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Annual Report and
Financial Statements
2020
RELX is a global provider of information-based
analytics and decision tools for professional
and business customers.
We help researchers make new discoveries, doctors
and nurses improve the lives of patients, and lawyers
develop winning strategies. We prevent online fraud
and money laundering, and help insurance companies
evaluate and predict risk. Our events combine in-person
and digital experiences to help customers learn about
markets, source products and complete transactions.
In short, we enable our customers to make better
decisions, get better results and be more productive.
Forward-looking statements
This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the US
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes of RELX PLC
(together with its subsidiaries, “RELX”, “we” or “our”) to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. We consider any statements that
are not historical facts to be “forward-looking statements”. The terms “outlook”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “expect”, “should”, “will”,
“believe”, “trends” and similar expressions may indicate a forward-looking statement. Important factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ
materially from estimates or forecasts contained in the forward-looking statements include, among others: current and future economic, political and market forces;
the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as other pandemics or epidemics; changes in law and legal interpretations affecting RELX intellectual property rights and
internet communications; regulatory and other changes regarding the collection, transfer or use of third-party content and data; changes in the payment model for
our products; demand for RELX products and services; competitive factors in the industries in which RELX operates; ability to realise the future anticipated benefits of
acquisitions; significant failure or interruption of our systems; exhibitors’ and attendees’ ability and desire to attend face-to-face events and availability of event
venues; compromises of our data security systems or other unauthorised access to our databases; legislative, fiscal, tax and regulatory developments and political
risks; exchange rate fluctuations; and other risks referenced from time to time in the filings of RELX PLC with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. Except as may be required by law, we
undertake no obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this
Annual Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
1
2020 Financial highlights
Chair’s statement
Overview*
2
3
4 Chief Executive Officer’s report
5 RELX business overview
Market segments*
14 Scientific, Technical & Medical
20 Risk
26 Legal
32 Exhibitions
Corporate Responsibility*
39 Corporate Responsibility overview
Financial review*
54 Chief Financial Officer’s report
60 Principal and emerging risks
Governance
66 Board Directors
68 RELX Senior Executives
70 Chair’s introduction to corporate governance
71 Corporate governance review
90 Report of the Nominations Committee
93 Directors’ remuneration report
115 Report of the Audit Committee
118 Directors’ report
Financial statements
and other information
124 Independent auditors’ report
132 Consolidated financial statements
177 RELX PLC annual report and financial statements
186 Summary financial information in euros
187 Summary financial information in US dollars
188 Reconciliation of adjusted to GAAP measures
190 Shareholder information
IBC 2021 financial calendar
* Comprises the Strategic Report in accordance with The (UK)
Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report)
Regulations 2013.
Contents
Get more information online
A PDF of the full Annual Report and further
information about our businesses can be
found online at our website: www.relx.com
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 2
2020 Financial highlights
§ Our three largest business areas, Scientific, Technical & Medical, Risk and Legal,
which together accounted for 95% of RELX revenue in 2020, reported combined
revenue of £6,748m, up 2%, and adjusted operating profit of £2,245m, up 4%, for the
year. All three business areas continued to deliver underlying revenue and adjusted
operating profit growth.
§ Exhibitions, which accounted for 5% of revenue in 2020, has been impacted significantly
by the Covid-19 pandemic, with revenue of £362m, down 71%, and an adjusted operating
loss of £164m (£331m profit).
§ By format, electronic revenue across all divisions, representing 87% of the total, grew
4%. Print revenue, which represented 8% of the total, declined 14%, more steeply than
in recent years, and face-to-face revenue, which represented around 5% of the total,
was down by 73%.
RELX financial summary
REPORTED FIGURES
For the year ended 31 December
Revenue
Operating profit
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Net margin
Net borrowings
Reported earnings per share
Ordinary dividend per RELX PLC share
ADJUSTED FIGURES
For the year ended 31 December
Operating profit
Operating margin
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Net margin
Cash flow
Cash flow conversion
Return on invested capital
Adjusted earnings per share
2020
£m
7,110
1,525
1,483
1,224
17.2%
6,898
63.5p
47.0p
2020
£m
2,076
29.2%
1,916
1,543
21.7%
2,009
97%
10.8%
80.1p
2019
£m
7,874
2,101
1,847
1,505
19.1%
6,191
77.4p
45.7p
2019
£m
2,491
31.6%
2,200
1,808
23.0%
2,402
96%
13.6%
93.0p
Change at
constant
currencies
-10%
Change
underlying
-9%
Change at
constant
currencies
Change
underlying
-18%
-18%
-15%
-16%
Change
-10%
-27%
-20%
-19%
-18%
+3%
Change
-17%
-13%
-15%
-16%
-14%
-15%
The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges. RELX PLC and its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates are together
known as ‘RELX’.
RELX uses adjusted and underlying figures as additional performance measures. Adjusted figures primarily exclude the amortisation of acquired intangible assets
and other items related to acquisitions and disposals, and the associated deferred tax movements. In 2020, we also excluded exceptional costs in the Exhibitions business.
Reconciliations between the reported and adjusted figures are set out on page 188. Underlying growth rates are calculated at constant currencies, excluding the results
of acquisitions until 12 months after purchase, and excluding the results of disposals and assets held for sale. Underlying revenue growth rates also exclude exhibition cycling.
Constant currency growth rates are based on 2019 full-year average and hedge exchange rates.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Overview RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
3
Chair’s statement
Share buybacks
As previously announced, the share buyback was suspended in April
2020 after £150m had been spent in the first four months of the year.
The Board does not intend to resume the programme this year.
Chair Succession
I am extremely pleased that Paul Walker will, as we have already
announced, be taking up the role of Chair on 1 March 2021. Last
year we announced that after over ten years as Chair, I would retire
from the board once a successor had been appointed. Paul has a
strong record of value creation as a FTSE 100 Chair and Chief
Executive, has a deep understanding of corporate governance,
and brings extensive international experience in sectors relevant
to RELX’s business through both his executive and non-executive
roles. I believe that he is an outstanding choice to guide the company
forward to the next level. I welcome him to RELX and wish him the
very best for the future.
The Board
In April 2020, Adrian Hennah, who had been on the board for nine
years, stepped down as a non-executive director and as Chair of the
Audit Committee, a role ably taken on by Suzanne Wood. In October,
June Felix joined the board as a non-executive director. June is
currently Chief Executive Officer of IG Group Holdings PLC, of
which she was a Non-Executive Director (2015-2018) before being
appointed as CEO. She has had prior roles at Verifone, Citibank,
IBM and CertCo. She brings considerable relevant strategic and
operational experience acquired from her current and previous
roles including a deep understanding of the financial services
sector, technology and healthcare. I would like to thank Adrian for
his support and advice and am delighted June has joined the board.
Environment, Social and Governance
We have long believed there is no trade-off between pursuing
the highest levels of corporate responsibility (CR) and excellent
financial performance. We pursue both in tandem. The Board
tracks annual and longer term CR objectives and, during the
year, discussed related issues at regular intervals.
Our approach is borne out by increasing investor emphasis on
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in their
company assessments. They want to protect the value of their
assets by investing in companies that are mitigating their ESG
risks, while advancing sustainable opportunities.
In the year, RELX held a AAA MSCI ESG rating for a fifth
consecutive year and was placed fourth in MSCI’s UK ESG Leaders
Index; was placed second in its industry sector in Sustainalytics
ESG rankings and 21st overall among 13,000 companies assessed;
came fourth in the Responsibility100 Index, a ranking of the FTSE
100 on performance against the UN Sustainable Development
Goals; was one of 41 LEAD companies of the United Nations Global
Compact among approximately 10,000 business signatories; and
was selected for Bloomberg’s 2020 Gender-Equality Index.
Our CR objectives for 2021 will ensure RELX continues to raise the
bar on its performance (full details are available in the 2020 RELX
Corporate Responsibility Report).
Finally, I would like to thank all of our employees around the world
and everyone who has worked to make the Company successful.
I have every confidence that with your help and with its exceptionally
talented leadership team, RELX will continue to grow and prosper
in the years to come.
Anthony Habgood
Chair
Sir Anthony Habgood
Chair
In a truly extraordinary year, RELX
continued consistently to pursue
its strategic priorities delivering
another year of growth in revenue,
profit and cash across our three
largest business areas. We also
continued to build on our strong
ESG performance of recent years,
making progress on many important
metrics and maintaining or improving
our key external rankings.
Our three largest business areas, which accounted for 95% of
RELX’s revenues in 2020, all continued to deliver underlying
revenue and adjusted operating profit growth. However, the
Exhibitions business, which accounted for 5% of revenue (16% in
2019) was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a
result, the group’s underlying revenue fell 9%, with underlying
adjusted operating profits down 18%. Adjusted earnings per share
fell 14% to 80.1p.Reported earnings per share were 63.5p (77.4p).
Dividends
Earnings per share were impacted by Covid-19 related disruption
which pushed our exhibitions business into loss. Nevertheless, we
are proposing to increase our annual dividend to 47.0p reflecting
our confidence in the outlook for the company. The long-term
dividend policy remains unchanged.
Balance sheet
Net debt was £6.9bn at 31 December 2020, up from £6.2bn last
year. Net debt/EBITDA including pensions and leases was 3.3x,
compared with 2.5x in 2019 reflecting both higher net debt and
lower EBITDA as a result of the Covid-19 impact on the profitability
of our Exhibitions business. Capital expenditure represented
5% of revenues.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 4
Chief Executive Officer’s report
With the decline in Exhibitions’ revenues, group revenue was 9%
lower on an underlying basis, adjusted operating profit declined
by 18% underlying, and adjusted earnings per share declined by
15% at constant currency reflecting the fall in operating profits,
offset by a lower interest charge.
The group remains highly cash generative and our priorities for
use of cash are unchanged. The first of those priorities is organic
investment in the business and that has continued at around 5%
of revenues. Acquisition spend depends on the opportunities
that arise: in 2020 we completed 11 acquisitions of content, data
analytics and exhibition assets for a total consideration of £878m.
We are proposing a full year dividend of 47.0p, up from 45.7p in the
prior year. The share buyback was suspended in April 2020 after
£150m had been spent in the first four months of the year.
The Board does not intend to resume the programme this year.
I would like to thank Sir Anthony Habgood for his exemplary
leadership as Chair of RELX. For over a decade, he has expertly
led the board, helped shape the strategic direction of the company,
and provided constant and invaluable advice, support and guidance
to me and the executive team. I would also like to welcome Paul
Walker as our new Chair. I believe that he is uniquely positioned
to chair RELX during the next stage of the company’s development
and I look forward to working closely with him.
Corporate responsibility
Challenging global conditions in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic did not lessen our commitment to corporate
responsibility (CR). We drew on our unique contributions as
a business, which further the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), including advancing science
and health, protection of society, furthering the rule of law,
and fostering communities, to help address the crisis. We
aggregated significantly expanded content sets on the free
RELX SDG Resource Centre. This included Elsevier’s COVID-19
Healthcare Hub with up-to-date evidence-based clinical practices
covering symptom management, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing
wellness. It also included the LexisNexis Covid-19 and the Global
Media Landscape news tracker showcasing coronavirus articles
and interactive charts in near real time.
In addition, we launched an SDG graphic for all 17 SDGs, compiled
in The Power of Data to Advance the SDGs, a report available on
the RELX SDG Resource Centre comparing research output by
countries at all income levels to identify gaps and opportunities.
In the year, we also focused on the wellness of our people,
training more mental health champions, and took tangible steps
to increase a culture of inclusion, appointing diversity leads for
our business areas and holding a second employee resource
group conference that brought together 1500 colleagues virtually
to share practical ideas on issues such as mentoring and allyship
with participation from business unit CEOs to new hires.
Outlook
We expect each of our three largest business areas, STM, Risk and
Legal, to deliver another year of underlying revenue and adjusted
operating profit growth in 2021, similar to pre-Covid-19 trends.
The timing and pace of recovery in Exhibitions remains uncertain.
Erik Engstrom
Chief Executive Officer
Erik Engstrom
Chief Executive Officer
Our three largest business areas,
STM, Risk and Legal, which together
accounted for 95% of RELX revenue
in 2020, all continued to deliver
underlying growth in revenue
and in adjusted operating profit.
Exhibitions, which accounted for
5% of revenue in 2020, has been
impacted significantly by the
Covid-19 pandemic.
2020 progress
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic our first priority has
been the health and safety of our colleagues, our customers,
and the wider community in which we operate, with Elsevier
in particular supporting the scientific and medical response.
Early in the year we decided that it was important not to curtail
investment in our three largest business areas to offset any
potential shortfall in financial performance from Exhibitions.
Accordingly, we continued to invest behind our strategic priorities,
the organic development of increasingly sophisticated information-
based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to
our customers, and we continued to make targeted acquisitions
that support our organic growth strategies.
Our three largest business areas, STM, Risk and Legal, which
together accounted for 95% of RELX revenue in 2020, all continued
to deliver underlying growth in revenue and in adjusted operating
profit. Exhibitions, which accounted for 5% of revenue in 2020, was
impacted significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic and we focused on
continuing to serve our customers through the disruption caused
by venue closures, whilst taking appropriate steps for the future
of the business, accelerating the development of digital tools,
and adjusting the ongoing operating cost structure.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Overview RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
5
RELX business overview
Strategic direction
Our number one strategic priority continues to be the organic
development of increasingly sophisticated information-based
analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to
professional and business customers across the industries
that we serve.
Our goal is to help our customers make better decisions, get better
results and be more productive. We do this by leveraging a deep
understanding of our customers to create innovative solutions
which combine content and data with analytics and technology
in global platforms.
We aim to build leading positions in long-term global growth
markets and leverage our skills, assets and resources across
RELX, both to build solutions for our customers and to pursue
cost efficiencies.
We are systematically migrating all of our information solutions
across RELX towards higher value-add decision tools, adding
broader data sets, embedding more sophisticated analytics
and leveraging more powerful technology, primarily through
organic development.
We are transforming our core business, building out new products
and expanding into higher growth adjacencies and geographies.
We are supplementing this organic development with selective
acquisitions of targeted data sets and analytics, and assets in
high-growth markets that support our organic growth strategies,
and are natural additions to our existing businesses.
By focusing on evolving the fundamentals of our business we
believe that, over time, we are improving our business profile
and the quality of our earnings. This has led to more predictable
revenues through a better asset mix and geographic balance; a
higher growth profile as we expand in higher growth segments,
exit from structurally challenged businesses, and gradually
reduce the drag from print format declines; and improved returns
by focusing on organic development with strong cash generation.
WHERE WE ARE GOING
HOW WE ARE GETTING THERE
IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PROFILE
§ Deliver improved outcomes
to professional customers
§ Combine content & data
with analytics & technology
in global platforms
§ Build leading positions
in long-term global
growth markets
RELX business model
§ Organic development:
investment in transforming
core business; build-out of
new products
§ Portfolio reshaping:
selective acquisitions;
selective divestments
§ Leverage institutional skills,
assets and resources
across RELX
§ More predictable revenues
§ Higher growth profile
§ Improving returns
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. We leverage deep
customer understanding to combine leading content and data sets with powerful global technology platforms to build sophisticated
analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers.
These products are generally sold through dedicated sales forces direct to customers and are priced on a subscription or transactional
basis, often under multi-year contracts. They are predominantly delivered in electronic and face-to-face formats, and, to a small extent,
in print.
Our products often account for less than 1% of our customers‘ total cost base but can have a significant and positive impact on the
economics of the remaining 99%. Our objective is to continue to enhance the value that we deliver to our customers and over time
to grow our own total cost base below our rate of revenue growth on an underlying basis.
REVENUE BY FORMAT
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET
REVENUE BY TYPE
£7,110m
8%
5%
Electronic
Face-to-face
Print
87%
£7,110m
20%
£7,110m
1%
North America
Europe
Rest of world
39%
19%
61%
Subscriptions
Transactional
Advertising
60%
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 6
Key performance indicators
RELX’s key performance indicators (KPIs) track progress against
long-term priorities. At the group level, given the diverse nature
of our end markets, we look at the continued migration of the
business towards electronic delivery, the increasing introduction
of electronic decision tools, group level financial metrics, and
corporate responsibility and sustainability metrics. The executive
directors’ remuneration policy includes measures linked to
the financial KPIs and may also include non-financials.
See pages 93 to 106 for details of the implementation of the policy
in 2020 and 2021.
In addition, we track KPIs within each market segment, at
the product level, relevant to the performance of the specific
business units.
Significant group financial KPIs are set out below.
For non-financial KPIs a summary of the corporate responsibility
and sustainability performance metrics and targets are set out
on pages 39 to 52 in the Corporate Responsibility overview.
Financial KPIs
REVENUE
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE
8
+4%
+4% +4% +4%
-9%
n
b
£
0
8
n
b
£
0
+6%
+6%
+6% +5%
-18%
+7%
+7%
+7%
-15%
+8%
100
e
c
n
e
P
0
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Percentages represent underlying growth
Percentages represent underlying growth
2016
2018
Percentages represent constant currency growth
2020
2019
2017
RETURN ON INVESTED CAPITAL
ADJUSTED CASH FLOW CONVERSION
DIVIDEND PER SHARE
15%
13.0%
12.9%
13.2% 13.6%
100%
96%
96%
96%
96%
97%
10.8%
0%
0%
100
e
c
n
e
P
0
+21%
+10%
+7% +9%
+3%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Percentages represent growth
Revenue by category
REVENUE BY FORMAT
64% 64%
60% 58% 56%
Electronic
Face-to-face
Print
37%
52% 51%
33% 27% 25% 22% 21% 19% 18% 15%
15% 15% 15% 16%
15%
14% 14%
17%
15%
11%
10%
9%
8%
5%
15%
16%
16%
13%
15%
12% 12% 12%
13% 12%
28% 30% 32% 35% 37%
14% 14%
22%
22%
59% 61% 63% 64%
48% 50%
66% 66% 70%
72%
74% 74%
75%
87%
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Overview
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | RELX business overview
7
Market segments
RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost
half are in North America.
Scientific, Technical & Medical provides information and analytics that help institutions
and professionals progress science, advance healthcare and improve performance
Risk provides customers with information-based analytics and decision tools that combine public
and industry-specific content with advanced technology and algorithms to assist them in evaluating
and predicting risk and enhancing operational efficiency
Segment position
Global #1
Key verticals #1
Legal provides legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that help customers
increase their productivity, improve decision-making and achieve better outcomes
US #2
Outside US #1 or 2
Exhibitions is a leading global events business. It combines industry expertise with data and digital
tools to help customers connect digitally and face-to-face, learn about markets, source products
and complete transactions. In 2020, they did this at 169 face-to-face events in 22 countries,
attracting more than 2.2m participants, as well as at 71 digital events
Global #2
Financial summary by market segment
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
Unallocated items
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
2,692
2,417
1,639
362
7,110
Change
underlying
+1%
+3%
+1%
-69%
-9%
2020
£m
1,021
894
330
(164)
(5)
2,076
Change
underlying
+1%
+4%
+7%
-149%
-18%
RELX uses adjusted and underlying figures as additional performance measures. Adjusted figures primarily exclude the amortisation of acquired intangible assets
and other items related to acquisitions and disposals, and the associated deferred tax movements. In 2020, we also excluded exceptional costs in the Exhibitions business.
Reconciliations between the reported and adjusted figures are set out on page 188. Underlying growth rates are calculated at constant currencies, excluding the results of
acquisitions until 12 months after purchase, and excluding the results of disposals and assets held for sale. Underlying revenue growth rates also exclude exhibition cycling.
Constant currency growth rates are based on 2019 full-year average and hedge exchange rates.
REVENUE
£7,110m
5%
23%
38%
Scientific,
Technical
& Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
34%
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 8
Harnessing technology
across RELX
Around 9,000 technologists, half of whom are software engineers, work at
RELX. Annually, the company spends $1.5bn on technology. The combination of
our rich data assets, technology infrastructure and knowledge of how to use
next generation technologies, such as machine learning and natural language
processing, allows us to create effective solutions for our customers.
30,000 +
over 30,000 unique visitors
(as at November 2020)
Viewing data by region using
the Covid-19 Tracker
This project illustrates
the power of the HPCC
Systems platform and
the Data Lake methodology
to quickly extract valuable
information and insight
from readily available
data. These metrics and
visualisations were not
developed in a vacuum.
They are the result of an
iterative methodology that
layers knowledge upon
knowledge to continuously
extract deeper and deeper
insights.
Roger Dev
Senior Architect,
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Helping advance research and provide the public with powerful
analytics on global Covid-19 trends
Using HPCC Systems Data Lake Technology, RELX created
a Covid-19 Tracker to monitor and report the progress of the
Covid-19 virus and provide better contextual understanding
of the pandemic’s evolution.
Using data from Johns Hopkins University (daily cases and deaths),
the US Census Bureau (US population) and the UN DESA (world
population), the tracker provides metrics and analysis for locations
across the globe, with maps that drill down to country and regional
levels, helping to understand how the virus is propagating.
The data is presented in a balanced, digestible form, using plain
language, allowing individuals sufficient information and context
to make reasonable decisions. For each location, the tracker
includes a ‘Hot Spot’ module that identifies the worst outbreaks
at any given time, infection rate trends, weekly statistics and
commentaries. The animation controls show the progression
of the virus in time and hence can help point to events that could
have contributed to the rapid spread of the virus.
The HPCC Systems Covid-19 Tracker is a free resource and
available to the public. It is used to advance research by
partners at Oxford University and Florida Atlantic University.
The tracker runs on RELX’s HPCC Systems Data Lake platform.
The Data Lake is a collaboration environment for universities
and researchers to access, share and process data assets that
enhance the metrics for the project. This allows easy incorporation
of new data sources and a rapid transition from development
to production.
Providing comprehensive, quality data during a fast-developing
pandemic is a challenge. Public data sites often present raw
statistics but provide little context with which to understand
what exactly is happening and how the pandemic is spreading.
The teams behind the tracker wanted to delve deeper and
provide commentary that was actionable as well as drill down
to the narrowest location possible in order to make projections.
In addition to daily cases, daily deaths and testing, the model
integrates data on transportation and tourism infrastructure,
hospitalisation, socioeconomic indicators, flight schedules,
people density and people movements.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Overview RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
9
+90%
Significant reduction in
the fraud-to-sales ratio,
with over 90% of users
now rated as trusted,
dramatically reducing
potential friction on the
customer experience
paysafecard online
LexisNexis ThreatMetrix helps paysafecard reduce fraud
and friction for good customers
paysafecard is an online payment method that allows
users to pay for goods and services securely and privately
at a huge range of global online merchants in 50 markets.
paysafecard vouchers are sold at more than 650,000 retail
outlets, gas stations and grocery stores, providing a simple,
prepaid alternative to online payments.
With a strong market position and a large customer base,
paysafecard was a key target for fraudsters looking to
exploit process and data loopholes, and test fraud defences.
Fraudsters were using credentials stolen from high-profile
data breaches to perpetrate payment fraud.
However, despite the need to address the payment threat from
fraudsters, paysafecard also understands the potential impact
on good customers. paysafecard enhanced its risk decisioning
with new capabilities which enabled it to promote and reward
positive, trusted behaviour while also detecting fraudulent
payments in near real time.
Leveraging this trust, paysafecard could focus on reducing
customer friction. False positives fell by approximately 70%
while the business continued to grow. This led to happier
customers while simultaneously reducing operational costs.
LexisNexis ThreatMetrix provided paysafecard with a layered
defence solution, designed to enhance near real time fraud
detection and risk-decisioning amidst a constantly evolving
cybercrime landscape. Layering digital and physical identity
intelligence with behavioural biometrics enabled paysafecard
to detect high-risk and fraudulent payments, while recognising
more transactions as trusted across the customer journey.
LexisNexis ThreatMetrix
has delivered remarkable
product developments that
have aligned closely with
our internal drive to reduce
fraud without impacting
good customers. Recently
released behavioural
biometrics capabilities
have further enhanced our
ability to identify clusters of
fraudulent accounts, adding
an extra layer of precision
to our fraud detection.
Hany Razi
Head of Global Financial Crime
Intelligence & Analytics
Paysafe Group
OverviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate Responsibility 10
Continuing to deliver
for our customers
In what turns out to have been a truly extraordinary
year the whole organisation rose to the challenge of
maintaining high levels of customer service in hugely
changed working conditions reflecting the quality
and dedication of our staff around the world.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Overview RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
11
Read our stories on how we enable
our customers to make better
decisions, get better results
and be more productive:
relx.com/our-business/our-stories
Find out more about
our colleagues at:
relx.com/careers/
meet-our-people
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Market segmentsOverview
12
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments
13
Market segments
In this section
14 Scientific, Technical & Medical
20 Risk
26 Legal
32 Exhibitions
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 14
Scientific, Technical & Medical
We help researchers make new discoveries,
collaborate with their colleagues and give them
the knowledge they need to find funding. We help
governments and universities evaluate and
improve their research strategies. We help
doctors and nurses improve the lives of patients,
providing insight to find the right clinical answers.
§ We enhance the quality of scientific research
output by organising the review, editing and
dissemination of around 18% of the world’s
scientific articles
§ ScienceDirect, the world’s largest platform
dedicated to peer-reviewed primary scientific
and medical research, hosts over 18m pieces
of content from over 4,300 journals and over
42,000 e-books, and has over 18m monthly
unique visitors
§ Scopus uniquely combines a comprehensive,
curated abstract and citation database with
enriched data and linked scholarly content,
with over 81m records across 25,000 journals,
sourced from more than 5,000 publishers
§ SciVal offers insights into the research
performance of over 19,000 research institutions
§ ClinicalKey, the flagship clinical reference
platform, is accessed in over 90 countries and
territories, and by over 1,900 institutions in
North America alone
§ Elsevier journals have at some point featured
articles by 205 of 206 science and economics
Nobel Prize winners since 2000
§ Elsevier’s free Novel Coronavirus Information
Centre saw over 200m downloads in 2020
Business overview
Scientific, Technical & Medical helps researchers and healthcare
professionals advance science and improve health by facilitating
insights and critical decision-making for customers across the
global research and health ecosystems.
Elsevier is headquartered in Amsterdam, with further principal
operations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis and
Berkeley in North America, London, Oxford, Frankfurt, Munich,
Madrid and Paris in Europe, Beijing, Chennai, Delhi, Singapore
and Tokyo in Asia Pacific and Rio de Janeiro in South America.
It has 8,600 employees and serves customers in over 180 countries.
Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2020 were £2,692m,
compared with £2,637m in 2019 and £2,538m in 2018. In 2020,
46% of revenue came from North America, 23% from Europe
and the remaining 31% from the rest of the world. Subscription
sales generated 76% of revenue, transactional sales 23% and
advertising 1%.
Elsevier serves the needs of scientific, technical and medical
markets by organising the review, editing and dissemination of
primary research, reference and professional education content.
Growing from its roots in publishing, Elsevier facilitates insights
and critical decision-making for customers across the global
research and health ecosystems.
Elsevier’s customers are scientists, research leaders, librarians,
medical researchers, doctors, nurses, allied health professionals
and students, as well as hospitals, academic and research
institutions, health insurers, managed healthcare organisations,
research-intensive corporations and governments.
Elsevier services fall into four categories: Primary Research,
Databases & Tools, Reference and Pharma & Life Science Promotion.
Primary Research accounts for around half of revenues. Elsevier
serves the global scientific research community, publishing over
560,000 articles in 2020, 90% more than a decade ago. 2020 saw
continued strong growth both in article submissions and usage,
with over 2.5m articles submitted, up 26% and over 1.3bn articles
consumed by researchers. Elsevier published over 81,000 Gold
Open Access articles in 2020, a year on year growth rate of over
65%. In 2020, Elsevier launched 115 new journals of which over
90% were Gold Open Access, growing the Elsevier portfolio to
500 Gold Open Access journals.
Elsevier’s portfolio of 2,650 journals is managed by more
than 24,000 editors and many of its journals are the foremost
publications in their field. They include flagship titles such as
Cell Press and The Lancet family of journals. Elsevier’s article
output accounts for around 18% of global research output while
garnering approximately 27% of citations, demonstrating Elsevier’s
commitment to delivering research quality significantly ahead of the
industry average.
Research content is distributed and accessed via ScienceDirect,
the world’s largest platform dedicated to peer-reviewed primary
scientific and medical research. Elsevier has continued to invest in
ScienceDirect and integrate new remote access methods to provide
researchers with the ability to easily use its tools when working from
home, safe in the knowledge that they are doing so securely, and that
their privacy and data are protected.
In Databases & Tools, Elsevier offers a suite of products for
academic and corporate researchers. Significant products include
Scopus, ClinicalKey and Reaxys. Scopus enables its users to quickly
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 15
find relevant and trusted research, identify experts and access
reliable data, metrics and analytical tools to support confident
decisions around research strategy. Reaxys is a chemistry
research and education database with chemical substance,
properties, reaction and medicinal chemistry data for both
bench chemists and data scientists supporting drug discovery
and chemical R&D in industries such as pharmaceuticals,
chemicals and academic & government. During the year, Reaxys
strengthened its content enrichment and analytics capabilities.
Elsevier serves academic and government research administrators
and leaders through its Research Intelligence suite of products.
SciVal is a decision support tool that helps institutions to establish,
execute and evaluate research strategies by leveraging bibliometric
data from Scopus and other data types such as patent citations and
usage data. Elsevier expanded its leadership position in research
institution benchmarking analytics through further investment in its
SciVal Topic Prominence in Science. Big data technology takes into
consideration nearly all of the articles available in Scopus since 1996
and clusters them into nearly 96,000 global, unique research
topics based on citations patterns. Elsevier continues to expand
and enhance the quality of indicators for research evaluation and
impact assessment. With the 2019 CiteScore release, Elsevier
introduced an improved calculation methodology, providing a
more robust, fair and faster indicator of research impact.
Elsevier’s flagship clinical reference platform, ClinicalKey,
is accessed in over 90 countries and territories, and by over
1,900 institutions in North America alone. ClinicalKey is a clinical
knowledge solution designed to help healthcare professionals
and students find the most clinically relevant answers through
a wide breadth and depth of trusted content across specialties.
This includes Elsevier’s vast collection of leading medical
reference content, including over 550 clinical overviews that
provide quick clinical answers and summaries, over 4.8m
images and over 66,000 medical and surgical videos in a
single, fully integrated site.
For healthcare professionals, Elsevier’s clinical solutions
include Interactive Patient Education and Care Planning.
Elsevier’s ClinicalPath provides clinical pathways delivering
personalised, evidence-based oncology guidance at the point
of care. ClinicalPath won the 2020 MedTech Breakthrough Award
for Best Computerized Decision Support Solution for the second
consecutive year.
In commercial healthcare, consumer, provider and medical
claims data is used to deliver leading identity, fraud, compliance
and health risk analytics solutions for payers, providers,
pharmacies and life sciences organisations.
In medical education, Elsevier serves students of medicine,
nursing and allied health professions in multiple formats
including e-books and digital solutions. For example, Sherpath,
an adaptive teaching and learning solution for nursing and health
education, provides highly focused, personalised and adaptive
learning paths at over 400 institutions, supporting more than
50,000 enrolments. During the year, we saw strong demand for
remote solutions and we set up remote proctoring for over 550
nursing schools. Sherpath saw strong growth, and Complete
Anatomy, our 3D anatomy platform saw activity levels double.
ClinicalKey Student is used by more than 100,000 students in
over 170 medical and 130 nursing schools.
In Reference, Elsevier is a global leader in providing authoritative
and current professional reference content to scientific, technical
and medical reference markets. Flagship titles include Gray’s
Anatomy, Nelson’s Pediatrics and Netter’s Atlas of Human
Anatomy. Reference content is delivered in both electronic and
print formats, with print books now accounting for less than 10%
of Elsevier revenues.
Pharma & Life Science Promotion offers commercial marketing
services to industry partners (pharmaceutical medicines, medical
device and research technology) for their external use, building
on Elsevier’s trusted global content brands to connect and engage
with doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who are
influential decision makers.
Science that inspires: premier life sciences
journal with the highest impact factor in
biochemistry and molecular biology
An innovative research management
and social collaboration platform
The world’s largest platform dedicated
to peer-reviewed primary scientific and
medical research
Clinical knowledge solution designed to help
healthcare professionals and students find
the most clinically relevant answers through
a wide breadth and depth of trusted content
across specialties
CiteScore™ metrics are a set of
comprehensive, transparent, current and
free metrics to help measure the citation
impact of journals
Chemistry research and education database
with chemical substance, properties, reaction
and medicinal chemistry data for both bench
chemists and data scientists supporting drug
discovery and chemical R&D
Tools to analyse the world of research, and
establish, execute and evaluate the best
strategies for research organisations
With the world’s most advanced 3D anatomy
platform, Complete Anatomy is revolutionizing
how students, educators, health professionals
and patients understand and interact
with anatomy
One database to quickly find relevant and trusted
research, identify experts, and access reliable
data, metrics and analytical tools to support
confident decisions around research strategy
Science for better lives: one of the world’s
leading medical journals since 1823
Designed to help improve patient outcomes,
ClinicalPath provides clinical pathways
delivering personalised, evidence-based
guidance at the point of care
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Scientific, Technical & MedicalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 16
Market opportunities
Scientific, technical and medical information markets have
positive long-term growth characteristics. The importance of
research and development to society, economic performance
and competitive positioning is well understood by governments,
academic institutions and corporations. This leads to long-term
growth in research and development spending and in the number
of researchers worldwide. Growth in health markets is driven
by ageing populations in developed markets, rising prosperity
in developing markets and the increasing focus on improving
medical outcomes and efficiency. Given that a significant proportion
of scientific research and healthcare is funded directly or indirectly
by governments, spending is influenced by governmental budgetary
considerations. The commitment to research and health provision
remains high, even in more difficult budgetary environments.
Strategic priorities
Elsevier’s strategic priorities are to: continue to increase
content volume and quality; expand content coverage, building
out integrated solutions and decision tools combining Elsevier,
third-party and customer data; increase content utility, using
‘Smart Content’ to enable new e-solutions; combine content
with analytics and technology, focused on measurably improved
productivity and outcomes for customers; and continue to drive
operational efficiency and effectiveness.
In the primary research market, Elsevier aims to deliver journal
and article quality above the industry average at below average
cost, leveraging the scale of our platform. We work directly with
our customers to understand their objectives and help them
reach their research goals in a way that is satisfactory from a
content, service and economic perspective. Elsevier looks to
enhance quality by building on its premium brands and grow
article volume through new journal launches, the expansion of
open access journals and growth from emerging markets; and
to continue to broaden the range and quality of insights across
research solutions with enhancements such as improved Open
Access filtering capabilities, improved analytics capabilities for
finding experts, integration of additional datasets for finding
experts and institutional benchmarking.
In reference markets, Elsevier’s priorities are to expand content
coverage, improve the user experience and ensure consistent
and seamless linking of content assets across products.
Similarly, in health, Elsevier is developing clinical decision support
applications utilising cognitive technologies and large image and
text content repositories. These applications embedded in
technology platforms will enhance the delivery of the right content,
in the right care setting, to the right care providers. This will help
health professionals perform their work better, make more
accurate diagnoses, ensure appropriate care delivery and
ultimately, save more lives.
In every market, Elsevier is applying advanced Machine
Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing techniques to
help researchers, engineers and clinicians perform their work
better. In 2020, Elsevier acquired SciBite , a semantic Artificial
Intelligence company headquartered in Cambridge, UK, to help
customers make faster, more effective R&D decisions, identifying
key concepts such as drugs, proteins, companies, targets, and
outcomes. Elsevier also acquired Authess, the Boston-based
developer of an advanced performance-based competency
assessment platform that evaluates how students solve
complex, open-ended problems using ML models and data
analytics. In December, Elsevier acquired Shadow Health, a
Florida-based developer of virtual simulations in nursing and
healthcare education.
Business model, distribution channels and competition
In Primary Research, science and medical research is principally
disseminated on a paid subscription basis to the research facilities
of academic institutions, governments and corporations and, in
the case of medical and healthcare journals, to health institutions,
individual practitioners and medical society members.
While paid subscriptions continue to be the primary distribution
model, alternative payment models for the dissemination of
research have evolved over the past 20 years. Elsevier has long
invested in all business models to support the preferences of
authors and research institutions. Author pays open access is
one example, with over 1,900 of Elsevier’s journals now offering
the option of funding publication and distribution via a sponsored
article fee. In addition, Elsevier now publishes 500 Gold Open
Access titles.
Elsevier is a founding and driving partner of Research4Life, a
United Nations partnership initiative, providing free or low-cost
access to research for publicly funded institutions in the world’s
least resourced countries. Over 10,000 institutions in 125
countries are now participating. For some journals, advertising
and promotional income represents a small proportion of revenues,
predominantly from pharmaceutical companies in healthcare titles.
Alongside journals, Elsevier has also invested in other solutions to
serve the needs of the research community. SSRN is an open access
REVENUE BY FORMAT
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET
REVENUE BY TYPE
£2,692m
Print 14%
£2,692m
Rest of
world
31%
Advertising
1%
£2,692m
Transactional
23%
North
America
46%
Electronic
86%
Europe
23%
Subscription
76%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 17
online preprint community where researchers post early-stage
research, prior to publication in academic journals. Mendeley data
enables researchers to make their research data publicly available
through an open research data repository, while Digital Commons
helps academic libraries showcase and share their institutions’
research via institutional repositories for greatest impact.
Digital solutions, such as ScienceDirect, Scopus and ClinicalKey,
are generally sold direct to customers through a dedicated sales
force based in offices around the world. Subscription agents
facilitate the sales and administrative process for remaining
print journal sales. Reference and educational content is sold
directly to institutions and individuals and accessed on Elsevier
platforms, while printed books are sold through retailers,
wholesalers and directly to end users.
Competition within science and medical reference content is
generally on a title-by-title and product-by-product basis and is
typically with learned societies and professional information
providers, such as Springer Nature, Clarivate and Wolters Kluwer.
Decision tools face similar competition, as well as from software
companies and internal solutions developed by customers.
2020 financial performance
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
2,692
1,021
2019
£m
2,637
982
Underlying
growth
+1%
+1%
Portfolio
changes
0%
-1%
Currency
effects
+1%
+4%
Total
growth
+2%
+4%
Continued modest underlying revenue growth in 2020
Underlying revenue growth was +1%. The reported revenue
growth rate of +2% benefited from currency movements,
including changes in hedge rates.
Electronic revenue saw good underlying growth of +3%, in
line with the prior year. Print revenue, which was impacted by
Covid-19 related distribution issues in the first half, declined
at around twice the rate of recent years.
Underlying adjusted operating profit growth was +1%, in line with
underlying revenue growth. The reported adjusted operating
profit growth of +4% benefited from currency movements, including
changes in hedge rates, which also drove the increase in margin.
In primary research we continued to enhance customer value
by providing broader content sets, increasing the sophistication
of our analytics, and evolving our technology platforms. We
launched 115 new journals, of which over 100 were dedicated
author pays open access titles which now total around 500.
We continued to see exceptionally strong growth in article
submissions, up by over 25% overall, over 20% for subscription
journals and doubling for open access journals, driving increased
market share in both segments. The customer environment
varied by segment and geography, with good growth in many
corporate segments globally. The academic institutional segment
saw strong growth in some key Asian countries, but varying
degrees of budget pressure in other geographies. Open access
revenue growth continued to accelerate across all geographies.
In databases & tools and electronic reference, representing
over a third of divisional revenue, we continued to drive good
growth through content development and enhanced machine
learning and natural language processing based functionality,
as well as an acceleration in migration to digital reference
products. We have seen strong new sales in corporate life
sciences, continued strong growth in the research management
and health education segments, and an acceleration in growth
in many of our clinical solutions. Our electronic healthcare
education offering was further strengthened by the acquisition
of Shadow Health, a provider of web-based simulation and
clinical learning environments for nursing and healthcare
students. Other recent acquisitions, including 3D4Medical in
healthcare and SciBite in life sciences are performing well.
Print books, representing less than ten percent of divisional
revenue, saw a significantly steeper decline than in recent years,
primarily due to distribution disruption related to Covid-19. Print
pharma promotion revenue also declined more steeply than in
recent years.
In early 2020 Elsevier mobilised all of its research content, data
analytics expertise, and clinical insights in support of the global
response to the Covid-19 pandemic, providing researchers and
healthcare professionals with free access to scientific and
practical content, including over 50,000 articles downloaded
over 200 million times to date.
2021 outlook
Trends in our customer markets may continue to vary somewhat
by segment, but overall we expect another year of modest
underlying revenue growth, with underlying adjusted operating
profit growth slightly exceeding underlying revenue growth.
REVENUE
£m
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
£m
Underlying growth +1%
2,637
2,692
Underlying growth +1%
982
1,021
2019
2020
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Scientific, Technical & MedicalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 18
HESI:
Improving knowledge retention,
increasing exam scores, and
setting students up for career
success as health professionals
98%
overall pass rate in May 2018, an improvement
of over 30 percentage points – 20 percentage
points over the national average
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 19
Caldwell University’s Bachelor of
Nursing Degree (BSN) programme
provides an exceptional curriculum to
prepare nurses for professional practice.
In 2019 Caldwell University’s undergraduate nursing programme
was named one of the top 10 nursing schools in New Jersey,
with an impressive 95% of their 2019 graduates either working,
enrolled in further education or serving in the military.
This success rate hasn’t always been the case. Before 2015
when Caldwell University implemented Elsevier’s HESI suite of
products across its entire BSN curriculum, its National Council
Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rates hovered under 60%.
However, since incorporating HESI into its programme, it has
seen exam scores rise into the high 90s. In May 2018 it achieved
a 98% overall pass rate, 100% for BSN graduates and 94.7% for
nursing as second degree. This represents an improvement of
over 30 percentage points, 20 percentage points over the national
average when compared with a pass rate for all candidates of 73%.
Under the leadership of Dr Kathleen Kelley, Director of Undergraduate
Nursing Education, the faculty is now able to use HESI to test and
analyse the data to make sure its programme outcomes are constantly
adapted and on track to reach the highest possible pass rates.
HESI not only helps to prepare students to pass the critical NCLEX
exam, but the data also help faculty understand how they can
improve the programme by finding gaps in the curriculum based
on students’ performance. HESI, for example, was instrumental
in identifying that knowledge retention was their biggest challenge,
enabling faculty to prioritise and address the issue.
Having identified these gaps, the faculty was also able to use other
tools from Elsevier to develop a remediation strategy. Retention
activities were developed for students during term breaks to help
students achieve better test outcomes. Caldwell’s focus on high
retention ensures students are set up for success both in terms
of exams and in their future nursing careers.
The integration of Elsevier products throughout its curriculum
also helps Caldwell see how it ranks compared with the national
benchmark. With data from HESI exams, faculty continues to adapt
its curriculum and shape its courses around the gaps that need
to be addressed in student learning. By analysing the data from
HESI exams, Caldwell continues to build on its students’ success.
The health assessment HESI
and fundamentals HESI are
really the tenets of nursing.
They’re the basic building
blocks and the students have
to excel in those two areas.
It’s a big part of the NCLEX.
Dr Kathleen Kelley
Director of Undergraduate Nursing
Education, Caldwell University
About HESI
HESI is a product suite of testing
and test preparation solutions
for nursing students that analyse
and improve student performance,
promote clinical judgement, and
help students and the nursing
programmes overall achieve
even greater levels of success.
An outdoor lesson at
Caldwell Campus
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Scientific, Technical & MedicalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 20
Risk
We combine data and analytics with deep
industry expertise to help customers make
better decisions and manage risk. We help
detect and prevent online fraud and money
laundering and deliver insight to insurance
companies. We provide digital tools that help
airlines and farmers improve their operations.
§ We do business with 95 out of the top 100
personal lines insurance companies; 76%
of the Fortune 500; and seven of the world’s
top ten banks
§ The LexisNexis Digital Identity Network
analyses more than 170m transactions daily
and more than 55bn transactions annually
§ More than 200,000 websites and mobile
applications implement the LexisNexis
Digital Identity Network around the world
§ 89% of new US auto insurance policies issued to
consumers in 2020 benefited from our products
§ Cirium provides services to: over 95% of the
top 50 airline groups globally, which represents
circa 80% of the world’s airline passenger
traffic; four out of five of the world’s top five
major search engines; and to NATS’ (National
Air Traffic Services) streamlined London
Heathrow traffic management system (XMAN)
which delivers 15,000 tonnes of C02 savings
per year. The company also tracks 98% of
flights globally in real-time
§ ICIS enables trading in the energy and
chemicals sectors, and delivers data and
intelligence on over 13,000 refinery units
and 18,000 chemical plants
§ Over 200m farm acres (>80m hectares) are
managed by Proagrica’s geospatial technology
§ More than 7,500 federal, state and local
government agencies use our solutions to
prevent fraud and allow citizens faster access
to digital-based services, maintain program
integrity, reduce risk and fight crime
Business overview
Risk provides customers with information-based analytics and
decision tools that combine public and industry-specific content
with advanced technology and algorithms to assist them in
evaluating and predicting risk and enhancing operational efficiency.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia,
has principal operations in California, Florida, Illinois, New York
and Ohio in North America as well as London and Paris in Europe
and Beijing and Singapore in Asia Pacific. It has about 9,700
employees and serves customers in more than 180 countries.
Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2020 were £2,417m,
compared with £2,316m in 2019 and £2,117m in 2018. In 2020,
79% of revenue came from North America, 14% from Europe
and the remaining 7% from the rest of the world. Subscription
sales generated 39% of revenues and transactional sales 61%.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions comprises the following market-facing
industry/sector groups: Business Services, Insurance Solutions,
Data Services (including energy and chemicals, aviation,
agriculture and human resources) and Government Solutions.
Business Services, representing nearly 45% of revenue, enables
global financial transparency and inclusion by providing holistic
and actionable insights for all risk and compliance segments.
We address some of the greatest challenges facing businesses
today, including identifying fraud rings, cybercrime, bribery
and corruption, human trafficking, economic sanctions, global
terrorism and abusive practices. We leverage machine learning
(ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) in our solutions to provide
customers greater insights, enabling better decisions and
operational efficiencies with confidence.
Maximising penetration in our current markets across our
customers’ workflows and through international expansion
are the primary drivers of Business Services’ growth strategy.
In early 2020, LexisNexis Risk Solutions acquired ID Analytics
and Emailage to complement existing credit risk and identity
solutions. These strategic acquisitions expanded our digital
identity intelligence and fraud prevention services, providing
our customers an even more comprehensive view of consumers
for predictive risk assessment.
In September 2020, Accuity, formerly part of Data Services,
and Business Services merged to offer integrated offerings
across KYC, financial crime screening and payment services.
The merger further leverages and extends existing data
and analytic capabilities to provide comprehensive risk
management, compliance and payments solutions to
customers around the world.
Insurance Solutions, representing nearly 40% of revenue,
provides comprehensive data, analytics and decision tools
for personal, commercial and life insurance carriers in the
US to improve critical aspects of their business. Information
solutions, including the most comprehensive US personal loss
history database, C.L.U.E., help insurers assess risks and provide
important inputs to pricing and underwriting insurance policies.
Additional key products include data prefill solutions, which provide
information on insureds directly into the insurance work stream
for 89% of the insurance auto market and LexisNexis Current
Carrier, which identifies insurance coverage details and any
lapses in coverage.
The focus is on delivering innovative decision tools through
a single point of access within an insurer’s infrastructure.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 21
LexisNexis Active Insights, our solution for active risk management,
connects proprietary linking algorithms with vast amounts of data
to proactively inform insurers of key events impacting their
policyholders. Insurance Solutions is advancing its strategy to drive
more consistency and efficiency in claims through its solution suite,
Claims Compass, with Claims Datafill providing data and decisions
at first notice of loss and throughout the claim life cycle. LexisNexis
Risk Classifier, which uses public and motor vehicle records and
predictive modelling, is used by 40% of the top 25 life insurers to
better understand risk and improve underwriting efficiency.
Insurance Solutions continues to make progress outside the US.
In the UK, contributory solutions including No Claims Discount
module, which automates verification of claims history and Policy
Insights, a predictor of motor claims loss, are delivered through
the LexisNexis Informed Quotes platform to provide real-time
data in the quoting process. In China, Genilex is delivering key
vehicle data to auto insurers and is looking to add more analytics
solutions. In Brazil, Insurance Solutions is delivering telematics
solutions, data and analytics to help motor insurers in underwriting.
Data Services , representing just over 10% of revenue, provides
indispensable business information, data, software and analytics
solutions to professionals in many of the world’s biggest industries.
Our brands include: ICIS, an independent source of data and
intelligence for the global chemical and energy markets;
Cirium, an aviation and air travel data and analytics company
for the wider travel industry; Proagrica, a provider of connectivity
solutions, workflow tools and actionable insight for the global
agriculture and animal health segment; XpertHR, a compliance
and benchmarking business driving global HR topics from pay
equality to compliance and HR policies; EG, which delivers data
analytics, decision tools and high-value analysis and news for the
UK’s commercial real estate segment; and Nextens, a provider
of workflow solutions, content and analytics for tax professionals.
Government Solutions, representing around 5% of revenue, has
helped US agencies, especially during Covid-19, shift from identity
verification to authentication. Front-end identity authentication
is central to how the government dispenses hundreds of billions
of dollars in entitlements, stimulus, benefits and contracts to
people and businesses.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power
of data and advanced analytics to provide insights
that help businesses and governmental entities
reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit
people around the globe
Aviation and air travel data and analytics
for the world’s airlines, airports, aircraft
finance, manufacturers, tech giants and
travel companies
A global agricultural network, empowering
customers to be better connected, to make
more informed decisions, driving better
decisions from seed, to field, to fork
Claims Compass
Financial Crime Compliance Portfolio
Global source of Independent Commodity
Intelligence Services, connecting data,
markets and customers to create a
comprehensive, trusted view of global
commodities markets
Data analytics suite with LexisNexis Claims
Datafill and LexisNexis Police Records that
improves the claims process from first
notice of loss, triage, investigation and
resolution through recovery
The newly merged Accuity and the Business
Services Group offers integrated solutions
across KYC, financial crime screening and
payments services, providing customers
with comprehensive risk management
and payment solutions. The combined
organisation is one of the global market
leaders in compliance risk solutions
Leading provider of trusted and accurate data
and analytics that transform how payments and
compliance professionals manage accounts
and transactions with confidence across the
global financial ecosystem
Risk Defense Platform
LexisNexis Active Insights
A fraud prevention and identity management
platform that seamlessly delivers the broadest
of solutions, including the latest in machine
learning that adapts to ever changing fraud
schemes, simplifying efforts to detect and
prevent risks associated with the merging
of digital and physical identities
An active risk management solution that
provides timely alerts of recent changes
occurring in the household to help insurers
enhance customer relationships with
better service
Fraud and Identity Management Portfolio
Accurint® Virtual Crime Center
Risk Intelligence Network
By employing digital, physical, device and
behavioural risk signals, we help organisations
better assess consumers to prevent or
investigate fraudulent transactions, improve
operational efficiencies and protect accounts
while minimising friction for trusted users
The only data sharing platform in the policing
market used for analytics, crime analysis
and investigations linking public records to
national law enforcement data for a complete
picture across jurisdictions
The Risk Intelligence Network provides
government agencies with the first step
of identity assessment across a number
of services including benefits applications,
claims filing and tax return filing. With
a powerful combination of contributory
systems and analytics, emerging threats can be
identified before they have a significant impact
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | RiskMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 22
Our solution synthesises thousands of data sources and billions
of relationships into modernised interfaces providing agencies
immediate access to identity and authentication analytics. It
creates near-frictionless identity verification and authentication
for everything from unemployment insurance claims and
remote government workforce access to matching of patient
data, providing a snapshot in time for public health researchers.
cars to empower consumers with a deeper understanding of
their driving behaviour information. This driving intelligence,
in combination with the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems,
will ultimately play a role in how risks are assessed by the insurance
industry. Our automaker relationships, representing 40% of
new car sales in the US market, reflect vehicle data into insurer
workflows and efficiencies within automakers’ operations.
Market opportunities
We operate in markets with strong long-term growth in demand for
high-quality advanced analytics based on industry information and
insight, including: insurance underwriting transactions; insurance
acquisition, retention and claims handling; tax and public benefits
fraud; financial crime compliance; business risk; fraud and identity
solutions; due diligence requirements surrounding customer
enrolment; security and privacy considerations; and data and
advanced analytics for the banking, energy and chemicals,
aviation and human resources sectors.
In Business Services, mounting costs from fraud schemes,
anti-money laundering programs, sanctions compliance,
anti-bribery and corruption enforcement, consumer and
business credit expansion, and heightened regulatory scrutiny
continue to drive growth opportunities. Demand for compliance
solutions in banking and financial services markets includes
cross-border payments and trade finance.
Expansion of mobile and digital use cases continues to drive
opportunity for solutions that incorporate global data and drive
efficiency in risk decision-making. We expect increased regional
and country level demand for data consortia and compliance
utilities to continue.
In Insurance, growth is supported by customer experience
advances in the auto, home, commercial and life insurance
markets and the increasing adoption by insurance carriers
of more sophisticated data and analytics in the prospecting,
underwriting and claims evaluation processes, to assess risk,
increase competitiveness and improve operating cost efficiency.
Transactional activity is driven by growth in insurance quoting
and policy switching, as consumers seek better policy terms.
This activity is stimulated by competition among insurance
companies, increased consumer interest in insurance and internet
quoting and policy binding. We continue to expand our services to
make it easier for consumers to transact with insurers throughout
the policy life cycle. We are developing solutions that bridge insurers
and automakers, utilising connectivity and data from connected
In Data Services, growth in the global energy and chemicals
markets is led by changing trade patterns, a drive to embrace
sustainability and demand for more sophisticated supply chain
solutions. Aviation information markets are being driven by
changes in air traffic and the number of aircraft transactions
and the digital transformation of the airline industry. Growth in
agriculture markets is being driven by adoption of technology
and data solutions plus increasing supply chain connectivity.
With over 7,500 federal, state and local agencies using our
services, Government Solutions continues its mission of
preventing fraud, fighting crime, reducing risk and providing
citizens with immediate access to digital-based services. The
$2 trillion CARES Act exemplified the demand for online access
to government services and highlighted the need for robust fraud
prevention tools as criminals quickly tried to compromise these
systems leveraging both online and mobile access technologies.
This problem will become more pronounced and sophisticated as
government spending rises. Data integrity and fraud prevention
for businesses and people plays an increasingly important role
in accessing government services and receiving entitlements
as agencies begin to adopt private sector technologies. The level
and timing of demand in this market is influenced by government
funding and revenue considerations.
Strategic priorities
Our strategic goal is to help businesses and governments
achieve better outcomes by offering greater insight into the
risks and opportunities associated with individuals, businesses,
devices, transactions and regulations. We assist customers
by providing high quality data and decision tools to help them
understand their markets, manage risks efficiently and control
cost effectively. We enable this by focusing on: delivering innovative
products; expanding the range of risk management solutions
across adjacent markets; addressing international opportunities
to meet local needs; further growing our data services businesses
to continue strengthening our content, technology and analytical
capabilities; and investing in sales and marketing.
REVENUE BY FORMAT
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET
REVENUE BY TYPE
£2,417m
Face-to-
face 1%
Rest of world
7%
£2,417m
£2,417m
Europe
14%
Subscription
39%
Electronic
99%
North
America
79%
Transactional
61%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 23
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has been developing AI and ML
techniques for a number of years to generate the actionable
insights that help our customers to make accurate, better
informed and more timely decisions. The successful deployment
of AI and ML techniques starts with a deep understanding of
customer needs and leverages the breadth and depth of our
data sets, coupled with the expertise and domain knowledge
to discern which AI/ML algorithm to use, in what context, to
solve our customers’ business problems most effectively.
largely on a subscription basis in Data Services and Government
Solutions. We also utilise a robust partner distribution channel
across the business to sell our products.
Principal competitors in the Business Services and Government
Solutions segments include the major credit bureaus, which in
many cases address various capabilities within each solution
offering. In the insurance sector, our competitor Verisk sells
data and analytics solutions to insurance carriers but largely
addresses different activities to ours.
Business model, distribution channels and competition
We sell our products direct-to-client, typically on a subscription
or transaction basis. Pricing is predominantly on a transactional
basis in the Business Services and Insurance segments and
Data Services competes with a number of information providers
on a service and title-by-title basis including S&P Global Platts,
Thomson Reuters and IHS Markit as well as a number of niche
and privately owned competitors.
2020 financial performance
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
2,417
894
2019
£m
2,316
853
Underlying
growth
+3%
+4%
Portfolio
changes
+2%
+1%
Currency
effects
-1%
0%
Total
growth
+4%
+5%
Strong fundamentals driving good underlying revenue
growth in 2020 despite Covid-19 related disruption to some
customer markets.
Underlying revenue growth was +3%. Revenue from acquisitions
added two percentage points of growth, to give total growth at
constant currencies of +5%. At reported currency rates revenue
growth was +4%.
Transactional revenue, which represents around 60% of the
divisional total, has continued to see improved growth rates in both
Business Services and Insurance after a slowdown in March and
April. Subscription revenue, which represents around 40% of the
divisional total, remained resilient overall, albeit with some delays
in new business closes and customer product implementations,
and with end customer markets showing varying dynamics
through the year. Outside the US, revenue continued to grow well.
Underlying adjusted operating profit growth of +4% was ahead
of underlying revenue growth, with profit contribution from
acquisitions taking total growth to +5%, at both constant and
reported currency rates.
In Business Services, further development of analytics that help
our customers to detect and prevent fraud and to manage risk
continued to drive growth. Whilst recovery has been gradual in
some areas such as credit risk, transactional revenue has already
returned to double digit growth in several segments including
fraud prevention. Digital identity solutions such as ThreatMetrix
continued to perform strongly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,
and were complemented by the first quarter acquisition of
Emailage, a provider of email-based fraud prevention solutions.
In Insurance, we continued to drive growth through the roll-out
of enhanced analytics, the extension of data sets, and by further
expansion in adjacent verticals. Transactional volumes have
continued to improve since the lows seen in March and April,
with second half US shopping trends in line with recent years.
Driving activity and claims volumes also continued to recover but
remained slightly below pre-Covid-19 levels at the end of 2020.
In Data Services, growth was supported by solid subscriptions and
the organic development of innovative new products and expansion
of the range of decision tools. Covid-19 related restrictions have
impacted our different customer industry segments to varying
degrees, and we saw some impact on new subscription sales and
delays in product implementations by some customers.
In Government, strong growth was driven by the continued
development and roll out of new analytics products and services.
