LONDON, June 18, 2026, 12:10 BST
- RELX dropped 3.19% at 2,367.12 pence as of 11:59 BST, trading near its session low of 2,366.58 pence.
- REL paid its 48p final dividend on Thursday. The company said it has filed to list 75,000 shares for an employee savings plan on June 22.
- RELX stuck to its outlook for strong sales and operating profit growth in 2026, excluding the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currency changes.
RELX shares fell 3.1% Thursday, hovering around 2,369 pence by midday after starting at 2,401 pence. That drop wiped out the 1% gain from Wednesday and pushed the stock toward the low end of its session range of 2,366.58 to 2,417 pence.
RELX’s latest move put the AI debate back in focus for the information and analytics group. Some ask if artificial intelligence will push up demand for its specialist data or if cheaper products could put pressure on prices. Back in February, Reuters said RELX shares sank as AI worries hit information-service stocks.
RELX’s latest filing was administrative. The company said it has applied to list 75,000 shares for its 2023 Sharesave employee plan, with trading set to start June 22. That’s about 0.004% of RELX’s 1.76 billion shares, so the move alone doesn’t explain Thursday’s drop.
RELX paid out its final dividend on Thursday. The shares went ex-div on May 7, cutting off new buyers from the payout after that date, so the typical price drop already happened weeks back. The company will report half-year numbers on July 23.
London stocks slipped, with the FTSE 100 off 0.94% at 10,410.01 late morning. Financials and miners did most of the heavy lifting on the downside. Informa jumped 2.3% after it guided to better growth in 2027, a sign the sector wasn’t down across the board. Bank of England stuck with its 3.75% policy rate later.
RELX kept its outlook for strong revenue and adjusted operating-profit growth after saying in April it had a good start to the year in each of its four divisions. “Underlying” strips out deals and some timing effects, with constant-currency numbers taking out exchange swings. The company said it was still seeing AI-led product uptake in its Risk, scientific and legal businesses. Relx
RELX posted a 7% rise in underlying revenue for 2025, bringing it to £9.59 billion, with adjusted operating profit up 9% to £3.34 billion. The company set out plans to buy back £2.25 billion in shares in 2026. Chief Executive Erik Engstrom said AI’s evolution “has been a key driver of our business for well over a decade.” Relx
Goldman Sachs started coverage on RELX with a “buy” and set the price target at £30 this month. The bank noted RELX is trading at 17.7 times estimated 2026 earnings, which is less than the 20.6-times average for information-services stocks worldwide. The multiple tracks the share price against forecast earnings per share. Goldman called out the Protégé legal platform, LeapSpace scientific product and new Risk tools as growth spots. Investing
But the risk is still there. General-purpose AI assistants could make customers less dependent on legacy databases, put pressure on prices or push data firms to spend more on innovation. Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said the new tech could “reduce the margins” for data companies and, at worst, cut them out of the customer loop. Thomson Reuters and Wolters Kluwer also took hits in February’s selloff. The Guardian
Investors will look for details on July 23 about how RELX’s AI tools are selling, price changes and margins. The buyback will matter too, but signs that AI products are boosting revenue, not just holding current subscriptions, will probably be the bigger focus.
