RELX drops even as company buys back 9% of average weekly volume

RELX drops even as company buys back 9% of average weekly volume

June 24, 2026

LONDON, June 24, 2026, 13:08 BST

RELX traded 0.6% lower at around 2,334 pence just before 12:50 BST on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 was unchanged. The information and analytics group is down about 40% over the last year.

RELX picked up 2,936,304 shares in the five sessions ending June 19, according to a June 22 filing. That was about 9.1% of the 32.41 million shares traded over that period based on the filing and daily data. The company paid around £71.1 million for the shares, at an average price of 2,422.4p per share on a weighted basis. Wednesday’s close came in 3.6% under that average. RELX shares dropped 4.6% between June 12 and June 19.

RELX is pushing cash buybacks up front. The £200 million round that ends June 26 will bring total 2026 buybacks done or set up to £1.75 billion, according to its schedule. That’s already 78% of the £2.25 billion target for the year. Just £500 million is left for future rounds. Fewer shares could boost earnings per share even if profits don’t move, but the buyback budget won’t keep the same cash rate to December unless the board ups the annual plan.

RELX’s story is shifting to operating growth. Underlying revenue, which excludes items like currency and portfolio swings, was up 7% to £9.59 billion in 2025. Adjusted operating profit went up 9% at £3.342 billion. Adjusted earnings per share climbed 10% at constant exchange rates. Back in April, RELX stuck with its 2026 outlook and said sales to law firms and corporate legal clients were posting double-digit growth.

RELX is using proprietary algorithms and real-time data to deliver accurate judgments and insights to professionals, Chief Financial Officer Nick Luff told Reuters in February.

Morningstar’s Rob Hales left his 4,200p fair-value estimate unchanged following the April update, saying RELX is “significantly undervalued.” Shares on Wednesday traded roughly 44% below that number. Morningstar

But buybacks can cut the other way too. When Anthropic rolled out its legal plug-ins back in February, it set off a sector selloff that dragged down Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters as well. If rival AI tools start to pressure renewals or drive down per-user prices, share count gains from buybacks might not make up for any profit hit. Schroders analyst Jonathan McMullan said AI’s pace is making long-term valuations “harder to defend”. Reuters

RELX will post first-half results on July 23, according to the company’s financial calendar.

Artur Ślesik

Artur Ślesik is a technology and financial markets journalist at Bez-kabli.pl, covering artificial intelligence, semiconductors, technology stocks and emerging innovations. A graduate of Warsaw University of Technology, he combines a technical background with market analysis to explain how new technologies are shaping industries, businesses and investment trends worldwide.

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