LONDON, May 2, 2026, 19:09 BST
RELX PLC’s new voting-rights statement has steered attention back to its buyback activity. The information and analytics giant counted 1,780,530,214 voting rights as of April 30—just ahead of its ordinary shares going ex-dividend for the 2025 final payout. Under UK rules, investors use this figure to determine if they need to declare a holding; treasury shares, which cover those stock repurchases the company still owns, don’t count.
Here’s the crux: RELX is handing cash back to shareholders, even as doubts linger over how AI could reshape the economics for paid legal, risk, and scientific data platforms. The company’s ongoing £350 million buyback, running April 23 through May 22, comes directly after wrapping up another £350 million round. Both are part of a broader £2.25 billion repurchase effort set to run through 2026.
The stock finished Friday at 2,698p, a gain of 0.6%, putting AJ Bell’s market cap figure at £47.94 billion. With the London market closed over the weekend, the next items on the calendar are next week’s dividend date and any additional buyback news.
RELX reported 1,793,214,976 voting rights and 35,163,923 treasury shares on March 31. Friday’s filings indicate voting rights dropped roughly 12.7 million in April, while treasury shares jumped by about 12.8 million.
The focus for shareholders shifts to the dividend. RELX’s ordinary shares will go ex-dividend on May 7—investors picking up shares after that date miss out on the next payout. The record date lands on May 8, while payment is set for June 18. According to company data, the final dividend for 2025 stands at 48.0p per share, bringing the total payout for the year to 67.5p.
RELX, in its April 23 trading update, said business was off to a solid start this year, with momentum across Risk, Scientific, Technical & Medical, Legal, and Exhibitions. The company kept its full-year guidance steady. Management is looking for robust underlying revenue and adjusted operating profit growth. Underlying growth, as RELX defines it, filters out currency swings, deals, disposals, and a few other items to highlight organic trends.
Investors still zero in on the Legal unit. RELX pointed to double-digit gains in Law Firms & Corporate Legal, crediting Lexis+ with Protégé for that momentum. The AI-powered legal research platform, featuring an agentic assistant, handles complex, multi-step tasks rather than just spitting out search results.
Back in February, Chief Executive Erik Engstrom pointed to strong gains for RELX in 2025, highlighting “a further step up in growth in Legal.” The company posted 2025 revenue at £9.59 billion, with adjusted operating profit reaching £3.34 billion. Adjusted cash-flow conversion stood at 99%.
Back in February, Chief Financial Officer Nick Luff told Reuters that RELX’s nonstop data and content updates put the company ahead, especially as AI starts to automate more workflows. Luff said the firm was using proprietary algorithms tailored for “professional users making high-value decisions.” Reuters
AI is still the wild card here. Back in February, Reuters flagged that Anthropic’s Claude plug-ins, which target everything from legal work to sales, marketing, and data analysis, set off a sharp slump in data and professional-services stocks: RELX slid 14%, Wolters Kluwer dropped 13%, and Thomson Reuters ended down almost 18%. Analyst Jonathan McMullan at Schroders, speaking at the time, said the sector was being revalued as its former “visibility premium” faded away. Reuters
But some push back: RELX’s data trove isn’t as easy to replicate as the stock drop suggests. Back in February, Reuters Breakingviews pointed to UBS analysts who estimated that a hefty 88% of RELX’s revenue faces minimal threat from large language models. LexisNexis? That’s singled out as the main vulnerability.
At the moment, RELX’s immediate focus isn’t really on the AI headlines—investors are dealing with slimmer voting rights, an ongoing buyback, and the upcoming cash dividend. The concern: should AI rivals begin squeezing renewal rates or put pressure on legal product pricing, those capital returns might not restore the stock’s former premium.