2021 outlook
We expect a year of strong underlying revenue growth, with the
fundamentals of the majority of our customer markets in line with
pre-Covid-19 trends. We expect underlying adjusted operating
profit growth to broadly match underlying revenue growth.
REVENUE
£m
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
£m
Underlying growth +3%
2,316
2,417
Underlying growth +4%
853
894
2019
2020
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | RiskMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 24
LexisNexis
Risk Solutions:
Redefining the consumer
insurance experience
<1 minute
Consumers can get renters and
auto quotes in less than a minute
and purchase in seven minutes
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 25
Toggle, a Farmers Company, launched
in 2018 to serve the next-generation
insurance consumer with a brand new
renters policy, has since expanded
to offer an auto insurance quoting
experience reimagined for the tech-
savvy buyer.
The Woodland Hills, California-based insuretech is now offering
renters policies in 70% of the addressable US insurance market
and still growing.
A start-up within a long-standing, trusted insurance brand, the
team at Toggle was tasked with reimagining the insurance buying
journey, providing consumers with affordable, portable and highly
customisable solutions that fit their daily lives. The team utilises
next-level technology and user experiences typical of top-tier
technology companies and designs products and services
around modern lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours.
Toggle is committed to providing customers with easy to
understand descriptions and known dependencies, along with
choice, more control and confidence in their insurance purchase
decisions. To help deliver a frictionless quote and policy bind
experience, Toggle harnessed the power of LexisNexis Risk
Solutions data and advanced analytics from the beginning of
the transaction to the end.
The process starts with identity authentication to confirm
individuals are who they say they are. Customers are then
empowered to choose what’s best for them. Toggle’s relatable
approach helps reduce the complexity of price options and give
the consumer clarity about what’s covered by the policy, and
LexisNexis’ prefill solutions help customers validate the
accuracy of their information, rather than fill out a long form.
Using an arsenal of data and advanced analytics such as past
claims, driving violations and vehicle history to better understand
risk, Toggle can offer consumers renters and auto quotes in less
than a minute and complete the whole binding process in five
to seven minutes. This can help meet the needs of today’s
time-starved consumer so they can quickly make informed
insurance decisions.
The team at LexisNexis
Risk Solutions has been
instrumental in helping us
meet our aggressive timeline
to launch a new insurance
concept within mere months
and gain acceptance with
consumers. The data we use
helps Toggle understand our
customers better so that we
can design a great experience,
offer the right products and
execute on our vision to be
the insurance innovation leader
and “we get you” brand.
Stephanie Lloyd
Head of Toggle Insurance
About LexisNexis Risk
Solutions
LexisNexis Risk Solutions provides
data and analytics to help insurers
automate critical business
processes and deliver higher
levels of customer experience.
Leveraging our vast data
resources, including public
and insurance contributory data,
LexisNexis Risk Solutions drive
188m annual insurance purchase
decisions across the entire policy
lifecycle — from acquisition to
renewal to claim.
San Francisco apartments
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | RiskMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 26
Legal
We help lawyers win cases, manage their work
more efficiently, serve their clients better and
grow their practices. We assist corporations
in better understanding their markets and
preventing bribery and corruption within their
supply chains. We partner with leading global
associations and customers to help advance
the Rule of Law across the world.
§ The LexisNexis legal and news database
contains 128bn documents and records
§ On average, 1.7m new legal documents
are added daily to the database from 69,000
sources, generating 129bn connections.
In all, 32m legal documents are processed
daily, on average
§ Nexis news and business content includes
over 40,000 premium sources in 37 languages,
covering more than 180 countries. It has data
including 400m company profiles with a
content archive that dates back 40 years
§ The LexisNexis database includes more than
259m court dockets and documents, over 140m
patent documents, 2.79m State Trial Orders, and
1.29m Jury verdict and settlement documents
§ PatentSight’s database includes objective
ratings of the innovative strength (Patent
Asset Index) of more than 104m patent
documents from more than 100 countries
§ In 2020, Law360 produced over 50,000 news
and analysis articles
§ Legal analytics tool Lex Machina has
normalised over 64m counsel mentions
and over 39m party mentions since 2016
§ LexisNexis is committed to advancing the
Rule of Law through operations and solutions
that provide transparency into the law in more
than 160 countries
Business overview
Legal provides legal, regulatory and business information
and analytics that help customers increase their productivity,
improve decision-making and achieve better outcomes.
LexisNexis Legal & Professional is headquartered in New York
and has further principal operations in Ohio, North Carolina
and Toronto in North America, London and Paris in Europe,
and cities in several other countries in Africa and Asia Pacific.
It has 10,400 employees worldwide and serves customers in
more than 160 countries.
Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2020 were £1,639m,
compared with £1,652m in 2019 and £1,618m in 2018. In 2020,
68% of revenue came from North America, 21% from Europe
and the remaining 11% from the rest of the world. Subscription
sales generated 79% of revenue and transactional sales 21%.
LexisNexis Legal & Professional is organised in market-
facing groups. These are supported by global shared services
organisations providing platform and product development,
operational and distribution services, and other support functions.
In North America, electronic reference, decision tools and
analytics help legal and business professionals make better
informed decisions in the practice of law and in managing their
businesses. The standard product for legal research and analytics
is Lexis Advance, which provides statutes and case law together
with analysis and expert commentaries from secondary sources,
such as Matthew Bender. Lexis includes the leading citation service,
Shepard’s, which advises on the continuing relevance of case law
precedents. In North America, LexisNexis also provides customers
with news and business information, ranging from daily legal
news from its Law 360 brand, to company filings, public records
information, legal analytics tools, practical guidance, and efficiency
solutions. LexisNexis also partners with law schools to provide
services to students as part of their training.
LexisNexis continues to invest in and deploy advanced Machine
Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities that
help power Lexis and Lexis+. In 2020, LexisNexis introduced
Lexis+, a premium solution that integrates previously standalone
products while delivering a step-change in visual design for
legal professionals. Lexis+ also deploys extensive use of ML and
other advanced technologies to deliver new data-driven insights.
Lexis+ Answers, a service that semantically understands a user
query and provides a starting point answer to legal research,
was updated to leverage a new range of legal language ML models.
LexisNexis also launched Brief Analysis, an AI-based legal
document analytics solution that scans uploaded legal documents
and recommends case law opinions to improve legal arguments.
LexisNexis continued to expand the reach of its decision tools
and analytics. In 2020, LexisNexis expanded the analytics
offering of Lex Machina with 11 new state courts, including
modules covering Los Angeles and New York, bringing the
total to 32 practice areas and courts; Context, with new analysis
of Corporations to complement existing Judges, Courts and Expert
Witness modules; Product Liability Navigator, a new workflow
solution for product liability attorneys; and from Intelligize,
a suite of new tools including Company Insights, a company
competitive intelligence and investor relations workflow
solution, and ML-supported SEC Comment Letters search.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 27
In 2020, LexisNexis continued to enrich Practical Guidance,
the company’s practical guidance and ‘how to’ service (previously
Lexis Practice Advisor). The solution offers guidance on litigation
and transaction legal topics, while also delivering legal forms,
alternate clauses and checklists to accelerate drafting tasks.
Practical Guidance also released Market Standards, an analytics
tool that delivers insights into M&A deals by comparing and
analysing publicly filed documents.
In 2020, LexisNexis continued collaboration with joint venture
partner Knowable, a ML-enabled enterprise contracts
intelligence platform. Knowable’s ML-enabled legal text to data
conversion processes are used to create structured data to power
products such as the Market Standards solution. In the Intellectual
Property analytics space, LexisNexis’ proprietary Patent Asset
Index, created by PatentSight, is used by corporations worldwide
to manage and value their intellectual property portfolios. In 2020,
PatentSight received ISO 270001 certification, the leading
international standard for information security management
systems, and continued to grow adoption in the US and Japan.
In Canada, LexisNexis enhanced Lexis Advance Quicklaw with
new content and product features.
LexisNexis also supplies Legal Business Solutions to law firms
and corporate legal departments. These enterprise software
solutions include legal spend management, matter management
and client engagement solutions.
In international markets outside North America, LexisNexis
serves legal, corporate, government, accounting and academic
markets in Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific with local and
international legal, regulatory and business information.
The most significant of these businesses are in the UK,
France, Australia and South Africa.
In the UK, LexisNexis is a leading legal information provider
offering an extensive collection of primary and secondary
legislation, case law, expert commentary, practical guidance,
and current awareness. In 2020, LexisNexis continued to grow
its online revenues with regular feature releases following
re-platforming in 2019. In Legal, a focus on improving the
accessibility of case law and primary legislation has driven
growth in the LexisLibrary product. LexisNexis UK also grew
adoption of its practical guidance product LexisPSL and
regulatory news offering MLex. LexisNexis UK increased its
presence in productivity solutions through investment in
proofreading tool LexisDraft and workflow automation software
VisualFiles. In Tax, the business won new customers with its
core TolleyLibrary and TolleyGuidance products.
In France, LexisNexis’ main offering, Lexis360, is a leading
integrated solution combining legal information, in-depth
analysis with JurisClasseur content, and practical guidance.
In 2020, LexisNexis enhanced the Lexis360 solution by
improving user experience, content and product functionality.
In South Africa, LexisNexis launched Lexis Know Your Client,
an electronic customer identification solution, and LexisSign,
a digital signing platform.
In Austria, LexisNexis enhanced Lexis 360 leveraging its knowledge
graph, and enriched Lexis ContractMaster with new contract and
clause templates in Labor Law.
In the Middle East, LexisNexis upgraded Lexis Middle East Online
with improved search relevancy and functionality.
In the Pacific region, LexisNexis continued its focus on providing
authoritative local online content embedded in decision tools for
legal professionals. In 2020, LexisNexis enhanced Lexis Advance
with advanced data visualisations, including the introduction
of Paragraph Filters for case citations and the launch of ASIC
Analyser, a legal analytics dashboard focused on litigation
involving a major Australian Corporate Regulator.
In Asia, LexisNexis China launched a new product, Lexis Practical
Guidance – IP, a comprehensive legal practice database designed
for Chinese Intellectual Property (IP) professionals, with content
Premier citations service
LexisNexis enterprise contract
intelligence offering
LexisNexis North American Research
Solution’s practical guidance service
Litigation solution providing legal language
analytics on judges and expert witnesses
Provides analytics and benchmarking of
SEC filings to optimise compliance strategies
Flagship online legal research tool that
transforms the way legal professionals
conduct research
LexisNexis UK flagship legal
online product
Patent analytics solution that provides
insights into the strength, quality
and value of patent portfolios
LexisNexis UK legal practical
guidance service
Provides Legal Analytics to companies and
law firms, enabling them to craft successful
strategies, win cases and close business
Provides integrated research, practical
guidance and data-driven insights via
one premium legal solution
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | LegalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
28
support from top domestic and international legal experts.
LexisNexis India launched eight practice area packages, including
Labor & Employment Laws and Criminal Laws, on Lexis RED,
a digital referencing tool that provides online and offline access
to the legal library.
Supporting its Rule of Law mission, LexisNexis signed agreements
to consolidate the authorised Laws of Nauru in partnership with
the Ministry of Justice and Border Control of the Government of
the Republic of Nauru, and the Laws of the Cook Islands in
partnership with the Crown Solicitor’s Office of the Cook Islands.
LexisNexis Australia is also an official partner in a landmark inquiry
led by the Australian Human Rights Commission into the challenges
to human rights and freedoms presented by emerging technologies
such as AI, social media, and big data. As part of this partnership
LexisNexis contributed to the work of Expert Reference Group
who led discussions around these important issues.
For the Myanmar Supreme Court, LexisNexis South East Asia
signed an agreement with the International Commission of
Jurists and the Danish Institute of Human Rights to help the
Courts publish their commercial judgements online. LexisNexis
South East Asia also delivered a roadmap for a Housing/Real
Estate Information System for Yangon City to the Mayor of
Yangon City to support fair, affordable housing policies.
Strategic priorities
LexisNexis Legal & Professional’s strategic goal is to enable
better legal outcomes and be the leading provider of workflow
and productivity enhancing information, analytics and
information-based decision tools in its market. To achieve this,
LexisNexis is focused on introducing next-generation products
and solutions on the global New Lexis platform and infrastructure;
incorporating advanced technologies including ML and Natural
Language Processing; driving long-term international growth;
and upgrading operational infrastructure, improving process
efficiency and gradually improving margins.
In the US, LexisNexis is focused on the ongoing development
of legal research and practice solutions that help lawyers
make data-driven decisions. Over the coming years, progressive
product introductions will combine advanced technologies,
enriched content and sophisticated analytics to enable LexisNexis
customers to make data-driven legal decisions and drive better
outcomes for their organisations and clients.
Outside the US, LexisNexis is focused on growing online services
and developing further high-quality actionable content and
decision tools, including the development of additional practical
guidance and analytics tools. Additionally, LexisNexis is focusing
on the expansion of its activities in emerging markets.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic brought many challenges
and uncertainty. To help support customers during these
unprecedented times, LexisNexis launched 190+ initiatives
globally, including free resource kits, Covid-19 tracking tools,
and relief programs.
LexisNexis is also continuing its mission to advance the rule of law
around the world through the efforts of LexisNexis Rule of Law
Foundation, a non-profit entity, which conducts projects globally
to promote transparency of the law, access to legal remedy, equal
treatment under the law, and independent judiciaries.
Market opportunities
Longer term growth in legal and regulatory markets worldwide
is driven by increasing levels of legislation, regulation, regulatory
complexity and litigation, and an increasing number of lawyers.
Additional market opportunities are presented by the increasing
demand for online information solutions, legal analytics and other
solutions, along with decision support solutions that improve the
quality and productivity of research, deliver better legal outcomes
and improve business performance. Notwithstanding this, legal
activity and legal information markets are also influenced by
economic conditions and corporate activity, as has been seen with
the continued subdued environment in North America and Europe.
Business model, distribution channels and competition
LexisNexis Legal & Professional products and services are
generally sold directly to law firms and to corporate, government,
accounting and academic customers on a paid subscription basis,
with subscriptions with law firms often under multi-year contracts.
Principal competitors for LexisNexis in US legal markets
are Westlaw (Thomson Reuters), CCH (Wolters Kluwer) and
Bloomberg. In news and business information key competitors
are Bloomberg and Factiva (News Corporation).
Significant international competitors include Thomson Reuters,
Wolters Kluwer and Factiva.
REVENUE BY FORMAT
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET
REVENUE BY TYPE
£1,639m
Print
13%
£1,639m
Rest of world
11%
Europe
21%
£1,639m
Transactional
21%
Electronic
87%
North
America
68%
Subscription
79%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 29
2020 financial performance
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
1,639
330
2019
£m
1,652
330
Underlying
growth
+1%
+7%
Portfolio
changes
-1%
-6%
Currency
effects
-1%
-1%
Total
growth
-1%
0%
Continued modest underlying revenue growth in 2020
Underlying revenue growth was +1%. After portfolio changes
total growth was 0% at constant currencies, with currency
movements taking reported revenue growth to -1%.
Good growth in legal analytics drove electronic underlying
revenue growth of +3%, in line with the prior year. Print revenue
saw a low-double digit decline which was steeper than in recent
years, particularly due to supply disruption and temporary
customer office closures caused by Covid-19.
Underlying adjusted operating profit growth of +7% was ahead
of underlying revenue growth reflecting continued efficiency
gains. Portfolio effects reduced total growth in adjusted
operating profit to +1% at constant currencies, and to 0% at
reported currency rates, with margin improvement moderated
by dilution from recent acquisitions and disposals.
The continued release of broader data sets and application of
machine learning and natural language processing technologies
further enhanced our research products and market leading
analytics. The integrated functionality offered by the newly
launched Lexis+ has been well received in the market.
The North American legal services market saw some Covid-19
related disruption in the early part of the pandemic, and our new
sales dipped in March and April, but were running ahead of the
prior year in the second half of 2020. Renewal rates held up well
through the year.
2021 outlook
Trends in our major customer markets are stable, and we
expect another year of modest underlying revenue growth,
with underlying adjusted operating profit growth exceeding
underlying revenue growth.
REVENUE
£m
Underlying growth +1%
1,652
1,639
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
£m
Underlying growth +7%
330
330
2019
2020
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | LegalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 30
LexisNexis
PatentSight:
increasing patent
portfolio strength
and patent income
47.2%
increased patent portfolio strength
in IoT technologies since 2016;
the only player showing a clear
upwards quality development.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 31
Siemens is a global powerhouse in
the areas of electrification, automation
and digitalisation. One of the world’s
largest producers of energy-efficient,
resource-saving technologies, the
organisation is a leading supplier of
systems for power generation and
transmission, building and transportation
infrastructure, industrial automation
as well as medical diagnosis.
Beat Weibel, Siemens’ Chief Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel,
always believed in quality over quantity. In 2013, when taking
responsibility for Siemen’s patent portfolio, Beat set out to change
the group’s intellectual property strategy from a volume-driven
to a quality-driven approach. This new perspective was designed
to yield a higher share of patents with tangible business outcomes
while also delivering competitive insights to support strategic
decision-making and stay ahead of the innovation curve.
PatentSight, a spin-off from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of
Management, one of Germany’s leading business schools,
developed the Patent Asset Index (PAI), a metric that differentiates
high value patents from low value patents. Beat Weibel decided to
use the PatentSight software to support Siemens’ strategic change.
First, Beat’s team needed to have sufficient confidence in
PatentSights’ metrics and methodology before introducing
them to the Siemens Board. They compared the PAI findings
with Siemens’ own high value patents and those of competitors
and found a high percentage match. This allowed the IP team
to validate the use of PatentSight’s Patent Asset Index as a
long-term, objective indicator for improved patent quality.
Managing IP based on quality metrics paid off. Siemens has
achieved significant return on investment (ROI) on its IP
portfolio with increased commercial utilisation of patents.
Compared with other major software companies and Internet
of Things (IoT) competitors, the PatentSight Asset Index shows
Siemens is the only company to substantially and persistently
increase its patent portfolio quality. The Siemens IP department
has evolved into a strategic consulting unit supporting the entire
business with quality-based innovation insights derived from
LexisNexis PatentSight.
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2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.0
Company A
Company J
Company B
Company C
Company D
Siemens
Company E
Company F
Company G
Company H
Company I
0k
1k
2k
3k
4k
5k
6k
7k
8k
9k
10k
11k
12k
Quantity (Portfolio Size – number of patent families)
LexisNexis PatentSight software
features empirically validated
quality metrics and the well-
presented analytics create
transparency in the ever-
increasing mass of global
patent applications. The software
provides insights on where to
focus, enables us to report on
the development of our patent
portfolio and benchmarks against
competitors. With PatentSight
and their support team, we
make better informed investment
decisions on our IP portfolio.
Beat Weibel
Chief IP Counsel, Siemens
About LexisNexis
PatentSight
LexisNexis PatentSight
provides patent analytics.
It is used by corporations,
law firms and governmental
institutions worldwide to stay
ahead of the innovation curve
and to uncover what their
competitors are hatching long
before they come to market.
IoT: Siemens best in class, Patent
Quality Development based on selected
technology fields:
Data Security, ML&AI, Robotics,
Smart City, AM, Autonomous Driving,
Blockchain
Data base: active only, patents only
Source: PatentSight, 2020-08-13
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | LegalMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
32
Exhibitions
Our business leverages industry expertise, large
data sets and technology to enable our customers
to connect face-to-face or digitally and generate
billions of dollars of revenues for the economic
development of local markets and national
economies around the world.
§ There are more than 400 events in the Reed
Exhibitions portfolio
§ In spite of the restrictions caused by Covid-19,
Reed Exhibitions ran 169 face-to-face events
in 2020
§ In addition, Reed Exhibitions ran 71 online
digital events which helped its customers find
new products or suppliers, learn about their
industry and be inspired
§ 43 industry sectors are served in 22 countries
across the globe
§ In 2020 our digital events and products have
been widely adopted and delivered value to our
customers. 58 events offered proactive
matchmaking to around 1.5m customers,
across both face-to-face and digital events
Business overview
Exhibitions is a leading global events business. It combines
industry expertise with data and digital tools to help customers
connect digitally and face-to-face, learn about markets, source
products and complete transactions. In spite of the impact of
Covid-19, in 2020 it did this at 169 face-to-face events, attracting
more than 2.2m participants, as well as at 71 digital events.
Reed Exhibitions has its headquarters in London and has further
offices in Paris, Vienna, Düsseldorf, Moscow, Norwalk (Connecticut),
Mexico City, São Paulo, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo,
Singapore and Sydney. Reed Exhibitions has 3,700 employees
worldwide and its portfolio of events serves 43 industry sectors.
Revenues for the year ended 31 December 2020 were £362m
compared with £1,269m in 2019 and £1,219m in 2018. In 2020,
12% of Reed Exhibitions’ revenue came from North America,
23% from Europe and the remaining 65% from the rest of the
world on an event location basis.
Reed Exhibitions rapidly increased the number and variety of
digital events and products offered in 2020, continuing to provide
valuable content and connections to customers, helping them to
maintain their businesses. Digital products and events together
generated some £44m of revenue.
Reed Exhibitions organises influential events in key markets
focused on addressing the needs of the industry, where
participants from around the world meet face-to-face to do
business, to network and to learn. Its events encompass a wide
range of sectors. They include construction, cosmetics, electronics,
energy and alternative energy, engineering, entertainment, gifts
and jewellery, healthcare, hospitality, interior design, logistics,
manufacturing, media, pharmaceuticals, real estate, recreation,
security and safety, transport and travel.
Market opportunities
Reed Exhibitions is positioned for recovery in face-to-face events
as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic diminishes. This will occur
in parallel with an increased use of digital tools, both standalone
and as part of multi-channel events.
These events and digital tools are a key lever for industries and
geographies to recover and grow.
Growth in the exhibitions market is influenced both by
business-to-business marketing spend and by business
investment. Historically, these have been driven by levels of
corporate profitability, which in turn has followed overall growth
in gross domestic product. Emerging markets and higher growth
sectors provide additional opportunities. Reed Exhibitions’ broad
geographical footprint and sector coverage allows it to effectively
respond to changes in global trade and capture growth
opportunities as they emerge.
As some events are held other than annually, growth in any one
year is affected by the cycle of non-annual exhibitions.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments 33
Reed Exhibitions is committed to continuously improving
customer solutions and experience by developing global
technology platforms based on industry databases, digital
tools and analytics. By providing a variety of services, including
its integrated web platform, the company continues to increase
customer value and satisfaction by proactively putting the right
buyers and sellers together on the event floor. Increasingly, digital
and multi-channel services such as active matchmaking are
becoming a normal part of the customer expectation and product
offering, enhancing the value delivered through attendance at the
event. Using customer insights, Reed Exhibitions has developed
an innovative product offering that underpins the value proposition
for exhibitors by broadening their options in terms of the type and
location of stand they take and the channels through which they
can address potential buyers.
Business model, distribution channels and competition
In a normal year, over 70% of Reed Exhibitions’ revenue is derived
from exhibitor fees, with the balance primarily consisting of
admission charges, conference fees, sponsorship fees and online
and offline advertising. Exhibition space is sold directly or through
local agents where applicable. Reed Exhibitions often works in
collaboration with trade associations, which use the events to
promote access for members to domestic and export markets,
and with governments, for which events can provide important
support to stimulate foreign investment and promote regional
and national economic activity. Increasingly, Reed Exhibitions is
offering visitors and exhibitors the opportunity to interact before
and after the show through the use of digital tools such as online
directories, matchmaking and mobile apps.
Reed Exhibitions is one of the largest global event organisers in
a fragmented industry, holding a global market share of less than
10%. Other international exhibition organisers include Informa,
Clarion and some of the larger German Messen, including Messe
Frankfurt, Messe Düsseldorf and Messe Munich. Competition
also comes from industry trade associations and convention
centre and exhibition hall owners.
Strategic priorities
Reed Exhibitions’ strategic goal is to deliver measurably higher
value and improved outcomes to its customers. It is achieving
this organically by focusing on understanding and responding
to individual customers’ needs and business objectives. While
this strategic goal remains unchanged, its customers have been
greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The immediate aim
is to support the commercial recovery and long-term growth
of the industries it serves and countries in which it operates.
Reed Exhibitions has responded swiftly to the challenges of
the pandemic to best meet future customer needs in the
following ways:
§ Digital initiatives: existing digital tools and services have been
widely deployed and adopted to replace some of the value of
the cancelled face-to-face events. New digital tools and virtual
events have been rapidly developed and launched.
§ Operational efficiency: a leaner and more nimble structure
has been put in place, better able to respond to changing
circumstances and customer needs.
§ Portfolio optimisation: the focus has been on events with good
long term growth prospects while those events most affected
by the Covid-19 pandemic and least likely to recover strongly
have been cancelled permanently.
These responses, as well as optimising performance during
2020, provide a stronger platform for the recovery and longer
term success of Reed Exhibitions.
Reed Exhibitions delivers a platform for industry communities
to conduct business, network and learn through a range of
market-leading events and digital tools in all major geographic
markets and higher growth sectors, enabling exhibitors to target
and reach new customers quickly and cost effectively.
Organic growth will be achieved by continuing to generate greater
customer value by combining the best of face-to-face events with
data and digital tools. Reed Exhibitions will continue to seek
organic growth through launches. Launches will be tightly focused
on industries and geographies that are recovering the strongest.
The new structure allows even more effective leveraging of its
global reach and scale. Global technology platforms enable faster
and more agile deployment of innovation.
Reed Exhibitions continues actively to shape its portfolio through
a combination of new launches, strategic partnerships and
selective acquisitions in faster growing sectors and geographies,
as well as by withdrawing from markets and industries with lower
long-term growth prospects.
Examples of successful digital and hybrid events:
§ Metaverse / PAX EGX
§ World Travel Market
§ China: Gift Fair
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | ExhibitionsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 34
APM LOGO - Without Edition
ASIA PACIFIC MARITIME
Machine tools and metalworking exhibition
serving ASEAN
South East Asia’s one-stop market for the
maritime community
HORIZONTAL FORMAT
International exhibition of environmental
equipment, technologies and services
Innovations for smart sheet metal working
The East Coast’s largest pop culture convention
International trade fair for the building industry
The Middle East’s meeting place for the
travel trade
Latin America’s exhibition for security products
and solutions
An international exhibition dedicated to
comfort & living technology
The North American jewellery industry’s
premier event
International perfumery and cosmetics
exhibition
Japan’s manufacturing industry trade event
30
Australia’s trade event for the retail industry
International Security Conference & Exhibition
China’s electronics manufacturing trade shows
International trade fair for the catering,
restaurant and hotel trade
Premier global event for the travel industry
The world’s entertainment content market
LONDON
mip
com
The UK’s meeting place for the book industry
China’s business gifts & home fair
Japan’s comprehensive exhibition for smart
and renewable energy
REVENUE BY FORMAT
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET
EVENTS REVENUE BY SOURCE
£362m
Electronic
12%
£362m
North
America
12%
£362m
Admissions
and other
32%
Europe
23%
Face-to-face
88%
Rest of
world
65%
Exhibitor
fees
68%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments
35
2020 financial performance
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
362
(164)
2019
£m
1,269
331
Underlying
growth
-69%
-149%
Portfolio
changes
-3%
-1%
Currency
effects
+1%
0%
Total
growth
-71%
-150%
Action has been taken to reduce the cost structure of the
business. We have reduced indirect costs by around a quarter
versus 2019, creating a leaner, more agile organisation able to
drive increased value to our customers through innovation and
extension of digital tools and initiatives, and well prepared to
hold physical events as venues become available in different
locations around the world.
We are managing our 2021 event schedule flexibly, with the
majority of events outside of Japan and China currently scheduled
for the second half of the year. All events remain subject to the
risk of postponement or cancellation, primarily depending on
local government policies on events and travel. Events that do
take place are likely to experience some revenue attrition.
2021 Outlook
The evolving Covid-19 pandemic will continue to impact our ability
to hold physical events, making the outlook for the year uncertain.
Face-to-face events significantly impacted by Covid-19 in 2020
Our schedule of physical events for 2020 was significantly
impacted by Covid-19 related restrictions. The business had a
good start to the year, but exhibition venues globally were closed
by mid-March. Since then, no significant face-to-face events
have taken place outside Asia. We have been able to hold physical
events in China since June, and in Japan since August, as well as
a small number of events in other countries during the second
half of the year.
Whilst the disruption to our customers caused by Covid-19 has
been significant, we have accelerated our rate of innovation and
experimentation. The 169 physical events that took place in 2020
were supported with remote participation by both exhibitors and
attendees, and incorporated a range of new digital initiatives. In
addition we hosted around 70 fully virtual events across a range
of industries and geographies. As well as generating revenue of
up to around 20% of the equivalent physical event, these virtual
events enable interaction among event participants over an
extended time period and support the value of our brands.
As a result of the curtailment of the physical event programme,
revenue for the year was 71% below that of 2019. The gross profit
from the events that were held was not sufficient to cover the
overheads of the business and, as a result, an adjusted operating
loss was incurred. The adjusted operating loss excludes exceptional
costs of £183m, including £61m of costs relating to events that were
cancelled, and £82m of one-off restructuring costs.
REVENUE
£m
Underlying growth -69%
1,269
362
2019
2020
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
£m
Underlying growth -149%
331
(164)
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | ExhibitionsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 36
MIPIM:
Reimagining MIPIM as a
hybrid event in response
to the Covid-19 pandemic
Over
788,000
social reach
Challenging times call for innovative
solutions, not least in the global property
market, which has been impacted by
Covid-19 in unprecedented ways.
Uniting the international real estate community around the twin
goals of recovery and sustainability, MIPIM Paris Real Estate
Week (14–17 September) enabled the industry to reconnect for
the first time in 2020.
Reimagined as a hybrid event, the new format combined a safe
physical gathering of over 1,100 senior real estate professionals,
livestreamed across social media, with a sophisticated online
platform, opening the content and meetings up to an additional
7,000 views by remote attendees from the world’s property sector.
Headlining an outstanding line-up of over 120 speakers were
Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, and former French President,
Nicolas Sarkozy. At the heart of the event was Propel by MIPIM,
two days of thought-leadership, networking and deal making,
devoted to innovation and digital transformation in the property
sector. This was followed by the first-ever MIPIM Urban Forum,
where leading public and private sector voices shared their visions
of the post-Covid city and the MIPIM Awards which honoured the
world’s most outstanding real estate projects.
Underpinning the physical event, and transforming its entire
scope and reach, was the augmented digital platform. This
enabled remote speakers to seamlessly join the live debates,
and participants from all over the world to network with their
peers, engage with the event’s essential content both live and
on-demand, generate new leads, and arrange one to one
meetings. The platform, which remained open for a month
after the event, had over 2,000 registrants, delivered over 9,600
personal recommendations and generated 727 meeting requests.
About MIPIM
MIPIM is the world’s premier
property market.
Established in Cannes in 1990,
it brings together the global leaders
of the real estate industry including
investors, political institutions,
property companies, advisors and
city administrators who attend to
discover new large-scale projects,
hold one-to-one business meetings,
and learn the latest market trends
and insights. Sister event MIPIM
Asia was launched in Hong Kong in
2006 and is now an established real
estate event for Asia Pacific real
estate professionals. 2017 and 2018
each saw the launch of a dedicated
event devoted to technology for the
property sector, Propel by MIPIM,
in New York and Paris respectively.
MIPIM’s enhanced online
marketplace supports its clients’
business needs and is expected to
further extend the brand’s global
reach and influence.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Market segments Combining a safe physical
gathering (right) with a
sophisticated online
platform (left)
MIPIM Paris Real Estate Week
was an innovative way of keeping
the industry connected and
informed at this difficult time.
The opportunity to share expert
insights and conduct critical
business meetings physically
and digitally was invaluable
for Choose Paris Region and
the future of the business of
our companies.
Lionel Grotto
CEO Choose Paris Region
37
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RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | ExhibitionsMarket segments
38
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility
39
Corporate
Responsibility
The Corporate Responsibility Report
is an integral part of our Annual Report
and Financial Statements. This section
highlights progress on our 2020 corporate
responsibility objectives. The full 2020
Corporate Responsibility Report is
available at www.relx.com/go/CRReport
Details of how the Board and its Directors
have fulfilled these duties can be found
throughout our 2020 Annual Report, and
therefore the following sections have been
incorporated by reference into this Section
172 Statement and, where necessary,
the RELX 2020 Strategic Report:
Non-financial information statement
RELX is required to comply with the
reporting requirements of Sections 414CA
and 414CB of the Companies Act 2006,
which relate to non-financial information.
The list below outlines for our
stakeholders where this information can
be found:
Business Model and Strategy 5-7
Corporate Responsibility
Report
Principal Risks
Culture and Workforce
Policies
Board decision-making
Stakeholder Engagement
74-75
75-77
78-82
39-52
60-64
Reporting requirement:
Environmental matters
Employees
Social matters
Human rights
Anti-corruption and
anti-bribery matters
Policies, due diligence
processes and outcomes
Description and management
of principal and emerging
risks and impact
of business activity
Description of
business model
Non-financial metrics
50-52
47-48
40-44, 46-50
40-50
42, 44-45, 47,
50
44-45, 47-48,
50-51
60-64
5, 16-17, 23,
28, 33
14, 20, 26, 32,
40-52
Directors’ duties and Section 172
Statement
The Directors of RELX PLC – and those of
all UK companies – must act in accordance
with their duties under the Companies Act
2006 (the Act). These include a fundamental
duty to promote the success of the Company
for the benefit of its members as a whole.
The Board of RELX PLC, and its individual
members, consider that they have done
so for the year ending 31 December 2020.
The Board, and its Committees, have
adapted their annual programmes and
decision-making, to respond effectively
and decisively to the challenges and impact
of Covid-19, which evolved during the year.
The Board’s decision-making has been
focused on supporting RELX’s priority
during the pandemic, which has been
to protect the health of our employees,
our customers and the wider community
in which the Group operates, whilst
continuing to operate our businesses,
providing services to our customers,
and protecting the interests of, and
delivering value to, our stakeholders.
The Board recognises that relationships
with RELX’s key stakeholders, including
its investors, employees, customers,
suppliers and the communities in which
we operate, are important in allowing
the Group to achieve its business aims.
Engagement with them takes place at
all levels across RELX, and our size, the
diversity of our business and global nature
means that it can take many different
forms. Much of it takes place at an
operational level, and this is especially
true in respect of our customers and
suppliers, who we deal with in the ordinary
course of business on a day-to-day basis.
As set out from pages 78 to 82, the views
of the Group’s key stakeholders were
considered in the Board’s discussions,
and reflected in the decisions that it made
during the year.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 40
Corporate responsibility overview
We define corporate responsibility
(CR) as the way we do business,
working to increase our positive
impact and reduce any negative
effects of conducting our operations.
It ensures good management of
risks and opportunities, helps
us attract and retain the best
people and strengthens our
corporate reputation.
It means performing to the highest commercial and ethical
standards and channelling our knowledge and strengths, as
global leaders in our industries, to make a difference to society.
We survey key stakeholders - shareholders, employees,
governments, and the communities where we operate – on a
biannual basis, and last in 2019, to help us identify our material
CR issues and to set and test our CR objectives. The Board of
Directors, senior management and our CR Forum oversee
CR objectives and performance.
We concentrate on the contributions we make as a business
and on good management of the material areas that affect
all companies:
1. Our unique contributions
2. Governance
3. People
4. Customers
5. Community
6. Supply chain
7. Environment
We are a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
and are dedicated to advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which aim to end poverty, protect the planet and
ensure prosperity for all people by 2030.
The Covid-19 pandemic did not alter our CR focus. As described
in this section, we deployed our expertise in the fight against
this global health crisis in numerous ways.
1. Our unique contributions
We make a positive impact on society through our knowledge,
resources and skills, including:
§ Universal sustainable access to information
§ Advance of science and health
§ Protection of society
§ Promotion of the rule of law and justice
§ Fostering communities
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Elsevier, the world’s leading provider of scientific, technical
and medical information, plays an important role in advancing
human welfare and economic progress through its science and
health information, which spurs innovation and enables critical
decision-making. Among others, Elsevier makes a significant
contribution to SDG 3 (Good Health And Well-Being), SDG 5
(Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). In 2020,
Elsevier combined content, data and analytics to reveal the state
of knowledge underpinning the global goals in a free report,
available on the RELX SDG Resource Centre, The Power of
Data to Advance the SDGs.
To broaden access to its content, Elsevier supports programmes
where resources are often scarce. Among them is Research4Life,
a partnership with UN agencies and over 180 publishers; we provide
core and cutting-edge scientific information to researchers in 125
low- and middle-income countries. As a founding partner and
leading contributor, Elsevier provides a quarter of the material
available in Research4Life, encompassing approximately 4,000
journals and 27,500 e-books. In 2020, there were over 1.1m
Research4Life downloads from ScienceDirect.
Elsevier serves the global scientific research community,
publishing over 560,000 articles in 2020. At the start of the
pandemic, Elsevier launched the Novel Coronavirus Information
Centre, regularly updated with the latest medical and scientific
information on Covid-19. Free to access, there are more than
53,000 articles, encompassing research on Covid-19 and related
viruses, journal articles, chapters from handbooks, reference
works and encyclopedias. There is also the free Covid-19
Healthcare Hub providing clinical resources and current
evidence-based practices such as symptom management,
diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
The Elsevier Foundation supports partnerships to advance
inclusion and diversity in science, research in developing
countries and global health. In 2020, the Foundation sponsored
Epicentre’s Medical Day in Niger’s capital, Niamey, where
researchers, public health specialists and government officials
discussed best practice in the treatment and prevention of
meningitis, malaria and malnutrition. The Foundation also
launched two new partnerships supporting SDG 3: Latino
Diabetes Community Scientists with the Sansum Diabetes
Research Institute, working to reduce health literacy barriers
with Latino adults with or at risk of diabetes, and the National
League for Nursing/Elsevier’s Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) Innovation in Technology Excellence
programme, using virtual simulation and other pioneering tools
to drive teaching excellence in nursing education at US HBCUs.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
41
Advancing
the RELX SDG
Resource Centre
In 2017, we launched the free RELX SDG Resource Centre to advance awareness,
understanding and implementation of the UN’s SDGs. In 2020, we increased the
amount of content on the site by 57% from 2019. This included curated special
issues to mark eight UN international days, such as World Environment Day,
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, World
Mental Health Day and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
We also published 17 RELX SDG Graphics on the state of
knowledge underpinning all 17 of the global goals.
89,902
unique users visited the RELX SDG
Resource Centre in 2020
1
1
11,323
4.5%
Publications
in period
Compound Annual
Growth Rate in the period
No poverty
No poverty
62.4%
1.2%
2015-2019
Output, Impact, Collaboration
2015-2019
Output, Impact, Collaboration
Publications from
high-income locations
Academic corporate
collaboration
2.1%
1.07
Research supporting SDG1 has grown since 2015,
with a compound annual growth rate of 4.5%
compared to nearly 3.5% for research in all fields.
Research supporting SDG1 has grown since 2015,
with a compound annual growth rate of 4.5%
compared to nearly 3.5% for research in all fields.
Publications from
low-income locations
Field-Weighted
Citation Impact
Number of
publications
1,000+
The US produces the most research supporting SDG1,
The US produces the most research supporting SDG1,
followed by the United Kingdom, China, India and
Australia. Seven of the 10 most prolific locations are
high income locations (accounting for more than
6,300 publications); two are upper-middle income
locations (China and South Africa) and one is a
lower-middle income location (India). Four low
income locations featured in the top 50: Ethiopia
(122 publications), Tanzania (82 publications),
Uganda (70 publications) and Nepal (58 publications).
followed by the United Kingdom, China, India and
Australia. Seven of the 10 most prolific locations are
high income locations (accounting for more than
6,300 publications); two are upper-middle income
locations (China and South Africa) and one is a
lower-middle income location (India). Four low
income locations featured in the top 50: Ethiopia
(122 publications), Tanzania (82 publications),
Uganda (70 publications) and Nepal (58 publications).
Field-weighted citation impact is
an indicator of scholarly impact based
on the number of times the publication
was cited in other research. An FWCI
of above 1.0 indicates the impact is
above the normalised average
Publications with
international
collaboration
25.9%
What is FWCI?
Fewer than 100
100 to 199
400 to 599
200 to 399
600 to 999
The top five locations for which research on SDG1
represents the largest share of their research portfolio
are Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Nigeria.
The top five locations for which research on SDG1
Key themes in SDG1 Research
represents the largest share of their research portfolio
are Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Nigeria.
3,000
3,000
20
Top 10 locations
by publication
Top 10 locations by RAI
*(Relative Activity Index)
Volume of publications
supporting SDG1
International collaboration yielded 26% of research
on SDG1. High income locations collaborated with low
income locations on 7% of their total SDG1 research,
while nearly 70% of the related output from low
income locations came from collaboration with
high income locations.
International collaboration yielded 26% of research
on SDG1. High income locations collaborated with low
income locations on 7% of their total SDG1 research,
while nearly 70% of the related output from low
income locations came from collaboration with
1,000
high income locations.
1,500
2,000
2,500
1,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
14
12
16
10
8
6
As a measure of academic impact measured by
citation, the field weighted citation impact (FWCI) for
SDG1 research was above average for four out of five
years, with an average of 1.07 over the period.
As a measure of academic impact measured by
citation, the field weighted citation impact (FWCI) for
C anada
SDG1 research was above average for four out of five
years, with an average of 1.07 over the period.
India
South Africa
A ustralia
Ethiopia
B angladesh
South Africa
Nigeria
Indonesia
C olo m bia
G er m any
P akistan
M alaysia
France
G hana
K enya
C hina
2018
2015
2016
2017
2019
Italy
0
0
2
0
500
500
U nited Kingdo m
U nited States
18
4
International collaboration between
income groups by location
High Income Locations
Upper Middle Income Locations
International collaboration
and research impact
*Relative Activity Index is a measure of the
proportion of the country’s research output in the
subject, relative to the proportion seen globally
Top 10 locations for corporate-
academic collaboration
Collaborations
with locations in...
High Income
Upper
Middle Income
Lower
Middle Income
3.5
3
2.5
2
16
14
12
10
This analysis builds on Elsevier’s Sustainability Science in
a Global Landscape report, which was released in 2015 to
coincide with the launch of the SDGs. See a 2017 update
on key findings on the RELX SDG Resource Centre.
Help us to provide insight into SDG research.
Click here to review the research
See the methodology and definitions
This analysis builds on Elsevier’s Sustainability Science in
a Global Landscape report, which was released in 2015 to
coincide with the launch of the SDGs. See a 2017 update
on key findings on the RELX SDG Resource Centre.
Help us to provide insight into SDG research.
Click here to review the research
See the methodology and definitions
60
Lower Middle Income Locations
Low Income Locations
C
W
F
100
0.5
1.5
20
80
40
0
1
8
0
6
2
4
0
I
Low Income
RELX and the RE symbol are trademarks of RELX Group plc, used under license.
Elsevier is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. © 2020 RELX Sources: Scopus®
RELX and the RE symbol are trademarks of RELX Group plc, used under license.
Elsevier is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. © 2020 RELX Sources: Scopus®
International Collaboration (%)
C ôte
Luxe m bourg
B osnia and
H erzegovina
d'Ivoire
S witzerland
Ireland
P eru
Greece
Egypt
Laos
Israel
Image caption (above):
RELX SDG Graphic for Goal 1:
No Poverty, available on the
RELX SDG Resource Centre
In the year, we introduced an SDG matching tool
to crowd-source diverse knowledge on the SDGs.
Using Elsevier’s Scopus citations database, the
tool allows readers to link research to specific SDGs
strengthening the indexing which Elsevier achieved
in the year to tag Scopus content to the SDGs. This
will make it easier for researchers to find the
SDG-related content they need; track how their
institutions are contributing to SDG knowledge; help
funding agencies identify where to focus research
investments to bridge gaps in their output on the
SDGs; and demonstrate to authors and organisations
25.9%
how their work supports the SDGs.
11,323
62.4%
2.1%
international
collaboration
high-income locations
low-income locations
Publications from
Publications from
Publications with
Publications
in period
Key themes in SDG1 Research
Upper Middle Income Locations
High Income Locations
Lower Middle Income Locations
International collaboration between
income groups by location
In 2020, we launched a podcast on the site, The impact
of Covid-19 on the SDGs. Dr Márcia Balisciano, Global
Head of Corporate Responsibility, interviewed over
20 thought leaders with expertise covering the
global goals. Guests included: Dr Richard Horton,
Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet; Monika Froehler,
CEO of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens;
Sandra Kerr, Director of Race Equality at Business in
the Community; and Jo Youle, CEO of Missing People.
By year end, the podcast had been downloaded by
listeners around the world.
Low Income Locations
The sixth RELX SDG Inspiration Day took place
virtually on Wednesday 24 June 2020 and was hosted
by Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a lawyer, political and
women’s rights activist, and founder of the publication,
Women in Leadership. The keynote was delivered by
African stateswoman, Graça Machel, co-founder of
The Elders with her late husband Nelson Mandela,
and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s SDG
Advocacy Group. 400 representatives from business,
governments, investors, academia, non-profit
organisations and civil society took part in engaging
and collaborative sessions throughout the day.
4.5%
Growth Rate in the period
Compound Annual
1.2%
Academic corporate
collaboration
1.07
Field-Weighted
Citation Impact
What is FWCI?
Field-weighted citation impact is
an indicator of scholarly impact based
on the number of times the publication
was cited in other research. An FWCI
of above 1.0 indicates the impact is
above the normalised average
1,000+
200 to 399
100 to 199
400 to 599
600 to 999
Number of
publications
The knowledge which exists,
the capacity which exists,
the goodwill which exists
and the sense of urgency
and the solidarity we need,
it can transform our world.
U nite d Kin g d o m
U nite d States
Fewer than 100
C hin a
In dia
3,000
2,000
2,500
1,000
1,500
500
0
Top 10 locations
by publication
International collaboration
and research impact
A u stralia
S o uth Africa
G er m a ny
Collaborations
with locations in...
High Income
3.5
3
Upper
Middle Income
Lower
Middle Income
Low Income
I
0
2
1
0
1.5
2.5
0.5
C
W
F
Graça Machel,
Founder of both the Graça
Machel Trust and the Foundation
for Community Development
and co-founder of The Elders,
with her late husband Nelson
Mandela, calling for action
to achieve the SDGs in her
keynote speech at the 2020
RELX SDG Inspiration Day.
Top 10 locations by RAI
*(Relative Activity Index)
Volume of publications
supporting SDG1
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
C a n a d a
Italy
Fra n ce
G h a n a
K e nya
Ethio pia
B a n gla d es h
Nig eria
S o uth Africa
In d o n esia
C olo m bia
P a kista n
M alaysia
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
*Relative Activity Index is a measure of the
proportion of the country’s research output in the
subject, relative to the proportion seen globally
Top 10 locations for corporate-
academic collaboration
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
International Collaboration (%)
C ôte
d'Ivoire
L uxe m b o urg
B os nia a n d
H erze g ovin a
S witzerla n d
Irela n d
P eru
G reece
E gypt
L a os
Israel
Corporate ResponsibilityMarket segmentsOverviewGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial review 42
1. Our unique contributions (continued)
To bridge the clinical practice gap in low-income countries, the
Elsevier Foundation partnered with Amref Health Africa on the
LEAP programme, scaling mobile learning for healthcare workers
in Ethiopia, including urgent responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Elsevier Foundation is focused on fostering greater diversity
in healthcare. In the year, it forged a partnership with North
Carolina Central University’s JL Chambers Biomedical
Biotechnology Research Institute’s Implementation Science
Fellowship Program to speed up the adoption of evidence-based
interventions to address health disparities in black and ethnic
minority communities.
In the year, Elsevier colleagues launched the SSRN Race & Social
Inequity Hub with early-stage research on topics such as racial
violence and social justice in the wake of global protests against
systemic racism.
Risk
LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ products and services align with
SDG 16 (Peace, Justice And Strong Institutions) and SDG 10
(Reduced Inequalities), among others. For example, they help
law enforcement keep communities safe and protect society by
detecting and preventing fraud across a range of business sectors
and at US federal, state and local government levels. In the
year, LexisNexis Risk Solutions partnered with local police
departments, including the Ventura and Santa Barbara, California
Police Departments, to provide community crime maps with
automated alerts notifying citizens of crimes in their area.
In response to the pandemic, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
launched a free Covid-19 Data Resource Center combining data
and analytics with content from other industry stakeholders, to
create a US Covid-19 data set and interactive visualisations to
identify at-risk populations and care capacity risks. There are
heat maps and county-level risk rankings taking account of
parameters such as areas where the population is 60 years or
older with two or more high-risk Covid-19 comorbidities and
areas of socioeconomic need that, if unaddressed, would be
most likely to prevent optimal health outcomes.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions colleagues developed the ADAM
programme in 2000 to help the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) find missing children. ADAM
distributes missing child alert posters to law enforcement,
hospitals, libraries and businesses within specific geographic
search areas. In the year, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and the NCMEC
partnered with sports and entertainment platform ISM to further
extend the reach of the programme through digital billboards.
Missing children posters are now being displayed on digital signage
located in select areas. 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of the
ADAM programme and since its inception, nearly 190 missing
children have been located and the programme has assisted in the
recovery efforts of others. In the United Kingdom, Missing People is
a key partner and LexisNexis Risk Solutions tools helped reconnect
the missing with those searching for them. In the year, we began
discussions with Missing People about creating a new automated
alert system using ADAM functionality.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions is working to address a lending blind
spot for those seeking to advance personal and professional
objectives - such as purchasing a house or expanding a small
business - who are unable to gain credit because of missing or
outdated negative information. In the year, Riskview widened
financial inclusion for marginalised groups, including those
without credit history, by providing alternative data sets not in
traditional credit reports, such as home ownership, education
status and professional licences.
The challenge of financial inclusion is often magnified in
low-income countries given gaps in identity verification and
credit risk assessment. LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ ThreatMetrix,
in partnership with fintech partners, is deriving alternative data that
can be used to assess risk from consumers who use smartphones.
In 2020, following a successful pilot in Mexico, a commercial
initiative was launched, allowing the lenders involved to double
their loan workflow and reduce defaults. Two new pilots were
launched in Colombia.
Legal
LexisNexis Legal & Professional advances SDG 16 (Peace, Justice
and Strong Institutions) through its products and services which
promote the rule of law. Law360 and Lexis Practice Advisor made
news coverage and practical guidance freely available to help
lawmakers, and legal and other professionals, successfully
navigate legal issues surrounding Covid-19. It also launched
Covid-19 and the Global Media Landscape which provides insight
into the way coronavirus is developing across global news in near
real time.
In 2020, the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation held virtual events
on building leadership and the Rule of Law during Covid-19 and
contributed to a report on SDG 16 progress by the UN Development
Programme and the Transparency, Accountability and Participation
(TAP) Network. The Foundation also received its first US
government grant as a partner in a project led by the
International Legal Foundation to support the defence
bar and legal aid in Indonesia.
In the year, the LexisNexis Digital Library platform won the
American Association of Law Libraries 2020 New Product
Award that advance law libraries access to legal information.
LexisNexis Legal & Professional partnered with the International
Association of Lawyers in 2020 to provide access to justice in
the Democratic Republic of Congo. Colleagues connected the
organisation with the UK’s International Law Book Facility which
led to the dissemination of legal texts to a region in need of legal
resources and more research tools.
Colleagues in the UK launched a Simplified Personal Independence
Payment form, a digitised version of the UK Government’s
paper-based form for disability claims. The free tool, available
to independent legal clinics and disability claimants, enhances
the chance of receiving qualifying financial support.
We moved our Rule of Law Cafés online and held them in the
UK and Singapore, and for the first time in South Africa and the
Philippines, bringing together stakeholders - including customers,
government, NGOs and law societies - to discuss opportunities to
go beyond legal minimums to advance the rule of law.
Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions’ events strengthen communities and support
the SDGs, including SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
In March 2020, Reed Exhibitions collaborated with the City of
Vienna, Austria, to transform an exhibition venue in central Vienna
into a field hospital with a 3,111 bed capacity. The temporary
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
43
hospital was designed for patients with less serious Covid-19
illness to save hospital beds for the most critical cases. With the
help of suppliers, the first 880 cubicles were built in just three days.
In the year, IBTM World, the global event for the meetings,
incentives, conferences and events industry, created an online
resource hub, IBTM Connect, to help event professionals keep
informed and connected during Covid-19.
Reed MIDEM used its 2020 MIPCOM global content market to
deliver ‘Change for Good’, a programme exploring the positive
influence the global television industry can have on a range of
issues, from minimising environmental impact to fostering diversity
and inclusion. The keynote speech, delivered by Melissa Fleming,
UN Under-Secretary for Global Communications, showed that how
we communicate about climate change influences mitigation
efforts. Sky Group Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch received the
inaugural MIP SDG Award for Climate Action and Protection of the
Oceans, recognising Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign to reduce ocean
plastic. In addition, MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards
honoured the most compelling creators, characters and stories
promoting diversity and inclusion on-screen. Among them were
Documentary Japan, NHK, NHK Enterprises, and ABS-CBN for
Jake and Charice about the challenges and triumphs of a
transgender singer.
The Reed Exhibitions senior leadership team named one of its
members as the CR liaison, and appointed a new sustainability
lead, to continue addressing the environmental impacts of its
business. In the year, Reed Exhibitions UK created a Sustainability
Charter to align their sustainability efforts to the SDGs.
Across RELX
Recognising that across RELX we have products, services, tools
and events that advance the UN’s 17 SDGs, we created the free
RELX SDG Resource Centre in 2017 to advance awareness,
knowledge and implementation. In 2020, we increased the amount
of content on the site by 57% from 2019. This included information
in response to the challenge of Covid-19. We also curated special
issues to mark eight UN international days, such as World
Environment Day, World Mental Health Day, the International
Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the
International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Since 2017, we have
made over 650 journal articles and book chapters free to access
via the RELX SDG Resource Centre which would have otherwise
cost approximately £1.5 million to make open access.
In the year, we published RELX SDG Graphics on all 17 SDGs
showing the state of knowledge underpinning each of the global
goals using data and insights from Elsevier’s Scopus and SciVal.
They identify quantity and quality of output, by which countries,
and the extent of collaboration. A critical finding is that less than
2% of the output came from low income countries, those most
affected by the challenges the SDGs seek to address.
We also launched our SDG Champions Network, inviting leaders
from across RELX to support forward action on the SDGs. We
created an SDG content area on HOME to raise awareness among
employees globally, showcasing how we are contributing to the
SDGs and to garner their involvement.
2020 marked the tenth year of the RELX Environmental Challenge,
focused on providing improved and sustainable access to water
and sanitation where it is presently at risk. The $50,000 first-prize
winner was CUBEX S.A.L, a Lebanese social enterprise whose
mobile dewatering unit collects and treats sewage from septic
systems in an ecologically safe and affordable way. The $25,000
second-prize winner was BlueTap, which has developed a 3D
printed chlorine doser to improve access to high-quality drinking
water in low-resource settings. The winners were announced at
a free, virtual event celebrating ten years of the competition and
exploring the next decade of water, sanitation and hygiene action.
Winners received free access to ScienceDirect and for the first
time in 2020, a feature on the second place winner was included in
One Earth, a CellPress journal. We also invited past winners to join
together for a 10th anniversary collaboration prize; CAWST, AIDFI
and Sanergy will be working together to create a series of online
training and outreach in order continue supporting water and
sanitation networks and practitioners across Africa and Colombia
throughout the global pandemic.
2020 OBJECTIVES
Advance of science
and health:
Meaningful support
to advance SDG3
(Good Health
And Well-Being),
including MSF/
Epicentre Medical
Day in Niger;
WaterFirst!
Workshops; and
skills training
through Elsevier’s
Research without
Borders
Protection of
society: Meaningful
support of SDG 16
(Peace, Justice And
Strong Institutions),
including expansion
of activities to find
missing children and
adults through US
ADAM programme
and UK Missing
People
Protection of society:
Meaningful support
of SDG 10 (Reduced
Inequalities):
Advance financial
inclusion pilots to
more countries
Achievement
§ Epicentre Medical Day in Niger in
January 2020 focused on meningitis,
malaria and malnutrition with
researchers, public health experts
and government representatives
§ Communication with WaterFirst!
and Research without Borders
stakeholders during the pandemic
§ Elsevier Foundation introduces new
projects focused on ending health
disparities in diverse and under-served
communities
§ National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children used LexisNexis
Risk Solutions’ ADAM programme
to distribute over 1.7 million alerts
in 2,100 missing children cases
§ Over 1,500 new subscribers in 2020
§ New partnership with ISM to display
missing children posters on digital
billboards
§ LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ data used
for Missing People’s Lost Contact
service
§ Using LexisNexis alternative credit
qualification sources, new pilots
launched in Colombia to help more
citizens gain access to credit
§ Pilot in Mexico becomes commercial
initiative, supporting lenders to
increase loan workflows and
reduce defaults
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 44
1. Our unique contributions (continued)
2020 OBJECTIVES
Promotion of the
rule of law and
access to justice:
Meaningful support
of SDG 16 (Peace,
Justice And Strong
Institutions),
including expansion
of Rule of Law Cafés
to new locations
including South
Africa; development
of new LexisNexis
Rule of Law
Foundation
Fostering
communities:
Meaningful
support of SDG 11
(Sustainable Cities
And Communities)
by enhancing the
sustainability of
trade show events
Create SDG
Champions network
More RELX SDG
Graphics on the
state of knowledge
underpinning the
SDGs
Increase RELX SDG
Resource Centre
content by 25%
Achievement
§ Rule of Law Cafés expanded to South
Africa and The Philippines; also held in
the UK and Singapore
§ Development of LexisNexis Rule of Law
Foundation:
– Virtual events, including on the rule
of law during Covid-19
– Contributed to United Nations (UN)
Development Programme and
Transparency, Accountability, and
Participation Network report on
SDG 16 progress
– First US government grant to
partner on International Legal
Foundation project to support legal
aid and the defence bar in Indonesia
§ New Sustainability Charter launched by
Reed Exhibitions UK
§ First Reed Exhibitions sustainability
lead appointed
§ New SDG Champions Network created
among over 100 CR-related networks,
including Employee Resource Groups
§ SDG Hub created for all employees on
RELX intranet
§ Content in employee communications
and events on RELX and the SDGs
§ Graphic for all 17 SDGs published in
September 2020 to mark five-year
anniversary of the SDGs
§ Basis of free Elsevier report, The Power
of Data to Advance the SDGs
§ Increase of 57% on 2019 including
special releases for World Environment
Day, International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women,
World Mental Health Day, and the
International Day of Persons with
Disabilities
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Advance of science and health: Meaningful support of SDG 3
(Good Health And Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced
Inequalities) to increase scientific knowledge, reduce health
disparities and ensure equal access to health, including through
a project with the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology
Research Institute
§ Protection of society: Meaningful support of SDG 16 (Peace,
Justice And Strong Institutions) by expanding reach of ADAM,
LexisNexis Risk Solution’s US missing children alert service,
through new partnerships and mobile text alerts; help deliver
new missing alert service for UK’s Missing People
§ Protection of society: Meaningful support of SDG 10 (Reduced
Inequalities) by expanding financial inclusion pilots in
low-income countries; use of products and services to reduce
online fraud and identity theft
§ Promotion of the rule of law and access to justice: Meaningful
support of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice And Strong Institutions)
through continued expansion of Rule of Law Cafes;
LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation efforts to eliminate
racism in legal systems; and support for UN Global Compact
initiatives to advance SDG 16
§ Fostering communities: Meaningful support of SDG 11
(Sustainable Cities And Communities) including a focus on
zero carbon through key shows in alignment with COP 26;
increased online show offerings to support exhibitors and
attendees in the wake of Covid-19
§ Universal, sustainable access to information: Advance the
SDGs by expanding free RELX SDG Resource Centre
including by releasing six special releases; developing new
partnerships; and holding a 2021 global SDG Inspiration Day
OUR 2030 VISION*
Use our products and expertise to advance the SDGs, among them:
§ SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
§ SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
§ SDG 13: Climate Action
§ SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Enrich the SDG Resource Centre to ensure essential content,
tools and events on the SDGs are freely available to all
* 2030 is the deadline for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; we aim to do our
part towards their achievement.
