RELX changes
Pick any two versions below to diff them.
- Balance sheet
- RELX funds itself with strong subscription cash flow and with bonds, bank loans and commercial paper, mostly in US dollars and euros. Its finance subsidiaries issue this debt, and RELX PLC guarantees it. At June 30, 2026, net debt was £8,733m. This is up £1,532m in six months, because RELX spent £1,750m on buybacks. Gross debt was £8,906m, of which £119m was leases, and cash was only £220m. Net debt including pensions was 2.3 times EBITDA for the twelve months to June 30, 2026, up from 2.0 times at the end of 2025. First-half adjusted operating profit of £1,727m covered adjusted net interest of £138m about 12 times. The borrowings have an average remaining life of only 3.7 years, and 54% are at fixed rates. Thus RELX refinances often, and higher rates pass through to its interest cost. In June 2026, it issued two €750m bonds. About $4.1bn of committed bank facilities, mostly to November 2030, were undrawn. S&P and Fitch rate RELX A-, and Moody's rates it A3, all with a stable outlook. The pension schemes showed a small surplus of £87m. Shareholders' equity was only £1,238m, because years of buybacks returned more cash than the book value of the company. This is not a problem while cash flow covers the debt easily. RELX pays out about half of adjusted earnings as dividends. It uses most of the remaining free cash flow, and some new debt, for buybacks. Leverage near 2.3 times leaves room for buybacks and small acquisitions. But a large debt-funded deal would need a pause in buybacks. As of 2026-06-30.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 22, 2026: Nine-month trading update: Legal and STM growth. Pending. Watch: Legal and STM growth at or above the first-half pace and the full-year outlook kept pass; slower Legal or STM growth or a weaker outlook fails. Feb 2027 (estimate): Full-year 2026 results and 2027 buyback plan. Pending. Watch: Underlying revenue growth near 7% with Legal and STM profit growth above group average and a new buyback in line with past years pass; slowing Legal growth or a smaller buyback fails. Apr 2027 (estimate): AGM trading update: Doctrine and legal AI sales. Pending. Watch: Statements that Lexis+ AI and Doctrine grow subscriptions across Europe and that full-year guidance holds pass; signs of customers moving to rival AI tools fail.