RELX 2025 slides: 7% revenue growth, margins expand as digital transformation continues

RELX, the British-based information and analytics giant, reported a 7% increase in underlying revenue and expanded operating margins globally for the full year 2024 during its annual results presentation in London on February 20, 2025. The company’s financial performance was driven by a sustained strategic shift toward higher-growth digital tools and decision-making analytics, which are increasingly replacing traditional print and data-only products across all its business segments. This transition has allowed the firm to capitalize on the growing demand for sophisticated AI-driven solutions in the legal, medical, and corporate research sectors. The detailed financial slides shared with investors highlight the success of RELX’s four main divisions: Risk, Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM), Legal, and Exhibitions. The Risk division emerged as a primary growth engine, leveraging machine learning and big data to provide fraud prevention and identity verification services. Meanwhile, the Legal segment saw higher-than-average margin expansion as its generative AI platform, Lexis+ AI, gained significant traction among law firms seeking to automate complex research and drafting tasks, proving that the company's investment in advanced technology is yielding tangible dividends. Furthermore, the Exhibitions division showed a robust recovery, with revenue growth exceeding pre-pandemic trajectories due to a stronger focus on data-led networking tools that improve the return on investment for trade show participants. By integrating digital value-adds into physical events, RELX has managed to diversify its income streams beyond traditional ticket sales and floor space rentals. This multifaceted approach has fortified the group’s balance sheet, enabling increased shareholder returns through a progressive dividend policy and continued share buyback programs. As RELX looks ahead to the remainder of 2025, management emphasized that digital transformation remains the cornerstone of its long-term strategy. The company plans to further integrate artificial intelligence across its information services to maintain its competitive edge against smaller, tech-native rivals. With a disciplined cost structure and a focus on high-quality, recurring subscription revenue, the group expects to maintain its current momentum, projecting consistent mid-single-digit growth and continued margin improvement for the foreseeable future.