2. Governance
Our Board recognises the importance of maintaining high
standards of corporate governance, which underpins our ability to
deliver consistent financial performance and value to our
stakeholders. It is consistent with our wider RELX culture of acting
with integrity in all that we do. The 2018 UK Corporate Governance
Code (UK Code) applied to RELX PLC during the year. The Board
continued to review the Company’s compliance with the principles
and provisions of the UK Code, focusing particularly on RELX’s
approach to engaging with its key stakeholders, particularly in
light of the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside its ongoing review of
RELX’s culture, purpose, strategy and values.
RELX PLC is the sole parent company of the Group. It owns 100%
of the shares in RELX Group plc which, in turn, holds all of the
operating businesses, subsidiaries and financing activities of the
Group. RELX PLC, its subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures
are together known as RELX.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
45
The shares of RELX PLC are traded through its primary listing on
the London Stock Exchange and its secondary listing on Euronext
Amsterdam, while its securities are also traded on the New York
Stock Exchange under its American Depositary Share Programme.
Accordingly, the Board has implemented standards of corporate
governance and disclosure applicable to a UK incorporated
company, with listings in London, Amsterdam and New York.
Information and documents detailing our governance procedures
are available to stakeholders online at www.relx.com. The
RELX financial statements are prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards.
The RELX Operating and Governance Principles provide a
framework of processes, policies, and controls to manage risk.
The RELX Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (the Code) sets
the standards for behaviour for all employees of RELX. Among
other key issues, the Code addresses fair competition,
anti-bribery, conflicts of interest, employment practices,
data protection and appropriate use of company property and
information. It also encourages reporting of violations – with
an anonymous reporting option where legally permissible – and
prohibits retaliation against anyone for reporting a violation they
honestly believe may have occurred.
We maintain a comprehensive set of compliance policies and
procedures in support of the Code reviewed at least annually to
ensure they remain current and effective. Our policies and
procedures help us comply with the law and conduct our business
in an open, honest, ethical and principled way. They comprise part
of our anti-bribery adequate procedures for compliance with
applicable laws.
Employees receive mandatory training on the Code – both as new
hires and regularly throughout their employment – on topics such
as maintaining a respectful workplace, preventing bribery and
anti-competitive behaviour, and protecting personal and company
data. Mandatory periodic training covers key Code topics in depth
and is supplemented by advanced in-person training for higher
risk roles.
We offer employees a confidential reporting line, managed by an
independent third party, accessible by telephone or online 24
hours a day, 365 days a year (as allowed under applicable law,
employees may submit reports to the confidential line
anonymously). Reports of violations of the Code or related policies
are promptly investigated, with careful tracking and monitoring
of violations and related mitigation and remediation efforts by
Compliance teams across the business. We were ranked eighth
out of 68 companies by Transparency International Netherlands
(TI-NL) in its 2019 study of ‘Effective Whistleblowing Frameworks’
(released in May 2020).
We remained diligent in our ongoing efforts to comply with
applicable bribery and sanctions laws and mitigate risks in
these areas. Our anti-bribery and sanctions programme includes
testing and monitoring of compliance with detailed, risk-based
internal policies and procedures on topics such as doing business
with government officials, gift and entertainment limits, gift
registers, and complex sanctions requirements. Relationships
with third parties and acquisition targets are evaluated for risk
using questionnaires, references, detailed electronic searches,
and ‘Know Your Customer’ screening tools. We monitor and
assess the implementation of our anti-bribery and sanctions
programmes by continually reviewing and updating our policies
and procedures; conducting periodic programmatic risk
assessments, quality reviews and internal monitoring and audits
of the programme’s operational aspects. We also held Compliance
Week activities with videos, emails, articles and a quiz.
As a signatory to the UNGC, we embed its principles, encompassing
human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption in key
policies including our Code and our Supplier Code. During the
year, we demonstrated leadership by maintaining our LEAD
status, one of 41 companies among approximately 10,000
businessparticipants. We were part of the UNGC Expert Network
and contributed to key UNGC SDG working groups on SDG 8,
Decent Work in Global Supply Chains, and SDG 16, Peace, Justice
and Strong Institutions. We served on the board of UNGC networks
in the UK, where our global head of CR is Chair, and in the
Netherlands. We produced an annual Communication on
Progress report, required of signatories annually, where we
attained the Advanced Level and also shared our expertise by
speaking at UNGC programmes on issues such as inclusion and
climate change, including during the UN Private Sector Forum.
The Code supports the principles of the UNGC and stresses our
commitment to human rights. In accordance with the UN’s Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights, we have considered
where and how we operate to ensure we uphold human rights.
In 2020, we updated our Modern Slavery Act Statement, available
from the RELX homepage, which states how we are working to
avoid human trafficking and modern slavery in our direct
operations and in our supply chain.
As a company focused on knowledge and analytics, each year
we are in possession of large amounts of data. It is therefore
incumbent on RELX to ensure that we provide our customers
and our people with the highest levels of data privacy and security.
We continually monitor our procedures and systems to meet this
requirement, ensuring compliance with all relevant laws where
we do business around the world. Dedicated privacy teams
implement requirements for compliance with emerging data
protection regulations. In the year, we completed our California
Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance quality review, which
focused on effectiveness of safeguards intended to mitigate the
risk of non-compliance.
In 2020, we created a ransomware response policy, as well
as playbooks to manage incidents at third-party suppliers.
We implemented Advanced Threat Protection to detect and
prevent executive impersonation, malicious links and
attachments, with 10,000 threats a day blocked by our controls.
In the year, we educated employees on protecting themselves
against fraud during International Fraud Awareness Week and
recognised Cyber Security Awareness Month with an Information
Security Town Hall. We ran our third Great Phishing Challenge
contest, giving employees the opportunity to detect suspicious
emails, with more than 2,000 submissions.
In the year, Michael Breslin, Strategic Client Relations Director
for federal law enforcement at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, was
selected to serve on the newly established Cyber Investigations
Advisory Board of the US secret service.
Globally, in 2020, RELX paid £496m in corporate taxes. We are
a responsible corporate taxpayer and conduct our tax affairs to
ensure compliance with all laws and relevant regulations in the
countries in which we operate. Tax is an important issue for our
stakeholders and society at large. We have set out our approach to
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 46
Ten years of the RELX
Environmental Challenge
Since 2011, the RELX Environmental Challenge has supported innovative
solutions that improve sustainable access to safe water and sanitation where
it is most at risk, advancing SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). The diversity
of ideas, technologies and business models has been remarkable – from a
social enterprise that uses the hydroenergy to pump water to high altitudes,
and a system for harnessing ultraviolet light to purify water, to a new
approach for emptying pit latrines safely and efficiently.
In 2020, a shortlist of seven projects was chosen from a
record 170 applications from 44 countries. The $50,000
first-prize winner was CUBEX S.A.L, a Lebanese social
enterprise whose mobile dewatering unit collects and
treats sewage from septic systems in an ecologically safe
and affordable way. The $25,000 second-prize winner was
BlueTap, which has developed a 3D printed chlorine doser
to improve access to high-quality drinking water in
low-resource settings. Both winners received access to
Science Direct, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-
reviewed literature to help advance their research.
The winners were announced at a virtual event celebrating
ten years of the competition and exploring the next decade of
water, sanitation and hygiene action. Featured speakers
included: inaugural first prize winner of the RELX
Environmental Challenge (2011), Dr Arup K. SenGupta,
Chemical Engineering Professor at Lehigh University and
Co-Founder of Drinkwell; Cheryl Hicks, CEO and Executive
Director of the Toilet Board Coalition; Valeri Labi, Director of
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at iDE Ghana and a RELX
Environmental Challenge judge; and Tim Brewer, Research
Practice Lead at Water Witness International.
In addition to the two annual prizes, three past RELX
Environmental Challenge Winners, CAWST, AIDFI and
Sanergy, won a $25,000 special Partnership Prize for a
collaborative project to create online training and outreach
to support water and sanitation networks and practitioners in
Africa and Colombia in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the RELX
Environmental
Challenge, we will be
able to attract strategic
partners working in the
development sector on
improved sanitation,
including additional
investors to get us to
the next stage of growth.
Marc Aoun
Founder and General
Manager, CUBEX S.A.L
$805,000
awarded to prize winners
since 2011
Image caption (above):
The mobile de-watering unit
designed by CUBEX S.A.L,
2020 RELX Environmental
Challenge first prize winner
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
47
tax in our global tax strategy. This incorporates our Tax Principles
along with additional disclosures about where we pay taxes and
our broader contribution to society, available at: www.relx.com/
go/TaxPrinciples. We also progressed a project to make African
tax law more transparent to both governments and citizens, and
aim to move to the implementation phase in one or two pilot
countries in 2021.
The Statement of Investment Principles for the Reed Elsevier
UK pension scheme indicates that environmental, social or
governance issues that may have a financial impact on the
portfolio or a detrimental effect on the strength of the employer
covenant, are taken into account when making investment
decisions. CR issues are also relevant to other investment
decisions we make.
Achievement
§ Created playbooks to manage incidents
at third-party suppliers; handled alerts
from newly implemented security
systems including Azure ATP, Office
365 ATP, and Azure AD
§ Implemented Advanced Threat
Protection to detect/prevent executive
impersonation, malicious links and
attachments across RELX blocking
approximately 10,000 threats a day
§ Created ransomware response policy
§ Dedicated privacy teams implemented
requirements for compliance with
emerging data protection regulations
§ Completed California Consumer
Privacy Act compliance quality
review, focussed on effectiveness
of safeguards intended to mitigate
non-compliance risk
§ Worked with LexisNexis South Africa
to identify pilot countries and relevant
tax law
2020 OBJECTIVES
Continue corporate
security incident
response
preparedness;
implement controls
to increase
resilience to user-
based attacks, such
as phishing and
ransomware
Assess and develop
strategies to
address compliance
with emerging
privacy regulation
such as the
California Consumer
Privacy Act
Continue to advance
African tax law
codification project;
deploy proof of
concept to shortlist
of countries
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Security - SDG 16 (Peace, Justice And Strong Institutions):
Continue to implement controls to increase resilience to
user-based attacks such as phishing and ransomware;
introduce a Great Phishing Challenge for internal and
external stakeholders
§ Privacy – SDG 16 (Peace, Justice And Strong Institutions):
Conduct a 2021 privacy quality review on compliance with
EU and other requirements for cross-border data transfers
§ Responsible tax – SDG 16 (Peace, Justice And Strong
Institutions): Continue to advance African tax law codification
in pilot countries, working with LexisNexis South Africa and
LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation
OUR 2030 VISION
Continued progressive actions that advance excellence in
corporate governance within our business and the marketplace
3. People
Our over 33,000 people are our strength. Our workforce is 51%
female and 49% male, with an average length of service of 7.59
years. There were 43% female and 57% male managers, and
31% female and 69% male senior operational managers.
Board of Directors
Senior leaders*
All employees**
Female
45%
31%
5
181
6
408
16,942
51% 16,278
Male
55%
69%
49%
*
Senior leaders are defined as those with a management level of 17 and above,
plus management level 16 executives who are up to three reporting lines from
the CEO, with some level 5 exceptions.
** Full-time equivalent.
At year end 2020, women made up 45% of the members of
the Board. The two executive directors on the Board are male.
The Nominations Committee considers the knowledge,
experience and background of individual Board directors.
Our Inclusion Council is composed of leaders from each area of
our business to help us set and track our inclusion and diversity
strategy, supported by an Inclusion Working Group with more
than 250 participants.
In 2020, we undertook an in-depth analysis of our diversity data,
reviewing attrition, promotion and new hire rates for gender, as
well as race and ethnicity in the US and UK. We developed a new
suite of inclusion goals in the year, including a goal to increase the
percentage of women in management, senior leadership, and
technology roles continually over time and to increase the racial
and ethnic diversity of our workforce continually over time, with
a focus on the US and UK where it is legally permissible to ask
for and collect relevant data. To support these goals, we are
introducing targeted initiatives for training, development and
recruitment. We have established diversity dashboards to enable
our leaders to easily monitor the trends in our data. For more
details, see the 2020 RELX Corporate Responsibility Report.
RELX is a signatory to the Women’s Empowerment Principles
(WEPs), a UNGC and UN Women initiative to help companies
empower women and promote gender equality. In 2020, RELX
joined the UNGC’s Target Gender Equality initiative to further
implementation of the WEPs. We were also included in the
Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.
Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) grew to over 100 networks
in the year, encompassing African Ancestry, gender balance, pride
and disability, to facilitate support, mentoring and community
involvement. In the year, our second ERG Conference, EmERGe,
was held virtually over two days, with the first day open to all
employees. Over 1,500 employees joined from 23 countries to
share challenges, best practice and further action plans.
We comply with employee-related reporting requirements and,
in 2020, our business units published UK gender pay gap reports
as part of UK legislation. These can be found here:
www.relx.com/corporate-responsibility/engaging-others/
policies-and-downloads/local-reporting-requirements.
We invest in research to identify causes of pay differences and
regularly evaluate our policies and processes to ensure they are
aligned to our inclusion strategy. We commit to building a robust
framework for monitoring pay equity across the enterprise and
https://
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 48
have formally made these pledges as part of the UN’s Equal Pay.
In 2020, the Head of Reward introduced training on pay equity
principles with leaders across the business and created a
resource on our global HR information system on internal pay
equity and why it matters to the business.
We operate a number of stock programmes for employees
including options, restricted stock and performance stock
units. For senior colleagues, these are based on annual allocations
of stock – the vesting of which may be service-based or related
to company performance. We also offer all employees stock
programmes in which employees may elect to participate
in certain markets, for example Sharesave in the UK. These
incentive programmes are available to approximately 20% of
our employees. Targets associated with CR performance are
embedded within our annual incentive framework, including for the
CEO and CFO, to progress our annual and multi-year CR objectives.
Our employees have the right to a healthy and safe workplace,
as outlined in our Global Health and Safety Policy. We concentrate
on areas of greatest risk, for example warehouses, events and
exhibitions. As a primarily office-based company, we also focus
on manual handling, slips, trips and falls. To reduce our severity
rate (lost days per 200,000 hours worked), we conduct risk
assessments and work with a third party in the US to assign a
nurse case manager to each complex or severe claim.
There were 3 lost time incidents in the year.
However, in the year, given the global pandemic, a significant
number of our people worked from home. We supported the
creation of safe home workstations and also concentrated on
wellness, with mindfulness webinars, virtual quizzes, online
exercise, yoga classes and ideas for positive home working.
Dedicated health and well-being programmes and resources
are available to employees across all business areas and we
maintain a network of more than 100 Well-being Champions.
During 2020, we conducted remote mental health first aider
training for more than 200 colleagues. We also gave staff an
extra day off between July and August in acknowledgement of
the challenges of the year and in appreciation for their good work.
2020 OBJECTIVES
Introduce suite of
2020-2025 inclusion
goals
Provide manager
training on pay
principles and equal
pay
Achievement
§ Goals formulated by the RELX
Inclusion Council comprising Inclusion
and Diversity leads for each business
and other colleagues, with input from
senior leaders
§ Information created on global intranet
for all staff on internal pay equity and
how we manage it
§ Training on pay equity principles with
Level 2-4 leaders across the business
§ Training focused on pay equity strategy
and the tools and controls in place to
ensure pay equity in both the short- and
long-term
2020 OBJECTIVES
Map and expand
Well-being
Champions Network
and train more
mental health
employee leads
Achievement
§ Champions mapped against business,
locations and headcount
§ Remote mental health first aider
training conducted with more than
200 trained
§ Headspace app made available to all
employees; Elsevier launches
Psychological Safety course
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Inclusion – SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Progress RELX
inclusion goals through focused recruitment, training and
development efforts
§ Pay equity – SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth):
Continue living wage assessment in four countries
§ Well-being – SDG 3 (Good Health And Well-Being): Develop
RELX mental health policy reflecting cross-business and
external insights
OUR 2030 VISION
§ Continued high-performing and satisfied workforce through
talent development, I&D and wellbeing; scale support for
external human capital initiatives
4. Customers
Listening to our customers allows us to deepen our understanding
of their needs and drive improvements. In the year, with input from
the customer insight leads across our business, we mapped our
customer satisfaction measures to establish a RELX-wide
customer satisfaction metric. The results showed that in 2020,
84.4% of customers would recommend RELX businesses,
compared to 82.3% in 2019. We included this metric in RELX’s 2020
Dow Jones Sustainability Index submission, which contributed to
a six-point increase year-on-year for customer satisfaction
management; we achieved a score of 54 compared to an industry
average of 25.
In 2020, we launched the RELX SDG Customer Awards to recognise
the exceptional efforts of our customers who share RELX’s
ambition to advance the SDGs. The customers were nominated by
colleagues in each RELX business area and were judged by a panel
of internal experts. The four winners were announced at the sixth
RELX SDG Inspiration Day which took place virtually on Wednesday
24 June 2020. The winners were: the University of Southern
Denmark, Aurora Universities Network and Auckland University
nominated by Elsevier; Standard Chartered Bank, South Africa,
nominated by LexisNexis Risk Solutions; Asian Development Bank,
the Philippines, nominated by LexisNexis Legal & Professional;
and Scottish Power UK nominated by Reed Exhibitions.
We are committed to improving access to our products and services
for all users, regardless of physical ability. Our Accessibility Policy
aims to lead the industry in providing accessibility solutions to
customers, with products that are operable, understandable and
robust. In 2020, members of the Accessibility Working Group
logged over 150 accessibility projects and Elsevier’s Global Books
Digital Archive fulfilled more than 3,400 disability requests, 87%
of them through AccessText.org, a service we helped establish.
We also developed the Company Accessibility Maturity Model, a
tool to define and measure the maturity and operating best
practices of company accessibility endeavors.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
49
In the year, we celebrated the second RELX Accessibility
Leadership Awards to showcase employees who demonstrate
exceptional leadership in advancing accessibility. The winner of
the 2020 Leadership Award was Min Xiong, Global Head of Content
User Experience at LexisNexis Legal & Professional. Michael
Goddard, Senior Software Engineer at Elsevier, was awarded the
Practitioner Award for his work to make Scopus one of the top
accessibility rated products in the RELX suite, achieving the
international standard’s WCAG 2.0 AA rating.
2020 OBJECTIVES
Introduce SDG
Customer Award
at flagship
annual RELX SDG
Inspiration Day
Achievement
§ Awards presented during virtual 2020
SDG Inspiration Day to the University
of Southern Denmark, Aurora
Universities Network and Auckland
University, Netherlands and New
Zealand nominated by Elsevier;
Standard Chartered Bank, South Africa
nominated by LexisNexis Risk
Solutions; the Asian Development
Bank, the Philippines nominated by
LexisNexis Risk Solutions; and Scottish
Power, nominated by Reed Exhibitions
Map customer
feedback
mechanisms across
business areas
§ Creation of RELX-wide customer
satisfaction metric in conjunction with
customer insight leads across RELX
§ Six-point increase year on year for
customer satisfaction management
portion of Dow Jones Sustainability
Index (score of 54 vs industry average
of 25)
§ Developed new Accessibility Maturity
Model to measure maturity and
operating best practices for product
accessibility implementation across
RELX
Develop framework
for product
accessibility self-
audits
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Customer engagement – SDG 17 (Partnerships For The
Goals): Further engagement with customers on the SDGs
§ Quality – SDG 8 (Decent Work And Economic Growth): Create
new internal customer quality assurance network
§ Accessibility – SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Advance
Accessibility Maturity Model across RELX
OUR 2030 VISION
Continue to expand customer base across our four business
units through excellence in products and services, active
listening and engagement, editorial and quality standards, and
accessibility; a recognised advocate for ethical marketplace
practice
5. Community
RELX Cares, our global community programme, supports
employee volunteering and giving that makes a positive impact
on society. In addition to local initiatives of importance to
employees, the programme’s core focus is on education for
disadvantaged young people that advances one or more of our
unique contributions as a business. From the onset of the Covid-19
pandemic, colleagues from around the world came together to
support their local and international communities. Staff have up
to two days paid leave per year for their own community work.
We donated £5.6m in cash (including through matching gifts) and
the equivalent of £12m in products, services and staff time in 2020.
Globally, 26% of employees were engaged in volunteering through
RELX Cares. A network of over 230 RELX Cares Champions
ensures the vibrancy of our community engagement.
In 2020, we raised an additional $41,000 to support global
fundraising partner, Hope and Homes for Children (HHC), which
aims to ensure children grow up in families rather than institutions.
We extended our partnership, with a commitment to raise a
minimum of $120,000 by 2022, to support their efforts in Moldova to
integrate hearing-impaired children into mainstream education
through speech therapy, quality hearing aids, support for parents
and teacher training. Disability can be a reason children do not
remain in a family setting in the country and there are three
institutions for children with hearing impairments. Thus far, two
children have successfully undergone cochlear implant surgery
and the charity is supporting post-operation rehabilitation.
Each September, we hold RELX Cares Month to celebrate our
community commitment. During the month, we held the tenth
Recognising Those Who Care Awards to highlight exceptional
contributors to the RELX Cares programme. This year we
celebrated RELX employees who have shown an outstanding
response to supporting their community in the wake of the
Covid-19 pandemic. Two individuals and two teams won charity
donations to their chosen causes. To mark the tenth anniversary
of the programmes, we brought together previous winners who
worked together on an alumni challenge, raising funds for an
array of local and international projects that advance the RELX
Cares Mission.
In 2020, the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation published and
distributed a children’s colouring book on the rule of law for 1,000
children in rural Liberia. We contributed 143,547 books to Book
Aid International, Books for Africa and the Asia Foundation worth
over $9 million. We also donated $25,000 to support the World
Health Organisation’s Solidarity Response Fund to further their
efforts in fighting the pandemic.
2020 OBJECTIVES
Progress new
partnership
with global
fundraising
partner Hope
and Homes for
Children
Achievement
§ Partnership extended to April 2022 with
aim to raise $120,000; over one third
raised by year-end
§ Facilitated conversations for HHC with
the Elsevier Foundation, The Lancet
Psychiatry and Reed Exhibition’s
Comic Con
Develop RELX
Cares Manager
training
§ Materials shared with RELX Learning
and Development team, adapting for
the manager offerings on Percipio
Create RELX
Cares module for
staff induction
across RELX
§ Induction materials designed and shared
for use in new hire inductions
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 50
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Employee community engagement – SDG 17 (Partnerships
For The Goals): Evaluate the impact of the pandemic on
community engagement; campaign to promote virtual
volunteering
§ Philanthropic giving – SDG 17 (Partnerships For The Goals):
Update central donations programme in order to better
report impact of community giving
OUR 2030 VISION
Through our unique contributions, significant, measurable
advancement of education for disadvantaged young people;
investments with partners for maximum impact
6. Supply chain
Given the importance of maintaining an ethical supply chain,
we have a Socially Responsible Supplier (SRS) programme
encompassing all our businesses, supported by colleagues
with expertise in operations and procurement and a dedicated
SRS Director from our global procurement function.
We have a comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct (Supplier
Code) available in 16 languages, which we ask suppliers to sign
and display prominently in the workplace. It commits them to
following applicable laws and best practice in areas such as
human rights, labour and the environment. It also asks suppliers
to require the same standards in their supply chains, including
requesting subcontractors to enter into a written commitment
to uphold the Supplier Code. The Supplier Code states that
where local industry standards are higher than applicable legal
requirements, we expect suppliers to meet the higher standards.
Our SRS programme is a key aspect of our work to prevent modern
slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain.
Through our SRS database, we track suppliers with whom we
spend >$1m annually, suppliers identified as critical by the
business, and those located in medium- and high-risk countries,
as designated by Carnstone, with a spend of >$200K for a consecutive
two-year period. Our supplier risk tool incorporates ten
indicators, including human trafficking information from the US
State Department and Environmental Performance Index results
produced by Yale University and Columbia University in
collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
The tracking list changes year-on-year based on the suppliers
we engage to meet the needs of our business. In 2020, there were
412 suppliers on the SRS tracking list, of which 43 are operating in
high-risk countries and 60 in medium-risk countries. At year end,
91% of suppliers on the tracking list were signatories to our Supplier
Code. We continue to work with non-signatories to gain agreement
to our Code, and/or assess whether they have equivalent standards
in place, in order to ultimately decide whether to continue doing
business with them. We have embedded the Supplier Code into
our sourcing process, and have a total of 3,457 suppliers who
have agreed to the Supplier Code in 2020, up from 3,202 in 2019.
We engage a specialist supply chain auditor who undertook 99
external audits on our behalf in 2020. The emergence of Covid-19
required an adjustment to our audit process. We increased the
number of desktop audits to accommodate suppliers experiencing
closures. We also implemented remote onsite audits. During a
desktop audit, the supplier responds to an online questionnaire
and uploads relevant supporting documents followed by a
third-party auditor review.
The remote audits require a supplier representative wearing a
video and audio source located in a light-weight harness to allow
remote interaction with an external auditor. The auditor could then
evaluate the facility, conduct interviews, and review the necessary
documentation in real time, just as they would if conducting an
in-person audit. During 2020, there were 25 onsite/remote onsite
audits and 74 desktop audits.
Incidence of non-compliance triggers continuous improvement
reports summarising audit results, with agreed remediation plans
and submission dates.
We are committed to proactive engagement with suppliers to
ensure our supply chain reflects the diversity of our communities.
In the year, we continued to focus on our US supplier diversity
programme. In 2020, 12.9% of our US spend was with diverse
suppliers, up from 11.9% in 2019.
2020 OBJECTIVES
Increase the number
of suppliers as Code
signatories
Continue using
audits to ensure
continuous
improvement
in supplier
performance and
compliance
Continue to advance
US Supplier Diversity
and Inclusion
programme
Achievement
§ 99% core suppliers* (target 95%)
§ 100% high- and medium-risk core
suppliers (target 100%)
§ 91% total tracking list (target 85%)
§ 3,457 total Code signatories (3,202
YE 2019)
§ 99 audits completed
§ Reduced open onsite audit points
by 46% over 2019
§ 12.9% diversity spend (US rolling
four quarters)
* Core suppliers are those that have appeared on the SRS tracking list for three or
more years.
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Responsible Supply Chain – SDG 8 (Decent Work And
Economic Growth): Increase number of suppliers as Code
signatories; continue using audits to ensure continuous
improvement in supplier performance and compliance
§ Supplier Diversity – SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities):
Advance Supplier Diversity and Inclusion programme
OUR 2030 VISION
Reduce supply chain risks related to human rights, labour,
the environment and anti-bribery by ensuring adherence
to our Supplier Code of Conduct through training, auditing
and remediation; drive supply chain innovation, quality and
efficiencies through a strong, diverse network of suppliers
7. Environment
The global pandemic, with the closure of our locations for much
of the year, yielded a significant decrease in consumption levels
across our environmental impact areas. In 2020, we reduced
Scope 1 (direct) carbon emissions by 42% and our Scope 2
(location-based) emissions by 22% from 2019. In our own
operations (including business travel), our emissions were net
zero in 2020 through a combination of reduced emissions and the
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility overview
51
purchase of renewable energy and renewable energy certificates,
with the balance offset through Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
credits in a REDD+ carbon sequestration project. We also reduced
total energy by 19%; water use by 35%; and waste sent to landfill
from reporting locations by 68% in the year.
our business and future resilience. In the year ahead, we will
be introducing an internal carbon price on business travel.
Further details can be found in Appendix 4 in the 2020
Corporate Responsibility Report.
We had been on track to meet our 2010-2020 environmental
targets - which reflect science-based methodology and input
from stakeholders - before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their achievement includes exceeding our goal to reduce our
Scope 1 and 2 location-based carbon emissions by 40% with a
64% decrease, and surpassing a goal to cut energy and fuels by
30% with a 52% reduction. We reached our goal of purchasing
renewable electricity equivalent to 100% of our global electricity
consumption from renewable energy and renewable energy
certificates and attained ISO 14001 certification for 55% of our
business. Full performance data can be found in the 2020
Corporate Responsibility Report (www.relx.com/go/crreport).
Following engagement with a range of stakeholders - including
our Environmental Champions led by the CFO, employee-led
Green Teams and external networks - we are launching new
environmental targets for the period 2020-2025 which include
a science-based target to reduce carbon emissions by 46% in
2025 against a 2015 baseline.
RELX is one of the Mayor of London’s London Business Climate
Leaders committed to cutting pollution and emissions in excess
of UK government thresholds. The goal is to help London, where
we are headquartered, to become a zero carbon city by 2050. In the
year, we received a B grade in CDP’s climate change programme.
Our Environmental Standards programme sets benchmark
performance and inspires green competition between offices.
In 2020, 42 sites (61% of key locations) achieved five or more
standards and attained green status. The RELX CFO wrote to
all staff on World Environment Day, sharing our environmental
priorities and recognising environmental achievements across
the business.
We have a positive environmental impact through our environmental
products and services, which spread good practice, encourage
debate and aid researchers and decision makers. The most recent
results from the independent Market Analysis System show that
our share of citations in environmental science represented 47%
of the total market and 62% in energy and fuels.
In support of this year’s United Nations World Environment Day
theme, Time for Nature, RELX and Elsevier released a special
issue on biodiversity. This collection of more than 60 articles
and book chapters from Elsevier publications was made freely
available on the RELX SDG Resource Centre. We also prepared
special issues for Earth Day and World Food Day.
We use our convening power to highlight environmental
innovation. The €50,000 winner of Elsevier’s 2020 Green and
Sustainable Chemistry Challenge was Dr Diana Carolina Parada
Quinayá, a Colombian chemical engineer and professor at the
University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, Peru, for
her proposal to use cocoa waste for green composites, the
next generation of sustainable composite materials.
We continue to advance climate reporting in line with the
recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial
Disclosure. In 2020, we further developed an additional climate-
related scenario at 1.5 °C, considering the impact it might have on
Achievement
§ New targets set in consultation with
internal and external stakeholders,
including a science-based Scope 1
and Scope 2 carbon reduction target
§ 100% attained through green tariff
purchases in Europe and green-e
certified renewable energy certificates
(RECs) in the United States
§ Reached 55% of business by headcount
§ Certification occurred at locations in
Australia, France and Ohio
2020 OBJECTIVES
Set new
environment targets
for 2020-2025
Purchase renewable
electricity equal
to 100% of global
consumption
Achieve ISO 14001
Environmental
Management
System (EMS)
certification at 50%
of the business by
headcount
2021 OBJECTIVES
§ Environmental responsibility – SDG 12 (Responsible
Consumption and Production): Embed new
environment targets
§ Carbon reduction – SDG 13 (Climate Action):Launch
internal carbon tax for work- related flights
OUR 2030 VISION
Further environmental knowledge and positive action through our
products and services and, accordingly, conduct our business with
the lowest environmental impact possible
2020 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Absolute performance
2020 Variance
2019
4,516 -42% 7,848
53,131 -22% 68,229
Scope 1 (direct
emissions) tCO2e
Scope 2
(indirect
location-based
emissions) tCO2e
Scope 2
(market-based
emissions) tCO2e
Total energy (MWh) 133,238 -19% 163,628
Water (m3)
215,858 -35% 331,913
Waste sent to
landfill (t)*
Production
paper (t)
10,773 -39% 17,704
5% 34,599
173 -68%
36,259
546
Intensity ratio
(per £m revenue)
2020 Variance
2019
0.64 -36% 1.00
7.47 -14% 8.67
1.52 -33% 2.25
18.74 -10% 20.78
30.36 -28% 42.15
0.02 -65% 0.07
5.10
16% 4.39
Environmental data covers 12 months from December to November
* From reporting locations.
The partial occupancy of our locations, due to Covid-19, through
much of the year resulted in reductions across all reported
metrics. We expect an increase in subsequent years as colleagues
return to their offices, to bring us back in line with our historical
reduction trend.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 52
ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS
Focus area
Climate change
Energy
Waste
Targets 2020
Reduce Scope 1 and 2 location-based carbon emissions by 40% against a 2010 baseline
Reduce energy and fuel consumption by 30% against a 2010 baseline
Purchase renewable electricity equivalent to 100% of RELX’s global electricity consumption
Decrease total waste generated at reporting locations by 40% against a 2010 baseline
90% of waste from reporting locations to be diverted from landfill
100% of RELX production papers, graded in PREPS, to be rated as ‘known and responsible sources’
Production paper*
Environmental
Management System Achieve ISO 14001 certification for 50% of the business by 2020
2020
Performance
-64%
-52%
100%
-78%
93%
100%
55%
* All paper we graded in 2020 – 92% of total production stock – was graded 3 or 5 stars (known and responsible sources).
We have reported on all emission sources required under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013. We have included emissions
from all operating companies within the Group.
We have used the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition) and the data has been assured by an independent third party, Environmental
data covers 12 months December to November. EY. Details on methodology and the assurance statement can be viewed in the 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report at
www.relx.com/go/CRReport.
NEW ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS
Focus area
Climate change
Energy
Targets 2025
Reduce Scope 1 and 2 location-based carbon emissions by 46% against a 2015 baseline
Reduce energy and fuel consumption by 30% against a 2015 baseline
Continue to purchase renewable electricity equivalent to 100% of RELX’s global electricity
consumption
Waste
Production paper
Decrease waste sent to landfill from reporting locations to 35% below 2015 levels
100% of RELX production papers to be graded in PREPS as ‘known and responsible sources’ or
certified to FSC or PEFC by 2025
Environmental
Management System Achieve Group ISO14001 certification across the business by 2025
2019
Performance
-26%
-21%
96%
-32%
96%
42%
100% of new office fit outs to achieve the RELX Sustainable Fit Out standard by 2025
New target
The above table shows performance against the new targets using 2019 figures - the latest year in which performance was not impacted by Covid-19.
2020 investor and other recognition
Constituent of the Ethibel
Sustainability Index
Included in
– Excellence Europe
– Excellence Global
CDP
– Climate programme score: B
– Forest programme score: B
– Water programme score: B
Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating
1st percentile for
– Global Universe: 21 out of 13,559
– Media: 2 out of 275
FTSE4Good Index
Included in
– FTSE4Good Global Index
– FTSE4Good UK Index
– FTSE4Good Europe Index
RE100
– Member
Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Included in
– Europe
– World
ISO 14001
– Certified
STOXX Global ESG
Leaders Indices
– Included
ECPI Indices
– Included
Tortoise Responsibility100 Index
– 4th out of 100
MSCI ESG Ratings assessment
– AAA rating
Workplace Pride Global
Benchmark
– Most Improved Private Sector
Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality
Index
– Included
The use by RELX of any MSCI ESG RESEARCH LLC or its affiliates (“MSCI”) data,
and the use of MSCI logos, trademarks, service marks or index names herein,
do not constitute a sponsorship, endorsement, recommendation, or promotion of
RELX by MSCI. MSCI SERVICES and data are the property of MSCI or its information
providers, and are provided ‘as-is’ and without warranty. MSCI names and logos
are trademarks or service marks of MSCI.
The full 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report is available at www.relx.com/go/CRReport
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate responsibility
53
Financial review
In this section
54 Chief Financial Officer’s report
60 Principal and emerging risks
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 54
Chief Financial Officer’s report
revenues, partially offset by print revenue declines which were
steeper than in recent years. Exhibitions, which accounted for
5% of revenue in 2020, has been impacted significantly by Covid-19,
with revenue of £362m (2019: £1,269m), down 71%. The reduction
in Exhibitions revenue resulted in group revenue falling by 9% on
an underlying basis.
Reported revenue, including the effects of exhibition cycling,
portfolio changes and currency movements, was £7,110m (2019:
£7,874m), down 10%, reflecting the decline in Exhibitions revenue.
The net impact of acquisitions and disposals increased revenue
growth by 1%. The decline in revenues from cycling events in
Exhibitions reduced group revenue by 2%. Currency movements
had no net impact on revenue growth for the group as a whole.
Profit
For each of our three largest business areas, underlying adjusted
operating profit grew in line with or ahead of revenue. Exhibitions
recorded an adjusted operating loss of £164m (2019: £331m profit).
In total, adjusted operating profit fell by 18% on an underlying
basis. A charge of £183m in Exhibitions, primarily comprised of
event cancellation costs and one-off restructuring costs has been
treated as exceptional, and excluded from adjusted measures.
Acquisitions and disposals had no net impact on adjusted operating
profit. Currency effects increased adjusted operating profit by 1%.
Total adjusted operating profit, including the impact of acquisitions
and disposals and currency effects, was £2,076m (2019: £2,491m),
a reduction of 17%.
Operating costs reduced by 8% on an underlying basis, reflecting
the fall in Exhibitions activity, partly offset by increased spend on
global technology platforms and on the launch of new products in
other business areas. Total operating costs, including the impact
of acquisitions, disposals and currency effects, decreased by 7%.
The overall adjusted operating margin of 29.2% was 2.4 percentage
points lower than in the prior year, reflecting the loss incurred in
Exhibitions. On an underlying basis, including cycling effects, the
margin fell by 2.7 percentage points. Acquisitions and disposals
reduced the margin by 0.2 percentage points and currency
effects increased the margin by 0.5 percentage points. Reported
operating profit, after amortisation of acquired intangible assets,
acquisition-related items and the exceptional charge in
Exhibitions, was £1,525m (2019: £2,101m).
Nick Luff
Chief Financial Officer
Our three largest business
areas, STM, Risk and Legal,
which together accounted for
95% of revenue in 2020, continued
to deliver underlying revenue and
adjusted operating profit growth.
Exhibitions, which accounted for
5% of revenue in 2020, was
impacted significantly by Covid-19.
Revenue
Our three largest business areas STM, Risk and Legal, which
together accounted for 95% of revenue in 2020, reported
combined revenue of £6,748m (2019: £6,605m), up 2%. All
three business areas continued to deliver underlying revenue
growth. The underlying growth rate reflects growth in electronic
REVENUE
£m
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
£m
6,889
7,341
7,492
7,874
7,110
2,284
2,346
2,491
2,114
2,076
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Chief Financial Officer’s report
55
Reported figures
Revenue
Operating profit
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Net margin
Net borrowings
Earnings per share
Adjusted figures
Operating profit
Operating margin
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Net margin
Cash flow
Cash flow conversion
Return on invested capital
Earnings per share
2020
£m
2019
£m
Change
Change
at constant
currencies
Change
underlying
7,110
1,525
1,483
1,224
17.2%
6,898
63.5p
2,076
29.2%
1,916
1,543
21.7%
2,009
97%
10.8%
80.1p
7,874
2,101
1,847
1,505
19.1%
6,191
77.4p
2,491
31.6%
2,200
1,808
23.0%
2,402
96%
13.6%
93.0p
-10%
-9%
-10%
-27%
-20%
-19%
-18%
-17%
-18%
-18%
-15%
-16%
-13%
-15%
-16%
-14%
-15%
RELX uses adjusted and underlying figures as additional performance measures. Adjusted figures primarily exclude the amortisation of acquired intangible assets and
other items related to acquisitions and disposals, and the associated deferred tax movements. In 2020, we also excluded exceptional costs in the Exhibitions business.
Reconciliations between the reported and adjusted figures are set out on page 188. Underlying growth rates are calculated at constant currencies, excluding the results of
acquisitions until 12 months after purchase, and excluding the results of disposals and assets held for sale. Underlying revenue growth rates also exclude exhibition cycling.
Constant currency growth rates are based on 2019 full-year average and hedge exchange rates.
The amortisation charge in respect of acquired intangible assets,
including the share of amortisation in joint ventures, increased
to £376m (2019: £295m). This includes impairments of £65m in
respect of acquired intangible assets in Legal and in Exhibitions.
Acquisition-related items in the year included a gain of £76m from
the revaluation of a put and call option arrangement relating to a
non-controlling interest in a subsidiary within Legal, leading to
a total credit of £12m (2019: £84m charge).
Adjusted interest expense was £160m (2019: £291m). The 2019
adjusted interest expense included a charge of £99m in respect of
the early redemption of bonds that were due to be repaid in October
2022. Reported net finance costs were £172m (2019: £305m). This
includes the net pension financing charge of £10m (2019: £12m).
Net pre-tax gain on disposals and other non-operating items were
£130m (2019: £51m) mainly relating to disposal and revaluation
gains in the Ventures portfolio.
Adjusted profit before tax was £1,916m (2019: £2,200), down 13%.
The reported profit before tax was £1,483m (2019:£1,847m).
The adjusted tax charge was £373m (2019: £388m). The 2020
charge includes the benefit of temporary relaxation of interest
deductibility restrictions in the United States. The 2019 charge
includes an £89m tax credit arising from the substantial
resolution of certain prior year tax matters.
The adjusted effective tax rate was 19.5% (2019: 17.6%). This
excludes movements in deferred taxation assets and liabilities
related to goodwill and acquired intangible assets, but includes
the benefit of tax amortisation where available on those items.
Adjusted operating profits and taxation are grossed up for the
equity share of taxes in joint ventures. The application of tax law
and practice is subject to some uncertainty and amounts are
provided in respect of this. Discussions with tax authorities
relating to cross-border transactions and other matters are
ongoing. Although the outcome of open items cannot be
predicted, no significant impact on profitability is expected.
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN
ADJUSTED CASH FLOW CONVERSION
30.7%
31.1%
31.3%
31.6%
29.2%
96%
96%
96%
96%
97%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 56
The reported tax charge was £275m (2019: £338m), including
tax associated with the exceptional charge in Exhibitions,
amortisation of acquired intangible assets, disposals and
other non-operating items.
The adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
of £1,543m (2019: £1,808m) was down 15%. Adjusted earnings
per share was 14% lower at 80.1p (2019: 93.0p). At constant rates
of exchange, adjusted earnings per share decreased by 15%.
The reported net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
was £1,224m (2019: £1,505m). Reported earnings per share
was 63.5p (2019: 77.4p).
Cash flows
Adjusted cash flow was £2,009m (2019: £2,402m), down
16% compared with the prior year and down 18% at constant
currencies. The rate of conversion of adjusted operating profit
to adjusted cash flow was 97% (2019: 96%).
CONVERSION OF ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT INTO CASH
YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER
Adjusted operating profit
Depreciation and amortisation of internally
developed intangible assets*
Depreciation of right-of-use assets
Capital expenditure
Repayment of lease principal (net)**
Working capital and other items
Adjusted cash flow
Adjusted cash flow conversion
2020
£m
2,076
341
88
(362)
(87)
(47)
2,009
97%
2019
£m
2,491
307
82
(380)
(85)
(13)
2,402
96%
* Excluding impairment charges that have already been excluded from adjusted
operating profit.
** Excludes repayments and receipts in respect of disposal-related vacant property
and is net of sublease receipts.
Capital expenditure was £362m (2019: £380m), including
£319m (2019: £333m) in respect of capitalised development costs.
This reflects sustained investment in new products and related
infrastructure across the business. Depreciation and amortisation
of internally developed intangible assets charged within adjusted
operating profit was £341m (2019: £307m). Capital expenditure
was 5.1% of revenue (2019: 4.8%) with the increase reflecting the
reduction in revenue in Exhibitions. Depreciation and amortisation
was 4.8% of revenue (2019: 3.9%). These percentages exclude
depreciation of leased right-of-use assets of £88m (2019: £82m)
and principal lease repayments under IFRS 16 of £87m
(2019: £85m).
Tax paid of £496m (2019: £464m) was higher than the current tax
charge, reflecting the timing of cash tax payments against lower
profits and the acceleration of instalment payments in the UK.
Interest paid (net) was £172m (2019: £171m). The difference from
adjusted interest expense primarily reflects the settlement of the
interest cost for the early redemption of 2022 bonds for which the
accounting charge was taken in 2019.
Of the exceptional costs in Exhibitions, £51m was paid in cash
in 2020. Payments made in respect of acquisition-related items
amounted to £67m (2019: £63m). Free cash flow before dividends
was £1,223m (2019: £1,704m). Ordinary dividends paid to
shareholders in the year, being the 2019 final and 2020 interim
dividends, amounted to £880m (2019: £842m). Free cash flow
after dividends was £343m (2019: £862m).
RECONCILIATION OF CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATIONS
TO ADJUSTED CASH FLOW
YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER
Cash generated from operations
Dividends received from joint ventures
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Expenditure on internally developed
intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Pension recovery payment
Repayment of lease principal
Proceeds from disposals of property,
plant and equipment
Adjusted cash flow
FREE CASH FLOW
YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER
Adjusted cash flow
Interest paid (net)
Cash tax paid*
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Acquisition-related items
Free cash flow before dividends
Ordinary dividends
Free cash flow post dividends
2020
£m
2,264
31
(43)
(319)
67
51
45
(87)
2019
£m
2,724
34
(47)
(333)
63
–
44
(85)
–
2
2,009
2,402
2020
£m
2,009
(172)
(496)
(51)
(67)
1,223
(880)
343
2019
£m
2,402
(171)
(464)
–
(63)
1,704
(842)
862
* Net of cash tax relief on exceptional costs and acquisition-related items and
including cash tax impact of disposals.
Total consideration on acquisitions completed in the year
was £878m (2019: £416m). Cash spent on acquisitions was
£874m (2019: £437m), including deferred consideration of £5m
(2019: £24m) on past acquisitions and spend on venture capital
investments of £2m (2019: £8m). Total consideration for disposals
of non-strategic assets was £15m (2019: £63m). Net cash inflow
after timing differences and separation and transaction costs,
and including realisation of venture capital investments, was
£29m (2019: £48m). Share repurchases in 2020 were £150m (2019:
£600m). In addition, the Employee Benefit Trust purchased shares
of RELX PLC to meet future obligations in respect of share based
remuneration totalling £37m (2019: £37m). Proceeds from the
exercise of share options were £16m (2019: £29m).
RECONCILIATION OF NET DEBT YEAR-ON-YEAR
YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER
Net debt at 1 January
Free cash flow post dividends
Net disposal proceeds
Acquisition cash spend (including
borrowings in acquired businesses)
Share repurchases
Purchase of shares by the Employee
Benefit Trust
Other*
Currency translation
Movement in net debt
Net debt at 31 December
2020
£m
(6,191)
343
29
(874)
(150)
(37)
16
(34)
(707)
2019
£m
(6,177)
862
48
(437)
(600)
(37)
(121)
271
(14)
(6,898)
(6,191)
* Distributions to non-controlling interests, pension deficit payments, leases, share
option exercise proceeds and, in 2019, impact of bond redemption.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Chief Financial Officer’s report
57
Funding
Debt
Net borrowings at 31 December 2020 were £6,898m, an increase
of £707m since 31 December 2019. Excluding currency translation
effects, net borrowings increased by £673m. Expressed in US
dollars, net borrowings at 31 December 2020 were $9,416m,
an increase of $1,205m.
Gross borrowings of £7,123m (2019: £6,414m) are comprised of
bank and bond borrowings of £6,848m (2019: £6,072m) and lease
liabilities under IFRS 16 of £275m (2019: £342m). The fair value
of related derivative net assets was £119m (2019: £52m), finance
lease receivables totalled £18m (2019: £33m) and cash and cash
equivalents totalled £88m (2019: £138m). In aggregate, these give
the net borrowings figure of £6,898m (2019: £6,191m).
The effective interest rate on gross bank and bond borrowings was
2.1% in 2020. This was 2.4 percentage points lower than the prior
year, reflecting primarily the one-off charge in 2019 relating to the
early bond redemption and the benefit of refinancing historical
bonds that had higher rates of interest combined with decreases
in market interest rates. As at 31 December 2020, gross bank
and bond borrowings had a weighted average life remaining of
5.4 years and a total of 65% of them were at fixed rates, after
taking into account interest rate derivatives. The ratio of net debt
(including leases and pensions) to EBITDA (adjusted earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was 3.3x
(2019: 2.5x), calculated in US dollars. Excluding leases and
pensions, the ratio was 2.9x (2019: 2.2x). The increase in these
leverage ratios reflects the impact of Covid-19 on Exhibitions.
Liquidity
In March 2020, €2bn of euro denominated fixed rate term debt was
issued, comprising: €700m with a coupon of 0% and a maturity of
four years, €800m with a coupon of 0.5% and a maturity of eight
years and €500m with a coupon of 0.875% and a maturity of
12 years. In May 2020, $750m of US dollar denominated fixed
rate term debt was issued, with a coupon of 3% and a maturity
of ten years. In January 2020, $950m of US term debt maturing
in October 2022 was redeemed early, in accordance with early
repayment options allowed by the terms of the bonds.
The Group has ample liquidity and access to debt capital markets,
providing the ability to repay or refinance borrowings as they
mature and to fund ongoing requirements. The Group has access
to committed bank facilities aggregating $3.6bn, with over $2.9bn
of these facilities maturing in 2023 or 2024. These facilities are
undrawn. They include a covenant limiting the ratio of net debt to
EBITDA to 3.75x, with RELX having the option once over the life of
the facilities to increase this limit to 4.25x for a 12 month period
(covering two consecutive semi-annual testing dates) following
any acquisition. For the purposes of the covenant, net debt
includes leases but excludes pensions. At 31 December 2020,
measured on the basis used in the covenant test, the ratio of
net debt to EBITDA was 2.8x.
Invested capital and returns
Net capital employed was £9,536m at 31 December 2020
(2019: £9,237m), an increase of £299m. The carrying value
of goodwill and acquired intangible assets increased by £393m.
An amount of £427m (2019: £245m) was capitalised in the year
in respect of acquired intangible assets and £570m (2019: £257m)
was recorded as goodwill. These additions were offset by
amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets
and by currency movements.
SUMMARY BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Goodwill and acquired intangible assets*
Internally developed intangible assets*
Property, plant and equipment*,
right-of-use assets* and investments
Net pension obligations
Working capital
Net capital employed
* Net of accumulated depreciation and amortisation.
2020
£m
9,405
1,244
740
(624)
(1,229)
9,536
2019
£m
9,012
1,264
695
(520)
(1,214)
9,237
Development costs of £319m (2019: £333m) were capitalised within
internally developed intangible assets, most notably investment
in new products and related infrastructure across RELX.
Net pension obligations, i.e. pension obligations less pension
assets, increased to £624m (2019: £520m). There was a net deficit
of £354m (2019: £267m) in respect of funded schemes, which were
on average 94% funded at the end of the year on an IFRS basis. The
higher deficit mainly reflects lower discount rates in the UK, partly
offset by increased asset returns.
The post-tax return on average invested capital in the year was
10.8% (2019: 13.6%). The decrease is due to the loss incurred in
RELX TERM DEBT MATURITIES AT 31 DECEMBER 2020
RETURN ON INVESTED CAPITAL
$m
611
43
1,467
850
819 917
811
978
950
750
611
0
7
13.0%
12.9%
13.2%
13.6%
10.8%
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
2031 2032
>2032
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Term debt translated at 31 December 2020 exchange rates, stated at par value
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 58
Exhibitions, an increase in capital employed due to acquisitions,
and a higher effective tax rate, partly offset by profit growth from
the other business areas.
RETURN ON INVESTED CAPITAL
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Adjusted operating profit
Tax at adjusted effective rate
Adjusted effective tax rate
Adjusted operating profit after tax
Average invested capital*
Return on invested capital
2020
£m
2,076
(405)
19.5%
1,671
15,435
10.8%
2019
£m
2,491
(438)
17.6%
2,053
15,050
13.6%
* Average of invested capital at the beginning and the end of the year, retranslated
at average exchange rates for the year. Invested capital is calculated as net capital
employed, adjusted to add back accumulated amortization and impairment of
acquired intangible assets and goodwill and to exclude the gross up to goodwill
in respect of deferred tax, and to add back exceptional restructuring costs.
Reported earnings per share and dividends
Reported earnings per share
Ordinary dividend per share
2020
£m
63.5p
47.0p
2019
£m
77.4p
45.7p
Change
-18%
+3%
The reported earnings per share was 63.5p (2019: 77.4p).
The final dividend proposed by the Board is 33.4p per share.
This gives total dividends for the year of 47.0p (2019: 45.7p),
3% higher than the prior year.
Dividend cover, being the number of times the total interim and
proposed final dividends for the year is covered by the adjusted
earnings per share, is 1.7x. The dividend policy of RELX PLC is,
over the longer term, to grow dividends broadly in line with
adjusted earnings per share, while targeting cover of at
least two times.
During 2020, a total of 7.8m of RELX PLC shares were
repurchased at an average price of 1,918p. Total consideration for
these repurchases was £150m. A further 1.8m (2019: 2.2m) shares
were purchased by the Employee Benefit Trust. As at 31 December
2020, total shares in issue, net of shares held in treasury and
shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust, amounted to 1,926m.
Distributable reserves and parent company
balance sheet
As at 31 December 2020, RELX PLC had distributable reserves
of £6.9bn (2019:£6.8bn). In line with UK legislation, distributable
reserves are derived from the non-consolidated RELX PLC
balance sheet. The consolidated reserves reflect adjustments
such as the amortisation of acquired intangible assets that are
not taken into account when calculating distributable reserves.
The parent company balance sheet net assets are higher than
those of the group due to the investment in RELX Group plc being
carried at a value of £18bn which is not reflected on the consolidated
balance sheet. The parent company balance sheet can be found on
page 182. Further information on the distributable reserves can be
found in the parent company financial statements on page 183.
Alternative performance measures
RELX uses adjusted figures, which are not defined by generally
accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) such as IFRS. Adjusted
figures and underlying growth rates are presented as additional
performance measures used by management, as they provide
relevant information in assessing the Group’s performance,
position and cash flows. We believe that these measures enable
investors to track more clearly the core operational performance
of the Group by separating out items of income or expenditure
relating to acquisitions, disposals and capital items, and by
excluding the 2020 exceptional costs in Exhibitions, as described
above. This provides our investors with a clear basis for assessing
our ability to raise debt and invest in new business opportunities.
Management uses these financial measures, along with IFRS
financial measures, in evaluating the operating performance
of the Group as a whole and of the individual business segments.
Adjusted financial measures should not be considered in isolation
from, or as a substitute for, financial information presented in
compliance with IFRS. The measures may not be directly
comparable to similarly reported measures by other companies.
Please see page 188 for reconciliations of adjusted measures.
Accounting policies
The consolidated financial statements are prepared in
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards
prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards
in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006
and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applied in the
European Union, following the accounting policies shown
in the notes to the financial statements on pages 137 to 138.
The accounting policies and estimates which require the most
significant judgement relate to the valuation of goodwill and
intangible assets, the capitalisation of development spend,
taxation and accounting for defined benefit pension schemes.
Further detail is provided in the accounting policies on pages
137 to 138 and in the relevant notes to the accounts.
Tax principles
Taxation is an important issue for us and our stakeholders,
including our shareholders, governments, customers, suppliers,
employees and the global communities in which we operate. We
have set out our approach to tax in our global tax strategy. This
incorporates our Tax Principles along with additional disclosures
around where we pay taxes and our broader contribution to society.
This is all made publicly available on our website: www.relx.com/
go/taxprinciples. We maintain an open dialogue with tax authorities,
and are vigilant in ensuring that we comply with current tax
legislation. We have clear and consistent tax policies and tax
matters are dealt with by a professional tax function, supported
by external advisers. We proactively seek to agree arm’s-length
pricing with tax authorities to mitigate tax risks of significant
cross-border operations. We actively engage with policy makers,
tax administrators, industry bodies and international institutions
to provide informed input on proposed tax measures, so that we
and they can understand how those proposals would affect our
businesses. In addition, we participate in consultations with the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(“OECD”), European bodies and the United Nations.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Chief Financial Officer’s report
59
Treasury policies
Corporate responsibility
The Board of RELX PLC agrees policies for managing treasury
risks. The key policies address security of funding requirements,
the target fixed/floating interest rate exposure for debt and foreign
currency hedging and place limits on counterparty exposures.
A more extensive summary of these policies is provided in note
18 to the financial statements on pages 162 to 167. Financial
instruments are used to finance the RELX businesses and to
hedge transactions. The Group’s businesses do not enter
into speculative transactions.
Capital and liquidity management
The capital structure is managed to support RELX’s objective
of maximising long-term shareholder value through appropriate
security of funding, ready access to debt and capital markets,
cost-effective borrowing and flexibility to fund business and
acquisition opportunities while maintaining appropriate leverage
to ensure an efficient capital structure.
Over the long-term, RELX seeks to maintain cash flow
conversion of 90% or higher and credit rating agency metrics
that are consistent with a solid investment grade credit rating.
These metrics, as defined by the rating agencies, include net
debt to EBITDA, including and excluding pensions and leases,
and various measures of cash flow as a percentage of net debt.
RELX uses the cash flow it generates to fund capital expenditure
required to drive organic growth, to make selective acquisitions
and to provide a growing dividend to shareholders, while retaining
balance sheet strength to maintain access to cost-effective
sources of borrowing. Share repurchases are undertaken to
maintain an efficient balance sheet. Further detail on capital
and liquidity management is provided on pages 162 and 163.
