RELX 1st Half Net Profit Hit by Pandemic; Warns on Events Uncertainty

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

RELX PLC said Thursday that net profit for the first half fell 30% as the coronavirus pandemic hit revenue, and that the full-year outlook for its events division is highly uncertain.

The FTSE 100 information and analytics group made a net profit of 548 million pounds ($697.8 million) for the half year compared with GBP779 million for the year-earlier period.

Adjusted operating profit fell 24% to GBP939 million, the company said.

RELX, the company behind medical journal the Lancet and the London Book Fair, said revenue declined to GBP3.50 billion in the first half from GBP3.89 billion the year before, dragged by its events division. The company didn't provide underlying figures due to the extent of event postponements and cancellations.

The board maintained its interim dividend unchanged at 13.6 pence a share, but said it doesn't intend to resume a share buyback program it suspended earlier this year.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2020 02:38 ET (06:38 GMT)

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