RELX Plans to Unify Dual Holding Structure; 2017 Profit Rises 43%

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

RELX PLC (REL.LN) said Thursday that it plans to further simplify its corporate structure, unifying its dual parent holding structure into a single company, as net profit for 2017 rose 43%.

The Anglo-Dutch professional-information and events company also said it intends to buy back further shares worth 700 million pounds ($974.4 million) this year, of which GBP100 million have already been repurchased. This adds to the GBP700 million buyback the company conducted last year.

The company behind medical journal the Lancet and the London Book Fair said it plans to implement its corporate restructuring, which is subject to shareholder approval, in the third quarter. Shareholders in Amsterdam-listed RELX NV (REN.AE) will receive one share in London-listed RELX PLC for each share held, the company said. The single parent will be listed in London, Amsterdam and New York.

RELX said these corporate changes won't impact its activities or staffing levels, nor the location of its headquarters or business units. The restructuring will be cost and profit neutral, before and after tax, the company added.

In 2017, RELX made a profit of GBP1.66 billion, compared with GBP1.16 billion a year earlier, it said. A FactSet-provided consensus of ten analysts forecast net profit at GBP1.38 billion.

Revenue rose 7% to GBP7.36 billion, from GBP6.90 billion in 2016, the company said. This was below the analysts' expectations of GBP7.47 billion. On an underlying basis, revenue grew 4% in 2017, the company said.

RELX said it is confident on delivering another year of underlying growth in revenue and in adjusted operating profit, along with a constant-currency rise in adjusted earnings a share, it said. Key business trends in the early part of 2018 are consistent with 2017, the RELX added.

The company said it anticipates a small positive effect from the U.S. tax reform going forward. In 2017, RELX included in its accounts a non-cash credit from a deferred tax balance-sheet adjustment of GBP346 million resulting from the new U.S. tax legislation.

The board has increased its dividend for 2017 to 39.4 pence for the holders of RELX PLC shares, up 10% on year, and to 44.8 euro cents for RELX NV shareholders, up 6% compared with a year earlier.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2018 03:00 ET (08:00 GMT)

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