Climate change
At RELX, we recognise our responsibility to consider our impact on
the environment, to address climate change and to respond to the
impacts of climate change. The nature of RELX’s business means
that the environmental impact of our operations is relatively low.
Through activities such as supporting scientific research,
providing analysis of environmental law, pricing recyclable
materials, and enabling customers to access our products
electronically, we are in a position to make a positive contribution
to climate change risks. Notwithstanding our low environmental
impact, the directors have considered the risks associated with
climate change. As noted in the principal risks section, we believe
that the principal ways in which climate change could impact RELX
is through disruption to operations caused by severe weather
events, which are reflected in the Technology and Business
Resilience risk. We continue to advance climate reporting in line
with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate Related
Financial Disclosure, with relevant data and metrics included in
the corporate responsibility section of the annual report,
supported by further detail in the corporate responsibility report.
The key performance metrics for 2020 are discussed below.
In 2020, we met the five year environmental targets we set in 2015,
continuing a reduction trend accelerated by remote working due
to the global pandemic. We purchased renewable electricity
equivalent to 100% of our global electricity consumption through
European green tariff and US Green-e certified renewable energy
certificates. We reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based)
carbon emissions by 64% from a 2010 baseline and reduced our
water consumption by 54% over the same period. In our own
operations (including business travel), our emissions were net
zero in 2020 through a combination of reduced emissions and the
purchase of renewable energy and renewable energy certificates,
with the balance offset through Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
credits in a REDD+ carbon sequestration project. We engaged with
stakeholders on a new set of environmental targets for the period
2020-2025. This includes a science-based carbon target to reduce
our Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based) emissions 46% by 2025
from a 2015 baseline. In the year ahead, we will introduce an
internal carbon price on business travel.
Further, in 2020, in accordance with the Task Force on Climate-
related Financial Disclosures, we considered our energy mix and
spend in a review of our climate risks and opportunities. We also
introduced consideration of a third scenario of a 1.5°C rise in global
temperature from pre-industrial levels due to climate change,
as presented in our 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report.
Our most important environmental impact is in the environmental
knowledge we disseminate through our content, solutions and
events. In support of Time for Nature, the theme of United Nations
2020 World Environment Day, we released more than 60 Elsevier
articles and book chapters on the free RELX SDG Resource
Centre; we also produced special issues on the site for Earth
Day and World Food Day, among others. LexisNexis Risk
Solutions added more geospatial data to its Map View tool,
allowing insurance providers greater visibility on environmental
risks. LexisNexis Legal & Professional published an update
to Renewable Energy Law and Policy, covering the latest
developments in the legal landscape, future trends and sample
agreements for renewable energy transactions. Reed Exhibitions
introduced a sustainability charter in the UK with a commitment
to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations, working in
partnership with venues, suppliers, exhibitors and delegates.
In the year, we signed up to the Responsible Media Forum’s
Climate Pact with its two key commitments: setting a science-
based carbon target and advancing climate change knowledge
through our products and services.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers to meet the
same high standards we set for ourselves. In 2020, 91% of
our key suppliers were signatories to the Supplier Code.
We continued work with a specialist supply chain auditor
which undertook 99 external audits for us in 2020, including
onsite audits, remote site audits, and desktop audits.
Nick Luff
Chief Financial Officer
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 60
Principal and emerging risks
RELX has established risk management practices that are
embedded into the operations of the businesses, based on the
Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission. The
principal and emerging risks facing the business, which have
been assessed by the Audit Committee and Board, including the
risks and uncertainties relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, are
described below. The directors confirm this process is robust
and includes consideration of risks, including emerging risks,
that could threaten RELX’s business models, future performance,
solvency, liquidity or reputation.
The directors have considered the risk of climate change to the
business, including the positive contribution that RELX makes
through activities such as supporting academic research,
pricing recyclable materials, and enabling customers to access
our products electronically. The principal way in which climate
change could impact RELX is through disruption to operations
caused by severe weather events, which are reflected in the
‘technology and business resilience’ risk below.
It is not possible to identify every risk that could affect our
businesses, and the actions taken to mitigate the risks
described below cannot provide absolute assurance that a
risk will not materialise and/or adversely affect our business
or financial performance. Our risk management and internal
control processes are described in the corporate governance
section. A description of the business and a discussion of factors
affecting performance is set out in the Chief Executive Officer’s
report and the RELX business review. Our approach to the
promotion of human rights, managing corporate responsibility,
environmental and other non-financial risks is set out in the
RELX business overview and the separate Corporate
Responsibility Report.
Covid-19 pandemic
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on RELX’s business will
depend on a range of factors which we are not able to accurately
predict. Those factors include the duration and scope of the
pandemic, new information which may emerge concerning
the severity of the pandemic, the geographies impacted, changes
in worldwide economic conditions, reductions in customer
spending, disruptions and volatility in the global capital markets
and the nature, severity and duration of measures adopted by
governments to control the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our business performance and financial condition may be
adversely affected by negative changes in general economic
conditions. Further deteriorations in economic conditions, as
a result of the Covid-19 pandemic or otherwise, could lead to a
further or prolonged decline in customer demand for our products
and services and negatively impact our business. Decline or
volatility in customer demand for one or more of our products
due to cost-cutting, reduced spending, reduced activity or
delayed renewals by our customers may impact RELX’s
revenues and profits.
Containment measures that governments adopt or that we take,
such as quarantines or other travel restrictions and site closures,
may interfere with the ability of our employees, vendors and data
suppliers to perform their respective responsibilities and
obligations. In Exhibitions, the main exhibition venues in Europe
and the US remain closed. We ran physical events in the second
half of 2020 in venues that have reopened, but these may close
again. The events that have run have typically been smaller than
their prior editions.
Disruption and volatility in financial markets and capital markets
may adversely impact RELX’s access to financing or the terms of
any such financing.
These factors have had an adverse impact on our business
performance this year (in particular on our Exhibitions
business segment) and could further adversely impact our
business performance as well as having an adverse impact on
our financial condition in future years. To the extent the Covid-19
pandemic adversely affects our business performance and
financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening a
number of the other risks described below.
EXTERNAL RISKS
Risk
Description and impact
Mitigation
Economy
and market
conditions
Demand for our products and services may be adversely
impacted by factors beyond our control, such as the economic
environment in, and trading relations between, the United
States, Europe and other major economies (including the
evolution of the United Kingdom’s trading relationship with
the European Union), political uncertainties, acts of war
and civil unrest as well as levels of government and private
funding provided to academic and research institutions.
Our businesses are focused on professional markets which
have generally been more resilient in periods of economic
downturn. We deliver information solutions, many on a
subscription and recurring revenue basis, which are important
to our customers’ effectiveness and efficiency. We operate
diversified businesses in terms of sectors, markets, customers,
geographies and products and services. We have extended
our position in long-term global growth markets through
organic new launches supported by the selective acquisition
of small content and data sets. We continue to dispose of
businesses that no longer fit our strategy.
We continuously monitor economic and political developments
to assess their impact on our strategy which is designed to
mitigate these risks. In response to specific uncertainties,
our businesses engage in scenario planning and develop
contingency plans where relevant.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review 61
EXTERNAL RISKS
Risk
Description and impact
Mitigation
Intellectual
property
rights
Data
resources
and data
privacy
Paid
subscriptions
Our products and services include and utilise intellectual
property. We rely on trademark, copyright, patent and other
intellectual property laws to establish and protect our
proprietary rights in this intellectual property. There is a
risk that our proprietary rights could be challenged, limited,
invalidated or circumvented, which may impact demand for
and pricing of our products and services. Copyright laws
are subject to national legislative initiatives, as well as
cross-border initiatives such as those from the European
Commission and increased judicial scrutiny in several
jurisdictions in which we operate. This creates additional
challenges for us in protecting our proprietary rights in
content delivered through the internet and electronic platforms.
Our businesses rely extensively upon content and data from
external sources. Data is obtained from public records,
governmental authorities, customers and other information
companies, including competitors. The disruption or loss of
data sources, either because of data privacy laws or because
data suppliers decide not to supply them, may impose limits
on our collection and use of certain kinds of information about
individuals and our ability to communicate such information
effectively with our customers. Examples of data privacy
laws relating to internet communications, privacy and data
protection, e-commerce, information governance and use of
public records, include the European Union’s General Data
Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy
Act, as well as evolving regulation in many jurisdictions where
RELX operates.
Compromise of data privacy, through a failure of our cyber
security measures (see ‘cyber security’ below), other
data loss incidents or failure to comply with requirements
for proper collection, storage and transmittal of data, by
ourselves, or our third-party service providers, may
damage our reputation and expose us to risk of loss,
fines and penalties, litigation and increased regulation.
Our Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM) primary research
content, like that of most of our competitors, is sold largely
on a paid subscription basis. There is continued debate in
government, academic and library communities, which are
the principal customers for our STM content, regarding to
what extent such content should be funded instead through
fees charged to authors or authors’ funders and/or made
freely available in some form after a period following
publication. Some of these methods, if widely adopted,
could adversely affect our revenue from paid subscriptions.
We actively engage in developing and promoting the legal
protection of intellectual property rights. Our subscription
contracts with customers contain provisions regarding the
use of proprietary content. We are vigilant as to the use of
our intellectual property and, as appropriate, take legal
action to challenge illegal content distribution sources.
We seek as far as possible to have proprietary content.
Where content is supplied to us by third parties, we aim
to have contracts which provide mutual commercial
benefit. We also maintain an active dialogue with regulatory
authorities on privacy and other data-related issues,
and promote, with others, the responsible use of data.
We have established data privacy principles, governance
structures and control programmes designed to ensure
data privacy requirements are met and which protect data
and individuals’ privacy across all jurisdictions where we
operate. We have put in place and test response plans to
manage incidents where data privacy might be compromised.
We embed our data privacy principles in agreements with
third parties.
We have assurance programmes to monitor compliance
and conduct training and awareness programmes.
We engage extensively with stakeholders in the STM
community to better understand their needs and deliver
value to them. We are open to serving the STM community
under any payment model that can sustainably provide
researchers with the critical information tools that they need.
In particular, the number of articles we publish on an author
pays, open access basis is growing rapidly. We focus on the
integrity and quality of research through the editorial and
peer review process; we invest in efficient editorial and
distribution platforms and in innovation in platforms
and tools to make content and data more accessible and
actionable; and we develop our research systems to provide
capabilities to manage different payment models. We ensure
vigilance on plagiarism and the long-term preservation of
research findings.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Principal and emerging risksMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 62
STRATEGIC RISKS
Risk
Description and impact
Customer
acceptance
of products
Acquisitions
Our businesses are dependent on the continued demand
by our customers for our products and services and the
value placed on them. They operate in highly competitive
and dynamic markets, and the means of delivery, customer
demand for, and the products and services themselves,
continue to change in response to rapid technological
innovations, legislative and regulatory changes, the entrance
of new competitors, and other factors. Failure to anticipate
and quickly adapt to these changes, or to deliver enhanced
value to our customers, could impact demand for our
products and services and consequently adversely affect
our revenue or the long-term returns from our investment
in electronic product and platform initiatives.
We supplement our organic development with selected
acquisitions. If we are unable to generate the anticipated
benefits such as revenue growth and/or cost savings
associated with these acquisitions this could adversely
affect return on invested capital and financial condition
or lead to an impairment of goodwill.
Mitigation
We are focused on the needs and economics of our customers.
We gain insights into our markets, evolving customers’ needs,
the potential application of new technologies and business
models, and the actions of competitors and disrupters.
These insights inform our market strategies and operational
priorities. We continuously invest significant resources in
our products and services, and the infrastructure to support
them. We leverage user centred design and development
methods and customer analytics and invest in new and
enhanced technologies to provide content and innovative
solutions that help them achieve better outcomes and
enhance productivity.
Acquisitions are made within the framework of our overall
strategy, which emphasises organic development. We have
a well formulated process for reviewing and executing
acquisitions and for managing the post-acquisition integration.
This process is underpinned with clear strategic, financial and
ethical criteria. We closely monitor the integration and
performance of acquisitions.
OPERATIONAL RISKS
Risk
Description and impact
Technology
and business
resilience
Our businesses are dependent on electronic platforms and
networks, primarily the internet, for delivery of our products
and services. These could be adversely affected if our
electronic delivery platforms, networks or supporting
infrastructure experience a significant failure,
interruption or security breach.
Face-to-face
events
Face-to-face events are susceptible to economic cycles,
communicable diseases, severe weather events and other
natural disasters, terrorism and assignment of venues to
alternative uses. Each or any of these may impact exhibitors’
and visitors’ desire and ability to travel in person to events and
the availability of event venues. These factors each have the
potential to reduce revenues, increase the costs of organising
events and adversely affect cash flows and reputation.
Mitigation
We have established procedures for the protection of
our businesses and technology assets. These include the
development and testing of business continuity plans,
including IT disaster recovery plans and back-up delivery
systems, to reduce business disruption in the event of major
technology or infrastructure failure, terrorism or adverse
weather incidents.
We actively review our ability to host events considering
the availability of venues and national and local regulations
including those related to health, travel and security. Where
regulations permit us to hold events, we take appropriate
measures for the well being and safety of exhibitors, visitors
and employees. The physical events being run are supported
by enhanced digital services, including remote participation
by both exhibitors and attendees. In addition, we are holding
a number of standalone virtual events and are further
developing and delivering complementary digital offerings
in order to maintain our presence in the industry
communities that we serve.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review 63
OPERATIONAL RISKS
Risk
Cyber
security
Supply chain
dependencies
Talent
FINANCIAL RISKS
Risk
Pensions
Description and impact
Mitigation
Our businesses maintain online databases and platforms
delivering our products and services, which we rely on, and
provide data to third parties, including customers and service
providers. These databases and information are a target for
compromise and face a risk of unauthorised access and use
by unauthorised parties.
Our cyber security measures, and the measures used by
our third-party service providers, may not detect or prevent
all attempts to compromise our systems, which may jeopardise
the security of the data we maintain or may disrupt our
systems. Failures of our cyber security measures could result
in unauthorised access to our systems, misappropriation
of our or our users’ data, deletion or modification of stored
information or other interruption to our business operations.
As techniques used to obtain unauthorised access to or to
sabotage systems change frequently and may not be known
until launched against us or our third-party service providers
we may be unable to anticipate or implement adequate
measures to protect against these attacks, and our service
providers and customers may likewise be unable to do so.
Compromises of our or our third-party service providers’
systems, or failure to comply with applicable legislation or
regulatory or contractual requirements could adversely
affect our financial performance, damage our reputation
and expose us to risk of loss, fines and penalties, litigation
and increased regulation.
Our organisational and operational structures depend on
outsourced and offshored functions, including use of cloud
service providers. Poor performance, failure or breach of
third-parties to whom we have outsourced activities could
adversely affect our business performance, reputation
and financial condition.
The implementation and execution of our strategies and
business plans depend on our ability to recruit, motivate
and retain skilled employees and management. We compete
globally and across business sectors for talented management
and skilled individuals, particularly those with technology
and data analytics capabilities. An inability to recruit, motivate
or retain such people could adversely affect our business
performance. Failure to recruit and develop talent regardless
of gender, race or other characteristics could adversely affect
our reputation and business performance.
We have established security programmes with the aim of
ensuring that data is protected, our business infrastructures
continue to operate and that we comply with relevant
legislative, regulatory and contractual requirements.
We have governance mechanisms in place to design
and monitor common policies and standards across
our businesses.
We invest in appropriate technological and physical
controls which are applied across the enterprise in a
risk-based security programme which operates at the
infrastructure, application and user levels. These controls
include, but are not limited to, infrastructure vulnerability
management, application scanning and penetration testing,
network segmentation, encryption and logging and
monitoring. We provide regular training and communication
initiatives to establish and maintain awareness of risks at
all levels of our businesses. We have appropriate incident
response plans to respond to threats and attacks. We
maintain appropriate information security policies and
contractual requirements for our businesses and run
programmes monitoring the application of our data security
policies by third-party service providers. We use independent
internal and third-party auditors to test, evaluate and help
enhance our procedures and controls.
We select our vendors with care and establish contractual
service levels that we closely monitor, including through
key performance indicators and targeted supplier audits.
We have developed business continuity plans to reduce
disruption in the event of a major failure by a vendor.
We have well established management development and
talent review programmes. We monitor capability needs
and remuneration schemes are tailored to attract and
motivate the best talent available at an appropriate level of
cost. We actively seek feedback from employees, which feeds
into plans to enhance employee engagement and motivation.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy creates a diverse
workforce and environment that respects individuals
and their contributions.
Description and impact
Mitigation
We operate a number of pension schemes around the world,
including local versions of the defined benefit type in the UK
and the United States. The US scheme is closed to future
accruals. The UK scheme has been closed to new hires since
2010. The members who continue to accrue benefits now
represent a small and reducing portion of the overall UK
based workforce. The assets and obligations associated with
these pension schemes are sensitive to changes in the market
values of the scheme’s investments and the market-related
assumptions used to value scheme liabilities. Adverse changes
to asset values, discount rates, longevity assumptions or
inflation could increase funding requirements.
We have professional management of our pension schemes
and we focus on maintaining appropriate asset allocation
and plan designs. We review our funding requirements
on a regular basis with the assistance of independent
actuaries and ensure that the funding plans are appropriate.
We seek to manage pension liabilities by reviewing pension
benefits provided to staff as well as the structure of
scheme arrangements.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Principal and emerging risksMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 64
FINANCIAL RISKS
Risk
Tax
Treasury
Description and impact
Mitigation
We maintain an open dialogue with tax authorities and
are vigilant in ensuring that we comply with current tax
legislation. We have clear and consistent tax policies and
tax matters are dealt with by a professional tax function,
supported by external advisers. As outlined in the Chief
Financial Officer’s report on page 58 we engage with tax
authorities and international organisations. We continue
to monitor further developments arising from the OECD
process and consider potential impacts of proposals
under various scenarios. The principles we adopt in
our approach to tax matters can be found on our
website at www.relx.com/go/taxprinciples.
Our approach to capital structure and funding is described
in the Chief Financial Officer’s report on pages 54 to 59.
The approach to the management of treasury risks is
described in note 18 to the consolidated financial statements.
Our businesses operate globally, and our profits are subject
to taxation in many different jurisdictions and at differing
tax rates. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) is continuing to explore changes to the
way in which profits are allocated for tax purposes between
jurisdictions and other reforms with a view to obtaining
consensus in 2021. As a result of the OECD’s work and other
initiatives, tax laws that currently apply to our businesses
may be amended by the relevant authorities or interpreted
differently by them, and these changes could adversely
affect our reported results.
The RELX PLC consolidated financial statements are
expressed in pounds sterling and are subject to movements in
exchange rates on the translation of the financial information
of businesses whose operational currencies are other than
sterling. The United States is our most important market and,
accordingly, significant fluctuations in the US dollar exchange
rate could significantly affect our reported results. We also
earn revenues and incur costs in a range of other currencies,
including the euro and the yen, and significant fluctuations
in these exchange rates could also significantly impact our
reported results.
Macroeconomic, political and market conditions may
adversely affect the availability and terms of short and
long-term funding, volatility of interest rates, the credit
quality of our counterparties, currency exchange rates and
inflation. The majority of our outstanding debt instruments
are, and any of our future debt instruments may be, publicly
rated by independent rating agencies. Our borrowing costs
and access to capital may be adversely affected if the credit
ratings assigned to our debt are downgraded.
REPUTATIONAL RISKS
Risk
Ethics
Description and impact
Mitigation
As a global provider of professional information solutions
to the STM, risk, legal and exhibitions markets we, our
employees and major suppliers are expected to adhere to
high standards of integrity and ethical conduct, including
those related to anti-bribery and anti-corruption, fraud,
sanctions, competition and principled business conduct.
A breach of generally accepted ethical business standards
or applicable laws could adversely affect our business
performance, reputation and financial condition.
Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct is provided to every
employee and is supported by training and communication.
It encompasses such topics as competing fairly, prohibiting
corrupt business practice and fair employment practices
and encouraging open and principled behaviour. We have
well-established processes for monitoring, reporting
and investigating instances of unethical conduct. Our
major suppliers are required to adhere to our Supplier
Code of Conduct.
The Strategic Report, as set out on pages 2 to 64, has been approved by the Board of RELX PLC.
By order of the Board
Henry Udow
Company Secretary
10 February 2021
Registered Office
1-3 Strand
London
WC2N 5JR
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial review 65
Governance
In this section
66 Board Directors
68 RELX Senior Executives
70 Chair’s introduction to
corporate governance
71 Corporate Governance Review
90 Report of the Nominations Committee
93 Directors’ Remuneration Report
115 Report of the Audit Committee
118 Directors’ Report
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 66
Board Directors
Executive Directors
Non-Executive Directors
Erik Engstrom (57)
Chief Executive Officer
Sir Anthony Habgood (74)
Chair
R N C
June Felix (64)
Non-Executive Director
A C
Appointed: Chief Executive Officer of RELX
since November 2009. Joined as Chief
Executive Officer of Elsevier in 2004.
Other appointments: Non-Executive Director
of Smith & Nephew plc and Bonnier Group.
Past appointments: Prior to joining was a
partner at General Atlantic Partners. Before
that was President and Chief Operating
Officer of Random House Inc and President
and Chief Executive Officer of Bantam
Doubleday Dell, North America. Began
his career as a consultant with McKinsey.
Served as a Non-Executive Director of Eniro
AB and Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA.
Education: Holds a BSc from Stockholm
School of Economics, an MSc from the
Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm,
and gained an MBA from Harvard Business
School as a Fulbright Scholar.
Nationality: Swedish
Appointed: June 2009
Other appointments: Chair of Preqin Holding
Limited and Deputy Chair of RG Carter
Holdings Limited.
Past appointments: Previously was Chair of
the Court of the Bank of England, Whitbread
plc, Bunzl plc, Mölnlycke Health Care Limited
and Norwich Research Partners LLP and
served as Chief Executive of Bunzl plc, Chief
Executive of Tootal Group plc and a Director
of The Boston Consulting Group. Formerly
Non-Executive Director of Geest plc, Marks
and Spencer plc, National Westminster Bank
plc, Powergen plc, SVG Capital plc, and Norfolk
and Norwich University Hospitals Trust.
Education: Holds an MA in Economics from
Cambridge University, an MS in Industrial
Administration from Carnegie Mellon
University and an Honorary Doctorate of
Civil Law from the University of East Anglia.
He is a visiting Fellow at Oxford University.
Nationality: British
Appointed: October 2020
Other appointments: Chief Executive Officer
of IG Group Holdings plc. Member of the Board
of Advisers of the London Technology Club.
Past appointments: Served as a
Non-Executive Director of IG Group
Holdings plc from 2015 until the time of her
appointment as Chief Executive Officer in
October 2018. Previously she held various
executive management positions at a number
of large multinational businesses in Hong
Kong, London and New York, including
Verifone, IBM, Citibank and Chase Manhattan.
Earlier in her career, June was a strategy
consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Nationality: American
Nick Luff (53)
Chief Financial Officer
Appointed: September 2014
Other appointments: Non-Executive Director
of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc.
Past appointments: Prior to joining the
Group was Group Finance Director of Centrica
plc from 2007. Before that was Chief Financial
Officer at The Peninsular & Oriental Steam
Navigation Company (P&O) and its affiliated
companies, having previously held a number
of senior finance roles at P&O. Began his
career as an accountant with KPMG. Formerly
a Non-Executive Director of QinetiQ Group plc
and Lloyds Banking Group plc.
Education: Has a degree in Mathematics
from Oxford University and is a qualified
UK Chartered Accountant.
Nationality: British
Wolfhart Hauser (71)
Non-Executive Director
Senior Independent Director
Chair of the Remuneration Committee
R N C
Appointed: April 2013
Other appointments: Non-Executive
Director of Associated British Foods plc.
Past appointments: Chair of FirstGroup
plc until July 2019. Chief Executive Officer
of Intertek Group plc from 2005 until 2015.
Prior to that he was Chief Executive Officer
of TÜV Sud AG between 1998 and 2002
and Chief Executive Officer of TÜV Product
Service GmbH for ten years. Formerly
a Non-Executive Director of Logica plc.
Education: Holds a master’s degree in
Medicine from Ludwig-Maximilian-
University Munich and a Medical Doctorate
from Technical University Munich.
Nationality: German
Charlotte Hogg (50)
Non-Executive Director
C
Appointed: December 2019
Other appointments: Executive Vice President
and Chief Executive Officer for the European
Region of Visa Inc. Executive Director of Visa
Europe Limited. Non-Executive Director of
NowTeach and a Director of Kettlethorpe
Sport Horses Limited.
Past appointments: Chief Operating Officer
at the Bank of England. Before that Head of
Retail Banking for Santander UK, Managing
Director UK and Ireland for Experian plc,
and held senior roles at Morgan Stanley
in New York and London.
Nationality: British, American and Irish
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Board Directors
67
Marike van Lier Lels (61)
Non-Executive Director
Workforce Engagement Director
A N C
Linda Sanford (68)
Non-Executive Director
R C
Suzanne Wood (60)
Non-Executive Director
A C
Appointed: July 2015
Other appointments: Member of the
Supervisory Boards of NS (Dutch Railways),
Dura Vermeer, Post NL and Innovation Quarter.
Past appointments: Member of the
Supervisory Boards of TKH Group NV, Royal
Imtech NV, Maersk BV, KPN NV, USG People
NV and Eneco Holding NV, and Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
of the Schiphol Group. Prior to joining
Schiphol Group, was a member of the
Executive Board of Deutsche Post Euro
Express and held various senior positions
with Nedlloyd. Member of various Dutch
governmental advisory boards.
Nationality: Dutch
Appointed: December 2012
Other appointments: An independent Director
of Consolidated Edison, Inc, Pitney Bowes,
Inc and Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc.
Serves on the board of trustees of the
New York Hall of Science.
Past appointments: Senior Vice President,
Enterprise Transformation, IBM Corporation
until 2014, having joined the company in 1975.
A consultant to The Carlyle Group from 2015 to
July 2018. Formerly a Non-Executive Director
of ITT Corporation, served on the boards of
directors of The Business Council of New York
State and the Partnership for New York City,
and on the boards of trustees of the State
University of New York, St John’s University
and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Nationality: American
Appointed: September 2017
Other appointments: Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer of Vulcan Materials
Company and Non-Executive Director of
Ferguson plc.
Past appointments: Served as Group Finance
Director of Ashtead Group plc from 2012 to
2018. Chief Financial Officer of Ashtead
Group’s largest subsidiary, Sunbelt Rentals
Inc, from 2003 until 2012. Previously, she also
served as Chief Financial Officer of two US
publicly listed companies, Oakwood Homes
Corporation and Tultex Corporation.
Nationality: American
Robert MacLeod (56)
Non-Executive Director
R N C
Andrew Sukawaty (65)
Non-Executive Director
A C
Appointed: April 2016
Other appointments: Appointed as Chief
Executive of Johnson Matthey plc in June
2014 after five years as Group Finance Director.
Past appointments: Prior to joining Johnson
Matthey, spent five years as Group Finance
Director of WS Atkins plc, having joined as
Group Financial Controller in 2003. From
1993 to 2002, held a variety of senior finance
and M&A roles with Enterprise Oil plc in the
UK and US. Formerly a Non-Executive
Director of Aggreko plc.
Nationality: British
Appointed: April 2019
Other appointments: Chair of Inmarsat
and HG Capital USA.
Past appointments: He was formerly
the Senior Independent Director of Sky plc
between 2013 and 2018. Previously he
was Chair of Ziggo NV, Xyratex Group Ltd,
and Telenet Group holdings NV, and deputy
Chair of O2 plc. He also served as a
Non-Executive Director of Telefonica
Europe (following its acquisition of O2 plc)
and Powerwave Technologies Inc, and
additionally as Chief Executive of Inmarsat
plc, Sprint Corp and NTL Group Ltd.
Nationality: American
Board Committee membership key
A Audit Committee
R Remuneration Committee
N Nominations Committee
C Corporate Governance Committee
Committee Chair
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
68
RELX Senior Executives
Mark Kelsey
Chief Executive Officer
Risk
Kumsal Bayazit
Chief Executive Officer
Scientific, Technical
& Medical and Chair,
RELX Technology Forum
Mike Walsh
Chief Executive Officer
Legal
Hugh M Jones IV
Chief Executive Officer
Exhibitions
Joined in 1983. Appointed to
current position in 2012.
Joined in 2004. Appointed
to current position in 2019.
Joined in 2003. Appointed
to current position in 2011.
Joined in 2011. Appointed
to current position in 2020.
Has held a number of senior
positions across the Group over
the past 30 years. Previously
Chief Operating Officer and
then Chief Executive Officer
of Reed Business Information.
Studied at Liverpool University
and received his MBA from
Bradford University.
Previously President, Exhibitions
Europe, Chief Strategy Officer,
RELX, and Executive Vice
President of Global Strategy
and Business Development for
LexisNexis. Prior to that worked
with Bain & Company in New York,
Los Angeles, Johannesburg
and Sydney. Holds an MBA from
Harvard Business School and
is a graduate of the University
of California at Berkeley.
Previously CEO of LexisNexis
US Legal Markets and Director
of Strategic Business
Development Home Depot. Prior
to that was a practising attorney
at Weil, Gotshal and Manges in
Washington DC and served as
a consultant with The Boston
Consulting Group. Holds a Juris
Doctor degree from Harvard
Law School and is a graduate
of Yale University.
Previously Group Managing
Director, Accuity, ICIS, Cirium,
and EG within Risk. Prior to that
was Chief Executive Officer,
Accuity. Holds an MBA from the
Ross School of Business at the
University of Michigan and is a
graduate of Yale University.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | RELX Senior Executives
69
Vijay Raghavan
Director, RELX Technology Forum
and Chief Technology Officer, Risk
Henry Udow
Chief Legal Officer and
Company Secretary
Jelena Sevo
Chief Strategy Officer
Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi
Director of RELX Corporate
Affairs and Chair, Elsevier
Joined in 2002. Appointed to
current position in 2019.
Joined in 2011. Appointed
to current position at that time.
Joined in 2011. Appointed
to current position in 2019.
Joined in 2005. Appointed to
current position in 2011.
Previously Chief Legal Officer
and Company Secretary of
Cadbury plc having spent 23 years
working with the company. Prior
to that worked at Shearman &
Sterling in New York and London.
Holds a Juris Doctor degree from
the University of Michigan Law
School and a bachelor’s degree
from the University of Rochester.
Previously Director of Tax
Markets for LexisNexis UK.
Prior to that, various senior
management roles in LexisNexis
and Elsevier. Previously a
consultant at Bain & Co and Booz
Allen Hamilton. Holds an MBA
from Harvard Business School,
a master’s degree in law from
Georgetown University and a
degree in law from the
University of Belgrade.
Previously was President
and Chief Operating Officer
of Random House, founding
Chairman of Random House
Asia and Chief Operating
Officer for Ingram Book Group.
Holds an MBA from Columbia
University and is a graduate
of Princeton University.
Previously Vice President of
Technology, LexisNexis
Insurance Solutions. Prior
technology executive positions
at ChoicePoint, Paragon
Solutions, Primus Knowledge
Solutions, and McKesson. Holds
a bachelor’s degree in electrical
and electronics engineering from
the Birla Institute of Technology
and Science, Pilani, completed
an advanced management
program for executives at MIT
Sloan School of Management,
and is completing a master’s
degree in cybersecurity from the
Georgia Institute of Technology.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 70
Chair’s introduction to corporate governance
UK Corporate Governance Code compliance
As a result of RELX PLC’s premium listing on the London Stock
Exchange, it is required to describe how, during the year, it has
complied with the principles of the Code. Details of how we
have done so are set out in this report and those of the Board
Committees which follow. RELX is also required to report on
whether it has chosen to comply with each of the provisions of
the Code, or alternatively explain why it has chosen not to do so.
For 2020, the Board deemed it to be in the interests of our
stakeholders to comply with each of the provisions of the Code,
with the exception of provision 19 (length of tenure of the Chair)
and provision 38 (alignment of Executive Director pension rates
with those available to the workforce). For an explanation of how
Executive Director pension benefits are being aligned with those
of the wider workforce, please see page 71.
With regard to Chair tenure, as previously announced, I will be
stepping down from the Board on 1 March 2021, having served as
Chair since June 2009, and Paul Walker will become Chair at that
time. At the Board’s request, I agreed to remain in the role for the
whole of 2020, in order to ensure continuity of RELX Board and
governance leadership at a time of significant business
uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, travel and
face-to-face meeting restrictions put in place in the UK as a result
of the pandemic resulted in the succession process taking longer
to implement than was originally anticipated.
Board changes and effectiveness
Following Adrian Hennah’s departure in April, June Felix joined
the Board as a Non-Executive Director in October, and has since
become a member of our Audit and Corporate Governance
Committees. She brings considerable relevant strategic and
operational experience acquired from her current and previous
executive roles, including a deep understanding of the financial
services sector, technology and healthcare. She also brings
strong international experience. Suzanne Wood was appointed
as Chair of the Audit Committee, having served for nearly three
years as a member.
As Chair, I am responsible for ensuring that the effectiveness
of the Board, its Committees and each individual Director is
evaluated annually. For 2020, the process was facilitated by an
independent external evaluator, Lorna Parker. The outcome of
the evaluation confirmed that the Board and Committees continue
to operate effectively, and that all of our Directors continue to
demonstrate commitment to their role. Further detail on the
Board evaluation outcomes can be found on page 86.
Sir Anthony Habgood
Chair
10 February 2021
The maintenance of high
standards of corporate
governance is consistent with
our wider RELX culture of acting
with integrity in all that we do.
Our governance framework
The Board believes that effective governance practices are
fundamental in supporting RELX’s ability to create, protect and
ultimately deliver long-term shareholder value. The maintenance
of high standards of corporate governance is consistent with our
wider RELX culture of acting with integrity in all that we do. It also
provides confidence to our many and varied stakeholders that the
governance of the Group is appropriate for its size and profile as
a listed company, helps to manage our risks and opportunities,
ensures that our key stakeholders are appropriately considered in
the decisions that we make, and improves our corporate reputation.
Covid-19
During 2020, one of the Board’s key priorities was to respond to
the challenges faced by RELX as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,
with a focus on ensuring the health and safety of our colleagues,
our customers and the wider communities in which we operate,
whilst continuing to operate our businesses, providing solutions
and services to our customers and value for our stakeholders.
The Board was frequently updated on the impact the pandemic
was having on the financial performance of each business area.
It also received frequent updates on the Group’s balance sheet
strength and liquidity, management of risks arising as a result of
the pandemic, and how the pandemic was affecting the markets
in which we operate and the customers we serve.
Stakeholder engagement
The Board remained focused throughout the year on the well-being
of our workforce, many of whom had to operate in unfamiliar or
challenging circumstances during the year. In furtherance of this,
the Board was able to leverage existing workforce engagement
processes and activities, which are set out in more detail on page
79. During the year, the Directors also placed particular emphasis
on hearing the views of RELX’s suppliers, and received related
presentations from both our Head of Purchasing and Chief Strategy
Officer. The Board continued to oversee our substantial corporate
responsibility programme, and also maintained its focus on
RELX’s environmental, social and governance activities, reflecting
the increasing prioritisation of this area by our stakeholders,
including the wider investment community.
Board decision-making
The Board’s significant decisions during the year, and its
considerations in making them, are set out on pages 75 to 77.
Those pages are incorporated into the Board’s Section 172
Statement for 2020 set out on page 39, and therefore into the
RELX Strategic Report. They explain how the Board’s
decision-making during the year has promoted the success
of the Company having regard, amongst other things, to those
matters set out in Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
71
Corporate Governance Review
Overview
The shares of RELX PLC are traded through its primary listing on
the London Stock Exchange and its secondary listing on Euronext
Amsterdam, whilst its securities are also traded on the New York
Stock Exchange under its American Depositary Share programme.
Corporate governance compliance statements
The 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) applied
to RELX PLC (the Company) during the year.
The Company has complied with the provisions of the Code
throughout the year ended 31 December 2020, with the
exception of provision 19 (length of tenure of the Chair)
and provision 38 (alignment of executive director pension
contribution rates with those available to the workforce).
As previously announced, Sir Anthony Habgood will be
stepping down from the Board on 1 March 2021 and Paul
Walker will become Chair as of that date. For an explanation
regarding the tenure of our Chair, please see page 70.
The value of pension benefits for current Executive Directors
has decreased over the last several years, and continues
to decrease. They will transition from their current
arrangements to the level of pension benefits provided under
the Company’s regular defined contribution plans (currently
capped at 11% in the UK) by the end of next year (2022), in line
with the recommendations of the Investment Association.
Notwithstanding provision 38 of the Code, the Board viewed
it as appropriate that there be a phased transition of existing
pension benefits for Executive Directors . The current
Remuneration Policy, which was approved by shareholders
at the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and applies for
three years from the date of approval, includes a pension
policy for any newly appointed Executive Directors which
is aligned to the general workforce. The pension benefits
received by the Executive Directors in 2020 were in line with
the terms of the Directors’ Remuneration Policy.
A description of how the Company has applied the main
principles of the Code is set out on pages 71 to 117.
A copy of the Code can be found on the FRC website at
www.frc.org.uk
The Company and its Directors are required by the Code and
UK Companies Act 2006 (the Act) to make certain statements
and provide confirmations in relation to provisions contained
within them. The locations of those statements are as follows:
§ Pages 5, 14 to 37, 60 to 64, and 71 to 73 for a description of how
opportunities and risks to the future success of the business
have been considered and addressed, the sustainability of
RELX’s business model and how its governance contributes
towards the delivery of its strategy
§ Page 74 to 75 for an explanation of the Board’s activities in
assessing and monitoring RELX’s culture
§ Page 47 to 48 for an explanation of RELX’s approach to
investing in and rewarding its workforce
§ Page 39 for RELX’s Section 172 Statement and pages 75 to 82
for a description of the Board’s principal decisions during the
year and how the interests of RELX’s key stakeholders and the
matters set out in Section 172 of the Act were considered in
Board discussions and decision-making
§ Page 60 to 64 for confirmation that the Directors have carried
out a robust assessment of the emerging and principal risks
facing RELX, including a description of its principal risks,
what procedures are in place to identify emerging risks, and
an explanation of how these are being managed or mitigated
§ Page 88 for confirmation that the Annual Report and Accounts
is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the
information necessary for shareholders to assess RELX’s
position and performance, business model and strategy
§ Page 89 for an explanation of how the Directors have assessed
the prospects of RELX, taking into account its current position
and its emerging and principal risks
§ Page 88 for the statement on the status of RELX as a going
concern
Application of UK Corporate Governance
Code Principles
Our governance framework
RELX has in place a corporate governance framework of
processes, leadership bodies and supporting documentation
to ensure that it is appropriately led, directed and controlled.
It brings clarity to those who work for RELX, both in respect of
what they are expected to deliver through the setting of strategic
and financial objectives, and the values, standards and principles
that they must act in accordance with in the course of delivering
those objectives. It is also designed to safeguard and enhance
long-term shareholder value, and to provide a foundation on
which RELX can meet its strategic priorities. Our internal control
and risk management arrangements, described on pages 86 to 87,
are a central part of our governance framework.
The framework also helps our organisation to run efficiently by
giving clear instructions on decision-making processes and
authorities, allowing effective use of our resources whilst
facilitating appropriate levels of oversight and involvement for
the Board and its Committees. It exists to support our businesses
as they grow and develop, and to ensure that decisions made by
them are consistent with RELX’s risk appetite, as set by the Board
and implemented by senior management. It therefore reflects
a number of considerations. These include the appropriate
implementation of systems and processes which define the
rights, responsibilities and accountabilities of individuals
throughout RELX, compliance with statutory and regulatory
requirements that apply to RELX, the protection of our reputation
and meeting our own expectations to act with integrity in all we
do. It also seeks to allow our four business area organisations to
operate with the speed, agility and flexibility required to address
the needs of their customers in a timely and responsive manner.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 72
Our purpose, strategy, values and culture
Board leadership
The RELX PLC Board is grateful to Sir Anthony Habgood, who
will be stepping down from the Board on 1 March 2021, after
over 11 years as Chair of the Board. The Board thanks him for
the valuable leadership he has provided during a period which
has seen significant shareholder value creation, growth and
development for the organisation and recognition of RELX as a
leader in Environmental, Social and Governance activities. He
leaves RELX with the Board’s very best wishes for the future.
The Board is responsible for promoting the long-term sustainable
success of RELX, whilst seeking to add value for our key
stakeholders. It has oversight of RELX’s financial performance,
its systems of risk management, internal control and corporate
governance. It discharges its responsibilities through a
programme of meetings, at which strategy-related issues are
regularly discussed. The Board’s strategy discussions are
supported by a dedicated annual strategy review process, which
holistically assesses RELX’s strategic position and its key
strategic options. The Board’s annual agendas ensure that there
is sufficient time to discuss and develop strategic proposals. The
Board also routinely discusses potential opportunities for growth,
informed by its review of RELX’s products and markets, as well as
through presentations it frequently receives from senior
management leaders and RELX product specialists, during deep
dives into individual business units or other areas which are
regarded as being of strategic importance.
There is a clearly defined schedule of matters reserved for the
Board’s decision-making, through which it has sole authority
to approve RELX’s strategy and annual budget, ensuring that
necessary resources are in place for RELX to meet its objectives.
It also sets supporting financial and non-financial targets,
approves RELX’s purpose and values and satisfies itself that our
culture is aligned with these. Also reserved for the Board’s
decision-making are other matters which are deemed material
to either the delivery of strategy, or RELX’s future financial
performance. These include the approval of material acquisitions,
major capital expenditure and investment, RELX’s financial
statements and its dividend policy.
The Board periodically reviews and approves RELX’s Operating
and Governance Principles document, which clearly stipulates
the relationship between risk, internal policies and control
procedures as they apply across RELX and serves as a first
reference point for management. Our control procedures follow
the three lines of defence model as set out on page 87.
Purpose
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and
decision tools for professional and business customers. Our
primary corporate purpose is to add value for our professional
and business customers, enabling them to make better decisions,
get better results and be more productive. Specifically, we are
focused on helping our customers further science and health,
prevent fraud, promote the rule of law and justice and bring
together business communities to learn about markets, source
products and complete transactions. In pursuing this purpose,
we are mindful of a wide range of stakeholders, including, but
not limited to, employees, customers, suppliers and business
partners, and the communities in which we operate, as well as
providing a return for shareholders that permits us to attract
capital and further invest in the future.
Strategy
Our number one strategic priority is the organic development
of increasingly sophisticated information-based analytics and
decision tools that deliver enhanced value to professional
business customers across the industries that we serve. We aim
to achieve leading positions in long-term global growth markets
and leverage our skills, assets and resources across RELX, both to
build solutions for our customers and to pursue cost-efficiencies.
We are systematically migrating all of our information solutions
across RELX towards higher value-add decision tools, adding
broader data sets, embedding more sophisticated analytics and
leveraging more powerful technology, primarily through organic
development. We are transforming our core business, building
out new products and expanding into higher growth adjacencies
and geographies. We are supplementing this organic development
with selective acquisitions of targeted data sets and analytics, and
assets in high-growth markets that support our organic growth
strategies and are natural additions to our existing business.
By focusing on evolving the fundamentals of our business we
believe that, over time, we are improving our business profile
and the quality of our earnings. Apart from the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic, this strategy has led to more predictable
revenues through a better asset mix and geographic balance;
a higher growth profile as we expand in higher growth segments,
exit from structurally challenged businesses, and gradually
reduce the drag from print format declines; and improved returns
by focusing on organic development with strong cash generation.
Values
We operate in an open, honest and principled way as outlined
in our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and require our
suppliers to meet the same standards. We believe in doing the
‘RIGHT’ thing: Respecting each other, Incorporating ethics into
all our actions, Growing our business with integrity, Holding
ourselves and each other accountable, and taking the Time to
ask questions and report concerns.
Culture
As an information-based analytics and decision tool provider, our
corporate culture is fact based, data-driven and analytical. We are
transparent and non-political in our decision-making. We prioritise
corporate responsibility and value acting with integrity, benefiting
from inclusiveness and diversity and being passionate about
remaining focused on customer outcomes. Our culture encourages
community engagement and environmental responsibility.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 73
Directors’ external commitments
Each Director’s external commitments are monitored on an
ongoing basis to ensure that they have sufficient time to devote
to their role at RELX. Following a review by the Nominations
Committee, the Board has noted the changes in external
appointments of each Director during the year and does not
perceive these to have any impact on their independence or
responsibilities to the Company.
When receiving recommendations from the Nominations
Committee for the appointment of any new Non-Executive
Director, the Board always takes into account other demands on
a potential Director’s time. The Non-Executive Director letter of
appointment sets out the expected time commitment required
by the Company from Non-Executive Directors.
Directors’ conflicts of interest
The Company’s Articles of Association allow the Board to review
and authorise situations where a Director has an interest that
conflicts, or may possibly conflict, with those of RELX, and further
to impose any conditions on that authorisation. The Board has in
place formal procedures to appropriately manage any actual or
potential conflicts of interest identified.
Board Committees
The governance framework also enables the Board to delegate
a number of other responsibilities to its principal Committees,
allowing it time to focus on key matters. The responsibilities
are set out within the Terms of Reference for each Committee,
which can be found on our website at
The membership and activities of the Committees are described
on pages 83, and 90 to 117.
www.relx.com.
Delegated authorities
There are additionally a number of approved delegated authorities
in place from the Board to the Chief Executive Officer and other
Senior Executives which relate principally to the day-to-day
management of the business. The Senior Executive team
supports the Chief Executive Officer in the performance of his
duties. Further delegated authorities and rules are applicable
to each business area.
Our Committees support the Board in delivering RELX’s strategy.
The work of the Remuneration Committee ensures that our
executive and senior management teams are appropriately
incentivised to deliver RELX’s strategic objectives, and also that
we can retain our best talent to deliver these. Our Nominations
Committee regularly reviews the composition of the Board and
the Committees, ensuring that they have the right balance of skills
to set an effective strategy, and provide appropriate levels of
constructive challenge and oversight of management in
implementing its delivery. It also oversees that there is a healthy
and diverse pipeline of talent in place for those positions deemed
critical to the delivery of RELX’s strategic objectives.
The Audit Committee, through reports from management,
internal audit and the external auditor, provides independent
assurance that business processes which underpin the delivery
of our strategy operate as intended, are fit for purpose, and
generate reliable management information. This ensures that
decisions made by the Board in respect of strategy are taken on
the basis of correct information and assumptions. The Audit
Committee also reviews the process by which risks to the delivery
of strategy are continuously monitored, assessed and mitigated.
The Board also has a major role in setting RELX’s values through
its approval of our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, and
ensuring that these support and are aligned with delivery of the
approved strategy. It considers the Company’s key stakeholders
in its decision-making, as set out on pages 78 to 82, and ensures
that RELX’s workforce policies and practices support its
long-term sustainable success.
Board induction and development
The Chair and Company Secretary are responsible for ensuring
that an effective induction programme takes place for all new
Directors. Following appointment and as required, all Directors
receive a full, formal and tailored induction, which is designed
to meet individual requirements based on knowledge and
experience. During the year, Charlotte Hogg (appointed in
December 2019) and June Felix (appointed in October 2020) took
part in induction programmes. They were provided with a
comprehensive briefing pack which covered a broad range of
topics, and included information on RELX’s businesses, as well
as historical board papers and minutes. Both Ms Hogg and
Ms Felix met with a number of senior managers from key
corporate functions and each of RELX’s business areas, to assist
in developing an in-depth understanding of our operations.
The induction processes were adapted to reflect the restrictions
in place throughout the year as a result of Covid-19. This involved
excluding visits to the offices of RELX’s main business areas, which
would otherwise have taken place as part of the programme.
It is important for the Directors to regularly refresh and update
their skills and knowledge to help them discharge their
responsibilities effectively. The Board’s annual programme
contains activities designed to provide the Directors with
opportunities to keep up to date with developments in key
business areas, including several deep dive business reviews
and onsite visits to our main office locations, when possible.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 74
Board Committees
The structure of the Board’s main Committees and a summary of their key responsibilities are set out below. All of the Committees
have written Terms of Reference, which are available on our website,
www.relx.com.
Board Committees are principally supported by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Company
Secretary, and the Chief Human Resources Officer, although senior managers within the Group are invited to attend meetings
where appropriate. The Board’s annual programme and the agendas for the Committees are prepared by their respective
Chairs with support from the Company Secretary.
The Board
Audit Committee
Responsible for the oversight
of financial reporting, risk
management and internal
control policies, and the
effectiveness of the internal
and external audit processes.
The Committee comprises only
independent Non-Executive
Directors.
Remuneration Committee
Responsible for approving the
Remuneration Policy for, and
setting the remuneration of,
the Group’s Executive Directors,
the Chair, and Senior Executives
below Board level. The
Committee comprises only
Non-Executive Directors.
Nominations Committee
Responsible for keeping under
review the composition of the
Board and its Committees; the
recruitment of new Directors;
ensuring orderly succession
plans for both the Board and
senior management; and
overseeing the Board
evaluation, and reporting on
inclusion and diversity. The
Committee comprises only
Non-Executive Directors.
Corporate Governance
Committee
Responsible for developing
and recommending corporate
governance principles to the
Board; reviewing ongoing
developments and best practice
in corporate governance, and
monitoring the structure
and operation of the Board
Committees. The Committee
comprises only Non-Executive
Directors.
Report of the Audit
Committee page 115
Directors’ Remuneration
Report page 93
Report of the Nominations
Committee page 90
Culture and workforce policies
Our culture
Following its review of RELX’s culture, the Board was able to
satisfy itself that this supported and was aligned with our purpose,
strategy and values. A summary of each can be found on page 72.
As part of its assessment process, the Board reviewed the results
of employee surveys completed across the Company’s business
areas during the year. The results of the surveys provided an
employee assessment and perspective on RELX’s culture, its
approach to inclusion and diversity and provided feedback on
RELX’s response to the challenges faced by employees in the
course of their work as a result of Covid-19.
The Board was provided with employee Net Promoter Scores from
additional surveys completed by our four business areas, which
it discussed with the executive management of those areas.
Following its review, the Board noted and acknowledged that
whilst RELX standards and values are defined on a group-wide
basis, culture across its business areas and geographies will,
of course, vary to some degree.
Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct provides clear direction
towards achieving a positive culture across RELX and reminds our
employees of the policies, procedures, values and behaviours that
shape our culture and the way we conduct our business. It is kept
under review by the Board, and approved by it on a triennial basis.
The Board is periodically updated by RELX’s Chief Compliance
Officer on breaches of our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct.
It receives reports on the volume, type and circumstances
surrounding substantiated violations, actions taken and
lessons learnt.
The Board, through the work of the Audit Committee, also
received updates on the compliance programmes designed
to ensure that our workforce understands and acts in accordance
with RELX’s defined values and standards, and on related
employee training participation in areas which support RELX’s
culture of integrity, our Do The Right Thing programme and
dedicated Compliance Week, and our systems which allow our
workforce to raise concerns confidentially or anonymously.
The Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management regularly presents
to the Audit Committee on the results of internal audits across our
business areas, providing the Board with an insight into culture both
across the Group, and within individual business areas.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance
75
The Board also received a presentation from the Chief Human
Resources Officer, which highlighted the role of the Code of
Ethics and Business Conduct in contributing to RELX’s culture,
and summarised the metrics that assist the Board in assessing
RELX’s culture, including voluntary and involuntary employee
turnover, levels of employee engagement, and demographics
by age, gender, tenure and ethnicity (where data is available,
representing 60% of our employees). It also received detailed
feedback from RELX’s Workforce Engagement Director on
employee views and perspectives regarding how RELX
operates, including its activities and culture. Further details
on the Workforce Engagement programme and its outcomes
can be found on page 79.
Workforce policies and practices
During the year, the Board reviewed RELX’s policies, practices,
objectives and activities related to recruitment, training and
development, promotion and performance management in order
to ensure that these supported, encouraged and incentivised
our workforce to adhere to and operate in accordance with
RELX’s values.
The Board also continued to place a significant focus on RELX’s
approach to inclusion and diversity, and received a detailed update
from the Chief Human Resources Officer on RELX’s agenda in this
area. The Board approved the RELX Inclusion and Diversity Policy
early in the year, which highlights the importance of inclusion and
diversity to RELX’s future. The Board understands that RELX needs
the contributions of people from a wide range of backgrounds, with
different experiences and ideas to achieve real innovation for our
customers around the world. The Board also reviewed RELX’s
diversity-related activities, and 2021 objectives within areas
such as inclusion and diversity, governance, inclusive leadership
training, disability inclusion, pay equity and gender balance.
An explanation of the Company’s approach to investing in and
rewarding its workforce can be found within the Corporate
Responsibility Report on page 47 to 48.
Board decision-making
The Directors of RELX PLC – and those of all UK companies – must
act in accordance with their duties under the Act. These include a
fundamental duty to promote the success of the Company for the
benefit of its members as a whole.
The information which follows on pages 75 to 82 describes how, in
performing their duties during the year, the Directors have had
regard to the matters set out in Section 172(1) (a) to (f) of the Act.
This section is incorporated by reference into the RELX 2020
Section 172 Statement on page 39 of the Strategic Report.
Long-term decision-making (s.172)
The Board delegates day-to-day management and decision-
making to its senior management team, but it maintains oversight
of the Company’s performance, and reserves to itself specific
matters for approval, including significant new business initiatives,
and major acquisitions and disposals. Through regular updates on
business objectives, initiatives and progress, the Board monitors
that management is acting in accordance with agreed strategy.
There are processes in place to ensure that the Board receives
all relevant information at the right time, and the annual
programme is designed to assist in enhancing the Board’s
understanding of RELX’s business. As a result of the economic
uncertainty created by Covid-19, there has been a significant
Board focus on safeguarding RELX’s long-term viability, and
to ensure that it identifies and mitigates against principal and
emerging risks arising from the pandemic which could prevent
the successful execution of our strategy.
In 2020, the Board:
§ received frequent presentations on RELX’s businesses from
the business area CEOs, which included review and discussion
concerning actual performance through the year and estimated
full-year outturns incorporating a range of assumptions
concerning the possible short-, medium- and long-term impact
of Covid-19 on business conditions and the wider global economy
§ through ongoing discussion with the business leaders and
the Chief Strategy Officer, determined strategic priorities for
a three-year period, and the development of robust supporting
operating plans. A two-day Strategy Review was held in
September 2020 to debate and determine a three-year
strategy plan for 2021-2023
§ considered RELX’s principal and emerging risks, with a
particular focus given to how these changed or had their risk
profile impacted by Covid-19. As a result, the specific risks
associated with face-to-face events were recognised as a
separate principal risk, as shown on page 62. Separate to the
impact of Covid-19, the customer demand for our products
and market disruption risks were merged into a single risk,
reflecting their close existing interrelationship
§ given the importance to our business of holding and protecting
information and data, reviewed RELX’s systems and processes
in place to mitigate against data protection and cyber security
risk. The Board and the Audit Committee received presentations
from the Group Head of Information Assurance and Data
Protection, including on how risk in this area was being impacted
by Covid-19 (such as, for example, by the Group’s employees,
customers and suppliers working from home)
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 76
§ conducted comprehensive reviews of the Group’s invested
capital and capital structure. This embraced financial
performance, our acquisitions history and prospects, net
debt, target returns, credit ratings and forecasts, and financial
market conditions. As a result, the Board took measures to
adjust existing treasury policies and constitutional borrowing
limits, to reflect the current size and scale of RELX’s
operations, the strengthening of the euro and the dollar against
sterling in recent years, and the need for RELX to ensure that
it had ample liquidity and access to debt capital markets
moving forward as a result of the economic uncertainty caused
by Covid-19. As a result, the Board approved an increase in the
Group’s limit for the amount of term debt maturing in any
12-month period from $1.5bn to $2.0bn, and as approved by
shareholders at the Company’s General Meeting in May 2020,
a borrowing limit specified in RELX PLC’s Articles of
Association was increased from £8bn to £12bn
§ carefully considered a range of scenarios in assessing the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on business performance,
and following a review of financial sensitivity reverse
stress-testing, budgets and capital allocation forecasts,
considered RELX’s Going Concern Statement (as set out on
page 88) and Viability Statement (as set out on page 89). The
Board took action to ensure that appropriate and cost-effective
financial instruments were in place to meet the long-term
funding requirements of the Group, as well as to maintain
substantial financial covenant headroom across a range of
scenarios covering the short- and medium-term impact of
Covid-19. The Board approved the issuance of €2bn of fixed
rate term debt in March 2020 and $750m of fixed rate term debt
in May 2020. Consideration of variable market conditions and
uncertainty related to Covid-19, forecasted future business
performance, projected investor subscription demand and the
Group’s levels of net debt were all factors considered as part
of the Board’s decision-making relating to the amount, timing,
form and issuing currency for these debt issuances
§ considered and approved acquisition and disposal proposals.
In doing so, the Board carefully examined the strategic
rationale of proposals and the value forecasted to be added to
RELX by them over a defined future period. It also conducted
an annual acquisition review process in which historical
acquisitions are reviewed including their financial performance
and strategic value
§ considered Board succession planning and the resultant
impact on Committee memberships. Through reports from
the Nominations Committee, the Board monitored the search
process for two Board positions during the year, and approved
the appointment of Paul Walker and June Felix as Chair and
Non-Executive Director, respectively
§ through the work of the Remuneration Committee reviewed
remuneration for the Executive Directors and business
leaders, to ensure that both short- and longer term incentives
are aligned with Company and stakeholder interests, and
Company values and culture. The Board also received updates
on internal talent reviews, career progression plans and
management succession plans, which contribute towards
building leadership capabilities and solid succession pipelines
§ reviewed our group-wide Inclusion and Diversity Policy, and
monitored its implementation. Through the work of the
Workforce Engagement Director, the Board also received
updates on workforce engagement activities globally, which
aim to further develop a motivated and aligned workforce.
For more details, please see page 92
§ made the decision to suspend the Group’s share buyback
programme, following the completion of £150m of buybacks
by late April 2020. This decision was taken in light of the
uncertain business environment created by Covid-19, and
was reviewed by the Board throughout the year
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 77
Reputation for high standards of business conduct (s.172)
The Board is responsible for developing a corporate culture
across RELX which promotes integrity and transparency, and
encourages the behaviours we expect from our people. It has
established comprehensive systems of corporate governance,
and approves policies and procedures which promote corporate
responsibility and ethical behaviour.
In 2020, the Board:
§ received and endorsed a comprehensive report from the
Group Head of Corporate Responsibility outlining activities
throughout RELX, designed to progress our unique
contributions to society, strengthen governance and
compliance, advance customer relationships, ensure an
ethical supply chain and reach environmental targets.
