RELX : RELX 2021 INTERIM RESULTS

29 July 2021

INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS TO 30 JUNE 2021

RELX, the global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools, reports results for the first half of 2021 and updates the full year outlook.

Highlights

• Revenue £3,394m (£3,501m), constant currency growth +4%
• Adjusted operating profit £1,023m (£990m), constant currency growth +11%
• Adjusted profit before tax £953m (£909m), constant currency growth +13%
• Reported operating profit £860m (£747m)
• Reported profit before tax £825m (£666m)
• Adjusted EPS 40.0p (39.1p), constant currency growth +10%
• Interim dividend 14.3p (13.6p) +5%
• Reported EPS 34.5p (28.4p)
• Net debt/EBITDA 2.8x; adjusted cash flow conversion 112%

Full year 2021 outlook

Based on the improved performance in Risk, STM and Legal in the first half, we expect full year underlying growth rates in revenue and adjusted operating profit, as well as constant currency growth in adjusted earnings per share, to be slightly above historical trends.

Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented:

"RELX delivered a strong first half with underlying growth trends across almost all market segments returning to the improving trajectory that we saw in the early part of 2020. We believe that this improvement is a reflection of our continuing strategy of focusing on the organic development of increasingly sophisticated analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers across market segments. Recent acquisitions, which have supplemented our organic growth strategy, have continued to perform well."

Chair, Paul Walker, commented:

"I am very pleased that RELX has continued to make good progress both operationally and strategically in the first half of 2021. In the few months since taking on the position of Chair I have been impressed by the way in which RELX has prioritised supporting our customers across all business areas, and has continued to invest behind our strategic objectives whilst building on our strong ESG performance. In recognition of the positive financial momentum we have announced an increase in the interim dividend of 5% to 14.3p."

ENQUIRIES:	Colin Tennant (Investors)	Paul Abrahams (Media)
	[phone]	[phone]

RELX 2021 I Interim Results 2

Operating and financial review

Revenue £3,394m (£3,501m); constant currency growth +4%: The constant currency growth rate reflects good growth in electronic revenues (90% of the total), driven by further development of analytics and decision tools.

Adjusted operating profit £1,023m (£990m); constant currency growth +11%: Growth in adjusted operating profit exceeded growth in revenue, resulting in an improvement in adjusted operating margin to 30.1%.

Reported operating profit £860m (£747m): Reported operating profit includes amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £143m (£164m) and portfolio related costs of £16m (£26m).

Adjusted profit before tax £953m (£909m); constant currency growth +13%: Adjusted profit before tax benefited from lower adjusted net interest expense of £70m (£81m) with the reduction reflecting lower average net borrowings and lower average interest rates.

Reported profit before tax £825m (£666m): Reported profit before tax includes disposal net gains of £39m (£6m). Reported net interest expense was £74m (£87m).

Tax: The adjusted tax charge was £185m (£162m), including some non-recurring credits. The adjusted effective tax rate was 19.4% (17.8%). The reported tax charge was £164m (£124m).

Earnings per share: Adjusted EPS 40.0p (39.1p); Reported EPS 34.5p (28.4p).

Dividend: We are declaring an interim dividend of 14.3p (13.6p). Our long-term dividend policy is unchanged.

Net debt/EBITDA 2.8x (3.2x) including leases and pensions: The leverage ratio reduced compared to the end of 2020 as EBITDA increased in line with higher adjusted operating profit. Net debt, including leases, was £6.3bn (£7.5bn) at 30 June 2021. Excluding leases and pensions, net debt/EBITDA was 2.5x (2.8x). Adjusted cash flow conversion was 112% (101%).

Portfolio development: In the first half of 2021 we completed 5 small acquisitions for a total consideration of £46m, and disposed of a number of small assets for a total consideration of £5m.

Share buybacks: As previously announced, the share buyback was suspended in April 2020. The Board does not intend to resume the programme in 2021.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) recognition: Since the start of the year, RELX has achieved a AAA MSCI ESG rating for a sixth consecutive year; moved up to first in its industry sector in Sustainalytics ESG rankings; and improved its ranking to third in the Responsibility100 Index, which measures the FTSE 100 against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. RELX continues to be one of 41 LEAD companies of the UN Global Compact among approximately 10,000 business signatories.

