By Frank Prenesti
Date: Thursday 11 Feb 2021
LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Information business provider Relx lifted its dividend by 3% and signalled a return to pre-Covid trends for its science, risk and legal units but said a recovery in its exhibitions arm remained uncertain.
The company on Thursday said adjusted operating profit fell to £2.07bn against £2.5bn. Underlying revenue fell 9% to £7.1bn.
Exhibitions reported an adjusted loss of £164m compared with a £331m profit as the cancellation of events due to the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll.
Science, risk and legal, which accounted for 95% of revenue in 2020, continued to deliver underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit.
"Earnings per share is currently being impacted by Covid-19 related disruption to our exhibitions business, but we are proposing a 3% increase in the dividend to 47p reflecting our consistent track record and our confidence in the outlook for the company," chairman Anthony Habgood said.