The Board approved RELX’s annual Corporate Responsibility
Report, and directed that continuing focus be given by
management to RELX’s environmental, social and governance
objectives and activities, and ongoing developments around the
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
§ approved the Company’s Modern Slavery Act Statement
describing the steps it had taken to ensure that slavery and
human trafficking were not taking place in the context of
business carried out in 2020
Acting fairly as between members of the Company (s.172)
The Board aims to understand the views of its shareholders
and always to act in their best interests.
In 2020, the Board:
§ approved a range of activities designed to enhance value for
all shareholders. Notwithstanding the impact of Covid-19, after
considering various scenarios and factors, including trading
conditions, balance sheet strength, short- and medium-term
liquidity, cash flow requirements and feedback from investors
on dividend expectations, the Board declared an unchanged
interim dividend of 13.6p per share, and an increased final
dividend for 2020 of 33.4p per share
§ carefully considered and determined to hold the 2020 AGM
as a closed meeting, to adhere to the guidance of the UK
government and to protect the health and safety of
shareholders and our employees. The meeting was held on
23 April 2020 with the minimum quorum of two attendees,
with voting being conducted by proxy. Recognising the
importance of the opportunity for shareholders to directly
interact with Directors, a post-AGM audiocast was organised,
in which the Chair, Sir Anthony Habgood, responded to
questions submitted to the Company by shareholders in
advance of the AGM
§ approved, as part of the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts
process, statements describing how the Company had
applied the principles of the Code during the year
§ received regular investor relations updates and feedback
from investors through direct engagements. For more details
please see Investors section on page 78
§ considered and approved our RELX Tax Principles that
support our culture of acting with integrity in all that we do
§ approved, as appropriate, actual and potential Director’s
conflicts of interest
§ received a presentation from the Chief Compliance Officer
on the process in place through which RELX employees can
confidentially (and anonymously should they so choose) submit
concerns to the Company. These include, but are not limited to,
breaches of the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 78
Stakeholder engagement
During the year, the Board considered our key stakeholders as a specific agenda item, and concluded that our list of key stakeholders
remains unchanged from 2019, as set out below. It also confirmed that it had adequate visibility of the views of key stakeholders and
considered these in its decision-making. Further detail on the nature and results of RELX’s engagement with its key stakeholders
is included throughout our 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report.
Stakeholder: Investors
Why effective
engagement is
important:
Engagement with our investors helps them to understand our strategy, performance and governance
arrangements, and to make informed and effective investment decisions concerning RELX. It also makes clear our
prioritisation of the long-term in our decision-making and focus on delivery of consistent financial performance.
Our investors provide us with input and feedback concerning the development and implementation of our strategy,
and we consider their views when making investment decisions.
Principal forms of
engagement with
our investors in
2020, the outcomes
of this engagement,
how this is fed back
to the Board, and
how it impacted
Board decision-
making in 2020:
Engagement with our investors is undertaken by the Chair, the Senior Independent Director, Chief Executive
Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Investor Relations and the Director of Corporate Responsibility, as well
as through our dedicated Investor Relations, Corporate Responsibility and Treasury teams. The Board receives
regular updates on these interactions, which include key issues raised by investors, and discussions and outcomes
from the completion of investor roadshows and ad hoc meetings with institutional shareholders on significant
issues and our recent and proposed activities. The Board also receives an update on investor relations as a
standing item at its meetings which includes: the Group’s share price performance, its total shareholder
return performance and a review of analyst comments made in response to our scheduled results releases.
RELX’s material communications to its investors, such as its trading results and updates, other regulatory
announcements, our Annual Report and Accounts and Notice of AGM must be reviewed and approved by the
Board under our corporate governance framework. As an alternative to direct interactions at the AGM, the
Board encouraged shareholders to submit questions prior to it taking place. A number of questions were
received and answered during the Chair’s audiocast on the day of the meeting.
Our engagement processes confirmed that RELX’s strategic and financial priorities are well understood by
investors. They generally appreciate the consistency of RELX’s strategy, and our focus on the organic development
of information-based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our professional and business
customers. The Board considered this when approving the RELX three-year strategy plan for 2021-2023, which
leaves our strategic focus (as set out on page 72), and our priority use of cash generated by the Group, broadly
unchanged. The Board also reviewed investor views on strategy when approving investment decisions, including
those relating to new or emerging technologies, or acquisitions which were completed in 2020. Our investors’
focus has been on the impact of Covid-19 in four key areas: the resilience of our business model and any long-term
impact of Covid-19; the in-year and future performance of our businesses; ensuring that RELX has sufficient
liquidity and balance sheet strength to be viable over the long-term; and shareholder returns through our
interim and final dividends, and our share buyback programme. Our investors vary substantially in their
reasons for investing in RELX and in their appetite for risk. The Board considered these differing interests
in its decision-making during the year.
The Group’s response to investor interest regarding the performance of our businesses was considered and
addressed by the Board in its approval of our full-year and interim results announcements, and quarterly
updates to the market. These highlighted the resilience of our Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM), Risk and
Legal businesses, which held up well in the face of the pandemic, with good growth in electronic revenues,
whilst acknowledging the significant current and future disruption faced by our Exhibitions business as a result
of Covid-19 and associated restrictions put in place at a local level. In respect of our shareholder returns, the Board
considered a range of investor and analyst views, balancing the impact of returns against stakeholder interests in
other key RELX financial metrics. As a result of its deliberations, the Board declared an 2020 interim dividend of
13.6p per share (unchanged from the 2019 interim dividend rate), a final dividend of 33.4p per share, and suspended
the Group’s share buyback programme, having completed £150m of the £400m initially approved at the beginning
of 2020.
Similarly, in making the decision to issue debt securities in the first half of the year, the Board considered investor
views and risk appetite relating to the Group’s viability, security of funding, liquidity and balance sheet strength.
As a result, all of the Group’s debt security issuances were issued or put in place in the first half of 2020, giving the
Group ample liquidity and balance sheet strength, and providing further comfort to the Directors when approving
the Group’s 2020 Going Concern and Viability Statements.
The Board has also considered the views of the wider investment community when approving areas of focus for
RELX’s environmental, social and governance activities, including actions that RELX can take to mitigate against
the impact of climate change. It also considered RELX’s approach to compliance with the requirements of the
Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures as a standalone agenda item for the first time in 2020.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 79
Stakeholder: Employees
Why effective
engagement is
important:
Principal forms of
engagement with
our employees in
2020, the outcomes
of this engagement,
how this is fed back
to the Board, and
how it impacted
Board decision-
making in 2020:
Our people are essential to our future growth, and our aim to successfully build long-term leading positions in
global growth markets. We continue to invest substantial time and effort to employ and retain employees who are
passionate about our markets and have up-to-date knowledge and world-class expertise in our key functional areas.
An inability to recruit, motivate and retain skilled employees and management could adversely affect our business
performance, as we compete globally and across business sectors for talented management and skilled individuals,
particularly those with technology and data analytics capabilities. Talent is set out as a RELX principal risk on page
63. Our mitigation of this risk is partly achieved through actively seeking feedback from employees, understanding
their key challenges and concerns, and where we can, working with them to address these.
Engagement with employees at all levels takes place as a result of the management structure embedded
throughout RELX, with employee feedback then cascaded up through management levels, and significant issues
relayed to the Board by the Executive Directors and the RELX business area CEOs.
Engagement also takes place with our workforce on behalf of the Board and the Company through our Workforce
Engagement Director, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Senior HR Leadership Team. The Workforce
Engagement Director and the CHRO provided three scheduled updates to the Board on engagement processes,
findings and outcomes. Marike van Lier Lels was appointed as the Workforce Engagement Director in January 2019,
due to her previous experience in this area as a director responsible for employee representation in the Netherlands,
and her balance of independence and knowledge of the Group, having joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director
of RELX PLC in 2015. She continued in the role in 2020, supported by the CHRO. She met with European, US and
Asia-Pacific workforce representatives and employee panels, as well as the RELX HR Leadership Team including
Business HR Leaders, Heads of Talent and Heads of Recruitment, who updated her on various employee
engagement initiatives and other workforce-related activities. Engagement activities with the workforce were
initially scheduled to be face-to-face, but as a result of the pandemic, these were changed to virtual meetings.
In order to facilitate some of these meetings, recognising the additional challenges of engaging virtually, online
questionnaires were sent to employees in advance (including questions concerning support received during the
pandemic, flexible working, career development, and inclusion and diversity), with aggregated anonymised
responses shared with the Workforce Engagement Director and the relevant employee group to generate points
for discussion and ensure the views of all participants could be heard. The changes to the Executive Directors’
remuneration policy were also discussed during these engagements and positively received.
Feedback is used as part of Board and management decision-making. The impact of the pandemic was the main
topic raised by employees in 2020. Feedback on how RELX had dealt with the pandemic, with specific regard to
employees, was strongly positive. Although the vast majority of employees were able to work from home, this was
challenging for a number of them. This finding was also highlighted in surveys conducted during the year. In
response, RELX continued to make significant additional online support resources available, covering areas such
as stress management, mental well-being, business continuity, remote working guidance, and physical fitness.
Feedback from employees on working from home and flexible working more generally is being taken into account in
policies that are being developed, and will be reviewed by the Board in 2021. Responding to the increasing desire for
employees to have greater opportunities to work across RELX, a cross-RELX career framework is currently being
developed and process designed to improve the visibility of internal opportunities globally. In response to employee
feedback regarding initiatives that create an inclusive and diverse workplace, recruitment practices and processes
have been implemented which encourage and recognise the involvement of Employee Resource Groups in referring
candidates from their networks. This will assist in increasing the diversity of our candidate pipelines.
Each of RELX’s principal business areas conducted regular pulse surveys during the year. Business area leaders
presented the results of these surveys, along with further detail on employee engagement levels, Net Promoter
Scores and on how they were supporting employees during the pandemic (including facilitating the switch to
working remotely). Employee surveys conducted across all business areas indicated that a very high level of
respondents felt that they could use initiative and judgement when carrying out their work, are passionate about
work, feel supported towards fulfilling their personal or family responsibilities, feel included in their team and
consider that their daily work contributes significantly to RELX’s purpose. The surveys also showed improvement
in Net Promoter Scores, satisfaction, commitment, motivation and advocacy. The Board reviewed an update on
workforce policies and practices, summarising information on employee demographics by location, gender,
tenure, age, ethnicity where data is available (representing 60% of our employees), turnover, inclusion and diversity
activities in 2020 and goals for 2021, recruitment activities in 2020 and goals for 2021, talent development activities,
and remuneration. As a regular item on its agendas, the Board received group-wide communications to employees,
and an update from the Chief Compliance Officer on reports submitted by employees, in confidence, on potential
breaches of RELX-approved policies or procedures.
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80
Stakeholder: Customers
Why effective
engagement is
important:
Our goal is to help customers make better decisions, get better results and be more productive. We can only do this
by leveraging a deep understanding of their needs and views to create innovative solutions, which combine content
and data with analytics and technology in global platforms. Collaborating closely with our customers allows us
to understand where and how we can improve the quality of services and products which we provide them with,
and ensures that we make accurate and targeted investment decisions (such as for developing new or emerging
technologies or complementing our existing capabilities through acquisition activity). Customer acceptance of
products is set out as a principal risk on page 62. Regular engagement with our customers has also remained
extremely important at a time when many have been affected, to varying degrees, by Covid-19.
Principal forms of
engagement with
our customers in
2020, the outcomes
of this engagement,
how this is fed back
to the Board, and
how it impacted
Board decision-
making in 2020:
Our engagement with customers during the year took place mainly at an operational level within our business
areas through face-to-face (where local law permitted this) and virtual meetings, customer training and
workshops, ongoing dialogue through our dedicated sales and operations teams, customer relationship
managers, and in respect of material customer issues, through our business area senior management teams.
The Board received a number of online presentations during the year from customer-facing employees which
detailed the nature of our customer engagement and the actions taken by the business areas as a result. In
particular in 2020, the Board received regular reports from senior management on the impact of Covid-19 on
key customers, including analysis by sector and geography, and their current and anticipated future demand for
our products and services. The Board also received feedback concerning the resilience of the markets that we
operate in over the short-term and, where relevant, the likelihood and rate of their recovery over the longer term.
In addition, the Board reviewed customer survey data, Net Promoter Scores and customer usage volumes across
our business areas.
There were few Board decisions made during the year which were not directly or indirectly linked to the future
needs of our customers, or which resulted from their past and present demand for our products. Engagement
with our customers confirmed that there is significant disparity in the extent to which they have been affected by
Covid-19. The engagement feedback provided has assisted the Board in maintaining its understanding of customer
and market trends, issues and likely future needs, and how these can be addressed. It was considered as part of
Board strategy-related discussions during the year, and resulted in our strategic objectives remaining unchanged,
as part of the Board’s approval of the three-year strategy plan for 2021-2023. Feedback from our customers also
helped the Board and management to assess at what pace and in which areas RELX should build out new products
and services, and where it should look to expand into higher growth adjacencies and geographies over varying time
horizons. Customer demand impacts our financial performance, and was also considered by the Board in setting
appropriate financial targets for 2021, assessing the amount of investment required for RELX to be able to meet
its customers’ current and future needs, and for RELX to grow its customer base and market share across its
business areas. It also helped management and the Board to recognise and identify areas requiring cost
rationalisation.
Customer-related views, behaviours and profiles also assisted management and the Board in considering
selected acquisitions of targeted data sets, analytics and assets in high-growth markets that support high-growth
strategies, and which are natural additions to our existing businesses. As a result of these reviews, areas were
identified in which potential acquisitions could supplement our customer offerings in certain sectors. Whilst a
number of acquisitions and disposals were completed without requiring Board approval due to the level of
consideration being paid or received for the target, the Board approved four significant acquisitions which
completed in 2020. The first of these was SciBite, a provider of big data analytics for the pharmaceutical and
healthcare industries, which will help our customers make faster, more effective research and development-
based decisions through access to advanced text and data intelligence solutions. It also approved the acquisition
of Shadow Health, a developer of virtual simulations in nursing and healthcare education, extending our extensive
portfolio of digital health solutions available to our customers. The Board also approved acquisitions to
complement our existing fraud prevention services within our Risk business. These included ID Analytics, a
provider of credit and fraud risk solutions, and Emailage, a provider of email-based fraud prevention solutions.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 81
Stakeholder: Suppliers
Why effective
engagement is
important:
Principal forms of
engagement with
our suppliers in
2020, the outcomes
of this engagement,
how this is fed back
to the Board, and
how it impacted
Board decision-
making in 2020:
RELX has a diverse supply chain with suppliers located in over 150 countries across multiple categories.
Our content suppliers are critically important to our business, as they provide scientific and medical content, legal
information and risk-related data and analytics content which is used as part of our customer offering, mainly by
our STM, Legal and Risk businesses. They include authors, editors, content reviewers and product designers.
An inability to source sufficient volume or quality of products/services from these suppliers, including as a result
of insufficient dialogue or collaboration with them, may impact customer acceptance of products (which is set out
as a RELX principal strategic risk on page 62).
Our non-content suppliers represent more typical vendor-type relationships, such as IT software and cloud service
providers, or third parties to whom we have outsourced support function activities. Poor performance, failure or
breach of their contractual obligations by them could impact our ability to provide services to our customers, or
result in other issues adversely impacting our business performance, reputation and financial condition.
Collaboration and two-way dialogue with our suppliers helps ensure that we are able to maintain and improve the
quality of products and services we provide to our customers. Effective engagement also underpins our ability to
maintain an ethical supply chain, giving us visibility of our suppliers’ commitment to good practices, transparency
and openness.
Supply chain dependencies and ethics are set out as RELX principal risks on pages 63 and 64. Through engagement
it is important that we can make clear the needs and expectations of our customers, listen to and understand the
suggestions and concerns of our suppliers, collaborate with them, and help them to achieve standards and
behaviours that will build confidence and trust with RELX and its customers.
Engagement with our content suppliers takes place principally through the relevant business area to which the
content is provided. Content supplier feedback is collected through direct relationships and regular business
reviews, including from authors and editors, and Net Promoter Scores. This feedback was presented to the
Board as part of updates by our business area leaders, who have responsibility for these relationships and the
contribution that they make towards implementing our strategy, and also our Chief Strategy Officer as part of
a specific Board agenda item related to content suppliers. The Board incorporated feedback from our content
suppliers when discussing and approving our three-year strategy plan, as well as considering and assessing
investment decisions, and mitigations in place for our principal risks of customer acceptance of products and
supply chain dependencies.
In order to help our suppliers maintain an ethical supply chain, we engage with them through our Socially
Responsible Supplier (SRS) programme, which encompasses all of our businesses and is supported by colleagues
with expertise in operations and procurement, and a dedicated SRS Director from our Global Procurement
Function. Our Supplier Code of Conduct is made available to each supplier and translated into 16 languages for
use on a global basis. As a result of continuing engagement, 99% of our core suppliers are now signatories to our
Supplier Code of Conduct. A specialist supply chain auditor helps provide independent assurance to both RELX
and its suppliers that the standards and values which we have both agreed at the beginning of our contractual
relationship, are being met. Where this is not the case, RELX assists our suppliers in developing remediation
plans for implementation to help develop compliance in required areas. Our suppliers are then given the
opportunity post-audit, through the completion of a survey, to provide feedback on whether they believed the
audit was effective, fair and how, in their view, it could be improved. The high-level results of related audits were
reviewed by the Board, showing that no ‘zero tolerance’ high-risk findings remained open for remediation as at
the end of 2020.
Engagement with our suppliers also informed the Board’s discussions relating to our ethics principal risk, and
assessment of the processes in place to mitigate against this. Feedback from suppliers generally indicated that
our supply chain audits assisted them in reviewing their existing practices, and ensuring that these were fit for
purpose. The Board’s review of the SRS programme helped it to understand and assess the adequacy of the
controls in place to ensure an ethical supply chain and also informed its decision to approve the Group’s 2020
Modern Slavery Act Statement.
During the year, we created and implemented a new programme to obtain feedback from our suppliers on dealing
with RELX as their customer or commercial counter party. Over 80 respondents completed a survey on dealing
with RELX, covering a wide range of areas such as payment timeliness, communication, technology infrastructure,
feedback, collaboration, vision and innovation. RELX scored particularly well across areas such as payment
timeliness, responsiveness, communication and collaboration, with room for improvement in areas such as
project management and order effectiveness. The Board agreed that the programme be continued and expanded
in 2021, with management committing to address areas where lower scores had been received. RELX has also
engaged with its suppliers during the year as part of a programme focused on supplier resiliency.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 82
Stakeholder: Community
Why effective
engagement is
important:
Our focus on community includes those where we, our customers and suppliers work around the world, as well
as the communities we serve, including in science, academia, risk, law and many other fields. We prioritise
positive dialogue with our community stakeholders; they collectively provide our ‘licence to operate’. Our efforts
are informed by our commitment to the United Nations Global Compact and its ten principles focused on human
rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption - all issues with wide societal impact.
Principal forms of
engagement with
the community in
2020, the outcomes
of this engagement,
how this is fed back
to the Board, and
how it impacted
Board decision-
making in 2020:
We contribute to our communities through our unique contributions to society (see pages 40 to 44), and through
a comprehensive global community programme, RELX Cares. The RELX Cares mission is education for
disadvantaged young people that aligns with our unique contributions including promoting science and health,
protection of society, the rule of law and access to justice and fostering communities. RELX Cares promotes
employee volunteering and each year staff have two days paid leave in order to undertake community work.
A network of over 230 RELX Cares Champions across the Group ensures the vibrancy of this community
engagement. In the wake of Covid-19, our people worked primarily from home, with limited opportunities for
in-person, communal volunteer activities. In spite of this, responding to the pandemic was a key concentration
and 26% of employees volunteered in the year, contributing 6,821 days in company time.
RELX Cares also features philanthropic giving. Given the challenge facing charities in an unprecedented year, we
decided to suspend our usual funding application process. Instead, RELX Cares Champions allocated its budget to
charities we funded in 2019 and 2018, allowing them to use the grants to aid their sustainability, including funds for
both operational and project costs.
In accordance with the Business for Societal Impact model, we monitor the short- and long-term benefit of our
community engagement. To increase transparency and awareness, we ask beneficiaries to report on their
progress, sharing feedback on a RELX Cares section of our corporate internet. In addition, we survey RELX Cares
volunteers to understand the impact of the programme on their personal development and how it affects the way
they feel about working at RELX.
Another cornerstone of our community engagement is information provision. In 2020, this included making
scientific articles, data and news, useful in the fight against coronavirus, freely available and aggregated on the
RELX SDG Resource Centre. These included Elsevier’s Novel Coronavirus Centre with the latest medical and
scientific information on Covid-19; LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ data set and interactive visualisations that provide
insights on vulnerable populations and care capacity risks; and LexisNexis Legal and Professional’s coronavirus
global media and news tracker with interactive charts. RELX also contributed to the World Health Organization’s
Solidarity Response Fund and worked with Global Citizen to support the organisation’s major televised and
live-stream event, One World: Together At Home.
Elsevier is a founding partner and leading contributor to Research4Life, providing a quarter of the material
available. In 2020, there were over 1.1m Research4Life downloads from ScienceDirect, benefitting researchers
in low- and middle-income countries. In the year, the Elsevier Foundation worked to improve access to healthcare
and science in vulnerable communities and the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation supported projects that
advance access to justice. LexisNexis Risk Solutions advanced pilots using its tools to help qualified citizens gain
access to credit in Mexico and Colombia.
Responsibility for updating the Board on community engagement sits with the Chief Executive Officer. He is
supported in this activity by the Group Head of Corporate Responsibility who in 2020 provided comprehensive
feedback on RELX Cares and other activities to the Board, including key metrics, objectives and outcomes. Board
feedback and support for community engagement shapes the direction of the programme and future plans which
include evaluating the impact of the pandemic on volunteering and new ways to promote distance volunteering.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 83
Attendance at meetings of the Board and Board Committees
The table below shows the attendance of Directors at meetings of the Board and its Committees during the year. Attendance is expressed
as the number of meetings attended out of the number eligible to be attended.
Director
Committee appointments
Board (1)
Audit
Remuneration Nominations
Corporate
Governance
R N C
–
–
R N C
A N C
A N C
R N C
R C
A C
A C
C
A C
8/8
8/8
8/8
8/8
3/3
8/8
8/8
8/8
8/8
8/8
7/8
2/2
–
–
–
–
2/2
3/3
–
–
5/5
5/5
–
1/1
4/4
7/7
6/6
–
–
4/4
–
–
4/4
4/4
–
–
–
–
–
–
7/7
2/2
7/7
7/7
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
6/6
2/2
6/6
6/6
6/6
6/6
6/6
5/6
1/1
Anthony Habgood (Chair)
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
Wolfhart Hauser
Adrian Hennah (2)
Marike van Lier Lels (3)
Robert MacLeod
Linda Sanford
Andrew Sukawaty
Suzanne Wood (4)
Charlotte Hogg (5)
June Felix (6)
Board Committee membership key
A Audit
R Remuneration
N Nominations
C Corporate Governance
Committee Chair
(1) In addition to the seven scheduled meetings and one ad hoc meeting held on 7 April 2020, serving Directors also attended two full-day strategy and business review
meetings.
(2) Mr Hennah stepped down as a member of the Board on 23 April 2020. Mr Hennah also stepped down as a member of the Audit, Nominations and Corporate Governance
Committees at that time.
(3) Ms van Lier Lels was appointed as a member of the Audit Committee on 23 April 2020.
(4) Ms Wood was appointed as the Chair of the Audit Committee with effect from 23 April 2020.
(5) Ms Hogg was unable to attend the February Board and Committee meetings due to prior commitments already in place at the time she was appointed as a Director in
December 2019.
(6) Ms Felix was appointed to the Board and as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee on 15 October 2020. Ms Felix was also appointed as a member of the Audit
Committee with effect from 1 November 2020.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
84
Division of responsibilities
Key roles of the Directors
Chair
§ Provides leadership of the Board, and is responsible for
its overall effectiveness in directing the Company
§ Ensures that all Directors are sufficiently apprised of
matters to make informed judgements, through the
provision of accurate, timely and clear information
§ Promotes high standards of corporate governance,
demonstrates objective judgement and promotes a
Board culture of openness and debate
§ Sets the agenda and chairs meetings of the Board
§ Chairs the Nominations and Corporate Governance
Committees
§ Facilitates constructive Board relations and the effective
contribution of all of the Directors
§ Ensures effective dialogue with shareholders
§ Ensures the performance of the Board, its Committees
and individual Directors is assessed annually
§ Ensures effective induction and development of Directors
Chief Executive Officer
§ Day-to-day management of the Group, within the delegated
authority limits set by the Board
§ Develops the Group’s strategy for consideration and
approval by the Board
§ Ensures that the decisions of the Board are implemented
§ Informs and advises the Chair and Nominations Committee
on executive succession planning
§ Leads communication with shareholders
§ Promotes and conducts the affairs of the Company with
the highest standards of integrity, probity and corporate
governance
Chief Financial Officer
§ Day-to-day management of the Group’s financial affairs
§ Responsible for the Group’s financial planning, reporting
and analysis
§ Ensures that a robust system of internal control and risk
management is in place
§ Maintains high-quality reporting of financial and
environmental performance internally and externally
§ Supports the Chief Executive Officer in developing and
implementing strategy
Senior Independent Director
§ Leads the Board’s annual assessment of the performance
of the Chair
§ Available to meet with shareholders on matters where
usual channels are deemed inappropriate
§ Deputises for the Chair, as necessary
§ Serves as a sounding board for the Chair and acts as an
intermediary between the other Directors, when necessary
Non-Executive Directors
§ Bring an external perspective, and constructively
challenge and provide advice to the Executive Directors
§ Effectively contribute to the development of strategy
§ Scrutinise the performance of management in
meeting agreed goals and monitor the delivery of
the Group’s strategy
§ Serve as members of Board Committees and chair
the Audit and Remuneration Committees
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
There is a clear separation of the roles of the Chair, who leads the Board, and the Chief Executive Officer, who is responsible for the
day-to-day management of the Group, which are set out in writing and included above. The table above also illustrates the key
responsibilities of the other Directors. This division of responsibilities, in addition to the matters reserved for the Board, Terms of
Reference for each Board Committee and delegated authorities in place from the Board to the Chief Executive Officer and other
Senior Executives which relate to the day-to-day management of the business, ensures that there are appropriate controls in
place to prevent any individual from having unfettered powers of decision.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 85
Composition, succession and evaluation
Board appointment procedure
The Company has in place a rigorous procedure for the
appointment of new Directors to the Board. This involves the
preparation of a search specification by the Nominations
Committee and the engagement of an external search firm to
identify and propose candidates based on that specification. Any
candidates will be interviewed by a number of Board members,
including the Chair and the Chief Executive Officer, and additionally
the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary. The candidates
are considered in detail by the Nominations Committee, and a
recommendation made to the Board regarding any Director
appointment. The Board then has a further opportunity to
discuss, and if deemed fit, approve the appointment.
The Board may appoint Directors (subject to a maximum upper
limit) to fill a vacancy at any time, although any Director so
appointed shall only hold office until the following AGM of the
Company, at which his or her election shall be voted upon by
shareholders. Directors are then required to seek re-election by
shareholders at each AGM of the Company. The Notice of Meeting
for the 2021 AGM will set out information on the Directors standing
for election or re-election, including their biographies, skills and
key contributions, as required by the Code.
As a general rule, letters of appointment for Non-Executive
Directors provide that, subject to annual re-election by
shareholders, individuals will serve for an initial period of
three years, and are typically expected to be available to serve
Balance of our Board as at 31 December 2020
for a second three-year period. If invited to do so, they may also
serve for a third period of three years. The notice period applicable
to the Non-Executive Directors is one month.
Board composition
As at the date of this Annual Report, the Board was made up of
the Chair, two Executive Directors and eight other Non-Executive
Directors, who bring a wide range of skills, experience, industry
expertise and professional knowledge to their roles. A summary
of the diversity of the gender, length of tenure and nationality of
the Board is shown below. The Nominations Committee considers
these as important factors when reviewing the composition of the
Board and its Committees, which it does on an ongoing basis. It
has concluded that the current composition of the Board remains
appropriate, and allows it to discharge its duties to the Company
and govern the Group effectively.
Board and Committee changes in 2020
Having served on the Board for nine years, Adrian Hennah
stepped down as a Non-Executive Director at the conclusion of
the Company’s AGM in April 2020. The Company has previously
announced that Paul Walker will succeed Sir Anthony Habgood
as RELX Chair with effect from 1 March 2021.
A Non-Executive Director was appointed during the year.
June Felix joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in
October and currently serves on the Audit and Corporate
Governance Committees.
Board Committee membership throughout 2020 is set out in
the table on page 83.
BALANCE OF EXECUTIVE/NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
GENDER DIVERSITY
Executive: 2
Chair: 1
Female: 5
Non-Executive: 8
LENGTH OF TENURE OF NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS AND CHAIR
NATIONALITY OF DIRECTORS
Over 9 years: 1
7–9 years: 2
0–3 years: 3
Irish: 1
Swedish: 1
German: 1
Dutch: 1
4–6 years: 3
American: 5
Ms Hogg is a British, American and Irish national
Male: 6
British: 4
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 86
Board skills and expertise
The Board collectively has a diverse range of skills, including in
the following areas:
§ Corporate governance for listed companies
§ Corporate strategy and organisation
§ Operational experience in the Group’s product markets
§ Executive board member and leadership experience in large
international listed companies
§ Corporate responsibility, human resources management and
executive remuneration
§ Financial expertise
For further information on the skills of each individual Director,
please see pages 8 to 10 of the Notice of Meeting for our 2021 AGM.
Board information and support
All Directors have complete and timely access to the information
required to discharge their responsibilities fully and effectively.
They have access to the services of the Company Secretary, who
is responsible for the accurate and timely flow of information to
the Board, advising the Board on all corporate governance
matters, and ensuring that all Board procedures are followed
correctly. The Directors also have access to other members of
the Group’s management, staff and external advisers, and may
take independent professional advice in the furtherance of their
duties, at the Company’s expense.
Each of the Directors is expected to attend all meetings of the
Board and Committees of which they are a member. However,
where a Director is unable to attend a Board or Committee
meeting, they are provided with the papers relating to that
meeting and are able to discuss issues arising with the
respective Chair and other Board and Committee members.
They are also provided with a copy of the meeting minutes.
Board evaluation
The Directors consider the evaluation of the Board, its
Committees and members to be an important aspect of corporate
governance. The Board undertakes an annual evaluation of its
own effectiveness and performance, and that of its Committees
and individual Directors. In 2020, the evaluation process was
externally facilitated by Lorna Parker, an independent external
consultant, supported by the Company Secretary. Ms Parker has
no other connections with the Company, and was given full access
to the Board and Committee papers for the relevant period.
The evaluation consisted of a questionnaire completed by all
Directors, one-to-one interviews, and a presentation of the final
report and facilitation of a discussion around key findings and
action points at a subsequent Board meeting. Key areas explored
include the Board’s role in and review of: strategy development;
risk management; stakeholder engagement (including the
Board’s understanding and visibility of the views of the Group’s
stakeholders and incorporation of them into its decision-making
process); talent development; and setting and monitoring the
Group’s culture and values. The review also covered areas such
as Board dynamics; Board composition, succession planning
and engagement; and the overall effectiveness of the Board
and its Committees.
Conclusions of the 2020 evaluation
The evaluation confirmed that, overall, the Board and each of its
Committees continue to function effectively, and that an excellent
Board dynamic between members underpins this effectiveness.
There is relevant diversity of experience, expertise, thinking,
gender and nationality amongst Board members. There was a
high degree of comfort concerning the process by which Board
decisions are made, with recommendations being supported
by well-prepared papers, and final decisions taking account of
questions and input from the Non-Executive Directors. Each
Director believes that his/her views are considered, and that
members of the Board value each other’s contributions. The
Board’s meeting time is appropriately balanced between business
issues and governance, and agendas for its meetings in 2020
had been tailored to respond to the challenges of Covid-19.
There continued to be alignment between Directors around the key
areas of focus for the Board including: ensuring good governance;
managing leadership succession at the appropriate time; probing
and refining the Group’s strategic thinking, especially in a
post-Covid-19 context; driving and supporting the Executives in
further improved performance; and, particularly in the near-term,
ensuring a successful Chair transition.
All Directors commended the Chair for his effective leadership
style, deep knowledge of RELX and its businesses, careful
preparation before meetings, and the significant role that he plays
in ensuring effective debate and dialogue both within and outside
meetings and ensuring constructive relationships and
communications between Board members.
Following its request (which arose from the 2019 Board evaluation
process) that it be given further visibility of the views of the Group’s
suppliers, the Board confirmed that this request had been
appropriately addressed, and that Directors had been given
good levels of visibility of the views, actions and concerns of all
of the Group’s major stakeholders during the year, including
how they had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The
feedback received by and communicated from the Board’s
Workforce Engagement Director was particularly helpful to
the Board in understanding the ongoing challenges faced by the
Group’s employees. The Board directed that its ongoing focus
on inclusion and diversity, the Group’s culture and RELX’s
environmental, social and governance programme should be
maintained in 2021, alongside comprehensive discussions on
emerging technologies in the sectors within which RELX
operates. The Board noted that, depending on the continuing
impact of the pandemic during 2021, it would need to keep under
review the balance of time devoted to short-term financial
performance reviews, longer term strategic issues and
individual business unit deep dive reviews during the year.
Audit, risk and internal control
Internal control and risk management
RELX has established internal controls and risk management
practices that are embedded into the operations of the businesses,
based on the Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013)
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the
Treadway Commission. Details of the principal risks facing the
Group and how these are mitigated are set out on pages 60 to 64.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 87
Additionally, in order to provide reasonable assurance against
material inaccuracies or loss, and on the effectiveness of the
systems of internal control and risk management, RELX has
adopted the three lines of defence assurance model as set
out below.
1st line of defence
RELX businesses maintain systems of internal
control which are appropriate to the nature and
scale of their activities and address all significant
strategic, operational, financial, legal and
compliance risks that they face
2nd line of defence
Central functions that are responsible for
1) designing policies, 2) introducing and sharing best
practice, 3) monitoring and evaluating compliance
with RELX policies and relevant legislation and
regulation and appropriate remediation
3rd line of defence
Internal audit provides independent assurance on
the effectiveness of the 1st and 2nd lines of defence
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The Board and Audit Committee
Note: In addition to RELX’s internal controls, RELX is also audited externally.
The report of the external auditor has been included from pages 124 to 131.
The Board has in place a schedule of matters reserved for its
decision-making. The Board is responsible for the system of risk
management and internal control of RELX and has implemented
an ongoing process for identifying, assessing, monitoring and
managing the principal and emerging risks faced by its
businesses. This process was in place throughout the year ended
31 December 2020, and up to the date of approval of the Annual
Report and Financial Statements 2020. The Board monitors
these systems of internal control and risk management and
annually carries out a review of their effectiveness.
RELX has an established framework of procedures and internal
control, with which the management of each business is required
to comply. RELX operates authorisation and approval processes
throughout all of its operations. Access controls exist where
processes have been automated to ensure the security of data.
Management information systems have been developed to
identify risks and to enable assessment of the effectiveness of
the systems of internal control.
RELX has a Code of Ethics and Business Conduct that provides
a guide for achieving its business goals and requires officers and
employees to behave in an open, honest, ethical and principled
manner. The Code of Ethics also outlines confidential procedures
enabling employees to report any concerns about compliance,
or about the Group’s financial reporting practice. The Code of
Ethics is available on our website at
www.relx.com.
Each business area has identified and evaluated its principal and
emerging risks, the controls in place to manage those risks and
the levels of residual risk accepted. Risk management and control
procedures are embedded into the operations of the business and
include the monitoring of progress in areas for improvement that
come to management and Board attention.
Principal and emerging risks facing RELX businesses are regularly
reported to and assessed by the Board and Audit Committee.
With the close involvement of business management and central
functions, the risk management and control procedures aim to
ensure that RELX is managing its business risks effectively and
in a coordinated manner across the businesses with clarity on the
respective responsibilities and interdependencies. Litigation, and
other legal and regulatory matters, are managed by legal directors
in the businesses.
The risk assessment included consideration of emerging risks
and risk appetite. RELX defines emerging risks as new or
changing risks which are highly uncertain in terms of defining
impact or likelihood and are more usually external to RELX. In
line with the Code, the risk assessment identifies and considers
the likelihood and impact of emerging risks on our business
models, future performance, solvency, liquidity or reputation.
The assessment also considers the need for mitigation of
emerging risks. Risk appetite (defined as RELX’s willingness to
take on risk) is based on an assessment of the level of residual
risk, taking account of inherent risk and mitigation efforts. The
assessment is rated, in relation to RELX’s objectives for the
current level of residual risk, in three broad categories: reduce,
accept and willing to extend. The level of residual risk which RELX
is prepared to accept will vary, with a high level of mitigation effort
over operational, financial and compliance risks. The residual risk
level for external and strategic risks may be extended if doing so is
in line with RELX’s strategic objectives, values and stakeholder
interests and if shareholder returns could be increased.
The Audit Committee also receives regular reports from both
internal and external auditors on internal control and risk
management matters. In addition, each business area is required,
at the end of the financial year, to review the effectiveness of
internal controls and risk management and report its findings
on a detailed basis to the management of RELX. These reports
are summarised and, as part of the annual review of effectiveness,
submitted to the Audit Committee. The Chair of the Audit
Committee reports to the Board on any significant internal
control matters arising.
Annual review
As part of the year-end procedures, the Audit Committee and
Board reviewed the effectiveness of the systems of internal
control and risk management during the 2020 financial year.
The objective of these systems of internal control and risk
management is to manage, rather than eliminate, the risk of
failure to achieve business objectives. Accordingly, they can only
provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material
misstatement or loss. The Board has confirmed, subject to the
above, that as regards financial reporting risks, the respective
risk management and control systems provide reasonable
assurance against material inaccuracies or loss and have
functioned properly throughout the year. In accordance with
the Code, the Board has also considered the Group’s long-term
viability, following a robust and thorough assessment of its
principal and emerging risks. The resulting Viability Statement
is set out on page 89.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
88
Responsibilities in respect of
financial statements
The Directors are required to prepare financial statements as
at the end of each financial period, in accordance with applicable
laws and regulations, which give a true and fair view of the state
of affairs, and of the profit or loss, of the Company and its
subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates. They are responsible
for maintaining proper accounting records, for safeguarding
assets and for taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect
fraud and other irregularities.
The Directors are also responsible for selecting suitable
accounting policies and applying them on a consistent basis,
and making judgements and estimates that are prudent and
reasonable. Applicable accounting standards have been followed
and the RELX consolidated financial statements, which are the
responsibility of the Directors of the Company, are prepared
in accordance with International Accounting Standards in
conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006
and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies to the
European Union and as issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB), following the accounting policies shown
in the notes to the financial statements on pages 137 to 138. Having
taken into account all of the matters considered by the Board and
brought to the attention of the Board, the Directors are satisfied
that the Annual Report and Financial Statements, taken as a
whole, is fair, balanced and understandable, and provides the
information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s
position and performance, business model and strategy.
Going concern
The Directors have adopted the going concern basis in preparing
these accounts after assessing the principal risks and the
potential impact of Covid-19 on the business over the 18 months to
30 June 2022 and during the longer period over which the Group’s
viability has been assessed, as described below. Management
forecasts reflect a range of downside scenarios including the
Exhibitions business continuing to be impacted by Covid-19 related
restrictions throughout 2021 with only gradual recovery in the
following years. The scenarios considered include no events being
held in Europe and North America until 2022. For the 18 month
period to 30 June 2022, even in the most severe downside scenario,
the Group will have substantial liquidity headroom on its existing
facilities and is expected to remain well within the limit of 3.75x
(this limit can be flexed to 4.25x in certain circumstances) on the
one financial covenant in its revolving credit facility agreements
(being the ratio of net debt, excluding pensions, to EBITDA). The
Directors believe that the Group is well-positioned to manage its
business risks and that adequate resources exist for the Group to
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. They
therefore consider it is appropriate to adopt the going concern
basis in preparing the 2020 financial statements.
A commentary on the Group’s cash flows, financial position and
liquidity for the year ended 31 December 2020 is set out in the Chief
Financial Officer’s report on pages 54 to 59. This shows that after
taking account of available cash resources and committed bank
facilities that back-up short-term borrowings, all of the Group’s
borrowings that mature in the period to 30 June 2022 can be repaid
in full. The Group’s policies on liquidity, capital management and
management of risks relating to interest rate, foreign exchange
and credit exposures are set out on pages 162 to 167. The principal
risks facing the Group are set out on pages 60 to 64.
US certificates
As required by Section 302 of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002
and by related rules issued by the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (the Commission), the Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer of the Company certify in the Annual Report
2020 on Form 20-F to be filed with the Commission that they are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls
and procedures and that they have:
§ designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure
that material information relating to the Group is made known
to them
§ evaluated the effectiveness of the Group’s disclosure controls
and procedures
§ based on their evaluation, disclosed to the Audit Committee
and the external auditors, all significant deficiencies in the
design or operation of disclosure controls and procedures and
any frauds, whether or not material, that involve management
or other employees who have a significant role in the Group’s
internal controls
§ presented in the Annual Report 2020 on Form 20-F their
conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
and procedures
§ designed internal controls over financial reporting, or caused
such internal control over financial reporting to be designed
under their supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting
A Disclosure Committee, comprising the Company Secretary
and other senior managers of the Group, provides assurance to
the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer regarding
their Section 302 certifications.
Section 404 of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 requires the
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company
to certify in the Annual Report 2020 on Form 20-F that they are
responsible for maintaining adequate internal control structures
and procedures for financial reporting and to conduct an
assessment of their effectiveness. The conclusions of the
assessment of internal control structures and financial reporting
procedures, which are unqualified, are presented in the Annual
Report 2020 on Form 20-F.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 89
Viability statement
Viability statement
The UK Corporate Governance Code requires Directors to
assess the viability of the Group over an appropriate period
of time. The Directors have made the assessment that given
the Group’s financial and operational positions, a viability
period of three years, aligned with the Group’s annual strategy
plan, is suitable to assess the risks outlined on pages 60 to 64
as well as the uncertainty regarding the duration and ultimate
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Assessing the Group’s prospects
The Group develops information-based analytics and decision
tools for professional and business customers in the STM, Risk,
Legal and Exhibitions sectors. The market segments section
describes each area’s business model, strategic priorities,
market opportunities and competition, showing how the Group is
positioned to create value for shareholders over the longer term.
The Group’s prospects are assessed annually through the
strategic planning process which includes a review of
assumptions made and an assessment of each business area’s
longer term plan. The resulting three-year strategy plan forms
the basis for Group and divisional targets and in-year budgets.
Objectives are set with consideration given to the economic
and regulatory environment, and to customer trends, as well
as incorporating risks and opportunities. The most recent
three-year strategy business plan was agreed by the Directors
in September 2020 and updated in February 2021. Separate
from the annual strategy plan, the Directors periodically receive
updates from business area management on their operations,
prospects and risks. Whilst these reviews and discussions
naturally focus more closely on the more immediate risks facing
the business within the three-year strategy planning period,
they also cover the risks described in the principal risks section
on pages 60-64. Finally, during 2020 the Directors received
regular updates from management on liquidity, covenant
compliance and credit rating considerations.
Covid-19
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Group’s three largest
business areas, STM, Risk and Legal, have been able to maintain
operational capability and have seen good growth in electronic
revenues. For the most part, the challenges faced by some
segments of these businesses have been offset by opportunities
in other areas and growth in the base business, supported by a
high percentage of subscription revenue. However, the Group’s
Exhibitions business, which accounted for 5% of Group revenue
in 2020 (16% in 2019) is experiencing a high level of disruption
from the impact of the pandemic. Whilst events have been
running in Asia, including events in China since June and in
Japan since September, the Group has not been able to operate
any large events in Europe or North America since March 2020.
The Group has modelled a number of adverse scenarios, mostly
impacting the events business, including a scenario in which
events in Europe and North America do not resume until 2022 and
that the subsequent recovery of the business is much slower than
expected. Under all of these scenarios, it is assumed the events
business does not return to pre-Covid-19 levels of revenue and
profitability until after the strategy planning period ends in 2023.
Assessing the Group’s viability
The three-year strategy plan for our businesses includes
management’s assessment of the anticipated operational risks
affecting the business. With the Board acknowledging that in a
Covid-19 environment there is more uncertainty around these
plans, multiple scenarios were modelled through the process.
Management then considered the viability of the business
assuming the most pessimistic recovery scenario for
Exhibitions, the simultaneous occurrence of multiple principal
risks, for example those relating to cyber security and paid
subscriptions, and the closure of the debt capital markets
preventing the refinancing of scheduled liabilities. It is assumed
that the Group’s principal revolving credit facility will be
refinanced prior to its maturity in 2023. The resulting analysis,
which assumed share buybacks are suspended but dividends
and acquisition activity continued uninterrupted at their current
or historical average levels, determined that the Group would
remain in a strong liquidity position, with substantial available
facilities at all times, and the revolving credit facility leverage
covenant would remain well within its limit of 3.75x (with the
ability to flex this limit to 4.25x in certain circumstances
providing additional headroom). This overall strong position
reflects the benefits of actions taken by management in 2020
that have strengthened the Group’s liquidity position, including:
§ issuing approximately $3.0bn of fixed rate term debt which
reduced outstanding short-term debt, increased liquidity
and extended the debt maturity profile, with only $0.7bn of
term debt maturing before March 2023
§ extending the $1.22bn tranche of its revolving credit facility
from 2022 to 2023 (the $1.71bn tranche matures in 2024)
§ entering into a $0.6bn two-year liquidity facility on terms
similar to the revolving credit facility
§ suspending the Group’s share buyback programme in April
While the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the events
business is significant, the remainder of the Group continues
to perform well and the outlook for these businesses is positive.
We remain focused on successfully pursuing our strategic
priority of organically developing increasingly sophisticated
information-based analytics and decision tools that deliver
enhanced value to our customers, supplemented by selective
acquisitions that support our organic growth. We believe the
combination of compelling structural opportunities combined
with an appropriate capital structure will continue to drive
increasing long-term value.
Based on this assessment and the scenario modelling that
shows substantial liquidity and covenant compliance even with
continued disruption to the events business for several years,
the simultaneous occurrence of multiple principal risks and the
closure of the debt capital markets, the Directors confirm that
they have a reasonable expectation that the Group will be able
to continue its operations and meet its liabilities as they fall due
over the next three years and are not aware of any longer term
operational or strategic risks that would result in a different
outcome from the three-year review.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Corporate Governance ReviewMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 90
Report of the Nominations Committee
This report has been prepared by the Nominations Committee
and has been approved by the Board.
Activities of the Committee
During the year, the Committee held seven meetings.
The Committee’s main areas of focus were:
§ the succession process for the role of Chair, including the
announcement of Mr Paul Walker to succeed Sir Anthony as
Chair effective 1 March 2021
§ the appointment of June Felix as an independent Non-
Executive Director
§ the re-appointment of Suzanne Wood at the conclusion of her
specified term of office
§ the impact on Board composition and balance, and Board
Committee membership, resulting from the retirement of
Adrian Hennah as a Non-Executive Director
§ a review of the composition of the Audit Committee resulting
in the following changes: the appointments of Marike van Lier
Lels and June Felix as members of the Audit Committee, and
Suzanne Wood being appointed as Chair of that Committee,
having served for nearly three years as a member
§ a review of RELX’s approach to inclusion and diversity across
the Group, including progress made against objectives set out
in our Inclusion and Diversity Policy
§ succession planning for Board and senior management roles
§ ongoing review of Directors’ actual and potential conflicts of
interest and the recommendation to the Board of the suitability
of Directors’ external non-executive director appointments
§ to recommend the appointment of Lorna Parker, an
independent external consultant, to undertake the external
Board evaluation for the financial year ended 31 December 2020
§ a review of the Committee’s Terms of Reference
§ reviewing this report and recommending to the Board its
inclusion in the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts
Role of the Nominations Committee
The Nominations Committee is responsible for making
recommendations to the Board on the structure, size and
composition of the Board and its Committees and succession
planning for the Directors and other senior executives. As part
of the role, the Committee aims to ensure that the Board, its
Committees and RELX’s senior executives have the correct
balance of skills, knowledge and experience to effectively lead
the Group both now, and over the longer term, and that associated
processes are in place to ensure that this is the case as the Group
grows and develops over time. This is achieved through effective
succession planning and talent development, and an
understanding of the changing competencies required to
support the Company’s strategy, purpose, culture and values.
Membership
The Committee comprises only Non-Executive Directors. The
members of the Committee who served during the year were:
§ Sir Anthony Habgood (Chair of the Committee)
§ Adrian Hennah (until 23 April 2020)
§ Wolfhart Hauser
§ Robert MacLeod
§ Marike van Lier Lels
Responsibilities
The principal purpose of the Committee is to provide
assistance to the Board by identifying individuals qualified
to become Directors and recommending to the Board the
appointment of such individuals.
The role and responsibilities of the Committee are set out
in written Terms of Reference and are available on the
company’s website at
www.relx.com. These include:
§ to keep under review the size and composition of the Board
ensuring that it maintains an appropriate balance of skills,
experience, knowledge and diversity
§ reviewing the external commitments of each Director to
ensure that he/she has sufficient time to devote to their
role at RELX
§ to ensure that plans are in place for orderly Board and
senior management succession and to oversee a diverse
pipeline for such succession
§ to agree the specification for the recruitment of new
Directors
§ to procure the recruitment of new Directors
§ to recommend to the Board the appointment of candidates
as RELX PLC Directors
§ to recommend Directors to serve on the Committees of
the Board and to recommend members to serve as the
Chair of those Committees
§ to make recommendations to the Board in relation to the
re-appointment of any Non-Executive Director at the
conclusion of his/her specified term of office and the
election or re-election of Directors following a review
of the performance of individual directors from the
Board evaluation process
§ reviewing the Board’s and Group’s Diversity Policy,
including their effectiveness
§ to review and make recommendations to the Board on the
authorisation of Directors’ conflicts of interest, including
any terms to be imposed in relation to a Director’s conflict
of interest
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 91
Non-Executive Director appointment
The Committee engaged Russell Reynolds (which has no other
connection to RELX) to carry out the search for new Non-Executive
Directors. As part of that process, the Committee considered the
existing skills and experience of the Board, the desired skillset
required of an additional Non-Executive Director, and anticipated
changes of Board membership over the short- to medium-term,
based on the requirements of the UK Corporate Governance Code
(the Code). Based on those attributes the Committee prepared a
specification for a Non-Executive Director role. The Committee
reviewed a list of candidate profiles and, following an interview
process, recommended to the Board that June Felix be appointed
as an independent Non-Executive Director. Her appointment to
the Board became effective as of 15 October 2020, and shortly
thereafter, she was appointed as a member of the Audit
Committee, with effect from 1 November 2020. Ms Felix brings
with her considerable relevant strategic and operational
experience from her current and previous roles, including a
deep understanding of the financial services, technology and
healthcare sectors. Her extensive and wide-ranging experience
will ensure that a fresh perspective and approach will be brought
to Board discussions, as well as the independence of thought
and vision that a new appointment to the Board generally brings.
During the recruitment process, the Committee followed a
formal, rigorous and transparent assessment of all potential
candidates and considered potential conflicts of interest prior
to making recommendations to the Board. The Committee will
continue to regularly review and make recommendations to
refresh the Board where appropriate.
Chair succession
A key area of focus for the Committee during 2020 was the planned
succession of Sir Anthony Habgood as RELX Chair. It was announced
in February 2020 that, following more than 11 years of service in
the role, he would step down as Chair of RELX. Whilst, the
Company has been non-compliant with provision 19 of the Code
with respect to the Chair’s tenure during the year, the Board
believes that this approach has been in the best interests of the
Company’s stakeholders. Sir Anthony’s continued tenure ensured
continuity of RELX Board and governance leadership at a time of
significant business uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, travel and face-to-face meeting restrictions put in
place in the UK as a result of Covid-19 resulted in the succession
process taking longer to implement than originally anticipated.
At the request of the Board, Sir Anthony agreed to remain in the
role until 1 March 2021.
As part of the succession process, the Committee, led by the
Senior Independent Director for this purpose, engaged Russell
Reynolds to assist in the search for a new Chair. The Committee
prepared a specification for the role of Chair which included;
demonstrable leadership characteristics required to lead the
RELX Board through the next stage of the Group’s growth and
development, relevant experience, international outlook and
a commitment to RELX’s purpose and corporate responsibility,
along with numerous other attributes.
The Committee ensured that the Chair recruitment process was
conducted in line with our Board Diversity Policy and included a
gender-balanced list of candidates from diverse backgrounds
for the Committee to consider. Shortlisted candidates were
interviewed and the final candidate was interviewed by all
Committee members (apart from the Chair, who did not participate
in the formal recruitment process for his successor). Upon the
recommendation of the Committee, Paul Walker was appointed
as Chair of the RELX Board and will commence his role on 1 March
2021. Mr Walker is an experienced publicly listed company Chair,
with a strong background as an executive and non-executive
director of several listed companies. He has a deep understanding
of corporate governance matters and brings extensive international
experience in sectors relevant to RELX’s businesses. It is
anticipated that he will Chair the Committee upon his
appointment as a Director.
As part of its consideration of shortlisted candidates for both the
Chair and additional Non-Executive Directors, the Committee
considered each candidate’s existing portfolio of commitments to
ensure that any individual taken forward for further consideration
would have sufficient time to devote to any RELX Board role.
As part of the Committee’s search process, it also considers any
particular areas of expertise or experience which would make an
individual suitable to serve on any of RELX’s Board Committees.
Changes to the Committees
A small number of changes have also been made to the
membership of Board Committees during the year, reflecting
Board changes and the ongoing review of Committee
membership. These changes are set out on pages 83 and 85.
Board and Committee succession planning and composition
When reviewing Board composition, the Committee considers
(amongst other things) overall length of service and the need for
membership to be regularly refreshed, as well as remaining
cognisant of RELX’s Board Diversity Policy. All appointments to
the RELX Board and each of its Committees are based primarily
on merit and the suitability of an individual for any given role. As
illustrated by the changes in Board and Committee membership
during the year, the Committee continued to focus on succession
planning. It continues to keep under review, on an ongoing basis,
the structure, size and composition of the Board and its
Committees, making recommendations to the Board as
appropriate. Effective succession planning contributes to the
delivery of the Group’s strategy by ensuring the desired mix of
skills and experience of Board members now and in the future.
Succession planning for the Board was discussed in every
Committee meeting in 2020, emphasising its importance and
the Committee’s focus on this area.
Executive and management succession planning
The Board is also committed to recognising and nurturing talent
within the executive and management levels across the Group.
This manifested itself in two principal ways during the year. Firstly,
the Board completed its RELX Talent Management review, as part
of which it received a presentation from the Chief Human
Resources Officer on the first three tiers of management across
RELX. Additionally, the Committee considered the overall depth
of the executive talent pipeline. In accordance with its Terms of
Reference, the remit of the Committee included monitoring and
reviewing succession planning for senior management positions
within RELX. It received a detailed presentation from the Chief
Executive Officer on succession plans for senior management,
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverviewRELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Report of the Nominations Committee 92
including broad views on potential timings and implications for
diversity in those positions. It satisfied itself that appropriate
succession planning arrangements were in place for the orderly
succession to senior management positions, supported by a
diverse pipeline for such succession.
We met our 2020 corporate responsibility objectives including
to provide manager training on pay principles and equal pay with
training for leaders on our pay equity tools, controls and strategy
for ensuring pay equity in the near and long-term. We also provided
information on pay equity to all employees on our global intranet.
We advanced our Employee Resource Groups (ERG) which allow
employees to champion aspects of diversity such as gender,
LGBTQ+, race and ethnicity, and disability, and in the year, we held
an ERG conference attended by 1500 employees. In addition, the
RELX Inclusion Council – comprised of colleagues from human
resources, corporate responsibility and strategy, among others
– developed a suite of 2020-2025 inclusion goals. They include a
commitment to create minimum global standards in areas such
as flexible working and parental leave, and a commitment to
disclosing inclusion metrics. In 2020, we created a real time
inclusion and diversity data dashboard, continued our mentoring
programmes for women in tech and senior women talent, and
provided training for employees on critical issues such as
unconscious bias, courageous conversations, psychological
safety, and avoiding harassment. We also joined the Women’s
Empowerment Principles Target Gender Equality initiative;
signed the Race at Work Charter; and joined the Valuable 500,
which promotes workplace disability inclusion.
As at the first quarter of 2021, the Group’s senior management
team and direct reports comprised 69% male and 31% female.
Board Diversity Policy
The Committee monitors and reviews the progress made against
the Board’s Diversity policy, which stresses that the Board’s
composition should be designed to advance the Group’s strategy
for all of its stakeholders, and that the benefits of all aspects of
diversity should be considered including, but not limited to, gender
and ethnicity. As part of Board discussions, recognition was given
to the benefits of greater diversity, social and cognitive personal
strengths throughout the organisation including the Board itself.
The policy requires that when searches for an appointment to the
Board are conducted by the Company or by external search firms,
they will identify and present a gender-balanced list of diverse
and qualified potential candidates. The Board Diversity Policy
was applied and considered by the Committee during the Board
searches it conducted during 2020. The wider results of the
application of the policy can be found within the ‘Balance of
our Board’ section set out on page 85.
Independence of the Non-Executive Directors
During 2020, the Committee considered the independence of
existing Non-Executive Directors, and whether a Director’s length
of service had in any way impacted his or her ability to remain
independent in character and judgement in performing his or her
duties. The Board considers all of the Non-Executive Directors
(other than the Chair whose independence was not assessed,
but who was independent on appointment) to be independent of
management and free from any business or other relationship
which could materially interfere with their ability to exercise
independent judgement.
Group Inclusion and Diversity Policy
The Group Inclusion and Diversity Policy, reviewed during the
year, aims to create a positive environment where employees
feel valued regardless of their gender, national origin, ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation and/or identity, age or disability status.
It advances our strategy by ensuring the engagement of all our
people; fosters innovation by harnessing the collective strength of
their diverse backgrounds and experiences to generate innovative
products and solutions that drive value for our customers; and
helps us attract employees who are important to our future.
