alters the capital-return or growth profile stated by management.
Diagnostic grid
Generated by ChartsView research tooling. Thesis strength measures how well the evidence in this report supports the company's stated thesis — it is NOT a buy/sell rating or price target. ChartsView is not authorised by the FCA to provide regulated investment advice. Generated 7 Jun 2026.