Reported operating profit, which includes amortisation of acquired intangible assets and acquisition-related items, was £1,884 million (2020: £1,525 million), up 24% (2020: 27% decrease) reflecting lower amortisation expense on acquired intangible assets and there being no exceptional costs in Exhibitions (2020: £183 million).
Adjusted operating profit was £2,210 million (2020: £2,076 million), up 6% (2020: down 17%).
The reported operating margin was 26.0% (2020: 21.4%). The overall adjusted operating margin of 30.5% was 1.3 percentage points higher than in the prior year. On an underlying basis, including cycling effects, the margin improved by 1.6 percentage points with portfolio and currency effects reducing margins by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively.
Depreciation and amortisation of internally generated intangible assets increased to £347 million (2020: £341 million). Depreciation of
assets decreased to £80 million (2020: £88 million).
The amortisation charge in respect of acquired intangible assets, including the share of amortisation in joint ventures, decreased to £298 million (2020: £376 million). This includes impairments of £13 million in respect of acquired intangible assets in Legal (2020: £65 million relating to acquired intangible assets in Legal and Exhibitions).
Acquisition-related items amounted to a charge of £21 million (2020: £12 million credit). This included a gain of £27 million (2020: £76 million) from the revaluation of a put and call option arrangement relating to a
non-controlling
interest in a subsidiary within Legal.
Reported net finance costs were £142 million (2020: £172 million). This includes the net pension financing charge of £9 million (2020: £10 million).
Reported profit before tax was £1,797 million (2020: £1,483 million) up 21% reflecting the improvement in reported operating profit, offset by smaller gains from disposals and other
non-operating
items of £55 million (2020: £130 million), mainly relating to disposal and revaluation gains in the ventures portfolio.
The reported tax charge was £326 million (2020: £275 million) including tax associated with the amortisation of acquired intangible assets, disposals and other
non-operating
items. The 2021 charge includes the benefit of a tax credit arising on the substantial resolution of certain prior year tax matters. The 2020 charge includes the benefit of temporary relaxation of interest deductibility restrictions in the United States. An increase in the UK corporation tax rate to 25% (from April 2023) was enacted in the first half of 2021 requiring a revaluation of deferred tax balances but the impact on the tax charge in the income statement was not material.
The reported net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders of £1,471 million (2020: £1,224 million) was up 20% (2020: down 19%). The adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders of £1,689 million (2020: £1,543 million) was up 9% (2020: down 15%).
The reported earnings per share was 76.3p (2020: 63.5p).
Adjusted earnings per share was up 9% at 87.6p (2020: 80.1p). At constant rates of exchange, adjusted earnings per share increased by 17%.
Ordinary dividends paid to shareholders in the year, being the 2020 final and 2021 interim dividend, amounted to £920 million (2020: £880 million).
The final dividend proposed by the Board is 35.5p per share (2020: 33.4p). This gives total dividends for the year of 49.8p (2020: 47.0p).
During 2021, no RELX PLC shares were repurchased and 61,040 shares were purchased by the Employee Benefit Trust. During 2021, no RELX PLC shares held in treasury were cancelled. As at December 31, 2021, total shares in issue, net of shares held in treasury and shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust, amounted to 1,929 million. No further RELX PLC shares have been repurchased in 2022 as at February 9, 2022.
Risk: 2021 financial performance
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Revenue | | | | | | | 2,417 | | | | +9 | % | | | 0 | % | | | -7 | % | | | +2 | % |
Adjusted operating profit | | | | | | | 894 | | | | +10 | % | | | 0 | % | | | -8 | % | | | +2 | % |
Strong fundamentals driving underlying revenue growth.
Reported revenue growth was +2%. Underlying revenue growth was +9%.
Underlying adjusted operating profit growth of +10% was slightly ahead of underlying revenue growth, offset by currency effects to leave adjusted operating margin unchanged.
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