To advance the Policy’s commitment to provide “fair and equitable
opportunities” through “ongoing review of recruitment, talent
development, promotion and reward ” in the year, we ensured
each business had an inclusion lead and established a network
to improve the sourcing, attraction and hiring of talent from
underrepresented groups. We introduced a new career and
mobility process through our global HR system so that every
employee could identify areas of current strength and future
development; and we asked each person as part of their annual
performance assessment to state how they had helped foster a
collaborative environment of inclusion, trust and respect necessary
for higher team performance. We also work closely with our
recruiters to ensure diverse candidate slates for open roles.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
93
Directors’ Remuneration Report
The Directors’ Remuneration Report has been prepared by the Remuneration Committee (the Committee) in accordance with the UK
Corporate Governance Code, the UK Listing Rules and Schedule 8 of the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and
Reports) Regulations 2008, as amended (the UK Regulations). The Report was approved by the Board.
Introduction
2020 presented a number of unique challenges for our employees and our business. Our first priority has been the health and safety of our
colleagues, our customers and the wider community in which we operate. We increased our engagement with our employees since the
Covid-19 pandemic started, introducing programmes to promote well-being, understanding how they were adapting to the new ways of
working resulting from the pandemic and how best to support them. The Board is pleased to see that feedback received from employees,
including from numerous employee opinion surveys, indicate they feel well supported and that their engagement, satisfaction and motivation
remained high during the year. I am also very proud of the societal contributions RELX has made during the pandemic. Notably, Elsevier is
providing free access to a broad suite of tools for biomedical and scientific researchers working on coronavirus, we have continued our
involvement in sustainable development with the Sustainable Development Goals Inspiration Day and various initiatives our employees are
supporting, through our RELX Cares programme.
Despite the challenges of the operating environment during much of 2020, we continued to execute well against our strategic priorities.
Our three largest business areas, STM, Risk and Legal, which together accounted for 84% of revenue and 87% of adjusted operating
profit in 2019, continued to deliver underlying revenue and adjusted operating profit growth. Exhibitions, which accounted for 16% of
revenue and 13% of adjusted operating profit in 2019, was impacted significantly by Covid-19 since early in 2020, with government
imposed restrictions preventing most events from taking place in Europe and the Americas.
Early in the year as the pandemic took hold, the Committee and the Board took the decision that the three largest business areas should
continue to be managed in accordance with our strategy of consistent growth and should not curtail investments or take other actions in
an effort to mitigate the impact the Covid-19 pandemic might have on Exhibitions or, as a result, the Company as a whole. The Committee
therefore decided at that time to separate the performance of RELX excluding Exhibitions from the performance of Exhibitions for
purposes of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) for the Executive Directors and other Corporate employees participating in the AIP (with
employees in business areas continuing to be incentivised based on the performance of their respective business area), assigning a
weight of 85% in the AIP for RELX excluding Exhibitions and 15% for Exhibitions, reflecting their approximate weight in revenue and profit
terms in 2019. The Committee also set a cap on the payout on the financial measures of the AIP of 85% of target in the event Exhibitions
did not meet threshold performance on its financial measures. The Committee, however, decided not to amend the targets for the AIP.
Targets that applied to the 2018-2020 cycle of the Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) were also not amended. No discretion has been
applied to the formulaic outcome which was calculated in line with the methodology set out in our 2017 Remuneration report.
Our commitment to improving our environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance remains undiminished and we continue
to be recognised by external rating organisations for work in this area. RELX maintains its AAA ESG rating with MSCI for the fifth
consecutive year and is fourth in the Responsibility 100 Index of FTSE 100 companies measured against the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals. Sustainalytics ranked us second in our sector and 21st among 13,000 companies for our ESG performance and
RELX has been included in the European and World Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
The strong financial position of the Company has allowed it to continue to operate in a normal commercial way, without utilising elective
government support schemes, and to maintain unchanged dividend payments to shareholders.
2020 outcomes
Largely as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Exhibitions business during 2020, the overall remuneration of
Executive Directors is significantly lower than prior years.
Our three largest business areas continued to perform well and grew underlying revenue and adjusted operating profit and maintained
strong cash conversion in 2020 despite the pandemic. However, Exhibitions was significantly impacted by the pandemic from early in the
year, resulting in no AIP payouts in respect of the financial measure portions relating to Exhibitions. Details of our targets and overall AIP
achievements for the year are shown on page 96. Two-thirds of the amount earned will be paid in cash to the Executive Directors in March
2021 and the remaining one-third is deferred into RELX shares which will be released in Q1 2024.
Despite the strong performance of the business in 2018 and 2019 and of our three largest business areas in 2020, the 2018–2020 cycle
of the LTIP vested at just 6% of maximum, primarily due to the impact of the pandemic in 2020 on Exhibitions. Our TSR outperformed the
FTSE 100 in 2020, as it has done for each of the last ten years.
In determining the level of payout under the annual and the multi-year incentives, the Committee took into account RELX’s overall
business performance and value created for shareholders and other relevant factors, such as the Company’s response to the pandemic
with respect to employees, its ability to continue to meet customer needs and its contribution to the scientific and medical community’s
response to the pandemic. In its assessment, the Committee concluded that the outcomes were appropriate taking into account the
exceptional circumstances of 2020, and chose not to exercise any discretion.
As was the case in 2020, the Committee will ensure that the AIP in 2021 is consistent with the Board’s determination that the three
largest business areas continue to be managed in line with their own strategies for consistent growth, without incentives to curtail
investments or take other actions in an effort to mitigate the Covid-10 pandemic’s effects on Exhibitions. The Committee will also review
the 2019–2021 and 2020–2022 LTIP cycles to ensure that management has an appropriate incentive during the next one and two year
periods to continue to drive performance in line with our strategy of consistent long-term growth in each of our business segments and
that the outcomes for those two LTIP cycles appropriately and fairly reflect the performance of the business and its segments, after
taking into account the impact of Covid-19.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 94
Broader employee considerations
In 2020, the Committee reviewed information on workforce remuneration and related policies, including:
§ key statistics on the composition of the RELX workforce such as location, gender, age and length of service;
§ pay philosophy and the evolution of our pay practices, including pay equity processes;
§ annual salary increase guidelines globally;
§ details of the pension plan arrangements in our top five countries by number of employees;
§ participation data on annual incentives (sales and non-sales) and share plans;
§ Employee Opinion Survey responses and outcomes of pulse surveys conducted during the year, notably during the pandemic,
to assess employees’ well-being and monitor the Company’s culture.
When determining the remuneration for Executive Directors and Senior Executives, the Committee considers business and individual
performance as well as other factors including broader employee reward.
The Committee is satisfied that the overall remuneration for Executive Directors is appropriate and fair having considered external
and internal relativities.
The Committee is satisfied that the incentive schemes drive the desired behaviours to support the Company’s purpose, values and strategy.
Our designated Non-Executive Director responsible for workforce engagement, Marike van Lier Lels, met with employee representatives
from Europe, US and Asia Pacific during 2020 in order to understand a wide range of employee views. She reported back to the Board
and the feedback and insights gathered formed part of the Board’s discussions and decision-making. Further information on the
workforce engagement process is provided in the Governance section on page 79. As part of this process, the changes to the
Executive Directors’ Remuneration Policy and how executive remuneration aligns with wider pay policy were explained.
Remuneration Policy and implementation
An updated Remuneration Policy was approved by shareholders at the 23 April 2020 Annual General Meeting with 93.4% votes in favour.
I would like to express again my gratitude for the feedback received during the engagement as we were developing the policy and for the
high level of support for the new policy. The remuneration policy, which applies for three years from the conclusion of the 2020 AGM,
as approved by shareholders, is set out on pages 108 to 114 of this report. The first awards under the new policy will be granted in the
first quarter of 2021. The 2020 awards are subject to the policy approved by shareholders at the 2017 Annual General Meetings which
can be found at www.relx.com or on pages 84 to 90 of the 2016 Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Shareholders will be invited to vote (by way of an advisory vote) on the 2020 Annual Remuneration Report at the 2021 AGM.
Implementation of Remuneration Policy in 2021
In line with increases for the wider employee population, and consistent with the 2021 salary increase guidelines for UK-based employees,
the Committee has approved 2021 salary increases for the Executive Directors of 2.5%.
As outlined in the 2019 report, the main changes for 2021 are summarised below. See further details on page 106.
§ The value of pension benefits for the CEO and CFO has decreased over the last several years, prior to the new UK Corporate
Governance Code coming into force and will continue to do so, so that the value of their pension benefits will be aligned with the
regular defined contribution plans (currently capped at 11% in the UK) by the end of 2022. The CEO is a member of a legacy defined
benefit scheme and pays increasing participation fees (30% in 2021) and will cease to accrue further benefits under this scheme at
the end of 2022. The CFO’s cash in lieu of pension is reduced to 18% of base salary for 2021 and will continue to decrease until the end
of 2022. Further details can be found on page 100.
§ The Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) payout at target performance is reduced from 150% to 135% of base salary. The maximum remains
at 200% of base salary. The proportion of AIP deferred into shares for three years increases from one-third to 50% of the AIP earned.
Alignment of incentives with strategy
Our long-term strategic priority is unchanged: the organic development of increasingly sophisticated information-based analytics and
decision tools that deliver enhanced value to our customers, supplemented by selective acquisitions of targeted data, analytics and
exhibition assets that support our organic growth strategies.
The performance measures in the incentive plans align with the strategy and the financial key performance indicators on page 6 of
the annual report, by focusing on sustained earnings growth, return on invested capital and shareholder returns in the LTIP. The AIP is
based on revenue, profit, cash flow and sustainability metrics and focuses on annual objectives and milestones and creates a platform
for sustainable future performance.
The Committee also considers broader performance factors when determining payouts.
The performance measures are based on adjusted figures as they provide relevant information in assessing the Company’s
performance, position and cash flows and we believe they track the core operational performance of RELX and how it contributes
to shareholder value creation. The Annual Report includes a reconciliation of adjusted measures to IFRS measures.
Wolfhart Hauser
Chair, Remuneration Committee
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 95
Annual Remuneration Report
Single Total Figure of Remuneration – Executive Directors (audited)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Annual incentive
Deferred
Share based
£’000
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
2020
2019
2020
2019
Salary
1,280
1,249
754
735
Benefits(1)
84
86
15
15
Cash
1,101
1,276
648
749
Shares(2)
550
638
324
375
awards(3)
399
5,558
196
2,781
Pension(4)
536
539
151
186
Total
3,951
9,346
2,088
4,841
Total fixed
remuneration(5)
1,900
1,874
919
936
Total variable
remuneration(5)
2,051
7,472
1,168
3,905
(1) Benefits are typically comprised of a car allowance, private medical/dental insurance and the cost of tax return preparation.
(2) One-third of the 2019 and 2020 AIP is paid in shares deferred for three years. Dividend equivalents accrue on these shares.
(3) The 2020 figures reflect the vesting of the 2018–2020 cycle of the LTIP. As the LTIP vests after the approval date of this Report,
the average share prices and exchange rates for the last quarter of 2020 have been used to arrive at an estimated figure in
respect of these awards, in line with the methodology prescribed by the Regulations.
The estimated figures for 2019 disclosed in last year’s Report have been restated to reflect the actual amount of the 2017-2019
cycles of BIP, ESOS and LTIP vested and the actual share prices and exchange rates, which increased the 2019 disclosed figure
by £664k for the CEO and by £331k for the CFO. The vesting percentages were determined on 14 February 2020 and were in line
with those disclosed on pages 102 and 103 of the 2019 Remuneration Report.
For Erik Engstrom, the amount that directly reflects share price appreciation is £2.2m for 2019 and £51k for 2020. For Nick Luff,
these numbers are £1.1m for 2019 and £25k for 2020 .
Some figures and subtotals add up to different amounts than the totals due to rounding.
The awards are due to vest in February 2021 and the 2020 figures will be restated in next year’s report to reflect actual values at
vesting.
No discretion was applied by the Remuneration Committee in determining the vesting outcome percentages.
(4) The pension figure for Erik Engstrom reflects his current membership of the UK legacy defined benefit pension scheme and has
been calculated in accordance with the prescribed methodology set out in the Regulations. This figure does not represent a
contribution by the Company. In 2020, the Company contributed £52,862 to the funded portion of his defined benefit pension plan.
The remainder of his accrued pension is an unfunded liability of the Company.
In 2020, the CEO contributed a total of £331,100 (slightly over 25% of his pensionable earnings) by way of Total Plan Fees, up from
£246,353 (20% of pensionable earnings) in 2019. The pension figures for 2020 and 2019 in the table are reduced by these Total Plan
Fees. For details of Mr Engstrom’s accrued pension as at 31 December 2020, and further information on his pension reduction in
2021 and the coming years, see page 100.
Nick Luff receives a cash allowance in lieu of pension which reduced from 25% of salary to 20% of salary effective 1 January 2020.
For details on the reduction of the CFO’s allowance in 2021 and the coming years, see page 100.
(5) Total fixed remuneration includes base salary, benefits and pension. Total variable remuneration includes annual incentive and
share based awards.
The total remuneration for Directors is set out in note 26 to the consolidated financial statements on page 173.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
96
2020 Annual Incentive
Early in the year as the pandemic started to take hold, the Committee considered that whilst the AIP targets for each business would
remain unchanged, it was important that the three largest business areas continued to be managed consistently with their own best
business interests and strategy for consistent growth, without incentives to curtail investments or take other actions in an effort to
mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on Exhibitions. The Committee determined to separate the performance of RELX excluding
Exhibitions from the performance of Exhibitions in the AIP, assigning a weight of 85% for RELX excluding Exhibitions and 15% for
Exhibitions, reflecting their respective weight in revenue and profit in 2019. The Committee also determined to set a cap on the payout
on financial measures at 85% of target in case Exhibitions did not meet threshold performance.
Set out below is a summary of performance against each financial and non-financial measure and the resulting payout for 2020:
Performance measure
Revenue
RELX excl Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Revenue – Total
Relative
weighting
% at target
25.5%
4.5%
30.0%
Adjusted net profit after tax
RELX excl Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Adj net profit after tax – Total
25.5%
4.5%
30.0%
Cash flow
RELX excl Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Cash flow – Total
Financial measures
Impact of cap on payout (2)
25.5%
4.5%
30.0%
90.0%
Non-financial measures
Total
Total AIP payout as % of salary
Cash
Deferred Shares
Total
10%
100%
100%
50%
150%
Financial targets (1)
Threshold
Target
Maximum
Achievement
Achievement
% vs target
Payout %
vs target
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
Weighted
Payout
% of target
Weighted
Payout
% of target
6,512
1,264
6,928
1,345
7,275
1,412
6,748
97.4%
362 0%
61.0%
0%
51.9%
1,553
258
1,652
274
1,734
288
1,675
(132) 0%
101.4% 114.0%
0%
96.9%
1,965
296
2,090
315
2,195
2,222
106.3% 150.0%
331
(213) 0%
0%
127.5%
15.6%
0%
15.6%
29.1%
0%
29.1%
38.3%
0%
38.3%
15.6%
0%
15.6%
29.1%
0%
29.1%
38.3%
0%
38.3%
92.1%
82.9%
82.9%
85.0%
76.5%
76.5%
A detailed description of the non-financial measures and achievement
against those is set out on the next page.
9.5%
86.0%
9.5%
86.0%
86.0%
43.0%
129.0%
86.0%
43.0%
129.0%
(1) On an equivalent basis (at actual exchange rates and after the net impact of acquisitions and disposals completed)
(2) When targets were set, a cap on payout versus target for financial measures was set at 85% if Exhibitions fell below threshold performance.
Some figures add up to different amounts than the totals due to rounding.
The Cash AIP (£1,100,873 for the CEO and £648,269 for the CFO) will be paid in Q1 2021 and the Deferred Shares (with a current value of
£550,436 in the case of the CEO and £324,134 in the case of the CFO) will be released in Q1 2024. The release of Deferred Shares is not
subject to any further performance conditions but is subject to malus and claw-back.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 97
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
Payout %
of target
2.5%
Payout %
of target
2.5%
2.0%
2.0%
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
Non-financial measures
Non-financial measures
Environment
Relative
weighting
% at target Achievement
2.5%
Target met with 55% of the business achieved ISO 14001 Environmental
Management System certification and 61% of key locations achieving five or
more RELX Environmental Standards
§ Achieve ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification for 50%
Energy use
2.5%
Paper usage and
waste
2.5%
Socially responsible
suppliers
2.5%
of the business (by headcount) by the end of 2020 (42% in 2019).
§ Increase key locations achieving five or more RELX Environmental Standards
to at least 60% (56% in 2019).
Target met with reduction of carbon emissions of 64%, reduction of energy and
fuel consumption of 52% and renewable electricity purchase increased to 100%.
§ Reduce Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (location-based) carbon emissions by 55%
against a 2010 baseline (52% in 2019).
§ Reduce energy and fuel consumption by 43% against a 2010 baseline (41% in 2019).
§ Purchase renewable electricity equivalent to 100% of RELX’s global electricity
consumption (96% in 2019).
This target has been met with a reduction of 78% in waste generated, 93% of waste
diverted from landfill and 100% of papers rated as “known and responsible
sources”.
§ Decrease total waste generated at reporting locations by 68% against a
2010 baseline (66% in 2019).
§ 90% of waste from reporting locations to be diverted from landfill (85% in 2019).
§ Maintain 100% of RELX production papers, graded in PREPS, to be rated as
‘known and responsible sources’.
This target has been met with 3,457 signatories, 99 audits of suppliers completed
and spend with diverse suppliers at 12.9%
§ Increase the number of suppliers as Code signatories to 3,300 (3,202 in 2019).
§ Increase number of independent external audits of suppliers to 96 (93 in 2019),
including increasing the number of second tier audits.
§ Continue to advance the US Supplier Diversity and Inclusion programme
by maintaining spend with diverse suppliers at 11.9% (11.9% in 2019),
notwithstanding existing small suppliers being acquired by larger companies.
Total
10%
9.5%
9.5%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 98
2018–2020 LTIP
Set out below is a summary of performance against each measure of the LTIP cycle 1 January 2018–31 December 2020. As highlighted
earlier, the targets remained unchanged from when these were set at the beginning of 2018.
Performance measure
TSR over the three-year
performance period(2)
Weighting
20%
Average growth in adjusted EPS over
the three-year performance period (3)
40%
ROIC in the third year of the
performance period (3)
40%
Performance range and
vesting levels set at grant (1)
below median
median
upper quartile
below 5% p.a.
5% p.a.
6% p.a.
7% p.a.
8% p.a.
9% p.a.
10% p.a.
11% p.a. and above
below 12.0%
12.0%
12.4%
12.8%
13.2%
13.6%
14.0%
14.4% and above
0%
25%
100%
0%
25%
50%
65%
75%
85%
92.5%
100%
0%
25%
50%
65%
75%
85%
92.5%
100%
Achievement against the
performance range
between median and
upper quartile of the
UK and European groups
and below median of the
US peer group
below threshold
Resulting vesting
percentage
30.2%
0%
below threshold
0%
Total vesting percentage:
6.0%
(1) Calculated on a straight-line basis for performance between the points.
(2) In respect of the euro TSR comparator group, RELX NV shares were, subsequent to the merger of RELX NV into RELX PLC, replaced with Euronext Amsterdam listed RELX
PLC shares priced in euros and, in respect of the US dollar TSR comparator group, RELX NV ADRs were, subsequent to the merger, replaced with RELX PLC ADRs.
(3) Growth in adjusted EPS at constant currencies and ROIC are calculated as set out in the Chief Financial Officer’s report on pages 54 to 59 and note 10 to the consolidated
financial statements on page 152, with adjustments made to remove the effect on ROIC of changes in exchange rates, pension deficits and accounting standards over the
three-year performance period.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 99
Single Total Figure of Remuneration – Non-Executive Directors (audited)
Anthony Habgood
June Felix (2)
Wolfhart Hauser
Adrian Hennah (3)
Charlotte Hogg (4)
Marike van Lier Lels
Robert MacLeod
Linda Sanford
Andrew Sukawaty (5)
Suzanne Wood
Total fee
Benefits(1)
Total
2020
£650,000
£21,724
£160,000
£40,834
£90,000
£129,571
£117,500
£112,000
£112,000
£120,622
2019
£650,000
N/A
£159,500
£129,500
£3,269
£124,583
£109,667
£120,500
£76,699
£120,500
2020
£1,718
2019
£1,665
£840
£840
£840
£840
2020
£651,718
£21,724
£160,000
£40,834
£90,000
£130,411
£117,500
£112,840
£112,000
£120,622
2019
£651,665
N/A
£159,500
£129,500
£3,269
£125,423
£109,667
£121,340
£76,699
£120,500
(1) Benefits comprise the notional benefit of tax filing support provided to Non-Executive Directors for filings outside their home country resulting from their directorships
with RELX. The incremental assessable benefit charge per tax return for 2020 was £840 (unchanged from 2019) for a UK tax return. Anthony Habgood’s benefits comprise
£1,718 (£1,665 in 2019) in respect of private medical insurance. Further, the Company meets all reasonable travel, subsistence, accommodation and other expenses,
including any tax where such expenses are deemed taxable, incurred by the Non-Executive Directors and the Chair in the course of performing their duties.
(2) Appointed on 15 October 2020.
(3) Retired from the Board at the AGM on 23 April 2020.
(4) Appointed on 16 December 2019.
(5) Appointed on 25 April 2019.
The total remuneration for Directors is set out in note 26 to the consolidated financial statements on page 173.
Non-Executive Directors’ fees
The fees in the Single Total Figure table for Non-Executive Directors reflect the following fees in 2020:
Chair
Non-Executive Directors
Senior Independent Director
Chair of:
– Audit Committee
– Remuneration Committee
Workforce engagement fee
Committee membership fee:
– Audit Committee
– Remuneration Committee
– Nominations Committee
Annual fee 2021
£650,000
£90,000
£30,000
£30,000
£30,000
£17,500
£17,500
£17,500
£10,000
Annual fee 2020
£650,000
£90,000
£30,000
£30,000
£30,000
£17,500
£17,500
£17,500
£10,000
In addition, an intercontinental travel fee of £4,500 was payable to any Non-Executive Director (excluding the Chair) in respect of each
transatlantic journey made in order to attend a RELX Board or Committee meeting during 2020. In 2021, this fee will remain at £4,500.
Fees may be reviewed annually, although in practice they have changed on a less frequent basis.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 100
Total pension entitlements (audited)
Erik Engstrom is a member of the legacy UK defined benefit pension plan. He will cease to accrue benefits under this plan at the end of 2022,
at which point he will receive pension benefits of equivalent value to the level of pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular
defined contribution pension plans as may be in effect or amended from time to time (currently capped at 11% of base salary in the UK).
Mr Engstrom’s contributions and participation fee (together, the Total Plan Fees), which are payable by him as part of his ongoing
membership of the scheme, have been increasing annually since 2011. In 2020, his Total Plan Fees were slightly over 25% of his
pensionable earnings (£331,100), up from 20% in 2019 and 12.5% in 2018. His Total Plan Fees will increase to 30% of pensionable
earnings in 2021 and 35% in 2022. Mr Engstrom is also subject to a cap of 2% on annual increases in pensionable earnings.
Nick Luff receives a cash allowance in lieu of pension, which reduced from 27% of salary to 25% on 1 March 2019, 20% on 1 January 2020,
18% on 1 January 2021 and will reduce to 16% of salary on 1 January 2022, and from the end of 2022, Mr Luff will receive pension benefits
of equivalent value to the level of pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular defined contribution pension plans as may be
in effect or amended from time to time (currently capped at 11% of base salary in the UK).
Erik Engstrom – pension information
Age at December 2020
57
Normal retirement age
60
CEO’s Total Plan Fees
£331,100
Accrued annual pension at
31 December 2020
£551,439
2020 single figure
pensions value
£536,474(1)
(1) The 2020 single figure pensions value is the difference between the accrued annual pension as at 31 December 2019 (adjusted for inflation) and the accrued annual pension
as at 31 December 2020, multiplied by 20 in accordance with the UK Regulations and is net of the CEO’s Total Plan Fees.
Scheme interests awarded during the financial year (audited)
LTIP – PERFORMANCE SHARE AWARDS
Basis on which
award is made
Erik Engstrom 450% of salary
375% of salary
Nick Luff
Face value of
award at grant(1)
£5,619,874
£2,757,793
Value of awards
if vest in line with
expectations(2)
£2,809,937
£1,378,896
Percentage of maximum that
would be received if threshold
performance achieved
If each measure pays out at
threshold, the overall payout is 25%
End of
performance
period
31 December
2022
AIP – DEFERRED SHARES
Erik Engstrom 1/3 of 2019 AIP payout £637,853
1/3 of 2019 AIP payout £374,687
Nick Luff
N/A. The release of AIP Deferred Shares in Q1 2023 is not subject to any
further performance conditions, but is subject to malus and claw-back.
(1) The face value of the LTIP awards and AIP Deferred Shares granted in February 2020 was calculated using the middle market quotation of a PLC ordinary share (£20.725).
This share price was used to determine the number of awards granted.
(2) Vesting in line with expectations for LTIP is as per the performance scenario chart disclosed on page 87 of the 2016 Remuneration Report, i.e. 50%.
The LTIP awards granted in 2020 are based on ROIC, EPS and TSR weighted 40%:40%:20% respectively and assessed independently.
The targets and vesting scales applicable to these awards are set out on page 110 of the 2019 Remuneration Report.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 101
Statement of Directors’ shareholdings and other share interests (audited)
Shareholding requirement
The Committee believes that a closer alignment of interests can be created between senior management and shareholders if executives
build and maintain a significant personal stake in RELX. The shareholding requirements applicable to the Executive Directors are set out
in the table below. Shares that count for this purpose are (i) any type of RELX security of which the Director, their spouse, civil partner or
dependent child has beneficial ownership of and (ii) AIP deferred shares which are within their three-year deferral period, on a notional
net (after tax) basis. There has been no change to the interests reported below between 31 December 2020 and 10 February 2021.
Meeting the shareholding requirement is both a vesting condition for LTIP awards granted and a requirement to maintain eligibility for
future LTIP awards. On termination of employment, Executive Directors are to maintain their full shareholding requirement (or, if lower,
their actual level of shareholding at the time of leaving) for two years after leaving employment.
On 31 December 2020, the Executive Directors’ shareholdings were as follows (valued using the middle market closing prices of the
relevant securities):
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
Shareholding requirement
(% of 31 December 2020 annual base salary)
450%
300%
Shareholding as at
31 December 2020 (% of 31 December 2020
annual base salary) (1)
1,489%
699%
(1) Includes AIP deferred shares which are within their three-year deferral period, on a notional net (after tax) basis (35,317 for Erik Engstrom and 20,854 for Nick Luff).
Share interests (number of RELX ordinary shares held)
Erik Engstrom
Nick Luff
Anthony Habgood
June Felix (2)
Wolfhart Hauser
Adrian Hennah (3) (until 23 April 2020)
Charlotte Hogg (4)
Marike van Lier Lels
Robert MacLeod
Linda Sanford
Andrew Sukawaty (5)
Suzanne Wood
1 January 2020
1,014,006
270,203
88,450
N/A
14,633
10,508
0
10,907
6,950
9,700
10,000
5,100
31 December 2020
1,017,615 (1)
271,316 (1)
88,450
0
14,633
N/A
4,750
11,180
6,950
9,700
20,000
5,100
(1) Number excludes AIP deferred shares which are within their three-year deferral period. If these were included on a notional net (after tax) basis, the totals at 31 December
2020 would be 1,052,932 for Erik Engstrom and 292,170 for Nick Luff.
(2) June Felix was appointed effective 15 October 2020.
(3) Retired from the Board at the 23 April 2020 AGM.
(4) Charlotte Hogg was appointed effective 16 December 2019.
(5) Andrew Sukawaty was appointed effective 25 April 2019.
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102
Multi-year incentive interests (audited)
The tables below and on page 103 set out vested but unexercised and unvested options, unvested share awards and AIP deferred shares
held by the Executive Directors including details of awards granted, options exercised and awards vested during the year of reporting.
All outstanding unvested options and share awards are subject to performance conditions. For disclosure purposes, any PLC ADRs
awarded under the multi-year incentive plans are included as ordinary shares. Between 31 December 2020 and the date of this Report,
there have been no changes in the options or share awards held by the Executive Directors.
Erik Engstrom
OPTIONS
Total
SHARES (2)(3)
BIP
LTIP
Total
Year of
grant
2014
2015
2016
2017(1)
Year of
grant
2017(1)
2017(1)
2018
2019
2020
No. of
options
held on
1 Jan
2020
145,604
158,166
114,584
120,886
101,421
107,380
96,996
102,405
947,442
No. of
unvested
shares
held on
1 Jan 2020
81,781
96,996
102,405
179,318
178,482
309,807
948,789
No. of
options
granted
during
2020
No. of
shares
awarded
during
2020
271,164
271,164
Option
price on
date of
grant
£9.245
€10.286
£11.520
€15.003
£12.550
€15.285
£14.945
€16.723
Market
price per
share at
award
€16.723
£14.945
€16.723
£14.915
€16.870
£17.698
£20.725
No. of
options
exercised
during
2020
Market
price per
share at
exercise
No. of
shares
vested
during
2020
72,785
68,867
72,707
Market
price per
share at
vesting
€24.895
£20.725
€24.895
214,359
No. of
options
held on
31 Dec
2020
145,604
158,166
114,584
120,886
101,421
107,380
85,356
90,116
923,513
No. of
unvested
shares
held on
31 Dec
2020
179,318
178,482
309,807
271,164
938,771
Unvested
options
vesting on
Options
exercisable
until
07 Apr 24
07 Apr 24
02 Apr 25
02 Apr 25
15 Mar 26
15 Mar 26
27 Feb 27
27 Feb 27
End of
performance
period
Date of
vesting
Dec 2020
Dec 2020
Dec 2021
Dec 2022
Feb 2021
Feb 2021
Feb 2022
Feb 2023
(1) The performance outcomes for the 2017 ESOS options, BIP and LTIP were disclosed on pages 102 and 103 of the 2019 Remuneration Report.
(2) In addition, Mr Engstrom has 35,860 AIP deferred shares (pre-tax) awarded in 2019 with a market price at award of £17.698. The release of these AIP deferred shares in
February 2022 is not subject to any further performance conditions. Including these AIP deferred shares increases the number of shares awarded during 2019 to 345,667
and the number of unvested shares held on 31 December 2019 to 984,649.
(3) In addition, Mr Engstrom has 30,777 AIP deferred shares (pre-tax) awarded in 2020 with a market price at award of £20.725. The release of these AIP deferred shares in
February 2023 is not subject to any further performance conditions. Including these AIP deferred shares increases the number of shares awarded during 2020 to 301,941
and the number of unvested shares held on 31 December 2020 to 1,005,408.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 103
Nick Luff
OPTIONS
ESOS
Total
SHARES (2) (3)
BIP
LTIP
Total
Year of
grant
2014
2015
2016
2017(1)
Year of
grant
2017(1)
2017(1)
2018
2019
2020
No. of
options
held on
1 Jan
2020
65,656
72,228
53,979
56,948
47,778
50,586
45,694
48,242
441,111
No. of
unvested
shares
held on
1 Jan 2020
22,847
24,121
45,694
48,242
87,996
87,585
152,029
468,514
No. of
options
granted
during
2020
No. of
shares
awarded
during
2020
133,066
133,066
Option
price on
date of
grant
£9.900
€11.378
£11.520
€15.003
£12.550
€15.285
£14.945
€16.723
Market
price per
share at
award
£14.945
€16.723
£14.945
€16.723
£14.915
€16.870
£17.698
£20.725
No. of
options
exercised
during
2020
Market
price per
share at
exercise
No. of
shares
vested
during
2020
20,333
21,467
32,442
34,251
Market
price per
share at
vesting
£20.725
€24.895
£20.725
€24.895
108,493
No. of
options
held on
31 Dec
2020
65,656
72,228
53,979
56,948
47,778
50,586
40,210
42,452
429,837
No. of
unvested
shares
held on
31 Dec 2020
Unvested
options
vesting on
Options
exercisable
until
02 Sep 24
02 Sep 24
02 Apr 25
02 Apr 25
15 Mar 26
15 Mar 26
27 Feb 27
27 Feb 27
End of
performance
period
Date of
vesting
87,996
87,585
152,029
133,066
460,676
Dec 2020
Dec 2020
Dec 2021
Dec 2022
Feb 2021
Feb 2021
Feb 2022
Feb 2023
(1) The performance outcomes for the 2017 ESOS options, BIP and LTIP were disclosed on pages 102 and 103 of the 2019 Remuneration Report.
(2) In addition, Mr Luff has 21,269 AIP deferred shares (pre-tax) awarded in 2019 with a market price at award of £17.698. The release of these AIP deferred shares in February
2022 is not subject to any further performance conditions. Including these AIP deferred shares increases the number of shares awarded during 2019 to 173,298 and the
number of unvested shares held on 31 December 2019 to 489,783.
(3) In addition, Mr Luff has 18,079 AIP deferred shares (pre-tax) awarded in 2020 with a market price at award of £20.725. The release of these AIP deferred shares in February
2023 is not subject to any further performance conditions. Including these AIP deferred shares increases the number of shares awarded during 2020 to 151,145 and the
number of unvested shares held on 31 December 2020 to 500,024.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 104
Performance graphs
The graphs below show total shareholder returns for RELX calculated on the basis of the average share price in the 30 trading days
before the respective year end and assuming dividends were reinvested. RELX’s performance is compared with the FTSE 100.
The three-year chart covers the performance period of the 2018–2020 cycle of the LTIP.
3 years
5 years
10 years
RELX vs FTSE 100 – 3-YEAR TSR
RELX vs FTSE 100 – 5-YEAR TSR
RELX vs FTSE 100 – 10-YEAR TSR
%
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
+11%
∆=13%
-2%
%
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
+71%
∆=44%
+27%
%
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
+350%
∆=287%
+63%
D ec-17
D ec-18
D ec-19
D ec-20
D ec-15
D ec-16
D ec-17
D ec-18
D ec-19
D ec-20
D ec-10
D ec-11
D ec-12
D ec-13
D ec-14
D ec-15
D ec-16
D ec-17
D ec-18
D ec-19
D ec-20
RELX
FTSE 100
RELX
FTSE 100
RELX
FTSE 100
CEO historical pay table
The table below shows the historical CEO pay over a ten-year period.
£’000
Annualised base salary
Annual incentive payout
as a % of maximum
Multi-year incentive
vesting as a % of maximum
CEO total
2011
1,025
66%
2012
1,051
73%
2013
1,077
70%
2014
1,104
71%
2015
1,131
70%
2016
1,160
68%
2017
1,189
69%
2018
1,218
78%
2019
1,249
77%
2020
1,280
65%
0%
70%(1)
96%(1)
90%(1)
97%(1)
97%(1)
92%(1)
81%(1)
81%(1)
6%
2,738
11,145(2)
5,463
17,447(3)
11,416(4)
11,399(5)
8,748(6)
9,141(7)
9,346(8)
3,951(9)
(1) The 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 percentages reflect BIP, LTIP and ESOS. The 2014 percentage reflects the final tranche of the discontinued Reed Elsevier Growth
Plan (REGP), BIP and ESOS. The 2013 percentage reflects BIP and ESOS only and the 2012 percentage reflects BIP and the first tranche of the discontinued REGP.
(2) The 2012 figure reflects the vesting of the first tranche of the discontinued REGP and includes the entire amount that was performance tested over the 2010–2012 period,
including the 50% of shares deferred until 2015 in accordance with the plan rules including £3m attributed to share price appreciation.
(3) The 2014 figure includes the vesting of the second and final tranche of the discontinued REGP and includes £8.8m attributed to share price appreciation.
(4) The 2015 figure includes £4.4m attributed to share price appreciation.
(5) The 2016 figure includes £4.2m attributed to share price appreciation.
(6) The 2017 figure includes £1.7m attributed to share price appreciation.
(7) The 2018 figure includes £2.2m attributed to share price appreciation.
(8) The 2019 figure includes £2.2m attributed to share price appreciation. The share award value has been restated for actual share prices and exchange rates applicable
on the dates of vesting.
(9) The 2020 figure includes £51k attributed to share price appreciation.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 105
The Committee is satisfied that the overall picture presented
by the 2020 pay ratios is consistent with the pay, reward and
progression policies for the Group’s UK employees.
§ Salaries for all UK employees, including the Executive
Directors, are set based on a wide range of factors, including
market practice, scope and impact of the role and experience.
§ The provision of certain benefits and the level of benefit
provided vary depending on the role and level of seniority.
§ Participation in annual incentive plans varies by business
and reflects the culture and the nature of the business, as
well as role.
§ Whilst none of the comparator employees participate in the
executive share plans, they do have the opportunity to receive
company shares via the UK Sharesave Option Plan. A greater
proportion of performance-related variable pay and share
based awards applies to more senior executives, including
the Executive Directors, who have a greater influence over
performance outcomes.
Relative importance of spend on pay
The following table sets out the total employee costs for all
employees, as well as the amounts paid in dividends and share
repurchases.
Employee costs(1)
Dividends
Share repurchases
2020
£m
2,555
880
150
2019
£m
2,498
842
600
% change
+2%
+5%
-75%
(1) Employee costs include wages and salaries, social security costs, pensions and
share based and related remuneration.
Payments to past Directors and payments for loss of office
(audited)
There have been no payments for loss of office in 2020.
Comparison of change in Directors’ pay with change
in employee pay
New reporting regulations require companies to disclose the
percentage change in remuneration from 2019 to 2020 for each
director compared with the employees of the listed company,
excluding directors. RELX plc has no employees and Executive
Directors are the only employees of RELX Group plc. We therefore
have no data to report but have chosen to continue to report data
on changes in base salary of the CEO compared with change in
base salary of a broader employee population. That comparison
is as follows:
CEO base salary increased by 2.5% in 2020.
The average salary increase for employees in the UK and the
US where the majority of our employees are based was 2.5%.
UK pay ratios
The UK Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018
require the disclosure of the ratio of total CEO remuneration to
median (P50), 25th percentile (P25) and 75th percentile (P75) UK
employee total remuneration (calculated on a full-time equivalent
basis). UK employees represent less than 20% of our global
employee population.
Pay ratios for total remuneration are likely to vary, potentially
significantly, over time, since the CEO’s total remuneration each
year is driven largely by his performance-related pay outcomes
and is affected by share price movements. We have therefore
also shown the UK ratios for the salary component.
For the purposes of the ratios below, the CEO’s 2020 total
remuneration is the total single figure and salary as disclosed
on page 95. The P25, P50 and P75 were selected from the UK
employee population as at 1 October 2020.
Total remuneration
Year
2020
2019
Salary
Year
2020
2019
Pay Ratio
All employee £’000
Method
P25
P50
P75
98:1
A
A 225:1
67:1
149:1
46:1
100:1
P25
£40
£39
P50
£59
£58
P75
£86
£86
Pay Ratio
All employee £’000
Method
A
A
P25
35:1
35:1
P50
25:1
25:1
P75
18:1
18:1
P25
£37
£35
P50
£52
£51
P75
£72
£71
Slight differences compared with ratios calculated using data
shown in the tables are due to rounding.
The ratios are calculated using Option A, meaning that the median,
25th and 75th percentiles were determined based on total
remuneration using the single total figure valuation methodology,
except for annual incentives (other than sales incentives) which
are based on estimated payout as individual final payout levels
are still to be finalised.
We chose Option A as we believe it is the most robust and accurate
way to identify the median, 25th percentile and 75th percentile
UK employee.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 106
Implementation of remuneration policy in 2021
Salary: The Committee has awarded a salary increase of 2.5% to
each Executive Director, which means that, from 1 January 2021,
Erik Engstrom’s salary rose to £1,312,087 and Nick Luff’s salary
to £772,646. This is in line with the guidelines for 2021 for the
general UK-based employee population.
Benefits: The benefits provided to the Executive Directors are
unchanged for 2021.
Annual incentive: The operation of the AIP in 2021 will be in
accordance with the terms of the policy approved by shareholders
at the 2020 AGM and set out on pages 108 to 114. The AIP payout at
target performance is reduced from 150% to 135% of base salary.
The maximum remains at 200% of base salary. The proportion of
AIP deferred into shares for three years increases from one-third
to 50% of the AIP earned. The weighting of the different metrics
is unchanged from 2020 with revenue, adjusted net profit after
tax and cash flow each having a weight of 30% and non-financial
a weight of 10%. Non-financial measures are focused on
sustainability metrics. Details of the 2021 annual financial
targets and non-financial metrics will be disclosed in the
2021 Remuneration Report.
Pension: Erik Engstrom’s Total Plan Fees for the legacy defined
benefit pension scheme were slightly over 25% of pensionable
earnings in 2020 and will increase further to 30% in 2021 and
to 35% in 2022. Mr Engstrom is also subject to a 2% cap on
annual increases in pensionable earnings. From the end of 2022
he will cease to accrue further benefits under this scheme and
will receive pension benefits of equivalent value to the level of
pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular defined
contribution pension plans as may be in effect or amended from
time to time.
Nick Luff’s cash allowance in lieu of pension reduced from 25%
of salary to 20% of salary from January 2020, 18% from January
2021 and will reduce to 16% from January 2022 and from the end
of 2022, he will receive pension benefits of equivalent value to the
level of pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular
defined contribution pension plans as may be in effect or
amended from time to time.
Share based awards: As in 2020, we will be granting LTIP awards
with face values of 450% of salary to Erik Engstrom and 375%
to Nick Luff in 2021. The awards are subject to a three-year
performance period and the net (after tax) vested shares
are to be retained for a further two-year holding period.
The following metrics, weightings, targets and vesting scales
apply to LTIP awards granted in 2021 for the 2021–2023 cycle.
The vesting of LTIP awards is dependent on three separate
performance measures: ROIC, EPS and TSR weighted
40%:40%:20% respectively and assessed independently.
The TSR measure comprises three comparators (sterling,
euro and US dollar) reflecting the fact that RELX accesses equity
capital markets through three exchanges – London, Amsterdam
and New York – in three currency zones. RELX’s TSR performance
is measured separately against each comparator group and
each ranking achieved will produce a payout, if any, in respect of
one-third of the TSR measure. The proportion of the TSR
measure that vests will be the sum of the three payouts.
The averaging period applied for TSR measurement purposes is
the three months before the start of the financial year in which the
award is granted and the last three months of the third financial
year of the performance period.
The companies for the TSR comparator groups for the 2021–2023
LTIP cycle were selected on the following basis (substantially
unchanged from prior year):
(a) they were in a relevant market index or were the largest listed
companies on the relevant exchanges at the end of the year
before the start of the performance period: the FTSE 100 for
the sterling group; the Euronext100 (including the AEX) and
DAX30 for the euro group; and the S&P 500 for the US dollar
group;
(b) certain companies were then excluded:
§ those with mainly domestic or single country revenues (as
they do not reflect the global nature of RELX’s customer
base);
§ those engaged in extractive industries (as they are exposed
to commodity cycles); and
§ financial services companies (as they have a different
risk/reward profile).
(c) the remaining companies were then ranked by market
capitalisation and, for each comparator group, up to 50
companies with market capitalisations above and below
that of RELX were taken; and
(d) relevant listed global peers operating in businesses similar
to those of RELX, but not otherwise included, were added.
Vesting percentage of each third
of the TSR tranche(1)
0%
25%
100%
TSR ranking within the relevant
TSR comparator group
Below median
Median
Upper quartile
(1) Vesting is on a straight-line basis for performance between the minimum and
maximum levels.
The calculation methodology for the EPS and ROIC measures
is set out in the 2013 Notices of Annual General Meetings, which
can be found on RELX’s website. The targets and vesting scales
applicable to the EPS and ROIC are set out below.
Vesting percentage
of EPS and ROIC
tranches(1)
0%
25%
50%
65%
75%
85%
92.5%
100%
Average growth
in adjusted EPS over
the three-year performance
period
below 5% p.a.
5% p.a.
6% p.a.
7% p.a.
8% p.a.
9% p.a.
10% p.a.
11% p.a. or above
ROIC in the third
year of the
performance period
below 11.0%
11.0%
11.5%
12.0%
12.5%
13.0%
13.5%
14% or above
(1) Vesting is on a straight-line basis for performance between the stated average
adjusted EPS growth/ROIC percentages.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 107
Remuneration Committee advice
The Committee consists of independent Non-Executive Directors
and the Chair of RELX. Details of members and their attendance
are contained in the Corporate Governance Review on page 83.
The Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary attends meetings
as secretary to the Committee. At the invitation of the Chair
of the Committee, the CEO attends appropriate parts of the
meetings. The CEO is not in attendance during discussions
about his remuneration.
The Chief Human Resources Officer advised the Committee
during the year.
Willis Towers Watson is the external adviser, appointed by the
Committee through a competitive process. Willis Towers Watson
also provided actuarial and other human resources consultancy
services to some RELX companies during the year. The Committee
is satisfied that the firm’s advice continues to be objective and
independent, and that no conflict of interest exists. The individual
consultants who work with the Committee do not provide advice
to the Executive Directors or act on their behalf. Willis Towers
Watson is a member of the Remuneration Consultants’ Group
and conducts its work in line with the UK Code of Conduct for
executive remuneration consulting. During 2020, Willis Towers
Watson received fees of £9,033 for advice given to the Committee,
charged on a time and expense basis.
Shareholder voting at 2020 Annual General Meeting
At the Annual General Meeting of RELX PLC on 23 April 2020, votes cast by proxy and at the meeting in respect of the Directors’
remuneration were as follows:
Resolution
Remuneration Policy (binding)
Remuneration Report (advisory)
Votes For
1,507,700,939
1,543,028,740
% For
93.42%
97.02%
Votes Against
106,174,539
47,378,046
% Against
Total votes cast
6.58% 1,613,875,478
1,590,406,786
2.98%
Votes Withheld
690,971
24,159,663
Wolfhart Hauser
Chair, Remuneration Committee
10 February 2021
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 108
Remuneration Policy Report
Set out in this section is the Company’s Remuneration Policy for Directors, as approved by shareholders at the 23 April 2020 Annual
General Meeting, and which is intended to apply for three years from the AGM and to awards granted from the first quarter of 2021.
The policy is as reported in the 2019 annual report.
Remuneration policy table – Executive Directors
All footnotes to the policy table can be found on page 111.
ANNUAL BASE SALARY
Purpose and link to strategy
To recruit and retain the best executive talent globally to execute our strategic objectives at appropriate cost.
Operation
Salaries for Executive Directors are set and reviewed annually by the Remuneration Committee (the Committee) with changes typically
taking effect on 1 January. In exceptional circumstances, the Committee may review salaries more frequently.
When reviewing salaries, the Committee considers the executive’s role and sustained value to the Company in terms of skill, experience
and overall contribution and the Company’s guidelines for salaries for all employees for the year. Periodically, competitiveness with
companies which are comparable in respect of industry, size, international scope and complexity is also considered in order to ensure
the Company’s ability to attract and retain executives.
For the last eight years, Executive Directors’ salary increases have been 2.5% per annum.
Performance framework
N/A
Maximum value
Salary increases will continue to be aligned with the range of increases for the wider employee population and subject to annual
all-employee guidelines. However, as for all employees, the Committee has discretion to exceed this to take account of individual
circumstances such as change in responsibility, increases in scale or complexity of the business, inflation or alignment to market level.
Recovery of sums paid
No provision.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Purpose and link to strategy
Retirement plans are part of remuneration packages designed to recruit and retain the best executive talent at appropriate cost.
Operation
Policy for new appointments
Executive Directors appointed after the effective date of this policy will receive pension benefits up to the value equivalent to the
maximum level of pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular defined contribution pension plans as may be in effect or
amended from time to time (currently capped at 11% of base salary in the UK). The defined contribution pension plans are designed to
be competitive and sustainable long-term. Any amount payable may be paid wholly or partly as cash in lieu and may be subject to tax
and social security deductions in various jurisdictions.
Transition arrangements for existing Executive Directors
The existing directors will transition from their current arrangements to the above new appointment policy by the end of 2022.
The CFO currently receives a company contribution paid as cash in lieu of pension. The CFO’s company contribution decreased by five
percentage points to 20% of base salary from January 2020 and further decreases to 18% from January 2021, to 16% from January 2022
and from the end of 2022, he will be subject to the above new appointment policy (currently capped at 11% of base salary in the UK).
The CEO is a member of a UK legacy defined benefit pension scheme, accruing 1/30th of final year pensionable earnings for each year
(pro-rated for part years) of service, with a normal retirement age of 60. In line with all UK defined benefit scheme members, the CEO’s
contributions to the plan and fees he pays to participate in the plan (together the ‘Total Plan Fees’) have been increasing annually since
2011. However, the CEO now pays a higher percentage of pensionable earnings as Total Plan Fees in each calendar year than other legacy
members. In 2019, his Total Plan Fees were 20% of pensionable earnings, up from 12.5% in 2018. His total Plan Fees are 25% in 2020
and increase to 30% in 2021 and to 35% in 2022. A cap applies of 2% per annum on the increase in the CEO’s pensionable earnings (in
place since 2017). Like all other members of the legacy defined benefit pension scheme, the CEO is allowed to switch to the defined
contribution plan at any time. At the end of 2022, the CEO will cease to accrue any further benefits under the legacy defined benefit
pension scheme. After 31 December 2022, he will be subject to the above new appointment policy (currently capped at 11% of base
salary in the UK).
Performance framework
N/A
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 109
RETIREMENT BENEFITS CONTINUED
Maximum value
Policy
For Executive Directors hired or promoted to the Board after the effective date of this policy, the maximum value is equivalent to the
maximum level of pension benefits provided under the Company’s regular defined contribution pension plans as may be in effect
or amended from time to time (currently capped at 11% of base salary in the UK).
Transition arrangements for existing Executive Directors
For the current CFO, until 31 December 2022, the maximum values applicable are in accordance with the annual reductions in the
company contribution as detailed above under ‘Operation’. After 31 December 2022, he will be subject to the pension policy and
maximum value described above for new appointments.
For the current CEO, the maximum value under the legacy defined benefit scheme is an accrual of 1/30th of final year pensionable
earnings for every year of service until 31 December 2022, minus his applicable annual Total Plan Fees paid whilst accruing the benefit.
As noted above under ‘Operation’, the CEO is subject to increases in the Total Plan Fees which he pays annually as part of his ongoing
membership of this scheme until 31 December 2022, after which he will be subject to the pension policy and maximum value
described above for new appointments.
Recovery of sums paid
No provision.
OTHER BENEFITS
Purpose and link to strategy
To provide competitive benefits at appropriate cost.
Operation
Other benefits, subject to periodic review, may include private medical and dental cover, life assurance, tax return preparation costs,
car benefits, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, relocation benefits and expatriate allowances and other benefits available to
employees generally, including, where appropriate, the tax on such benefits.
Performance framework
N/A
Maximum value
The maximum for ongoing benefits for Executive Directors will not normally exceed 10% of salary (excluding any one-off items, such as
immigration support or relocation benefits, and any tax related charge on benefits which is met by the Company). However, the Committee
may provide reasonable benefits beyond this amount in exceptional situations, such as a change in the individual’s circumstances
caused by the Company, or if there is a significant increase in the cost of providing the agreed benefit.
ANNUAL INCENTIVE PLAN (AIP)
Purpose and link to strategy
The annual incentive provides focus on the delivery of annual financial targets and the achievement of annual objectives and milestones
which are chosen to align with the Company’s strategy and create a platform for sustainable future performance. The compulsory
deferral of 50% of any annual incentive earned into RELX shares for three years promotes longer-term alignment of Executive
Directors’ interests with shareholders’ interests, including an element of post-termination shareholding.
Why performance measures are chosen and how targets are set
Performance measures include a balanced set of financial measures which are appropriately weighted and which support current
strategy and incentivise the Executive Directors to achieve the desired outcomes without undue risk of focusing on any one financial
measure. The financial targets are designed to be challenging and are set with reference to the previous year’s performance and
internal and external forecasts for the following year.
Performance measures may also include non-financial measures, for example linked to sustainability.
Operation
The Committee reviews and sets the financial targets and, if applicable, non-financial targets, annually, taking into account internal
forecasts and strategic plans. Following year end, the Committee compares actual performance with the financial targets and assesses
the achievement of any non-financial targets. The targets and outcomes are fully disclosed in the Remuneration Report published after
year end.
50% of any annual incentive earned is paid in cash to the Executive Director and the remaining 50% is deferred into RELX shares, which
are released to the Executive Director after three years. Dividend equivalents accrued during the deferral period are payable in respect
of the shares. On a change in control, the default position is that deferred shares are released to the Executive Director. Alternatively,
the Committee may determine that deferred shares will instead be exchanged for equivalent share awards in the acquiring company.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 110
AIP CONTINUED
Performance framework
The AIP includes financial measures with a weighting of at least 85% and may also include non-financial measures with a weighting
of up to 15%. Each measure is assessed separately.
§ The minimum payout is zero.
§ Each measure is assessed independently and payout for each measure at threshold is 10% of the maximum opportunity for that
measure. If the financial measures have a weighting of 100% and threshold is reached for each of the financial measures, the overall
payout for the financial measures is 13.5% of salary. If the financial measures have a weighting of 85% and threshold is reached for
each of the financial measures, the overall payout for the financial measures is 11.5% of salary.
§ Payout for target performance is 135% of salary.
Following an assessment of financial achievement, and scoring of any non-financial measures, the Committee agrees the overall level
of earned incentive for each Executive Director.
Committee discretion applies.1,2,3
Maximum value
The maximum potential annual incentive is 200% of annual base salary. This includes the deferred share element but excludes dividend
equivalents payable in respect of the deferred shares.
Recovery of sums paid
Claw-back applies.4
LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN (LTIP)
Purpose and link to strategy
The Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) is designed to provide a long-term incentive for Executive Directors to achieve the key performance
measures that support the Company’s strategy, and to align their interests with shareholders.
Why performance measures are chosen and how targets are set
Our strategic focus is on continuing to transform the core business through organic investment and the build-out of new products into
adjacent markets and geographies, supplemented by selective portfolio acquisitions and divestments. The performance measures in
the LTIP are chosen to support this strategy by focusing on sustained earnings growth, return on invested capital and shareholder return.
Targets are set with regard to previous results and internal and external forecasts for the performance period and the strategic plan for
the business. They are designed to provide exceptional reward for exceptional performance, whilst allowing a reasonable expectation
that reward at the lower end of the scale is attainable, subject to robust performance.
Operation
Annual awards of performance shares, with vesting subject to:
§ performance measured over three financial years
§ continued employment (subject to the provisions set out in the Policy on payments for loss of office section)
§ meeting shareholding requirements (450% of salary for the CEO and 300% of salary for the CFO)
Executive Directors are to retain their net (after tax) vested shares for a holding period of two years after vesting. Dividend equivalents
accrued during the performance period are payable in respect of the performance shares that vest.
On a change of control, the default position is that awards vest on a pro-rated basis, subject to an assessment of performance against
targets at that time. Alternatively, the Committee may determine that the awards will not vest and will instead be exchanged for
equivalent awards in the acquiring company.
Performance framework
The performance measures are EPS, ROIC and relative TSR, weighted 40%:40%:20% respectively and assessed independently,
such that a payout can be received under any one of the measures (or, for TSR, in respect of one of the three comparator groups).
§ The minimum payout is zero.
§ Each measure is assessed independently and payout for each measure at threshold is 25% of the maximum opportunity for that
measure. If only one measure vests at threshold, and it has a weighting of 40%, then the overall payout would be 10% of the maximum
award. If only one measure with a weighting of 20% vests at threshold, the overall payout would be 5% of the maximum award.
§ Payout in line with expectations is 50% of the maximum award.
Dividend equivalents are not taken into account in the above payout levels.
Committee discretion applies.1,2,3
Maximum value
The maximum grant in any year is up to 450% of base salary for the CEO and up to 375% of base salary for other Executive Directors
(not including dividend equivalents).
Recovery of sums paid
Claw-back applies.4
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 111
Notes to the Remuneration policy table
(1)
Discretion in respect of AIP and LTIP payout levels: In determining the level of payout under the AIP and vesting under the LTIP, the
Committee takes into account RELX’s overall business performance and value created for shareholders over the period in review and other
relevant factors. It has discretion to adjust the vesting and payout levels (subject always to the maximum individual limits) if it believes this
would result in a fairer outcome. This discretion will only be used in exceptional circumstances and the Committee will explain in the next
Remuneration Report the extent to which it has been exercised and the reasons for doing so.
Discretion to vary performance measures under the AIP and the LTIP: The Committee may vary the financial measures applying to a
current annual incentive year and performance measures for LTIP awards already granted if a change in circumstances leads it to believe
that the arrangement is no longer a fair measure of performance. Any new measures will not be materially less, or more, challenging than
the original ones.
Discretion on termination of employment under the AIP and the LTIP: The Committee’s discretion on termination of employment is
described under the ‘Policy on payments for loss of office’ section on page 113.
Malus and claw-back under the AIP and the LTIP: Under the AIP and the LTIP, the Committee has discretion to apply malus and claw-back (i)
if the payout (including the AIP deferred shares element) was calculated on the basis of materially misstated financial or other data, in which
case it can withhold a payout and can seek to recover the difference in value between the incorrect payout and the amount that would have
been paid had the correct data been used or (ii) if there has been serious misconduct on the part of the individual, in which case the
Committee may withhold an AIP payout, lapse unvested LTIP awards and may require repayment of AIP and LTIP gains arising during a
specified period. Under the LTIP, the Committee also has discretion to apply malus and claw-back if a participant breaches post-termination
restrictive covenants, in which case unvested awards would lapse and the Committee may require repayment of gains arising during the
period beginning six months before termination and ending on the date the post-termination restrictive covenants are stated to expire.
Explanation of differences between the Company’s policy on Executive Directors’ remuneration and the policy for other employees:
Incentives: A larger percentage of Executive Directors’ remuneration is performance related than that of other employees. All managers
participate in an annual incentive plan, but participation levels, measures and targets vary according to their role, seniority and local
business priorities. Approximately 100 senior executives currently participate in the LTIP and about 1,000 participate in the Executive
Share Option Scheme (ESOS). Grant levels under the plans vary according to role and seniority. In considering the remuneration policy for
Executive Directors, under which the Executive Directors only participate in the AIP and the LTIP, the Committee considered the incentive
plan participation for the wider senior management population. Other benefits: The range and level of retirement and other benefits
provided to employees may vary according to local market practice, role and seniority. This is to ensure that we provide competitive
packages which are appropriate to specific roles. However, as noted above in the pension section of the policy table, the proposed policy on
Executive Directors’ pension arrangements results in alignment of the maximum values of pension benefits for newly appointed Executive
Directors and the wider workforce following shareholder approval of the remuneration policy and for existing Executive Directors by the
end of 2022.
