Coronavirus battered Relx’s (REL) events business in the first half, with revenues nosediving by 71 per cent compared to the same period last year. Exhibitions, the events segment, moved to a loss of £117m as industry gatherings were either cancelled or postponed as a result of lockdown.
But the group’s three main business areas - Scientific Technical and Medical (‘STM’), Risk & Business Analytics and Legal,- all posted modest growth. STM, the largest segment, saw its revenues increase by 3 per cent compared to the same period last year to £1.28bn. Electronic revenue was up 3 per cent on an underlying basis. Print revenue, on the other hand, dropped 17 per cent as the pandemic disrupted the group’s distribution system.
Analysts at UBS forecast revenues of £7.4bn and adjusted EPS of 82.19p for 2020.
| RELX (REL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,698p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 32.8bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,687-1,698p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,109p | LOW: 1,394p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 109p* | NET DEBT: | £7.5bn | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£bn) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2019 | 3.89 | 1.00 | 39.9 | 13.6 |
| 2020 | 3.50 | 0.67 | 28.4 | 13.6 |
| % change | -10 | -34 | -29 | - |
| Ex-div: | 30 Jul | |||
| Payment: | 02 Sep | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £11.6bn or 599p a share | ||||
