RELX PLC's Q4 2024 Earnings Call: Discrepancies in Exhibitions Revenue and Strategic Growth Insights

These are the key contradictions discussed in RELX PLC's latest 2024Q4 earnings call, specifically including: Exhibitions Revenue Expectations, STM Growth Drivers, and Strategic Shifts, and Exhibitions Revenue and Performance Expectations:



Overall Financial Performance:
- RELX PLC reported strong financial results with underlying revenue growth of 7% and underlying adjusted operating profit growth of 10% for 2024.
- Adjusted earnings per share increased by 9% at constant currency, with a proposed 7% increase in the pound sterling full-year dividend.
- Growth was driven by strategic shifts towards higher value-add analytics and decision tools across all business areas.

Risk Segment Performance:
- The Risk segment experienced underlying revenue growth of 8% and underlying adjusted operating profit growth of 9%.
- Growth was driven by over 90% of divisional revenue coming from machine-to-machine interactions and deeply embedded AI-enabled analytics.
- The segment's strong performance continues to be supported by new product introductions and increased adoption of mature products.

STM Segment Trends:
- STM segment reported underlying revenue growth of 4% and underlying adjusted operating profit growth of 5%.
- Growth was driven by evolving business mix, with higher growth segments representing an increasing proportion of revenue and print segment shrinking faster than historical averages.
- The segment faces print drag but is focused on reducing the print segment's influence by accelerated bottom-end shift and disposals.

Legal Segment Improvements:
- The Legal segment improved underlying revenue growth to 7%, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth of 9%.
- The growth was driven by the continued shift in business mix towards higher-value legal analytics and the successful rollout of Lexis+ and Lexis+ AI platforms.
- The introduction of Protégé, a next-generation generative AI legal assistant, has been positively received by customers.