Changes to pay components: The changes which were made since the previous remuneration policy, together with the rationale for the
changes, are described in the Committee Chair’s introduction on pages 88 and 89 of the 2019 Annual Report.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Remuneration outcomes in different performance scenarios
The Committee considers the level of remuneration that may be paid in the context of the performance delivered and value added for
shareholders. The charts below are an illustration of how the CEO’s and CFO’s regular annual remuneration could vary under different
performance scenarios. The salary, benefits and pension levels are the same in all three scenarios in each chart. Salary is based on 2020
salary. Benefits is based on the 2019 Single Total Figure table. Pension, annual incentive and LTIP are all based on full implementation of
all aspects of the policy table’s award levels and percentages (including 11% pension), applied to the 2020 salary. Annual incentive amounts
include the portion which is subject to compulsory deferral into RELX shares for three years. The performance assumptions which have
been used are as follows: Minimum means no AIP payout and no LTIP vesting. In line with expectations means AIP payout at 135% of salary
(of which a portion is deferred into shares) and LTIP vesting at 50% of the award. Maximum means AIP payout at 200% of salary (of which
a portion is deferred into shares) and LTIP vesting at 100% of the award. The three bars in each chart assume no share price movement.
As required by the UK Regulations, assuming maximum performance achievement (as described above) and 50% share price growth over
the performance period, the CEO’s maximum remuneration would increase to £12.7m and the CFO’s maximum remuneration to £6.6m.
Any dividend equivalents payable in respect of the AIP deferred shares and the LTIP are not included.
CEO REMUNERATION (£’000)
CFO REMUNERATION (£’000)
9,828
59%
26%
15%
6,115
47%
28%
25%
1,507
100%
Minimum
In line with
expectations
Maximum
LTIP
AIP cash and deferred shares
Salary, benefits, pension
LTIP
AIP cash and deferred shares
Salary, benefits, pension
5,186
55%
29%
16%
3,282
43%
31%
26%
In line with
expectations
Maximum
851
100%
Minimum
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 112
Approach to recruitment remuneration – Executive Directors
When agreeing the components of a remuneration package on the appointment of a new Executive Director, or an internal promotion
to the Board, the Committee would seek to align the package with the remuneration policy stated in the policy table.
The Committee’s general principle on recruitment is to offer a competitive remuneration package to attract high-calibre candidates
from a global talent pool. Basic salary would be set at an appropriate level for the candidate, taking into account all relevant factors.
As a data analytics and technology-driven business, with half of its revenue in the US, the Company primarily competes for talent with
global information and technology companies.
The various components and the Company’s approach are as follows:
Standard package on recruitment*
To offer remuneration in line with the policy table (including the limits), taking into account the principles set out above.
Compensation for forfeited entitlements
The Committee may make awards and payments on hiring an external candidate to compensate him or her for entitlements forfeited
on leaving the previous employer. If such a decision is made, the Committee will attempt to reflect previous entitlements as closely as
possible using a variety of tools, including cash and share based awards. Malus and claw-back provisions will apply where appropriate.
If necessary to facilitate the grant of awards, the Committee may rely on the one person exemption from shareholder approval in the UK
Listing Rules.
Relocation allowances and expenses
The type and size of relocation allowances and expenses will be determined by the specific circumstances of the new recruit.
* The standard package comprises annual base salary, retirement benefits, other benefits, AIP and LTIP.
Shareholding requirement
The Executive Directors are subject to shareholding requirements. These are a minimum of 450% of annual base salary for the CEO and
300% of annual base salary for other Executive Directors. On joining or promotion to the Board, Executive Directors are given a period of
time, typically up to five years, to build up to their requirement. On termination of employment, Executive Directors are to maintain their
full shareholding requirement (or, if lower, their actual level of shareholding at the time of leaving) for two years after leaving employment.
Shares which count for shareholding purposes are shares beneficially owned by the Executive Director, their spouse, civil partner or
dependent child and AIP deferred shares which are within their three-year deferral period, on a notional net of tax basis.
Policy on payments for loss of office
In line with the Company’s policy, the service contracts of the existing Executive Directors contain 12-month notice periods.
The circumstances in which an Executive Director’s employment is terminated will affect the Committee’s determination of any payment
for loss of office, but it expects to apply the principles outlined in the table on the next page. The Committee reserves the right to depart
from these principles where appropriate in light of any taxation requirements to which the Company or the Executive Director is subject
(including, without limitation, section 409A of the US Internal Revenue Code), or other legal obligations.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 113
Policy on payments for loss of office (continued)
GENERAL1
INCENTIVES
Mutually agreed termination/termination by the Company other than for cause2
(includes retirement with customary notice)
The Executive Director would be entitled to salary, benefits and
other contractual payments in the normal way up to the termination
date and would be paid for any accrued but untaken holiday.
Salary: Payment of up to 12 months’ salary to reflect the notice
period or payment in lieu of notice.
Other benefits: Where possible, benefits would be continued for
up to the duration of any unworked period of notice (not exceeding
the maximum stated in the policy table) or the Executive Director
would receive a cash payment (not exceeding the cost to the
Company of providing those benefits).
Pension: Deferred or immediate pension in accordance with
scheme rules, with a credit in respect of, or payment for up to,
the full period of any unworked period of notice. There is provision
under the defined benefit pension scheme for members leaving
Company service by reason of permanent incapacity to make an
application to the scheme trustee for early payment of their pension.
Other: The Company may pay compensation in respect of any
statutory employment rights and may make other appropriate
and customary payments.
The Company would have due regard to principles of mitigation
of loss. Reductions would be applied to reflect any portion of the
notice period that is worked and/or spent on gardening leave.
On injury, disability, ill-health or death, the Committee reserves
the right to vary the treatment outlined in this section.
Employee instigated resignation
The Executive Director would not receive any payments for
loss of office. The Executive Director would be entitled to salary,
benefits and other contractual payments in the normal way up
to the termination date and would be paid for any accrued but
untaken holiday.
Pension: A deferred or immediate pension would be payable
in accordance with the scheme rules.
Dismissal for cause
The Executive Director would be entitled to salary, benefits
and other contractual payments in the normal way up to the
termination date and would be paid for any accrued but untaken
holiday but would not receive any payments for loss of office.
Pension: A deferred or immediate pension would be payable
in accordance with the scheme rules.
Annual incentive: Any unpaid annual incentive for the previous year
and a pro-rata payment in respect of the part of the financial year
up to the termination date would generally be payable (subject
to the deferral provisions), with the amount being determined
by reference to the original performance criteria. However,
the Committee has discretion to decide otherwise depending
on the reason for termination and other specific circumstances.
The Company would not pay any annual incentive in respect of any
part of the financial year following the termination date (e.g. for
any unworked period of notice). AIP deferred shares would be
released to the Executive Directors in full at the end of the deferral
period. The annual incentive claw-back provisions would apply.
LTIP: The default position is that unvested LTIP awards would be
pro-rated to reflect time employed and would vest subject to
performance measured at the end of the relevant performance
period and subject to the Executive Director continuing to meet
his full shareholding requirement for two years after the
termination date. The Committee has discretion to allow unvested
LTIP awards to vest earlier and to adjust the application of time
pro-rating and performance conditions, subject to the plan rules.
The requirement to retain net (after tax) vested LTIP shares for
a holding period of two years after vesting ceases to apply on
termination of employment.
Annual incentive: The Executive Director would be entitled to
receive an annual incentive for a completed previous year (subject
to the deferral provisions), but not a pro-rated annual incentive
in respect of a part year up to the termination date, unless the
Committee decides otherwise in the specific circumstances.
Any AIP deferred shares would be released to the Executive
Director in full at the end of the deferral period. Annual incentive
claw-back provisions would apply.
LTIP: All outstanding LTIP awards would lapse on the date of notice.
Annual incentive: The Executive Director would not receive any
unpaid annual incentive. Any AIP deferred shares lapse on the
date of dismissal.
LTIP: All outstanding LTIP awards would lapse on the date
of dismissal.
(1) In addition to what is set out in this section, on termination for any reason, Erik Engstrom will be entitled to payment of amounts held in his ‘Retirement Account’. Before
he joined the Company’s UK defined benefit scheme, he was not a member of any company pension scheme and RELX made annual contributions of 19.5% of base salary
to a deferred compensation plan. Contributions to this Retirement Account ceased when he became a member of the UK defined benefit arrangement.
(2) In cases where the approved leaver treatment applies, the AIP and LTIP have a default position as well as giving the Committee discretion to adjust the default treatment
within certain parameters. The Committee would only expect to exercise such discretion where the Committee believes the personal circumstances of the Executive
Director so require.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ Remuneration ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 114
Remuneration policy table – Non-Executive Directors
FEES
Purpose and link to strategy
To enable RELX to recruit Non-Executive Directors with the right balance of personal skills and experience to make a major contribution
to the Board and Committees of a global business which is listed in London, Amsterdam and New York.
Operation
RELX Chair: Receives an aggregate annual fee with no additional fees, for example, Committee Chair fees. The Committee determines
the Chair’s fee on the advice of the Senior Independent Director.
Other Non-Executive Directors: Receive an annual fee with additional fees payable as appropriate for specific roles and duties.
These additional fees include fees for the Senior Independent Director and Committee Chairs, for membership of Board Committees,
as well as a workforce engagement fee and international travel fees. In future, other fees may be payable, for example attendance fees.
The Board determines the level of fees, subject to applicable law.
Fees may be reviewed annually, although in practice they have changed on a less frequent basis. When reviewing fees, consideration
is given to the time commitment required, the complexity of the role and the calibre of the individual. Periodically, comparative market
data is also reviewed, the primary source for which is the practice of FTSE 30 companies, with reference also to the Euronext
Amsterdam (AEX) index and US-listed companies.
Maximum value
The aggregate annual fee limit for fees paid to the Chair and the Non-Executive Directors is £2m. Additional fees for membership of or
chairing Board Committees and assuming additional responsibilities such as acting as Senior Independent Director, are not subject
to this maximum limit.
OTHER BENEFITS
Purpose and link to strategy
To provide competitive benefits at appropriate cost.
Operation
Other benefits for Non-Executive Directors are reviewed periodically and may include private medical cover, tax return preparation
costs, secretarial benefits, car benefits, travel and related subsistence costs, including, where appropriate, the tax on such benefits.
Maximum value
There is no prescribed maximum amount.
Approach to recruitment remuneration –
Non-Executive Directors
Following recruitment, a new Non-Executive Director will
be entitled to fees and other benefits in accordance with the
Company’s remuneration policy. No additional remuneration
is paid on recruitment. However, any reasonable expenses
incurred during the recruitment process will be reimbursed.
Policy on payments for loss of office – Non-Executive Directors
In addition to unpaid accrued fees, the Non-Executive Directors
are entitled to receive one month’s fees for loss of office if their
appointment is terminated before the end of its term.
Service contracts and letters of appointment
There are no further obligations in the Directors’ service contracts
and letters of appointment which are not otherwise disclosed in
this Report which could give rise to a remuneration payment or
loss of office payment. All Directors’ service contracts and letters
of appointment are available for inspection at the Company’s
registered office. The Executive Directors’ service contracts
do not have a fixed expiry date.
Consideration of employment conditions elsewhere in the Company
When the Committee reviews the Executive Directors’ salaries
annually, it takes into account the Company’s guidelines for
salaries for all employees in the Company’s major operating
locations for the forthcoming year. The Committee also considers
market practice in the FTSE 30 as well as pay practices of other
global information and technology companies when determining
the quantum and structure of Directors’ pay.
Since 2019, the Committee annually reviews various aspects of
workforce remuneration and related policies in order to deepen
its understanding of pay structures throughout the organisation.
Also since 2019, our designated non-executive director responsible
for workforce engagement meets with employees representing our
global employee population in order to understand a wide-range
of employee views on a variety of topics. The feedback is reported
back to the Board at least once per year and forms part of the
Board’s discussions and decision making. As part of this process,
the non-executive director responsible for workforce engagement
explains how executive remuneration aligns with wider pay policy.
Consideration of shareholder views
Our practice is to consult shareholders and consider their views
when formulating, or changing, our policy. The Committee
consulted extensively with shareholders (representing c60%
of the Company’s issued share capital) and shareholder
representative bodies on the proposed new remuneration policy.
We were grateful for the constructive feedback, which was taken
into account in our final proposals.
Previous remuneration policy and prior commitments
Any payments which are still to be made under arrangements
made and awards granted under previous remuneration policies
(which are included in the 2013 and 2016 Annual Reports and
Financial Statements) will be made consistent with the applicable
policy. The provisions of the previous policies which relate to
arrangements and awards granted under those previous policies
will therefore continue to apply until all payments in relation to
those arrangements and awards have been made. The Committee
also reserves the right to make any remuneration or loss of office
payments if the terms were agreed prior to the approval of the 2013
or 2016 policy or prior to an individual being appointed as a Director.
Minor amendments
The Committee may make minor amendments for regulatory,
tax or administrative purpose.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
115
Report of the Audit Committee
This report has been prepared by the Audit Committee of RELX PLC and has been approved by the Board. It provides an overview of the
membership, responsibilities and activities of the Committee.
Membership
Responsibilities
The Committee comprises at least three independent
Non-Executive Directors. The members of the Committee who
served during the year were:
§ Suzanne Wood (Chair of the Committee from 23 April 2020)
§ Andrew Sukawaty
§ Marike van Lier Lels (since 23 April 2020)
§ June Felix (since 1 November 2020)
§ Adrian Hennah (Chair of the Committee until 23 April 2020,
member until 23 April 2020)
Of the current members of the Committee, Suzanne Wood,
a US chartered accountant is considered to have significant,
recent and relevant financial experience.
The Committee as a whole is deemed to have competence
relevant to the sectors in which RELX operates.
Please see pages 66 and 67 for full profiles of Audit
Committee members.
The main role and responsibility of the Committee is to assist
the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities regarding:
§ the integrity of the interim and full-year financial
statements and financial reporting processes;
§ risk management and internal controls, and the
effectiveness of the internal auditors; and
§ the performance of the external auditors and the
effectiveness of the external audit process, including
monitoring the independence and objectivity of
Ernst & Young.
The Committee reports to the Board on its activities,
identifying any matters in respect of which it considers
that action or improvement is needed and making
recommendations as to the steps to be taken.
The terms of reference of the Audit Committee are reviewed
annually and a copy is published on the RELX website,
www.relx.com
Financial reporting
In discharging its responsibilities in respect of the 2020 interim and full-year financial statements, the Committee reviewed the following:
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANT JUDGEMENT
Specific areas of significant judgement focused on by the Committee were:
§ Carrying values of goodwill and intangible assets: The significant judgements in respect of asset carrying
values relate to the assumptions underlying the value in use calculations including discount rates and
long-term growth assumptions. The Committee received and discussed reports from the RELX Financial
Controller on the methodology and the basis of the assumptions used. In 2020 Exhibitions was an area of
particular focus given the disruption to the business due to Covid-19 related restrictions. Updated medium
and long term forecasts for the Exhibitions business were reviewed, and additional sensitivities were
considered to assess the carrying value of goodwill. The Committee also considered the results of a detailed
review of the carrying value of both acquired and internally generated intangible assets in Exhibitions,
noting the impairments made.
PAGE REFERENCE
IN ANNUAL REPORT
156-159
§ Capitalisation of internally generated intangible assets: The capitalisation of costs related to the development
of new products and business infrastructure, together with the useful economic lives applied to the resulting
assets, requires the exercise of judgement. The Committee received reports from the RELX Financial
Controller on the amounts capitalised and asset lives selected for major projects;
158-159
§ Uncertain tax positions: Assessing potential liabilities across numerous jurisdictions is complex and requires
judgement in making tax determinations. The Committee received and discussed reports from the RELX Head
of Taxation on the potential liabilities identified and judgements applied;
149
§ Pensions: The recognition of certain pension scheme liabilities and assets is subject to judgement.
144-147
The Committee received and discussed reports from the RELX Financial Controller on the methodology
and the basis of the assumptions used.
The Committee was satisfied that all judgements had been appropriately made.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
116
SPECIFIC COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS
Specific Covid-19 areas discussed by the Committee throughout the year were:
§ The impact of Covid-19 on STM, Legal and Risk: The Committee discussed these business areas to ensure
that there were no significant accounting judgements or exceptional items occurring as a result of Covid-19.
§ Exhibition’s exceptional costs: In addition to the review of goodwill and intangible asset carrying values,
and resulting impairment charges, as set out in the ‘Areas of significant judgement section’ above, the
Committee also reviewed and discussed the judgements made around the recognition of cancelled event
and restructuring costs to ensure that their recognition in 2020 is in line with the relevant accounting
guidance. The nature of the costs was also reviewed to ensure that the presentation of these costs as
exceptional is appropriate.
PAGE REFERENCE
IN ANNUAL REPORT
88-89
141
§ Going concern and viability: Having reviewed liquidity and covenant compliance through the year, for half year
88-89
and full year reporting, the Committee reviewed going concern and viability assumptions, including
consideration of a range of downside scenarios.
The Committee was satisfied that all the above items had been appropriately considered and presented in the
Annual Report. A specific additional meeting was held in April 2020 to discuss potential issues arising from
Covid-19, and the items listed above were additionally covered in all meetings subsequent.
DISCLOSURE AND PRESENTATION
PAGE REFERENCE
IN ANNUAL REPORT
As well as considering the Annual Report as a whole (see ‘Fair, balanced and understandable’ section below)
the Committee focused on the following areas of disclosure and presentation:
§ reviewed the critical accounting policies and compliance with applicable accounting standards, reviewed other
disclosure requirements and received regular update reports on accounting and regulatory developments;
137
§ reviewed the disclosures made in relation to internal control, risk management, the going concern statement
and the viability statement. The Committee received and discussed reports from the RELX Head of Audit and
Risk Management and the RELX Treasurer on the processes undertaken and assumptions used in formulating
these disclosures. The going concern and viability statements were subject to an in depth review, including a
detailed review and challenge of the various adverse scenarios modelled to ensure that the statements made
in relation to going concern and viability are robust;
85-89
§ considered the calculation and presentation of alternative performance measures in the Annual Report and
54-59, 188
Accounts and results announcement. This review included the presentation of the exceptional items presented
in relation to Exhibitions, ensuring that the items included under this definition are costs which should be
excluded from the adjusted measures to ensure that these measures reflect the core operational
performance of the group.
The Committee was satisfied that all relevant disclosures have been appropriately made.
FAIR, BALANCED AND UNDERSTANDABLE
The Committee considered whether the 2020 Annual Report is fair, balanced and understandable. In making this assessment,
the Committee considered the following areas:
§ The process for preparing the Annual Report, including the contributors, the internal review process and how feedback is
addressed throughout the process;
§ The business review narratives presented for each business area;
§ The discussion of reported and underlying results throughout the report. This included the presentation of the impact of Covid-19,
and in particular the presentation of Exhibitions results.
The Committee was satisfied that, taken as a whole, the Annual Report is fair, balanced and understandable. This conclusion has
been reported to the Board.
The Committee also received detailed written and verbal reports from the external auditors on these matters. The Committee was satisfied
with the explanations provided and conclusions reached.
Risk management and internal controls
With respect to their oversight of risk management and internal controls, the Committee has:
§ received and discussed regular reports summarising the status of the Group’s risk management activities, including the impact of
Covid-19, identification of emerging risks and actions to mitigate risks, and the findings from internal audits and status of actions agreed
with management. Areas of focus in 2020 included: changes to controls required as a result of home-working; cyber security; data
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance
117
privacy; the operational, financial and IT control environment; the
use of technology such as robotic process automation; regulatory
compliance; business continuity and resilience; post acquisition
integration; integrity of published ESG data; and continued
compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the US
Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to the documentation and testing
of internal controls over financial reporting.
§ received regular updates from the RELX Treasurer on the
impact of Covid-19 on the Group’s financial position including on
liquidity, compliance with the financial covenant in its revolving
credit agreement, credit ratings and ability to access debt capital
markets. Updates included various stress test scenarios and
were regularly updated to reflect changing business conditions,
including the extent of event postponements and cancellations
in Exhibitions, and actions taken by the Group to manage
liquidity. The Committee also received updates on treasury
policies, risk management and compliance with treasury
policies and pension arrangements and funding;
§ reviewed and approved the internal audit plan for 2021 and
monitored execution of the 2020 plan, including progress in
respect of recommendations made;
§ reviewed the risk management and internal audit functions
activities against the IIA Code of Practice;
§ reviewed the resources, terms of reference and effectiveness
of the RELX risk management and internal audit functions;
§ received presentations from: the RELX Chief Compliance
Officer on the compliance programmes, including the
operation of the RELX Code of Conduct, training programmes
and whistleblowing arrangements, and the RELX Chief Legal
Officer on legal issues and claims;
§ received presentations from the RELX Head of Taxation on tax
policies and related matters;
§ received regular updates from the RELX Chief Financial Officer
on developments within the finance function; and
§ received an update on Information Security Assurance.
Committee Meetings
The Committee met five times during 2020. The Audit Committee
meetings are typically attended by the RELX Chief Executive Officer,
the RELX Chief Financial Officer, the RELX Financial Controller,
the RELX Chief Legal Officer, the RELX Head of Audit and Risk
Management, and audit partners from the external auditors.
External audit effectiveness and independence
The Group has a well-established policy on audit effectiveness
and independence of auditors that sets out amongst other things:
the responsibilities of the Audit Committee in the selection of
auditors to be proposed for appointment or re-appointment and
for agreement on the terms of their engagement, scope and
remuneration; the auditor independence requirements and the
policy on the provision of non-audit services; the rotation of audit
partners and staff; and the conduct of meetings between the
auditors and the Audit Committee. The policy is available on the
website,
www.relx.com.
The Committee has conducted its review of the performance of
the external auditors and the effectiveness of the external audit
process for the year ended 31 December 2020. The review was
based on a survey of key stakeholders across RELX, consideration
of public reports by regulatory authorities on key Ernst & Young
member firms and the quality of the auditors’ reporting to and
interaction with the Audit Committee. Based on this review,
the Audit Committee was satisfied with the performance of the
auditors and the effectiveness of the audit process. The external
auditors have confirmed their independence and compliance with
the policy on auditor independence to the Audit Committee.
Internal audit effectiveness
The RELX Audit Committee’s terms of reference requires an annual
review of internal audit effectiveness. RELX has an established
Audit & Risk Management (A&RM) function whose responsibilities
include internal audit. The A&RM Charter requires an external
assessment at least once every five years to consider and report
on conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors International
Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) and UK Chartered
Institute of Internal Auditors Internal Audit Code of Practice (CoP).
The last external assessment was carried out in 2017 with the next
planned for 2022. In addition, the Audit Committee annually
receives and considers a report from the Head of A&RM on:
§ the independence of the internal audit activity;
§ a review of the A&RM Charter;
§ conformance with the mandatory elements of the IPPF and CoP
§ the results of its quality assurance and improvement
programme.
Non-audit services
The auditors are precluded from engaging in non-audit services
that would compromise their independence or violate any
professional requirements or regulations affecting their
appointment as auditors. The auditors may, however, provide
non-audit services which do not conflict with their independence.
The Committee has, each quarter, reviewed and agreed the
non-audit services provided in 2020 together with the associated
fees which are set out in note 4 to the consolidated financial
statements. The non-audit services provided in 2020 were very
limited and, in line with the latest FRC guidance, linked to the area
of audit work such as bond issuance related work and corporate
responsibility data assurance. The fees remain below the 70%
threshold as per the most recent FRC guidance.
Tenure of auditor
Ernst &Young LLP were first appointed auditor of RELX PLC
for the financial year ended 31 December 2016. The auditor is
required to rotate the lead audit partners responsible for the
engagements every five years. The year ended 31 December 2020
was the third year for the lead engagement partner Hywel Ball.
The Audit Committee confirms that they were in compliance
with the provisions of The Statutory Audit Services for Large
Companies Market Investigation (Mandatory Use of Competitive
Tender Processes and Audit Committee Responsibilities) Order
2014 during the financial year ended 31 December 2020.
Audit Committee effectiveness
The effectiveness of the Audit Committee was reviewed as part
of the 2020 evaluation of the Board which confirmed that the
Committee continues to function effectively. Details of the
evaluation are set out on page 86.
Suzanne Wood
Chair of the Audit Committee
10 February 2021
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Report of the Audit CommitteeMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 118
Directors’ Report
The Directors present their report, together with the financial
statements of the Group and RELX PLC (the Company), for the year
ended 31 December 2020. The Company is incorporated as a public
limited company and is registered in England and Wales with
registered number 77536. Its registered office is 1-3 Strand,
London, WC2N 5JR. This report has been prepared in accordance
with the requirements outlined within The Large and Medium-sized
Companies and Group (Accounts and Reports) Regulation 2008.
Corporate structure
The Company’s ordinary shares are traded on the London Stock
Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam. It also has in place an
American Depositary Share programme, under which its
securities are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. For the
purposes of this Directors’ Report, and the Corporate Governance
Review from pages 71 to 89, the Company and its subsidiaries,
joint ventures and associates are together known as ‘RELX’
or ‘the Group’.
Financial statement presentation
This Directors’ Report and the financial statements of the Group
and Company should be read in conjunction with the other reports
set out on pages 2 to 117. A review of the Group’s performance
during the year is set out on pages 5 to 59, the principal and
emerging risks facing the Group are set out on pages 60 to 64,
and the Group statement on corporate responsibility is set out
on pages 40 to 52.
In addition to the reported figures, adjusted figures are presented
as additional performance measures used by management to
assess the performance of the business. These exclude the
Group’s share of amortisation of acquired intangible assets,
acquisition-related items, tax in joint ventures, disposal gains,
finance income and losses and other non-operating items,
related tax effects, and movements in deferred taxation assets
and liabilities related to acquired intangible assets, and include
the benefit of tax amortisation where available on acquired
goodwill and intangible assets. In 2020, we also excluded
exceptional costs in the Exhibitions business.
Company financial statements
The individual company financial statements of the Company
are presented on page 182, and were prepared under Financial
Reporting Standard 101 (FRS 101). Distributable reserves as at
31 December 2020 were £6,916m (2019: £6,795m), comprising
reserves less shares held in treasury. Shareholders’ funds as
at 31 December 2020 were £20,019m (2019: £19,878m).
Strategic Report
The Companies Act 2006 requires the Company to present a fair
review of the Group during the financial year. The Strategic Report,
which includes a review of the Group’s business areas, a financial
review, the principal and emerging risks facing the Group, any
important events affecting the Group since 31 December 2020,
and the likely future developments in the Group’s business, is set
out on pages 2 to 64, which are incorporated into this Directors’
Report by reference. The Directors’ Report, inclusive of the
Strategic Report incorporated therein, forms the management
report for the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority’s
Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.1.8R.
Dividends
The Board is recommending a final dividend of 33.4p (2019: 32.1p)
per ordinary share to be paid on 3 June 2021 to shareholders
appearing on the Register of Members at the close of business
on 30 April 2021. Payment of this final dividend remains subject
to the approval of the Company’s shareholders at its 2021 Annual
General Meeting (AGM). Together with the interim dividend of
13.6p (2019: 13.6p) per ordinary share, paid in September 2020,
the total ordinary dividends for the year will be 47.0p (2019: 45.7p).
Details of dividend cover and our dividend policy are set out on
page 58.
Corporate governance
With the exception of provision 19 (length of tenure of the Chair)
and provision 38 (rates of contribution for Executive Pensions), the
Company has complied throughout the year with the provisions
of the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code), which is
publicly available on the Financial Reporting Council website
(www.frc.org.uk). Details of how the main principles of the Code
have been applied and the Directors’ statement on internal control
are set out in the Corporate Governance Review on pages 71 to 117,
which are incorporated into this Directors’ Report by reference.
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)
Absolute performance
Intensity ratio
(per £m revenue)
2020 Variance
2019
4,516 -42% 7,848
2020 Variance
0.64
2019
-36% 1.00
53,131 -22% 68,229
7.47
-14% 8.67
137,412
-21% 173,600
19.33
-12% 22.05
12,793 -20% 16,063
2,763 -25% 3,692
1.80
0.39
-12% 2.04
-17% 0.47
Global Scope 1
(direct
emissions) tCO2e
Global Scope 2
(indirect
location-based
emissions) tCO2e
Global energy
MWh*
UK energy MWh*
UK Scope 1 and
Scope 2
emissions tCO2e
* Energy figures include vehicle fuels for SECR reporting.
The partial occupancy of our locations, due to Covid-19, through
much of the year resulted in reductions across all reported metrics.
We report on all global operations for which we have operational
control following the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and
Reporting Standard (revised edition) for the reporting year
December 2019 to November 2020.
Directors
The names of the Directors who served on the Board during the
year are set out on pages 66 to 67, and 83, which are incorporated
into this Directors’ Report by reference.
Share capital
The Company’s issued share capital comprises a single class
of ordinary shares, all of which are listed on the London and
Amsterdam stock exchanges. It also has securities, in the form
of American Depositary Shares, traded on the New York Stock
Exchange. All issued shares are fully paid up and carry no
additional obligations or special rights. Each share carries
the right to one vote at general meetings of the Company.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 119
In a general meeting, subject to any rights and restrictions
attached to any shares, on a show of hands every member who is
present in person shall have one vote and every proxy present who
has been duly appointed by one or more members entitled to vote
on the resolution has one vote (although a proxy has one vote for
and one vote against the resolution if: (i) the proxy has been duly
appointed by more than one member entitled to vote on the
resolution; and (ii) the proxy has been instructed by one or more
of those members to vote for the resolution and by one or more
other of those members to vote against it). Subject to any rights
or restrictions attached to any shares, on a vote on a resolution
on a poll every member present in person or by proxy shall have
one vote for every share of which he/she is the holder.
Proxy appointments and voting instructions must be received by
the registrars not less than 48 hours before a general meeting.
There are no specific restrictions on the size of a holding nor on
the transfer of shares, which are both governed by the general
provisions of the Articles and prevailing legislation. The Company
is not aware of any agreements between shareholders that may
result in restrictions on the transfer of shares or on voting rights
attached to the shares. At the 2020 AGM, shareholders passed
a resolution authorising the Directors to issue shares for cash
on a non-pre-emptive basis up to a nominal value of £13.9m,
representing less than 5% of the Company’s issued share capital,
and authorising the Directors to issue up to an additional 5% of
the issued share capital for cash on a non-pre-emptive basis in
connection with an acquisition or specified investment. Since
the 2020 AGM, no shares have been issued under this authority.
The shareholder authority also permitted the Directors to issue
shares in order to satisfy entitlements under employee share
plans and details of such allotments are described below.
During the year, 1,496,653 ordinary shares in the Company were
issued in order to satisfy entitlements under employee share plans
as follows: 494,578 under a UK Sharesave option scheme at prices
between 708.8p and 1,356.8p per share; 161,574 under the Dutch
Debenture Scheme at prices between 5.34 EUR and 19.39 EUR ,
which is now satisfied by way of Company shares; and 840,501
under executive share option schemes at prices between 466.5p
and 1,769.75p per share. The issued share capital as at 31 December
2020 is shown in note 24 to the consolidated financial statements.
Authority to purchase shares
At the 2020 AGM, shareholders passed a resolution authorising
the purchase of up to 198m ordinary shares in the Company
(representing less than 10% of the issued ordinary shares) by
market purchase. During the year, 7,820,652 ordinary shares with
a nominal value of 14 51⁄116p (representing 0.4% of the ordinary
shares in issue on 31 December 2020) were purchased under the
previous authority, for a total consideration of £150m, including
expenses, and subsequently transferred to be held in treasury.
The purpose of the share buyback is to reduce the capital of the
Company. No purchases were made in the year under the current
shareholder authority, as the Company’s share buyback
programme has been suspended since the time of the 2020 AGM.
As at 31 December 2020 there were 50,087,679 ordinary shares
held in treasury, representing 2.5% of the issued ordinary shares.
The authority to make market purchases will expire at the 2021
AGM, at which a resolution to further extend the authority will be
submitted to shareholders.
Substantial share interests
As at 31 December 2020, the Company had been notified by the
following shareholders that they held an interest of 3% or more
in voting rights of its issued share capital pursuant to Rule 5 of
the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR):
Notifications received as at 31 December 2020
§ BlackRock, Inc
§ Invesco Limited
% of voting rights
7.84%
4.99%
The percentage interests stated above are as disclosed at the
date on which the interests were notified to the Company and, as
at 10 February 2021, the Company had not received any further
notifications under DTR 5.
Employee Benefit Trust
The trustee of the Employee Benefit Trust held an interest in
6,192,953 ordinary shares in the Company (representing 0.3%
of the issued ordinary shares) as at 31 December 2020. The
trustee may vote or abstain from voting any shares it holds in
any way it sees fit.
Significant agreements – change of control
There are a number of borrowing agreements including credit
facilities that, in the event of a change of control of RELX PLC
and, in some cases, a consequential credit rating downgrade to
sub-investment grade may, at the option of the lenders, require
repayment and/or cancellation as appropriate. There are no
arrangements between the Company and its Directors or
employees providing for compensation for loss of office or
employment that occurs specifically because of a takeover,
merger or amalgamation with the exception of provisions in the
Company’s share plans which could result in options or awards
vesting or becoming exercisable on a change of control.
Articles
The Company’s Articles of Association (the Articles) may only
be amended by a special resolution of shareholders passed at
a general meeting of the Company.
Appointment and replacement of Directors
The appointment, re-appointment and replacement of Directors
is governed by the Articles, the Companies Act 2006 and related
legislation. Shareholders maintain their right to appoint and
re-appoint Directors by way of an ordinary resolution in
accordance with the Articles. The Directors may appoint
additional or replacement Directors, who may only serve until
the following AGM of the Company, at which time they must retire
and, if appropriate, seek election by the Company’s shareholders.
A Director may be removed from office by the Company as
provided for by applicable law, in certain circumstances set
out in the Articles, and at a general meeting of the Company by
the passing of an ordinary resolution.
The Articles provide for a Board of Directors consisting of not
fewer than two, but not more than 20 Directors, who manage
the business and affairs of the Company.
Powers of Directors
Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the Articles
and any directions given by special resolutions, the business of the
Company shall be managed by the Board which may exercise all
the powers of the Company.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 120
Directors’ indemnity
In accordance with its Articles, the Company has granted its
Directors an indemnity, to the extent permitted by law, in respect
of liabilities incurred as a result of their office. This indemnity
was in place for Directors that served at any time during the 2020
financial year, and also for each serving Director as at the date
of approval of this report. The Company also purchased and
maintained throughout the year directors’ and officers’ liability
insurance in respect of itself and its Directors.
Disabled persons
RELX has a positive approach to inclusion and diversity. Details
of the Group’s Inclusion and Diversity Policy are set out on page 92,
which is incorporated into this Directors’ Report by reference.
The Group is committed to the full and fair treatment of people
with disabilities in relation to job applications, training, promotion
and career development. Where existing employees become
disabled, our policy is to provide continuing employment,
support and training wherever practicable.
Related party transactions
Internal controls are in place to ensure that any related party
transactions involving Directors or their connected persons are
carried out on an arm’s-length basis and are properly recorded
and disclosed where appropriate.
Conflicts of interest
Under the Companies Act 2006, the Directors have a duty to avoid
situations in which they have, or could have, a direct or indirect
interest that conflicts with the interests of the Company. The
Board has established formal procedures for identifying,
assessing and reviewing any situations where a Director has an
interest that conflicts, or may possibly conflict, with the interests
of the Company.
The Nominations Committee considers any such conflict or
potential conflict and makes a recommendation to the Board
on whether to authorise it, as permitted under the Company’s
Articles. In reaching its decision, the Board is required to act
in a way it considers would be most likely to promote the
success of the Company and may impose limits or conditions
when giving its authorisation, if it thinks this is appropriate.
Actual or potential conflicts of interest are reviewed annually
by the Nominations Committee.
No contract existed during the year in relation to the Company’s
business in which any Director was materially interested.
Financial instruments
The Group’s financial risk management objectives and policies,
including hedging activities and exposure to risks, are described in
note 18 to the consolidated financial statements on pages 162 to 167.
Political donations
The Group does not make donations to European Union (EU)
political organisations or incur EU political expenditure. In the
US, Group companies donated £107,031 (2019: £60,351) to political
organisations. In line with US law, these donations were not made
at federal level, but only to candidates and political parties at state
and local levels.
Employee relations
The Group is committed to employee involvement and participation.
Where appropriate, major announcements are communicated to
employees through internal briefings. Information on performance,
development, organisational changes and other matters of interest
is communicated through briefings and electronic bulletins.
The Company is an equal opportunity employer and does
not discriminate on the grounds of race, gender or other
characteristics in its recruitment or employment policies.
The Group seeks opinions from employees through a triennial
survey. The next triennial survey will be completed in 2021. For
further information on employee surveys conducted throughout
the year and the feedback received please see page 79. Certain
employees throughout the Group are eligible to participate in
the Group’s share incentive plans.
Disclosures required under UK Listing Rule 9.8.4
The information required by Listing Rule 9.8.4 is set out on the
pages below:
Information required
(1) Interest capitalised by the Group
(2) Publication of unaudited financial information
(4) Long-term incentive schemes
(5) Waiver of emoluments by a director
(6) Waiver of future emoluments by a director
(7) Non pro-rata allotments for cash (issuer)
Page
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
(8) Non pro-rata allotments for cash (major subsidiaries) n/a
(9) Parent participation in a placing by a listed subsidiary
n/a
(10) Contracts of significance
(11) Provision of services by a controlling shareholder
(12) Shareholder waiver of dividends
(13) Shareholder waiver of future dividends
(14) Agreements with controlling shareholders
n/a
n/a
155
155
n/a
Financial statements and accounting records
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Directors’ Report
and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law
and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial
statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors
are required to prepare the consolidated financial statements in
accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies to the EU,
following the accounting policies shown in the notes to the
financial statements on pages 137 to 138. The Directors have
elected to prepare the individual company financial statements in
accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 101 Reduced
Disclosure Framework. Under company law the Directors must
not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give
a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of
the profit or loss of the Company for that period.
In preparing the individual company financial statements, the
Directors are required to: select suitable accounting policies
and then apply them consistently; make judgements and
accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; state
whether Financial Reporting Standard 101 Reduced Disclosure
Framework has been followed, subject to any material departures
being disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Governance 121
Disclosure of information to auditors
In accordance with Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006, each
Director in office at the date this Directors’ Report is approved,
confirms that:
§ so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant audit
information of which the Company’s auditors are unaware; and
§ he/she has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken
as a Director to make himself/herself aware of any relevant
audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditors
are aware of that information.
Going concern
The Directors’ statement regarding the appropriateness of
adopting the going concern basis of accounting is set out on page
88, which is incorporated into this Directors’ Report by reference.
Viability statement
The Directors’ statement regarding the long-term viability of
the Group is set out on page 89, which is incorporated into this
Directors’ Report by reference.
Auditors
Resolutions for the re-appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as
auditors of the Company and to authorise the Audit Committee,
on behalf of the Board, to determine their remuneration will be
submitted to shareholders at the 2021 AGM.
Annual General Meeting
The date of RELX PLC’s AGM will be 22 April 2021. As a result of
the ongoing spread of Covid-19 within the United Kingdom, the
format and location of the AGM remains uncertain as at the date
of this report.
Shareholders and other eligible attendees should refer to the
RELX PLC Notice of AGM (which will be published on the RELX
website and posted out to shareholders on or around 5 March
2021) for information on the format and location of the meeting.
The Notice of AGM will also specify the method by which the
Company will communicate any changes required to the format
and/or location of the meeting, as a result of changes to health
and safety measures imposed by the UK government restricting
public gatherings.
By order of the Board
Henry Udow
Company Secretary
10 February 2021
Registered Office
1-3 Strand
London
WC2N 5JR
prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will
continue in business.
In preparing the Group financial statements, IAS1 requires
that Directors: properly select and apply accounting policies;
present information, including accounting policies, in a manner
that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable
information; provide additional disclosures when compliance
with the specific requirements of IFRS are insufficient to enable
users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other
events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and
financial performance; and make an assessment of the
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting
records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time
the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure
that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act
2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets
of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the
prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Directors’ responsibility statement
Each of the Directors, whose names and roles can be found on
pages 66 to 67, confirms that, to the best of their knowledge:
§ the consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance
with International Accounting Standards in conformity with
the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted pursuant to
Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies in the EU, following
the accounting policies shown in the notes to the financial
statements on pages 137 to 138, give a true and fair view of
the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of
the Group;
§ the individual company financial statements, prepared in
accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 101 “Reduced
Disclosure Framework” (FRS 101), give a true and fair view of
the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of
the Company; and
§ the Directors’ Report includes a fair review of the development
and performance of the business and the position of the Group,
together with a description of the principal and emerging risks
and uncertainties that it faces.
Having taken into account all of the matters considered by the
Board and brought to the attention of the Board during the year,
the Directors are satisfied that the Annual Report and Financial
Statements, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable
and provides the information necessary for shareholders to
assess the Company’s position and performance, business
model and strategy.
Neither the Company nor the Directors accept any liability to
any person in relation to the Annual Report except to the extent
that such liability could arise under English law. Accordingly, any
liability to a person who has demonstrated reliance on any untrue
or misleading statement or omission shall be determined in
accordance with Section 90A of the Financial Services and
Markets Act 2000.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Directors’ ReportMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 122
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 123
Financial statements
and other information
In this section
124 Independent auditors’ report
132 Consolidated financial statements
137 Notes to the consolidated
financial statements
180 5 year summary
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 124
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
Independent auditor’s report to
the members of RELX PLC
OPINION
In our opinion:
§ RELX plc’s group financial statements and parent company financial statements (the “financial statements”) give a true and fair
view of the state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 31 December 2020 and of the group’s profit for the year
then ended;
§ the group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and International Financial Reporting Standards adopted pursuant to Regulation
(EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies in the European Union;
§ the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted
Accounting Practice; and
§ the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
We have audited the financial statements of RELX plc (the ‘parent company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended
31 December 2020 which comprise:
Group
Parent company
Consolidated income statement for the year ended 31 December
2020.
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year then
ended
Consolidated statement of cash flows for the year then ended
Consolidated statement of financial position as at 31 December 2020
Consolidated statement of changes in equity for the year then ended
Related notes 1 to 29 to the financial statements, including a
summary of significant accounting policies
Statement of financial position as at 31 December 2020
Statement of changes in equity for the year then ended
Related notes 1 to 4 to the financial statements including a summary
of significant accounting policies
The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the group financial statements is applicable law
and International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRSs) adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies in the European Union. The financial
reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the parent company financial statements is applicable law and United
Kingdom Accounting Standards including FRS 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting
Practice) and in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006.
BASIS FOR OPINION
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities
under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our
report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial
statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities, and we have fulfilled our other
ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation
of the financial statements is appropriate. Our evaluation of the directors’ assessment of the group and parent company’s ability to
continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included:
§ In conjunction with our walkthrough of the Group’s financial close process, we confirmed our understanding of management’s Going
Concern assessment process and also engaged with management early to ensure all key factors were considered in their assessment;
§ We obtained management’s going concern assessment, including the cash forecast and covenant calculation for the going concern
period which covers 18 months to 30 June 2022. The Group has modelled a number of adverse scenarios in their cash forecasts and
covenant calculations in order to incorporate unexpected changes to the forecasted liquidity of the Group.
§ We have tested the factors and assumptions included in each modelled scenario for the cash forecast and covenant calculation and
we have tested the impact of Covid-19 included in each forecasted scenario. We considered the appropriateness of the methods used
to calculate the cash forecasts and covenant calculations and determined through inspection and testing of the methodology and
calculations that the methods utilised were appropriately sophisticated to be able to make an assessment for the entity.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Independent auditors’ report to the members of RELX PLC
125
§ We considered the mitigating factors included in the cash forecasts and covenant calculations that are within control of the Group.
This includes review of the Group’s non-operating cash outflows and evaluating the Group’s ability to control these outflows
as mitigating actions if required. We also verified credit facilities available to the Group.
§ We have performed reverse stress testing in order to identify what factors would lead to the Group utilising all liquidity or
breaching the financial covenant during the going concern period.
§ We reviewed the Group’s going concern disclosures included in the annual report in order to assess that the disclosures were
appropriate and in conformity with the reporting standards.
We have observed that the Exhibitions business area, which accounted for 5% of Group revenue in 2020 (16% in 2019), is experiencing
a high level of disruption from the impact of the pandemic. Whilst events have been running in Asia, including events in China since June
and in Japan since September, the Group has not been able to operate any large events in Europe or North America since March 2020.
However, despite this uncertainty in the Exhibitions business, the other three RELX businesses (STM, Risk, and Legal), which make
up the majority of the Group’s revenue and profits, have not been significantly impacted by Covid-19 from a revenue or profitability
perspective, and are not expected to be significantly impacted by Covid-19 in the going concern assessment period. Further, the
Group has access to committed bank facilities aggregating over $3.6bn, with over $2.9bn of these facilities maturing in 2023 or 2024.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that,
individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group and parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern for
a period of at least 18 months from 31 December 2020.
In relation to the group and parent company’s reporting on how they have applied the UK Corporate Governance Code, we have
nothing material to add or draw attention to in relation to the directors’ statement in the financial statements about whether the
directors considered it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this
report. However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this statement is not a guarantee as to the group’s ability
to continue as a going concern.
OVERVIEW OF OUR AUDIT APPROACH
Audit scope
§ We performed an audit of the complete financial information of six components and audit
procedures on specific balances for a further six components. We also instructed one location
to perform specific audit procedures over manual journal entries to revenue.
§ The components where we performed full or specific audit procedures accounted for 81%
Key audit matters
Materiality
of absolute profit before tax, 85% of revenue and 74% of total assets.
§ Uncertain tax positions
§ Internally developed intangible assets
§ Revenue recognition
§ Valuation of identifiable intangible assets for acquisitions
§ Overall Group materiality of £70m which represents 5% of profit before tax.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE SCOPE OF THE PARENT COMPANY AND GROUP AUDITS
Tailoring the scope
Our assessment of audit risk, our evaluation of materiality and our allocation of performance materiality determine our audit scope for
each company within the Group. Taken together, this enables us to form an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We take into
account size, risk profile, the organisation of the group and effectiveness of group-wide controls, changes in the business environment
and other factors such as recent Internal audit results when assessing the level of work to be performed at each entity.
The group has centralised processes for key judgements and determination of accounting policies. Certain areas of audit focus, namely
internally developed intangible assets, revenue recognition and acquisition accounting are more decentralised processes delineated
by business area. We have tailored our response accordingly and procedures for the areas of focus were performed or directed by the
group audit team.
In assessing the risk of material misstatement to the Group financial statements, and to ensure we had adequate quantitative coverage
of significant accounts in the financial statements, we selected twelve components covering entities within the United Kingdom,
Netherlands, United States, France, and Japan, which represent the principal business units within the group.
Of the twelve components selected, we performed an audit of the complete financial information of six components (“full scope
components”) which were selected based on their size or risk characteristics. For the remaining six components (“specific scope
components”), we performed audit procedures on specific accounts within that component that we considered had the potential for
the greatest impact on the significant accounts in the financial statements either because of the size of these accounts or their risk
profile. We also instructed one location to perform specific audit procedures over manual journal entries to revenue.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 126
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
The reporting components where we performed audit procedures accounted for 81% (2019: 84%) of the Group’s Profit before tax on an
absolute basis, 85% (2019: 82%) of the Group’s Revenue and 74% (2019: 78%) of the Group’s Total assets. For the current year, the full
scope components contributed 59% (2019: 60%) of the Group’s Profit before tax on an absolute basis, 80% (2019: 72%) of the Group’s
Revenue and 66% (2019: 72%) of the Group’s Total assets. The specific scope component contributed 22% (2019: 24%) of the Group’s
Profit before tax on an absolute basis, 5% (2019: 10%) of the Group’s Revenue and 8% (2019: 6%) of the Group’s Total assets. The audit
scope of these components may not have included testing of all significant accounts of the component but will have contributed to the
coverage of significant accounts tested for the Group. We also instructed one additional location to perform specified procedures over
manual journal entries related to revenue, as described in the Risk section above.
Of the remaining components that together represent 19% of the Group’s profit before tax on an absolute basis, none are individually
greater than 2% of the Group’s profit before tax. For these components, we performed other procedures, including analytical review,
review of internal audit reports, and testing of consolidation journals, intercompany eliminations and foreign currency translation
recalculations at the group level to respond to any potential risks of material misstatement to the Group financial statements.
The charts below illustrate the coverage obtained from the work performed by our audit teams.
PROFIT BEFORE TAX (ON ABSOLUTE BASIS)
REVENUE
19%
15%
5%
22%
59%
Full scope
Specific scope
Other procedures
TOTAL ASSETS
26%
8%
80%
66%
(1) Coverage of profit before tax measure on an absolute basis for each component (components with a loss would be added to both the numerator and denominator).
Changes from the prior year
As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak and resulting lockdown restrictions in all of the countries where full or specific scope audit
procedures have been performed, we have modified our audit strategy to allow for the audit to be performed remotely at both the Group
and component locations. This approach was supported through remote user access to the Group’s financial systems and the use of EY
software collaboration platforms for the secure and timely delivery of requested audit evidence. The full and specific scope components
have not changed from the prior year as these components remain the most significant to the Group and the coverage of the Group was
consistent with the prior year audit. We have also revisited our procedures in respect of the Directors’ going concern assessment,
taking into account the nature of the Group, its business model and related risks with procedures performed as listed above.
Involvement with component teams
In establishing our overall approach to the Group audit, we determined the type of work that needed to be undertaken at each of the
components by us, as the primary audit engagement team, or by component auditors from other EY global network firms operating under
our instruction. Of the six full scope components, audit procedures were performed on three of these directly by the primary audit team.
For the six specific scope components, where the work was performed by component auditors, we determined the appropriate level of
involvement to enable us to determine that sufficient audit evidence had been obtained as a basis for our opinion on the Group as a whole.
The Group audit team continued to follow a programme of planned visits that has been designed to ensure that the Senior Statutory Auditor,
or another Group audit partner, visits all full scope and specific scope locations. During the current year’s audit cycle, due to Covid-19, the
visits undertaken by the primary audit team were necessarily virtual visits. These visits were undertaken by the primary audit team to the
component teams in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States, France, and Japan. These visits involved video call meetings with
local management, and discussions on the audit approach with the component team and any issues arising from their work. The primary
team interacted regularly with the component teams where appropriate during various stages of the audit, reviewed key working papers
and were responsible for the scope and direction of the audit process. This, together with the additional procedures at Group level, gave us
appropriate evidence for our opinion on the Group financial statements.
KEY AUDIT MATTERS
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements
of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) that we
identified. These matters included those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy, the allocation of resources in the
audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial
statements as a whole, and in our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Independent auditors’ report to the members of RELX PLC
127
KEY OBSERVATIONS
COMMUNICATED
TO THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
We reported our conclusions
to the Audit Committee that
we challenged the robustness
of the key management
judgements. We confirmed
that we were satisfied that
management’s judgements
in relation to the extent of
provisions for uncertain tax
positions are appropriate.
We noted further that there
continues to be a high degree
of uncertainty about the
eventual outcome of many
of these provisions.
We did not identify any
evidence of material
misstatement in the
capitalisation of internally
developed intangible assets.
RISK
OUR RESPONSE TO THE RISK
Uncertain tax positions
As described in note 9 to the consolidated financial
statements, note 1 in the accounting policies and in
the audit committee report (page 115), the Group is
subject to tax in numerous jurisdictions. Its
operational structure gives rise to potential tax
exposures that require management to exercise
judgement in making determinations as to the
amount of tax that is payable. The Group reports
cross-border transactions undertaken between
subsidiaries on an arm’s-length basis in tax
returns in accordance with Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
guidelines. Transfer pricing relies on the exercise
of judgement and it is reasonably possible for there
to be a significant range of potential outcomes.
The Group is subject to tax authority audits in
multiple jurisdictions at any point in time and has
a number of open tax enquiries.
As a result, it has recognised a number of provisions
against uncertain tax positions, the valuation of
which requires significant assumptions and
judgement, as described in note 9.
We focused on this area due to the complexity in
auditing, due to their subjectivity, the quantification
of the provision and the judgement around the
trigger for recognition or release impacting the
provision and the effective tax rate.
Internally developed intangible assets
The Group capitalised internally developed
intangible assets of £318 million in the current year
(2019: £333 million) and has a year end net book
value of £1,244 million (2019: £1,264 million). As
described in note 15 to the consolidated financial
statements and in the audit committee report
(page 115), the capitalisation of costs related to the
development of new products and business
infrastructure, together with the determination of
economic useful lives assigned to the resulting
assets, requires the exercise of significant
judgement.
Auditing the capitalization of internally developed
intangible assets is inherently judgemental with
respect to auditing management’s determination
of technical feasibility, intention and ability to
complete the intangible asset, ability to use or
sell the asset, ability to generate future economic
benefits and ability to measure the costs reliably.
As a result these expenditures may be
inappropriately capitalised, amortised or valued.
Our procedures included obtaining an understanding
of the tax provisioning processes and evaluating the
design of, as well as testing, internal controls over the
tax provisioning process. We tested controls over
management’s review of the uncertain tax position
provisions recorded, including the controls over the
development of significant assumptions and judgments.
Our procedures on the uncertain tax positions were
performed centrally by the group team supported
by overseas teams including professionals with
specialised skills. Procedures included, among others
(i) meeting with members of management responsible
for tax to understand the Group cross-border
transactions, status of significant provisions, and any
changes to management’s judgements in the year; (ii)
reading correspondence with tax authorities and
external advisors and obtaining an understanding of
all matters considered by management to inform our
assessment of recorded estimates and evaluate the
completeness of the provisions recorded; (iii)
independently assessing management’s significant
assumptions and judgements to record or release
provisions following tax audits, settlements and the
expiry of timeframes with reference to other similar
tax positions the Group has historically held and our
knowledge of developments in the jurisdictions in
which RELX maintain tax provisions; (iv) testing the
underlying schedules for arithmetic accuracy, as well
as with reference to applicable tax laws; and (v)
evaluating the adequacy of tax disclosures.
We performed full scope audit procedures over
internally developed intangible assets in 6 locations,
which covered 79% of the account balance. Our audit
procedures included obtaining an understanding of
the processes which support the expenditure and
subsequent capitalisation of internally developed
intangible assets and evaluating the design, as well
as testing, internal controls over the capitalisation of
internally generated intangible assets. We tested
controls over management’s review and approval of new
capital projects and management’s assessment of the
capitalisation criteria for costs incurred for the projects.
Additionally, procedures included, among others (i)
assessing the accounting policy and methodology
for capitalisation of expenditures; (ii) evaluating the
accuracy and valuation of amounts capitalised to
assess whether costs are directly attributable and
necessary to create, produce, and prepare the asset
to be capable of operating in the manner intended
by management, which was done by assessing if
capitalised costs related to an authorized capital
project and met the criteria to be capitalized; and (iii)
assessing the useful lives assigned based on related
business cases and historical experience which is
assessed in the year of capitalisation and in all
subsequent years that the assets are in service and
are being amortised.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 128
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
RISK
OUR RESPONSE TO THE RISK
Revenue recognition
As described in note 2 to the consolidated financial
statements, the group earns revenue (£7.9bn
recorded in 2019, compared to £7.5bn recorded
in 2018) from a variety of sources among the
different business areas, including annual
subscriptions, transactional usage and exhibition
fees. The nature of the risk associated with the
accurate recording of revenue varies.
We recognise that revenue is a key metric upon
which the group is judged, that the group has
annual internal targets, and that the group has
incentive schemes that are partially impacted
by revenue growth.
We have determined that there is a risk in each of
the business areas related to the opportunity to
commit fraud in the respective revenue streams
through manual adjustments or override of
controls by management.
Valuation of identifiable intangible assets for
acquisitions
As discussed in note 12 of the consolidated
financial statements during the year ended
31 December 2020, the group completed
acquisitions of £878 million with the most notable
being ID Analytics and Emailage which were
acquired for net consideration of $375 million
and $480 million respectively. The transactions
were accounted for as business combinations.
Auditing the Group’s acquisition accounting
required significant auditor judgement due to
the estimation uncertainty in determining the
completeness and fair value of the identified
intangible assets of the acquired businesses,
which primarily consisted of developed technology
and customer relationships. The estimation
uncertainty was primarily due to the sensitivity of
the underlying assumptions which were applied
by management and their specialists in the
excess-earnings and valuation models to measure
the fair value of the identified intangible assets. The
significant assumptions used to estimate the value
of the identified intangible assets included discount
rates, revenue growth rates, terminal growth
rates, royalty rates, obsolescence rates, and
retention rates.
We performed full and specific scope audit procedures
over revenue in 11 locations, which covered 85% of
revenue. We performed procedures to address the
specific risk in each business area. Procedures
included, among others, (i) assessing the processes
and testing controls over each significant revenue
stream; (ii) evaluating the appropriateness of journal
entries impacting revenue, as well as other
adjustments made in the preparation of the financial
statements; (iii) evaluating management’s controls
over such adjustments; (iv) inspecting a sample of
contracts to check that revenue recognition was in
accordance with the contract terms and the group’s
revenue recognition policies; (v) testing a sample of
transactions around period end to test that revenue
was recorded in the correct period; (vi) for revenue
streams that have judgemental elements, evaluating
management’s assumption;(vii) for certain revenue
streams we obtained audit evidence through the
execution of data analytics procedures, including
a correlation of revenue to cash.
Our procedures included obtaining an understanding
of the acquisition accounting processes and evaluating
the design of, as well as testing internal controls over
the relevant acquisition accounting process. This
included testing the design and operating effectiveness
of controls over management’s review of the valuation
models and significant assumptions used to develop
the estimates of fair value of the identified intangible
assets as well as controls over the completeness
and accuracy of data used in the valuation models
and assumptions.
To test the estimated fair value of acquired intangible
assets our audit procedures included, among others,
evaluating the Group’s selection of valuation
methodology and significant assumptions, evaluating
the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data
supporting the significant assumptions including the
future cash flow assumptions and estimates, and
assessing the competence, capabilities, and objectivity
of management’s specialists. We compared the
significant assumptions used to current industry,
market and economic trends, obtained support to
evaluate operating data, performed a sensitivity
analysis to evaluate the assumptions that were most
significant to the estimates and recalculated
management’s estimates. We also involved our
valuation specialists to assist with our evaluation
of the methodology used by the Group and significant
assumptions used in determining the fair value
estimates. Our valuation specialists performed
independent comparative calculations to estimate
the discount rate and other key assumptions.