RELX 2021 I Interim Results 3

Operating and financial review

RELX FINANCIAL SUMMARY

			Six months ended 30 June
		2021			Change at
		2020	Change	constant
		£m	£m	currencies
Revenue	3,394	3,501	-3%	+4%
Adjusted operating profit	1,023	990	+3%	+11%
Adjusted operating margin	30.1%	28.3%
Reported operating profit	860	747	+15%
Adjusted net interest expense	(70)	(81)
Adjusted profit before tax	953	909	+5%	+13%
Adjusted tax	(185)	(162)
Adjusted net profit	771	753	+2%	+10%
Reported net profit	664	548	+21%
Reported net margin	19.6%	15.7%
Adjusted earnings per share	40.0p	39.1p	+2%	+10%
Reported earnings per share	34.5p	28.4p	+21%
Net borrowings	6,316	7,511
Ordinary dividend per share	14.3p	13.6p	+5%

RELX uses adjusted figures as additional performance measures. Adjusted figures primarily exclude the amortisation of acquired intangible assets and other items related to acquisitions and disposals, and the associated deferred tax movements. Prior year adjusted amounts have been revised to exclude exceptional costs incurred at Exhibitions in 2020 as set out on page 22. Reconciliations between the reported and adjusted figures are set out on page 30. Constant currency growth rates are based on 2020 full-year average and hedge exchange rates.

DISCLAIMER REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement contains forward‐looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes of RELX PLC (together with its subsidiaries, "RELX", "we" or "our") to differ materially from those expressed in any forward‐looking statement. We consider any statements that are not historical facts to be "forward‐looking statements". The terms "outlook", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "plan", "intend", "expect", "should", "will", "believe", "trends" and similar expressions may indicate a forward‐looking statement. Important factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from estimates or forecasts contained in the forward‐looking statements include, among others: the impact of the Covid‐19 pandemic as well as other pandemics or epidemics; current and future economic, political and market forces; changes in law and legal interpretation affecting RELX intellectual property rights and internet communications; regulatory and other changes regarding the collection or use of third‐party content and data; changes in the payment model for our products; competitive factors in the industries in which we operate and demand for our products and services; ability to realise the future anticipated benefits of acquisitions; significant failure or interruption of our systems; compromises of our cyber security systems or other unauthorised access to our databases; legislative, fiscal, tax and regulatory developments; exchange rate fluctuations; and other risks referenced from time to time in the filings of RELX PLC with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward‐looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. Except as may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward‐looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

RELX 2021 I Interim Results 4

Operating and financial review

BUSINESS AREA ANALYSIS

		Six months ended 30 June
	2021			Change at
	2020	Change	constant	Change
	£m	£m	currencies	underlying
REVENUE	1,228
Risk	1,209	+2%	+10%	+10%
Scientific, Technical & Medical	1,264	1,276	-1%	+5%	+4%
Legal	781	815	-4%	+2%	+3%
Exhibitions	121	201	-40%	-36%	nm
Total	3,394	3,501	-3%	+4%	nm
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT	457
Risk	445	+3%	+13%	+12%
Scientific, Technical & Medical	467	467	0%	+4%	+4%
Legal	151	150	+1%	+6%	+6%
Exhibitions	(48)	(66)	nm	nm	nm
Unallocated items	(4)	(6)
Total	1,023	990	+3%	+11%	nm

Underlying growth rates are calculated at constant currencies, excluding the results of acquisitions until twelve months after purchase, and excluding the results of disposals and assets held for sale. Given the extent of event rescheduling, underlying measures are not meaningful (nm) for Exhibitions in the current period, and hence not for the group as a whole.

RELX 2021 I Interim Results 5

Operating and financial review

Risk

		Six months ended 30 June
	2021			Change at
	2020	Change	constant	Change
	£m	£m	currencies	underlying
Revenue	1,228	1,209	+2%	+10%	+10%
Adjusted operating profit	457	445	+3%	+13%	+12%
Adjusted operating margin	37.2%	36.8%

99% of revenue electronic

Strong fundamentals driving underlying revenue growth.

Underlying revenue growth was +10%, driven by strong fundamentals across almost all market segments.

Transactional revenue, which represents over 60% of the divisional total, was strong throughout the first half, showing double digit growth compared to the disrupted first half of 2020. Growth rates in subscription revenue, which represents nearly 40% of the divisional total, have seen a more recent return to historical levels, driven by strong new sales. Outside the US, revenue continued to grow well.

Underlying adjusted operating profit growth of +12% was slightly ahead of underlying revenue growth.

In Business Services, which represents around 45% of divisional revenue, double digit growth was driven by demand for fraud prevention analytics and decision tools, with digital identity solutions including ThreatMetrix and Emailage performing particularly well. Some other areas with a higher subscription component have seen a more gradual return to historical growth rates.

In Insurance, which represents nearly 40% of divisional revenue, we continued to drive strong growth through the roll-out of enhanced analytics, the extension of data sets, and by further expansion in adjacent verticals. US shopping growth trends have fluctuated somewhat, but overall were similar to recent years for the first half. Driving patterns and claims activity have continued to increase steadily, and are now close to 2019 levels.

In Data Services, which represents just over 10% of divisional revenue, end market dynamics continued to vary by segment, with strong growth having recently returned in certain segments such as petrochemicals and agriculture, but still recovering in aviation.

In Government, strong growth was driven by the continued development and roll out of analytics and decision tools.

Full year 2021 outlook: We expect underlying revenue growth slightly above historical trends, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth broadly matching underlying revenue growth.