KEY OBSERVATIONS
COMMUNICATED
TO THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
Revenue has been recognised
appropriately in the year
ended 31 December 2020 in
accordance with IFRS 15:
Revenue from Contracts with
Customers.
In accordance with IFRS 3, the
Group recognises the tangible
and intangible assets
acquired and liabilities
assumed based on their
estimated fair values.
Determining these fair values
required management to
make significant estimates
and assumptions, especially
with respect to intangible
assets. We believe that the
significant underlying
assumptions, selection of
valuation methodology and
judgements applied are
appropriate.
Additionally, we have reviewed
the related disclosures made
by the Company and found
them to be appropriate and
in conformity with IFRS for
the Group and FRS 101 for
the Company.
In the prior year, our auditor’s report included a key audit matter in relation to finance systems. In the current year, this was no longer
identified as a key audit matter as it is no longer deemed to have the greatest effect on overall audit strategy, the allocation of resources
or directing the efforts of the engagement team. This was due to the experience gained from prior audits and the reduced scale of
migrations with an impact on that audit in the current year.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Independent auditors’ report to the members of RELX PLC
129
OUR APPLICATION OF MATERIALITY
We apply the concept of materiality in planning and performing the audit, in evaluating the effect of identified misstatements on the audit
and in forming our audit opinion.
Materiality
The magnitude of an omission or misstatement that, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to influence the economic
decisions of the users of the financial statements. Materiality provides a basis for determining the nature and extent of our audit procedures.
We determined materiality for the Group to be £70 million (2019: £90 million), which is 5% (2019: 5%) of profit before tax. We believe that
profit before tax provides us with the best assessment of the requirements of the users of the financial statements. The reduction in
materiality from the prior year is primarily due to the negative impact of Covid-19 on the profitability of the Exhibitions business in 2020.
We determined materiality for the Parent Company to be £70 million (2019: £90 million), which is 0.4% (2019: 0.5%) of equity.
Performance materiality
The application of materiality at the individual account or balance level. It is set at an amount to reduce to an appropriately low level the probability
that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected misstatements exceeds materiality.
On the basis of our risk assessments, together with our assessment of the Group’s overall control environment, our judgement was
that performance materiality was 75% (2019: 75%) of our planning materiality, namely £52.5m (2019: £68m). We have set performance
materiality at this percentage due to our assessment of the control environment and the historic lack of significant audit findings.
Audit work at component locations for the purpose of obtaining audit coverage over significant financial statement accounts is
undertaken based on a percentage of total performance materiality. The performance materiality set for each component is based on
the relative scale and risk of the component to the Group as a whole and our assessment of the risk of misstatement at that component.
In the current year, the range of performance materiality allocated to components was £6.5m to £47m (2019: £8.5m to £53.5m).
Reporting threshold
An amount below which identified misstatements are considered as being clearly trivial.
We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to them all uncorrected audit differences in excess of £3.5m (2019: £4.5m),
which is set at 5% of planning materiality, as well as differences below that threshold that, in our view, warranted reporting on
qualitative grounds.
We evaluate any uncorrected misstatements against both the quantitative measures of materiality discussed above and in light of other
relevant qualitative considerations in forming our opinion.
OTHER INFORMATION
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report set out on pages 1-122, other than the financial
statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in this
report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent
with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we
identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material
misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material
misstatement of the other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the
Companies Act 2006.
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
§ the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are
prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
§ the strategic report and the directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
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RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent company and its environment obtained in the course of the
audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in
our opinion:
§ adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received
from branches not visited by us; or
§ the parent company financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are not in agreement
with the accounting records and returns; or
§ certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
§ we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Corporate Governance Statement
The Listing Rules require us to review the directors’ statement in relation to going concern, longer-term viability and that part of the
Corporate Governance Statement relating to the group and company’s compliance with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance
Statement specified for our review.
Based on the work undertaken as part of our audit, we have concluded that each of the following elements of the Corporate Governance
Statement is materially consistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained during the audit:
§ Directors’ statement with regards to the appropriateness of adopting the going concern basis of accounting and any material
uncertainties identified set out on page 88;
§ Directors’ explanation as to its assessment of the company’s prospects, the period this assessment covers and why the period
is appropriate set out on page 89;
§ Directors’ statement on fair, balanced and understandable set out on page 121;
§ Board’s confirmation that it has carried out a robust assessment of the emerging and principal risks set out on page 60;
§ The section of the annual report that describes the review of effectiveness of risk management and internal control systems set
out on page 86; and;
§ The section describing the work of the audit committee set out on page 115.
Responsibilities of directors
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 121, the directors are responsible for the preparation
of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors
determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to
fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the group and parent company’s ability to continue as
a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the
directors either intend to liquidate the group or the parent company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement,
whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance,
but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists.
Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our
responsibilities, outlined below, to detect irregularities, including fraud. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud
is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery
or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities,
including fraud is detailed below.
However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both those charged with governance of the
company and management.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Independent auditors’ report to the members of RELX PLC
131
Our approach was as follows:
§ We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the group and determined that the most
significant are those that relate to the reporting framework (IFRS, FRS 101, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Corporate Governance
Code) and the relevant tax compliance regulations in the jurisdictions in which the group operates.
§ We understood how RELX plc is complying with those frameworks by making enquiries of management, internal audit, those
responsible for legal and compliance procedures and the company secretary. We corroborated our enquiries through our review
of Board minutes and papers provided to the Audit Committee as well as observation in Audit Committee meetings, as well as
consideration of the results of our audit procedures across the Group.
§ We assessed the susceptibility of the group’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur by
meeting with finance and operational management from various parts of the business to understand where it considered there was
susceptibility to fraud. We also considered performance targets and their propensity to influence on efforts made by management
to manage earnings. We considered the programmes and controls that the group has established to address risks identified, or that
otherwise prevent, deter and detect fraud; and how senior management monitors those programmes and controls. Where the risk
was considered to be higher, we performed audit procedures to address each identified fraud risk. These procedures included
testing manual journals and were designed to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements were free from fraud or
error.
§ Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Our
procedures involved: journal entry testing, with a focus on manual consolidation journals and journals indicating large or unusual
transactions based on our understanding of the business; enquiries of legal counsel, group management, internal audit, business
area management at all full and specific scope management; and focused testing. In addition, we completed procedures to conclude
on the compliance of the disclosures in the annual report and accounts with all applicable requirements.
§ Any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations were communicated by/to components and considered in our audit
approach, if applicable.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s
website at https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Other matters we are required to address
§ Following the recommendation from the audit committee we were appointed by the Company on 21 April 2016 to audit the financial
statements for the year ending 31 December and subsequent financial periods.
The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments is five years, covering the years
ending 2016 to 2020.
§ Non-audit services prohibited by the FRC’s Ethical Standard were not provided to the group or the parent company and we remain
independent of the group and the parent company in conducting the audit.
§ The audit opinion is consistent with the additional report to the audit committee.
USE OF OUR REPORT
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our
audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an
auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone
other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Hywel Ball (Senior statutory auditor)
for and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP, Statutory Auditor
London 10 February 2021
Notes:
(1) The maintenance and integrity of the RELX PLC web site is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration
of these matters and, accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were
initially presented on the web site.
(2) Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
132
Consolidated income statement
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Revenue
Cost of sales
Gross profit
Selling and distribution costs
Administration and other expenses
Share of results of joint ventures
Operating profit
Finance income
Finance costs
Net finance costs
Disposals and other non-operating items
Profit before tax
Current tax
Deferred tax
Tax expense
Net profit for the year
Attributable to:
RELX PLC shareholders
Non-controlling interests
Net profit for the year
Earnings per share
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Basic earnings per share
RELX PLC
Diluted earnings per share
RELX PLC
Note
2
2, 3
7
7
8
9
2020
£m
7,110
(2,487)
4,623
(1,212)
(1,901)
15
1,525
3
(175)
(172)
130
1,483
(264)
(11)
(275)
1,208
2019
£m
7,874
(2,755)
5,119
(1,292)
(1,767)
41
2,101
9
(314)
(305)
51
1,847
(382)
44
(338)
1,509
2018
£m
7,492
(2,644)
4,848
(1,191)
(1,725)
32
1,964
6
(217)
(211)
(33)
1,720
(297)
5
(292)
1,428
1,224
(16)
1,208
1,505
4
1,509
1,422
6
1,428
2020
2019
2018
10
63.5p
77.4p
71.9p
10
63.2p
76.9p
71.4p
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
133
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Net profit for the year
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:
Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension schemes
Tax on items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss
Total items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations
Fair value movements on cash flow hedges
Transfer to net profit from cash flow hedge reserve
Tax on items that may be reclassified to profit or loss
Total items that may be reclassified to profit or loss
Other comprehensive (loss)/income for the year
Total comprehensive income for the year
Attributable to:
RELX PLC shareholders
Non-controlling interests
Total comprehensive income for the year
Note
2020
£m
1,208
2019
£m
1,509
2018
£m
1,428
6
9
18
18
9
(155)
39
(116)
(265)
(6)
22
(4)
(253)
(369)
839
855
(16)
839
(137)
23
(114)
(82)
16
35
(8)
(39)
(153)
1,356
1,352
4
1,356
(91)
15
(76)
207
(59)
17
9
174
98
1,526
1,520
6
1,526
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 134
Consolidated statement of cash flows
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
Interest paid (including lease interest)
Interest received
Tax paid (net)
Net cash from operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisitions
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Expenditure on internally developed intangible assets
Purchase of investments
Proceeds from disposals of property, plant and equipment
Gross proceeds from business disposals and sale of investments
Payments on business disposals
Dividends received from joint ventures
Net cash used in investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities
Dividends paid to shareholders
Distributions to non-controlling interests
(Decrease)/increase in short-term bank loans, overdrafts and commercial paper
Issuance of term debt
Repayment of term debt
Repayment of leases
Receipts in respect of subleases
Disposal of non-controlling interest
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Purchase of shares by Employee Benefit Trust
Proceeds on issue of ordinary shares
Note
11
11
13
11
11
11
11
11
24
24
2020
£m
2019
£m
2018
£m
2,264
(179)
7
(496)
1,596
(869)
(43)
(319)
(2)
–
54
(25)
31
(1,173)
(880)
(6)
(436)
2,342
(1,233)
(105)
15
–
(150)
(37)
16
2,724
(175)
4
(464)
2,089
(423)
(47)
(333)
(8)
2
82
(40)
34
(733)
(842)
(9)
98
729
(617)
(102)
16
6
(600)
(37)
29
2,555
(179)
24
(415)
1,985
(935)
(56)
(306)
(13)
4
34
(29)
30
(1,271)
(796)
(8)
147
958
(211)
(95)
14
–
(700)
(43)
21
(713)
Net cash used in financing activities
(474)
(1,329)
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
11
(51)
27
1
Movement in cash and cash equivalents
At start of year
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
138
(51)
1
88
114
27
(3)
138
111
1
2
114
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
Consolidated statement of financial position
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Non-current assets
Goodwill
Intangible assets
Investments in joint ventures
Other investments
Property, plant and equipment
Right-of-use assets
Other receivables
Deferred tax assets
Net pension assets
Derivative financial instruments
Current assets
Inventories and pre-publication costs
Trade and other receivables
Derivative financial instruments
Cash and cash equivalents
Total assets
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Derivative financial instruments
Borrowings
Taxation
Provisions
Non-current liabilities
Derivative financial instruments
Borrowings
Deferred tax liabilities
Net pension obligations
Other payables
Provisions
Total liabilities
Net assets
Capital and reserves
Share capital
Share premium
Shares held in treasury
Translation reserve
Other reserves
Shareholders’ equity
Non-controlling interests
Total equity
135
Note
2020
£m
2019
£m
14
15
16
16
17
23
9
6
18
19
20
18
11
21
18
22
18
22
9
6
24
24
24
25
7,224
3,425
103
259
162
216
27
270
47
138
11,871
240
1,927
19
88
2,274
14,145
3,260
9
847
149
109
4,374
3
6,276
665
671
49
6
7,670
12,044
2,101
6,824
3,452
118
133
180
264
31
239
45
58
11,344
217
2,067
23
138
2,445
13,789
3,479
24
2,060
372
12
5,947
10
4,354
593
565
108
22
5,652
11,599
2,190
286
1,459
(887)
27
1,214
2,099
2
2,101
286
1,443
(834)
292
979
2,166
24
2,190
The consolidated financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 10 February 2021.
They were signed on its behalf by:
A J Habgood
Chair
N L Luff
Chief Financial Officer
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
136
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
Note
13
24
24
13
24
24
24
24
13
24
Balance at 1 January 2018
Total comprehensive income for
the year
Dividends paid
Issue of ordinary shares,
net of expenses
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Cancellation of shares
Increase in share based
remuneration reserve
(net of tax)
Settlement of share awards
Acquisitions
Exchange differences on translation
of capital and reserves
Balance at 1 January 2019
Total comprehensive income for
the year
Dividends paid
Issue of ordinary shares,
net of expenses
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Bonus issue of ordinary share
Cancellation of bonus share
Cancellation of shares
Increase in share based
remuneration reserve
(net of tax)
Settlement of share awards
Acquisitions
Put option
Disposal of non-controlling interest
Exchange differences on translation
of capital and reserves
Balance at 1 January 2020
Total comprehensive income for
the year
Dividends paid
Issue of ordinary shares,
net of expenses
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Increase in share based
remuneration reserve
(net of tax)
Settlement of share awards
Acquisitions
Exchange differences on translation
of capital and reserves
Balance at 31 December 2020
Share
capital
£m
224
Share
premium
£m
3,104
Shares held
in treasury
£m
(1,631)
Translation
reserve
£m
170
Other
reserves
£m
425
Shareholders’
equity
£m
2,292
Non-
controlling
interests
£m
21
–
–
–
–
–
–
207
–
1,313
(796)
134
–
(68)
114
–
(1,795)
–
(743)
1,601
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
35
–
–
290
(8)
1,415
4
(734)
–
–
1
–
4,000
(4,000)
(5)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
28
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(637)
–
–
504
–
33
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(3)
374
(82)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
286
–
1,443
–
(834)
–
292
(227)
–
262
35
(35)
–
7
984
1,434
(842)
–
–
(4,000)
4,000
(499)
33
(33)
–
(103)
5
–
979
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
16
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(87)
–
34
–
(265)
–
1,120
(880)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
27
(34)
2
1,520
(796)
21
(743)
–
35
–
–
–
2,329
1,352
(842)
29
(637)
–
–
–
33
–
–
(103)
5
–
2,166
855
(880)
16
(87)
27
–
2
–
286
–
1,459
–
(887)
–
27
–
1,214
–
2,099
6
(8)
–
–
–
–
–
11
–
30
4
(9)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(1)
–
1
(1)
24
(16)
(6)
–
–
–
–
(2)
2
2
Total
equity
£m
2,313
1,526
(804)
21
(743)
–
35
–
11
–
2,359
1,356
(851)
29
(637)
–
–
–
33
–
(1)
(103)
6
(1)
2,190
839
(886)
16
(87)
27
–
–
2
2,101
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
137
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
1 Basis of preparation and accounting policies
Basis of preparation
The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges. RELX PLC and its subsidiaries,
joint ventures and associates are together known as ‘RELX’.
In preparing the consolidated financial statements, subsidiaries are accounted for under the acquisition method and investments
in associates and joint ventures are accounted for under the equity method. All intra-group transactions and balances are eliminated.
On acquisition of a subsidiary, or interest in an associate or joint venture, fair values, reflecting conditions at the date of acquisition,
are attributed to the net assets, including identifiable intangible assets acquired. Adjustments are made to bring accounting policies
into line with those of the Group. The results of subsidiaries sold or acquired are included in the consolidated financial statements
up to or from the date that control passes from or to the Group.
Non-controlling interests in the net assets of the Group are identified separately from shareholders’ equity. Non-controlling interests
consist of the amount of those interests at the date of the original acquisition and the non-controlling share of changes in equity since
the date of acquisition.
The Directors of RELX PLC, having made appropriate enquiries, consider that adequate resources exist for the Group to continue in
operational existence for the foreseeable future and that, therefore, it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing
the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Accounting policies
The Group’s consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity with
the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted pursuant to Regulation
(EC) No 1606/2002 as it applies in the European Union and as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The
accounting policies under IFRS are included in the relevant notes to the consolidated financial statements. The accounting policies
below are applied throughout the financial statements and are unchanged from those applied in preparing the consolidated financial
statements for the year ended 31 December 2019.
Foreign exchange translation
The consolidated financial statements are presented in sterling.
Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange prevailing on the date of the transaction. Non-monetary assets
and liabilities that are measured at historical cost in foreign currencies are translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction.
At each statement of financial position date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated
at the rate prevailing on the statement of financial position date. Exchange differences arising are recorded in the income statement
other than where hedge accounting applies, as set out on pages 162 to 167.
Assets and liabilities of foreign operations are translated at exchange rates prevailing on the statement of financial position
date. Income and expense items and cash flows of foreign operations are translated at the average exchange rate for the period.
Significant individual items of income and expense and cash flows in foreign operations are translated at the rate prevailing on the
date of transaction. Exchange differences arising are classified as equity and transferred to the translation reserve. When foreign
operations are disposed of, the related cumulative translation differences are recognised within the income statement in the period.
The Group uses derivative financial instruments, primarily forward contracts, to hedge its exposure to certain foreign exchange risks.
Details of the Group’s accounting policies in respect of derivative financial instruments are set out on page 162.
Critical judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
The most significant accounting policies in determining the financial condition and results of the Group, and those requiring the most
subjective or complex judgement, relate to and are included in the following notes:
§ valuation of goodwill and intangible assets – notes 14 and 15;
§ capitalisation of development spend – note 15;
§ taxation – note 9; and
§ accounting for defined benefit pension schemes – note 6.
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 138
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
1 Basis of preparation and accounting policies (continued)
Other significant accounting policies
The accounting policy in respect of revenue recognition is also significant in determining the financial condition and results of the Group.
The application of this policy is straightforward, and is included in note 2.
Standards and amendments effective for the year
The interpretations and amendments to IFRS effective for 2020 have not had a significant impact on the Group’s accounting policies
or reporting.
Standards, amendments and interpretations not yet effective
A number of amendments and interpretations have been issued which are not expected to have any significant impact on the accounting
policies and reporting.
2 Revenue, operating profit and segment analysis
Accounting policy
The Group’s reported segments are based on the internal reporting structure and financial information provided to the Board.
Adjusted operating profit is the key segmental profit measure used by the Group in assessing performance. Adjusted operating
profit is reconciled to operating profit on page 188.
Revenue arises from the provision of products and services under contracts with customers. In all cases, revenue is recognised
to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity
expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services, and is recognised when the customer obtains control of the good
or service.
Revenue is stated at the transaction price, which includes allowance for anticipated discounts and returns and excludes customer
sales taxes and other amounts to be collected on behalf of third-parties.
Where the goods or services promised within a contract are distinct, they are identified as separate performance obligations
and are accounted for separately.
Where separate performance obligations are identified, total revenue is allocated on the basis of relative stand-alone selling prices
or management’s best estimate of relative value where stand-alone selling prices do not exist. Management estimates may include
a cost-plus method or comparable product approach, but must be supported by objective evidence. A residual approach may be
applied where it is not possible to derive a reliable management estimate for a specific component.
Our subscription and Exhibition related revenue streams require payment in advance of the service being provided. Payment
terms offered to customers are in line with the standard in the markets and geographies we operate in, and contracts do not
contain significant financing components. Contracts for our transactional electronic revenue streams generally have payments
that vary with volume of usage. Other than that, our contracts do not involve variable consideration.
Revenue is recognised for the various categories as follows:
§ Subscriptions – revenue comprises income derived from the periodic distribution or update of a product. Subscription revenue
is generally invoiced in advance and recognised systematically over the period of the subscription. Recognition is either on a
straight-line basis where the transaction involves the transfer of goods and services to the customer in a consistent manner
over a specific period of time; or based on the value received by the customer where the goods and services are not delivered
in a consistent manner.
§ Transactional – revenue is recognised when control of the product is passed to the customer or the service has been performed.
For exhibitions, revenue primarily comprises income from exhibitors and attendees at exhibitions. Exhibition revenue is
recognised on occurrence of the exhibition.
§ Advertising – revenue is recognised on publication or over the period of online display.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 139
2 Revenue, operating profit and segment analysis (continued)
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. Operating
in four major market segments: Scientific, Technical & Medical provides information and analytics that help institutions and
professionals progress science, advance healthcare and improve performance; Risk provides customers with information-based
analytics and decision tools that combine public and industry-specific content with advanced technology and algorithms to assist
them in evaluating and predicting risk and enhancing operational efficiency; Legal provides legal, regulatory and business information
and analytics that helps customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making and achieve better outcomes; and Exhibitions
is a leading global events business combining face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source
products and complete transactions.
ANALYSIS BY BUSINESS SEGMENT
Revenue
Adjusted operating profit
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions*
Sub-total
Unallocated items
Total
2020
£m
2,692
2,417
1,639
362
7,110
–
7,110
2019
£m
2,637
2,316
1,652
1,269
7,874
–
7,874
2018
£m
2,538
2,117
1,618
1,219
7,492
–
7,492
2020
£m
1,021
894
330
(164)
2,081
(5)
2,076
2019
£m
982
853
330
331
2,496
(5)
2,491
* Details of the exceptional costs excluded from adjusted operating profit are disclosed on page 141 in note 2.
2020
Scientific, Technical &
Medical
Revenue by geographical market
North America
Europe*
Rest of world
Total revenue
Revenue by format
Electronic
Face-to-face
Print
Total revenue
Revenue by type
Subscriptions
Transactional
Advertising
Total revenue
1,224
621
847
2,692
2,326
1
365
2,692
2,048
605
39
2,692
Risk
1,921
327
169
2,417
2,387
19
11
2,417
944
1,469
4
2,417
Legal
Exhibitions
1,119
338
182
1,639
1,422
7
210
1,639
1,287
348
4
1,639
43
83
236
362
44
318
–
362
–
362
–
362
* Europe includes revenue of £464m from the United Kingdom (2019: £529m; 2018: £527m).
2018
£m
942
776
320
313
2,351
(5)
2,346
Total
4,307
1,369
1,434
7,110
6,179
345
586
7,110
4,279
2,784
47
7,110
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 140
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
2 Revenue, operating profit and segment analysis (continued)
2019
Scientific, Technical &
Medical
Revenue by geographical market
North America
Europe
Rest of world
Total revenue
Revenue by format
Electronic
Face-to-face
Print
Total revenue
Revenue by type
Subscriptions
Transactional
Advertising
Total revenue
2018
Revenue by geographical market
North America
Europe
Rest of world
Total revenue
Revenue by format
Electronic
Face-to-face
Print
Total revenue
Revenue by type
Subscriptions
Transactional
Advertising
Total revenue
1,182
635
820
2,637
2,214
8
415
2,637
1,970
622
45
2,637
Scientific, Technical &
Medical
1,118
611
809
2,538
2,094
7
437
2,538
1,877
615
46
2,538
Risk
1,843
317
156
2,316
2,264
25
27
2,316
872
1,428
16
2,316
Risk
1,669
322
126
2,117
2,030
36
51
2,117
765
1,322
30
2,117
Legal
Exhibitions
1,118
340
194
1,652
1,400
9
243
1,652
1,287
359
6
1,652
248
508
513
1,269
51
1,218
–
1,269
–
1,269
–
1,269
Legal
Exhibitions
1,083
340
195
1,618
1,338
10
270
1,618
1,247
365
6
1,618
221
535
463
1,219
51
1,168
–
1,219
–
1,219
–
1,219
Total
4,391
1,800
1,683
7,874
5,929
1,260
685
7,874
4,129
3,678
67
7,874
Total
4,091
1,808
1,593
7,492
5,513
1,221
758
7,492
3,889
3,521
82
7,492
Over half of RELX’s revenue comes from subscription arrangements, and revenue for these is generally recognised on a straight-line
basis over the time period covered by the agreement, in line with the provision of services. There are a number of multi-year contracts,
mainly in Risk, where revenue is recognised on the achievement of delivery milestones or other specified performance obligations. As at
31 December 2020, the aggregate amount of the transaction price of such contracts which relates to performance obligations which have
not yet been delivered was approximately £146m (2019: £162m). It is expected that revenue will be recognised in relation to this amount over
the next seven years.
ANALYSIS OF REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN
North America
Europe
Rest of world
Total
2020
£m
4,192
2,436
482
7,110
2019
£m
4,308
2,832
734
7,874
2018
£m
4,013
2,790
689
7,492
Revenue by geographical origin from the United Kingdom in 2020 was £1,176m (2019: £1,320m; 2018: £1,144m).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 141
2 Revenue, operating profit and segment analysis (continued)
ANALYSIS BY BUSINESS SEGMENT
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
Total
Expenditure on
acquired goodwill and
intangible assets
2020
£m
169
822
–
6
997
2019
£m
65
47
139
251
502
2018
£m
106
852
30
61
1,049
Capital expenditure
additions
Amortisation of acquired
intangible assets
Depreciation and other
amortisation
2020
£m
94
93
153
24
364
2019
£m
104
96
155
26
381
2018
£m
100
92
145
28
365
2020
£m
65
192
68
51
376
2019
£m
62
170
24
39
295
2018
£m
58
161
33
36
288
2020
£m
120
98
176
73
467
2019
£m
109
89
150
41
389
2018
£m
109
73
147
35
364
Capital expenditure comprises additions to property, plant and equipment and internally developed intangible assets. Depreciation
and other amortisation includes depreciation on right-of-use assets. Amortisation of acquired intangible assets includes amounts
in respect of joint ventures of nil (2019: £1m; 2018: £1m) in Exhibitions.
ANALYSIS OF NON-CURRENT ASSETS BY GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
North America
Europe
Rest of world
Total
2020
£m
8,940
2,058
418
11,416
2019
£m
8,365
2,156
481
11,002
2018
£m
8,692
1,996
461
11,149
Non-current assets held in the United Kingdom totalled £1,158m (2019: £1,248m; 2018: £988m). Non-current assets by geographical
location exclude amounts relating to deferred tax, pension assets and derivative financial instruments.
Operating profit is reconciled to adjusted operating profit as follows:
RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROFIT TO ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT
Operating profit
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Reclassification of tax in joint ventures
Reclassification of finance income in joint ventures
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted operating profit
2020
£m
1,525
376
(12)
5
(1)
183
2,076
2019
£m
2,101
295
84
12
(1)
–
2,491
2018
£m
1,964
288
84
11
(1)
–
2,346
The share of post-tax results of joint ventures of £15m (2019: £41m; 2018: £32m) included in operating profit comprised £4m
(2019: £3m; 2018: nil) relating to Legal, £10m (2019: £36m; 2018: £31m) relating to Exhibitions and £1m (2019: £2m; 2018: £1m)
relating to Risk.
The Exhibitions business was significantly disrupted in 2020 by restrictions applied around the world in response to Covid-19, leading
to the cancellation of a large number of events, with considerable costs being incurred. In addition, action has been taken to reduce the
cost structure of the business, creating a leaner, more agile organisation, and a more focused approach has been adopted for systems
development.
Exhibitions has incurred exceptional costs of £183m which consist of £61m of costs relating to events that were cancelled, £82m of
restructuring costs (mainly relating to severance) and a £40m impairment charge (£29m related to internally developed intangible
assets and £11m related to property). The related tax credit amounted to £45m. These costs were incurred primarily in the UK, the US,
France and Germany.
Of the £183m exceptional costs, £135m are cash costs, of which £51m were paid in 2020. The majority of the remainder are expected
to be paid in 2021. All costs were included within administration and other expenses in the income statement.
Given their size and their non-recurring nature, these costs have been classified as exceptional, and as such are excluded from
adjusted operating profit and other adjusted measures.
Acquisition-related items in the year included a gain of £76m from the revaluation of a put and call option arrangement relating to
a non-controlling interest in a subsidiary within Legal.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 142
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
3 Operating profit
Accounting policy
Share based remuneration
The fair value of share based remuneration is determined at the date of grant and recognised as an expense in the income statement
on a straight-line basis over the vesting period, taking account of the estimated number of shares that are expected to vest. Market
based performance criteria are taken into account when determining the fair value at the date of grant. Non-market based performance
criteria are taken into account when estimating the number of shares expected to vest. The fair value of share based remuneration
is determined by use of a binomial or Monte Carlo simulation model as appropriate. All of the Group’s share based remuneration is
equity settled.
Operating profit is stated after charging/(crediting) the following:
Staff costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pensions
Share based remuneration
Total staff costs
Depreciation and amortisation
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Share of joint ventures’ amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Amortisation of internally developed intangible assets
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Depreciation of right-of-use assets
Total depreciation and amortisation
Other expenses and income
Cost of sales including pre-publication costs and inventory expenses
Short-term and low value lease expenses
Operating lease rentals income
Note
6
15
15
17
2020
£m
2,173
232
125
25
2,555
376
–
319
60
88
843
2019
£m
2,116
230
120
32
2,498
294
1
249
58
82
684
2018
£m
1,959
215
135
41
2,350
287
1
225
62
77
652
2,487
21
(1)
2,755
20
(1)
2,638
18
(3)
The amortisation of acquired intangible assets is included within administration and other expenses.
The Group provides a number of share based remuneration schemes to Directors and employees. The principal share based remuneration
schemes are the Executive Share Option Schemes (ESOS), the Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP), the Retention Share Plan (RSP) and the
Bonus Investment Plan (BIP). Share options granted under ESOS are exercisable after three years and up to ten years from the date of
grant at a price equivalent to the market value of the respective shares at the date of grant. Conditional shares granted under LTIP, RSP
and BIP are exercisable after three years for nil consideration if conditions are met. Other awards principally relate to all employee
share based saving schemes in the UK and the Netherlands. Further details are provided in the remuneration report on pages 93 to 114.
Refer to note 2 for further detail on the exceptional costs in Exhibitions.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 4 Auditor’s remuneration
Auditor’s remuneration
Payable to the auditors of RELX PLC
Payable to the auditors of the Group’s subsidiaries
Audit services
Audit-related assurance services
Total audit and audit-related assurance services
Other services: due diligence and other transaction-related services
Total non-audit related services
Total auditor’s remuneration
143
2018
£m
0.9
6.5
7.4
0.9
8.3
2.7
2.7
11.0
2020
£m
0.8
7.8
8.6
0.8
9.4
–
–
9.4
2019
£m
0.8
7.8
8.6
0.6
9.2
0.1
0.1
9.3
Amounts payable to the auditors of the Group’s subsidiaries include amounts for the audit of internal controls over financial reporting
in accordance with the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 2020 audit related assurance services included no fees for services relating to RELX
pension plans (2019: £0.1m). The previously reported 2019 fees paid to EY for audit services have been revised to include additional amounts
for expenses incurred and final fees for statutory audits which took place subsequent to the audit of the RELX consolidated accounts.
5 Personnel
NUMBER OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED: FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS
At 31 December
Average during the year
Business segment
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
Sub-total
Corporate/shared functions
Total
Geographical location
North America
Europe
Rest of world
Total
2020
2019
2018
2020
2019
2018
8,600
9,700
10,400
3,700
32,400
800
33,200
14,200
9,500
9,500
33,200
8,100
9,100
10,600
4,600
32,400
800
33,200
14,100
9,500
9,600
33,200
7,900
8,700
10,500
4,200
31,300
800
32,100
13,800
9,200
9,100
32,100
8,300
9,600
10,500
4,200
32,600
800
33,400
14,200
9,600
9,600
33,400
8,000
9,000
10,600
4,400
32,000
800
32,800
14,000
9,400
9,400
32,800
7,700
8,600
10,600
4,100
31,000
800
31,800
13,700
9,200
8,900
31,800
The number of UK full-time equivalents as at 31 December 2020 was 5,400 (2019: 5,400; 2018: 5,200) and the average during the year was
5,400 (2019: 5,300; 2018: 5,100).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 144
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
6 Pension schemes
Accounting policy
The expense of defined benefit pension schemes and other post-retirement employee benefits is determined using the projected
unit credit method and charged in the income statement as an operating expense, based on actuarial assumptions reflecting market
conditions at the beginning of the financial year. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the statement of comprehensive
income in the period in which they occur.
Past service costs and credits are recognised immediately at the earlier of when plan amendments or curtailments occur and when
related restructuring costs or termination benefits are recognised. Settlements are recognised when they occur.
Net pension obligations in respect of defined benefit schemes are included in the statement of financial position at the present value
of scheme liabilities, less the fair value of scheme assets. Where schemes are in surplus, i.e. assets exceed liabilities, the net
pension assets are separately included in the statement of financial position. Any net pension asset is limited to the extent that the
asset is recoverable.
The expense of defined contribution pension schemes and other employee benefits is charged in the income statement as incurred.
Critical judgement and key source of estimation uncertainty
At 31 December 2020, the Group operates defined benefit pension schemes in the UK and the US. These schemes require management
to exercise judgement in estimating the ultimate cost of providing post-employment benefits, especially given the length of each
scheme’s liabilities. Accounting for defined benefit pension schemes involves judgement about uncertain events, including the life
expectancy of the members, salary and pension increases, inflation, the future operation of each scheme and the rate at which
the future pension payments are discounted. Estimates for these factors are used in determining the pension cost and liabilities
reported in the financial statements. The estimates made around future developments of each of the critical assumptions are made
in conjunction with independent actuaries, and each scheme is subject to a periodic review by independent actuaries. Information
regarding the more significant assumptions used for valuation is provided below, together with a sensitivity analysis.
A number of pension schemes are operated around the world. The largest defined benefit schemes as at 31 December 2020 were in the
UK and the US, and are summarised below.
Major defined benefit schemes in place at 31 December 2020
The UK scheme is a final salary scheme and is closed to new hires. Members accrue a portion of their final pensionable earnings based
on the number of years of service. The US scheme is a cash balance scheme and was closed to future accruals effective 1 January 2019.
Each of the major defined benefit schemes is administered by a separate fund that is legally separated from the Group. The trustees
of the pension funds in the UK and plan fiduciaries of the US scheme are required by law to act in the interest of the funds’ beneficiaries.
In the UK, the trustees of the pension fund are responsible for the investment policy with regard to the assets of the fund. The board of
trustees consists of an equal number of company-appointed and member-nominated Directors. In the US, the fiduciary duties for the
scheme are allocated between committees which are staffed by senior employees of the Group; the investment committee has the
primary responsibility for the investment and management of plan assets. The funding of the Group’s major schemes reflects the
different rules within each jurisdiction.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 145
6 Pension schemes (continued)
In the UK, the level of funding is determined by statutory triennial actuarial valuations in accordance with pensions legislation.
Where the scheme falls below 100% funded status, the Group and the scheme trustees must agree on how the deficit is to be remedied.
The UK Pensions Regulator has significant powers and sets out in codes and guidance the parameters for scheme funding. As a result
of the 2018 triennial valuation, the Group’s remaining deficit funding contributions to the scheme over the period 2021 to 2022 are £88m.
The US scheme has an annual statutory valuation which forms the basis for establishing the employer contribution each year (subject
to ERISA and IRS minimums). Should the statutory funded status fall to below 100%, the US Pension Protection Act requires the deficit
to be rectified with additional contributions over a seven-year period. The US scheme’s funded status is in excess of 100%.
Employer cash contributions to defined benefit pension schemes in respect of 2021 are expected to be approximately £57m including
a £44m pension deficit funding contribution relating to the UK scheme recovery plan.
The pension expense (excluding interest amounts) recognised in the income statement consists of:
Defined benefit pension expense
Defined contribution pension expense
Total
2020
£m
11
114
125
2019
£m
11
109
120
2018
£m
47
95
142
£125m (2019: £120m; 2018: £135m) of the total pension cost is recognised within operating profit.
The amounts recognised in the income statement in respect of defined benefit pension schemes during the year are presented by major
scheme as follows:
Service cost
Settlement and past service (credits)/cost
Defined benefit pension expense
Net interest on net defined benefit obligation
Net defined benefit pension expense
2020
2019
2018
UK
£m
21
–
21
9
30
US
£m
3
(13)
(10)
1
(9)
Total
£m
24
(13)
11
10
21
UK
£m
21
(8)
13
9
22
US
£m
3
(5)
(2)
3
1
Total
£m
24
(13)
11
12
23
UK
£m
27
11
38
6
44
US
£m
9
–
9
3
12
Total
£m
36
11
47
9
56
In 2020, the past service credit relates to changes to the US scheme allowing in-service distributions to be made. In 2019, the past
service credit relates to changes to both the UK and US schemes. In 2018, a past service cost was recognised to account for the impact
of GMP equalisation in the UK.
Net interest on net defined benefit pension scheme liabilities is presented within net finance costs in the income statement.
The significant valuation assumptions, determined for each major scheme in conjunction with the respective independent actuaries,
are presented below. The net defined benefit pension expense for each year is based on the assumptions and scheme valuations set
at 31 December of the prior year.
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Discount rate
Inflation
2020
UK
1.45%
2.80%
US
2.45%
2.50%
2019
UK
2.05%
2.95%
US
3.25%
2.50%
2018
UK
2.85%
3.15%
US
4.20%
2.50%
Discount rates are set by reference to high-quality corporate bond yields.
Mortality assumptions make allowance for future improvements in longevity and have been determined by reference to applicable
mortality statistics. The average life expectancy assumptions are set out below:
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020
Member currently aged 60 years
Member currently aged 45 years
Male average life
expectancy
Female average
life expectancy
UK
86
87
US
86
86
UK
89
90
US
88
88
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 146
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
6 Pension schemes (continued)
The amount recognised in the statement of financial position in respect of defined benefit pension schemes at the start and end of the
year and the movements during the year were as follows:
Defined benefit obligation
At start of year
Service cost
Past service credits
Interest on pension scheme liabilities
Actuarial loss on financial assumptions
Actuarial gain/(loss) arising from experience assumptions
Contributions by employees
Liabilities transferred on settlement
Benefits paid
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Fair value of scheme assets
At start of year
Interest income on plan assets
Return on assets excluding amounts included in interest income
Contributions by employer
Contributions by employees
Assets transferred on settlement
Benefits paid
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Opening net deficit
Service cost
Net interest on net defined benefit obligation
Settlement and past service credits
Contributions by employer
Actuarial (losses)/gains
Exchange translation differences
Net pension obligation
Impact of asset ceiling
Overall net pension obligation
2020
2019
UK
£m
US
£m
Total
£m
UK
£m
US
£m
Total
£m
(4,251)
(21)
–
(85)
(492)
60
(8)
–
129
–
(4,668)
3,767
76
291
63
8
–
(129)
–
4,076
(484)
(21)
(9)
–
63
(141)
–
(592)
–
(592)
(1,018)
(3)
13
(31)
(99)
(13)
–
–
56
33
(1,062)
995
30
135
7
–
–
(56)
(34)
1,077
(23)
(3)
(1)
13
7
23
(1)
15
(47)
(32)
(5,269)
(24)
13
(116)
(591)
47
(8)
–
185
33
(5,730)
4,762
106
426
70
8
–
(185)
(34)
5,153
(507)
(24)
(10)
13
70
(118)
(1)
(577)
(47)
(624)
(3,772)
(21)
8
(104)
(495)
22
(9)
–
120
–
(4,251)
3,413
95
304
66
9
–
(120)
–
3,767
(359)
(21)
(9)
8
66
(169)
–
(484)
–
(484)
(1,040)
(3)
5
(42)
(116)
(5)
–
65
77
41
(1,018)
966
39
166
6
–
(65)
(77)
(40)
995
(74)
(3)
(3)
5
6
45
1
(23)
(13)
(36)
(4,812)
(24)
13
(146)
(611)
17
(9)
65
197
41
(5,269)
4,379
134
470
72
9
(65)
(197)
(40)
4,762
(433)
(24)
(12)
13
72
(124)
1
(507)
(13)
(520)
As at 31 December 2020, the defined benefit obligations comprised £5,459m (2019: £5,016m) in relation to funded schemes and
£271m (2019: £253m) in relation to unfunded schemes.
The weighted average duration of defined benefit scheme liabilities is 19 years in the UK (2019: 19 years) and 11 years in the US
(2019: 13 years). Deferred tax assets of £125m (2019: £96m) are recognised in respect of the pension scheme deficits.
A net pension asset has been recognised in relation to the US funded scheme after considering the guidance in IAS 19 – Employee
Benefits and IFRIC 14. The split between net pension obligations and net pension assets is as follows:
Net pension asset recognised
Net pension obligation
Overall net pension obligation
2020
£m
47
(671)
(624)
2019
£m
45
(565)
(520)
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 6 Pension schemes (continued)
Amounts recognised in the statement of comprehensive income are set out below:
Gains and losses arising during the year:
Experience gains on scheme liabilities
Experience gains/(losses) on scheme assets
Actuarial (losses)/gains on the present value of scheme liabilities due to changes in:
– discount rates
– inflation
– other actuarial assumptions
Net cumulative losses at start of year
Net cumulative losses at end of year
147
2018
£m
6
(273)
242
–
(66)
(91)
(613)
(704)
2020
£m
47
426
(671)
127
(47)
(118)
(828)
(946)
2019
£m
17
470
(743)
142
(10)
(124)
(704)
(828)
In addition, a loss of £37m (2019: £13m) is recognised in the statement of comprehensive income in relation to the asset ceiling. As at
31 December 2020, the asset ceiling balance is £47m (2019: £13m), in 2020 there was a £3m (2019: nil) foreign exchange gain on the asset
ceiling.
The major categories and fair values of scheme assets at the end of the reporting period are as follows:
FAIR VALUE OF SCHEME ASSETS
Equities
Liability matching assets
Property funds and ground leases
Direct lending
Cash and cash equivalents
Other
Total
UK
£m
1,563
1,499
706
204
95
9
4,076
2020
US
£m
10
1,052
–
–
12
3
1,077
Total
£m
1,573
2,551
706
204
107
12
5,153
UK
£m
1,358
1,414
715
182
75
23
3,767
2019
US
£m
126
850
–
–
13
6
995
Total
£m
1,484
2,264
715
182
88
29
4,762
Included within liability matching assets are government bonds totalling £1,948m (2019: £1,486m).
Assets and obligations associated with the schemes are sensitive to changes in the market values of assets and the market-related
assumptions used to value scheme liabilities. In particular, adverse changes to asset values, discount rates or inflation could increase
future pension costs and funding requirements.
Typically, the Group’s schemes are exposed to: investment risks, whereby actual rates of return on plan assets may be below those rates used
to determine the defined benefit obligations, and interest rate risks, whereby scheme deficits may increase if bond yields in the UK and
the US decline and are not offset by returns in liability matching and other assets. The schemes are also exposed to other risks, such
as unanticipated future increases in member longevity patterns and inflation, all potentially leading to an increase in scheme liabilities.
Investment policies of each scheme are intended to ensure continuous payment of defined benefit pensions in the short-term and
long-term. Efforts are made to limit risks on marketable securities by adopting investment policies that diversify assets across
geographies and among equities, liability matching assets, property funds, cash and other assets. Asset allocations are dependent
on a variety of factors including the duration of scheme liabilities and the funded position of the plan.
All equities and bonds have quoted prices in active markets.
Sensitivity analysis
The valuation of the Group’s pension scheme liabilities involves significant actuarial assumptions, being the life expectancy of the
members, inflation and the rate at which the future pension payments are discounted. Differences arising from actual experience or future
changes in assumptions may materially affect future pension charges. In particular, changes in assumptions for discount rates, inflation
and life expectancies that are reasonably possible would have the following approximate effects on the defined benefit pension obligations:
Increase/decrease of 0.25% in discount rate
Increase/decrease of 0.25% in the expected inflation rate
Increase/decrease of one year in assumed life expectancy
£m
257
161
216
The above analysis has been calculated on the same basis used to determine the defined benefit obligation recognised in the statement
of financial position. There has been no change in the methods used to prepare the analysis compared with prior years. This sensitivity
analysis may not be representative of the actual change in the defined benefit obligation as it is unlikely that changes in the above
assumptions would occur in isolation as some of the assumptions may be correlated.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
148
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
7 Net finance costs
Accounting policy
Borrowing costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition, construction or production of an asset that takes a substantial period of
time to bring to use are capitalised. All other interest on borrowings is expensed as incurred. The cost of issuing borrowings is generally
expensed over the period of borrowing so as to produce a constant periodic rate of charge.
Interest on short-term bank loans, overdrafts and commercial paper
Interest on term debt
Interest on lease liabilities
Total borrowing costs
Losses on loans and derivatives not designated as hedges
Fair value losses on designated fair value hedge relationships
Net financing charge on defined benefit pension schemes and other
Finance costs
Interest on bank deposits
Interest income on net finance lease receivables
Fair value gains on designated fair value hedge relationships
Gains on loans and derivatives not designated as hedges
Finance income
Net finance costs
2020
£m
(17)
(122)
(12)
(151)
(13)
–
(11)
(175)
2
1
–
–
3
(172)
2019
£m
(20)
(266)
(15)
(301)
–
–
(13)
(314)
3
2
1
3
9
(305)
2018
£m
(22)
(161)
(14)
(197)
(10)
(1)
(9)
(217)
4
2
–
–
6
(211)
Gains of £3m (2019: losses of £1m; 2018: losses of £8m) on derivatives designated as cash flow hedges were recognised in other
comprehensive income and accumulated in the hedge reserve, and may be reclassified to the income statement in future periods.
Losses of £4m (2019: gains of nil; 2018: gains of £3m) in total were transferred from the hedge reserve in the period.
In 2019, the interest charge on term debt included a charge of £99m in respect of the early redemption of bonds that were due to be repaid
in October 2022. The redemption of these bonds took place in January 2020 and was committed to at 31 December 2019.
8 Disposals and other non-operating items
Accounting policy
Assets of businesses that are available for immediate sale in their current condition and for which a sales process is considered
highly probable to complete are classified as assets held for sale and are carried at the lower of carrying value and fair value less
costs to sell. Fair value is based on anticipated disposal proceeds, typically derived from firm or indicative offers from potential
acquirers. Non-current assets are not amortised or depreciated following their classification as held for sale. Liabilities of
businesses held for sale are also separately classified on the statement of financial position. Fair value movements in the
venture capital portfolio are reported within disposals and other items – see note 16.
Revaluation of investments
(Loss)/gain on disposal of businesses and assets held for sale
Net gain/(loss) on disposals and other non-operating items
2020
£m
151
(21)
130
2019
£m
25
26
51
2018
£m
(11)
(22)
(33)
The revaluation of investments relates mainly to venture fund investments, further details of which are provided in note 16.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 149
9 Taxation
Accounting policy
Tax expense comprises current and deferred tax. Current and deferred tax are charged or credited in the income statement except
to the extent that the tax arises from a transaction or event which is recognised, in the same or a different period, outside the income
statement (either in other comprehensive income, directly in equity, or through a business combination), in which case the tax
appears in the same statement as the transaction that gave rise to it.
Current tax is the amount of corporate income taxes expected to be payable or recoverable based on the profit for the period as
adjusted for items that are not taxable or not deductible, and is calculated using tax rates and laws that were enacted or substantively
enacted at the date of the statement of financial position. Management periodically evaluates positions taken in tax returns with
respect to situations in which applicable tax regulation is subject to interpretation. Provisions are established where appropriate
on the basis of amounts expected to be paid to the tax authorities.
Current tax includes amounts provided in respect of uncertain tax positions when management expects that, upon examination
of the uncertainty by a tax authority in possession of all relevant knowledge, it is more likely than not that an economic outflow will
occur. Changes in facts and circumstances underlying these provisions are reassessed at the date of each statement of financial
position, and the provisions are remeasured as required to reflect current information.
Deferred tax is recognised on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying
amounts in the statement of financial position. Deferred tax is calculated using tax rates and laws that have been enacted or
substantively enacted at the end of the reporting period, and which are expected to apply when the related deferred tax asset
is realised or the deferred tax liability is settled.
Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences but not recognised for taxable temporary
differences arising on investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures where the reversal of the temporary difference
can be controlled and it is probable that the difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future. Deferred tax liabilities are not
recognised on temporary differences that arise from goodwill which is not deductible for tax purposes.
Deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which the deductible
temporary differences can be utilised, and are reviewed at the end of each reporting period and reduced to the extent that it is
no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered.
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are not recognised in respect of temporary differences that arise on initial recognition of assets
and liabilities acquired other than in a business combination. Deferred tax is not discounted.
Critical judgement and key source of estimation uncertainty
The Group is subject to tax in numerous jurisdictions, giving rise to complex tax issues that require management to exercise
judgement in making tax determinations. As a multinational enterprise, our tax returns in the countries in which we operate
are subject to tax authority audits as a matter of routine. While the Group is confident that tax returns are appropriately prepared
and filed, amounts are provided in respect of uncertain tax positions that reflect the risk with respect to tax matters under active
discussion with tax authorities, or which are otherwise considered to involve uncertainty.
Provisions against uncertain tax positions are measured using one of the following methods, depending on which of the methods
management expects will better predict the amount it will pay over to the tax authority:
§ The Single Best Estimate – where there is a single outcome that is more likely than not to occur. This will happen, for example,
where the tax outcome is binary (such as whether an entity can deduct an item of expenditure) or the range of possible outcomes
is narrow or concentrated on a single value. The most likely outcome may be that no tax is expected to be payable, in which case
the provision is nil; or
§ A Probability-Weighted Expected Value – where, on the balance of probabilities, something will be paid to the tax authority but
the possible outcomes are widely dispersed with low individual probabilities (i.e. there is no single outcome more likely than
not to occur). In this case, the provision is the sum of the probability-weighted amounts in the range.
In assessing provisions against uncertain tax positions, management uses in-house tax experts, professional firms and previous
experience to inform the evaluation of risk. However, it remains possible that uncertainties will ultimately be resolved at amounts
greater or smaller than the liabilities recorded.
In particular, although we report cross-border transactions undertaken between Group subsidiaries on an arm’s-length basis in
tax returns in accordance with OECD guidelines, transfer pricing relies on the exercise of judgement and it is frequently possible
for there to be a range of legitimate and reasonable views. This means that it is impossible to be certain that the returns basis will
be sustained on examination. Discussions with tax authorities relating to cross-border transactions and other matters are ongoing
in each of our major trading jurisdictions. Although the timing and amount of final resolution of these uncertain tax positions cannot
be reliably predicted, no significant impact on the profitability of the Group is expected in the near term.
Estimation of income taxes also includes assessments of the recoverability of deferred tax assets. Deferred tax assets are only
recognised to the extent that they are considered recoverable based on existing tax laws and forecasts of future taxable profits
against which the underlying tax deductions can be utilised. The recoverability of these assets is reassessed at the end of each
reporting period, and changes in recognition of deferred tax assets will affect the tax liability in the period of that reassessment.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 150
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
9 Taxation (continued)
Current tax
United Kingdom
Rest of world
Total current tax charge
Deferred tax
Tax expense
2020
£m
(80)
(184)
(264)
(11)
(275)
2019
£m
(141)
(241)
(382)
44
(338)
2018
£m
(71)
(226)
(297)
5
(292)
Cash tax paid (net) in the year was £496m (2019: £464m; 2018: £415m), which is different to the tax expense for the year set out above.
There are a number of reasons why the cash tax payments in a particular year will be different from the tax expense in the accounts:
§ Tax payments relating to a particular year’s profits are typically due partly in the year and partly in the following year. In 2020 there
was an acceleration of instalment payments in the UK.
§ Tax expense includes deferred tax, an accounting adjustment where an item is included in the income statement in one year but is
taxed in another year. The acquisition of intangible assets often results in deferred tax liabilities, the unwind of which does not result
in tax payments.
§ Current tax expense is the best estimate at the end of the period of cash tax expected to be paid. To the extent the final tax liability is
different, any cash tax impact will occur in a later period.
§ Some of the benefits of tax deductions related to share based payments, pensions and hedging are credited to equity or other
comprehensive income rather than to tax expense.
Set out below is a reconciliation of the difference between tax expense for the period and the theoretical expense calculated by
multiplying accounting profit by the applicable tax rate.
We believe the most meaningful applicable rate is that obtained by multiplying the accounting profits and losses of all consolidated
entities by the applicable domestic rate in each of those entities’ jurisdictions.
The net tax expense charged on profit before tax differs from the theoretical amount that would arise using the weighted average of tax
rates applicable to accounting profits and losses of the consolidated entities, as follows:
Profit before tax
Tax at average applicable rates
Tax effect of share of results of joint ventures
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes
Non-deductible costs of share based remuneration
Non-deductible disposal-related gains and losses
Deferred tax assets of the period not recognised
Change in recognition and measurement of deferred tax
Other adjustments in respect of prior periods
Exceptional tax credit
Tax expense
2020
2019
2018
£m
1,483
(331)
3
18
(2)
(2)
(19)
14
44
–
(275)
%
22.3%
(0.2)%
(1.2)%
0.1%
0.1%
1.3%
(0.9)%
(3.0)%
–
18.5%
£m
1,847
(418)
10
(3)
(1)
4
(15)
12
73
–
(338)
%
22.6%
(0.5)%
0.2%
0.1%
(0.2)%
0.8%
(0.6)%
(4.0)%
–
18.3%
£m
1,720
(361)
8
(24)
(1)
–
(24)
(15)
13
112
(292)
%
21.0%
(0.5)%
1.4%
0.1%
0.0%
1.4%
0.9%
(0.8)%
(6.5)%
17.0%
The weighted average applicable tax rate for the year was 22.3% (2019: 22.6%; 2018: 21.0%), reflecting the applicable rates in the
countries where the Group operates. The Group’s future tax charge will be sensitive to the geographic mix of profits and losses and
the tax rates and laws in force in the jurisdictions in which we operate.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 151
9 Taxation (continued)
In the UK, a reduction in the corporation tax rate from 19% to 17% from April 2020 was enacted in 2016. However this change was reversed
in 2020. In the US, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included a reduction in the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% from January 2018. In
the Netherlands, a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 25% to 21.7% from 2021 was enacted in 2019 but reversed in 2020. In total, the
deferred tax effect of changes in tax rates for the year was a tax credit of £14m (2019: £6m; 2018: £8m).
The effective tax rate of 18.5% (2019: 18.3%; 2018: 17.0%) was lower than the weighted average applicable rate of 22.3% mainly because
of adjustments in respect of prior periods including the resolution of historical tax matters. Included in expenses not deductible for tax
purposes is a credit of £19m relating to the revaluation of a put and call option arrangement. In 2019 the effective tax rate was also lower
than the weighted average applicable tax rate due to a tax credit arising from the substantial resolution of certain prior year tax matters.
In 2018, there was an exceptional tax credit arising from the substantial resolution of certain prior year tax matters and the deferred tax
effect of tax rate reductions in the Netherlands and the US.
The following tax has been recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity during the year:
Tax on items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss
Tax on actuarial movements on defined benefit pension schemes
Tax on items that may be reclassified to profit or loss
Tax on fair value movements on cash flow hedges
Net tax credit recognised in other comprehensive income
Tax credit/(debit) on share based remuneration recognised directly in equity
Deferred tax assets
Deferred tax liabilities
Total
2020
£m
39
(4)
35
5
2019
£m
23
(8)
15
6
2020
£m
270
(665)
(395)
2018
£m
15
9
24
(3)
2019
£m
239
(593)
(354)
Movements in deferred tax liabilities and assets (before taking into consideration the offsetting of balances within the same jurisdiction)
are summarised as follows:
Deferred tax liabilities
Deferred tax assets
Excess of tax
allowances
over
amortisation
of intangibles
£m
Acquired
intangible
assets
£m
Other
temporary
differences
£m
Excess of
amortisation
of intangibles
over tax
allowances
£m
Tax losses
carried
forward
£m
Pension
balances
£m
Other
temporary
differences
£m
Deferred tax (liability)/asset at
1 January 2019
Credit/(charge) to profit
(Charge)/Credit to equity/other
comprehensive income
Acquisitions
Exchange translation differences
Deferred tax (liability)/asset at
1 January 2020
Credit/(charge) to profit
Credit/(charge) to equity/other
comprehensive income
Acquisitions
Exchange translation differences
Deferred tax (liability)/asset at
31 December 2020
(204)
48
–
–
6
(150)
51
–
–
1
(527)
9
–
(44)
19
(543)
10
–
(97)
18
(306)
19
(17)
–
14
(290)
1
–
–
6
207
(19)
–
–
(9)
179
(13)
–
–
8
(98)
(612)
(283)
174
96
(18)
–
–
(3)
75
20
–
6
(2)
99
Total
£m
(375)
44
6
(44)
15
(354)
(11)
28
(90)
32
86
(2)
13
–
(1)
96
–
29
–
–
273
7
10
–
(11)
279
(80)
(1)
1
1
125
200
(395)
The closing deferred tax liability balance of other temporary differences includes capitalised development costs (£207m) and fair
value movements on investments (£43m). The closing deferred tax asset balance of other temporary differences includes accruals
and provisions (£95m), share based remuneration provisions (£27m), capitalised development costs (£21m) and property, plant
and equipment (£16m).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 152
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
9 Taxation (continued)
As a result of exemptions on dividends from subsidiaries and capital gains on disposal there are no significant taxable temporary
differences associated with investments in subsidiaries, branches, associates and interests in joint arrangements.
Deferred tax assets in respect of tax losses and other deductible temporary differences have only been recognised to the extent that
it is more likely than not that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow the asset to be recovered. Accordingly, no deferred tax
asset has been recognised in respect of unused trading losses and interest expenses of approximately £297m (2019: £255m) carried
forward at year end. The deferred tax asset not recognised in respect of these losses and interest expenses is approximately £81m
(2019: £66m). Of the unrecognised losses and interest expenses, £168m (2019: £124m) will expire if not utilised within ten years and
£129m (2019: £131m) will expire after more than ten years or have no expiration date.
In addition there were state and local tax losses of £94m (2019: £96m) where it is not more likely than not that these losses will be utilised.
Of the unrecognised state and local losses, £44m (2019: £45m) will expire within ten years and £50m (2019: £51m) will expire after more
than ten years. The deferred tax asset not recognised in respect of these losses is approximately £6m (2019: £6m).
Deferred tax assets of approximately £4m (2019: £6m) have not been recognised in respect of tax losses and other temporary
differences carried forward of £23m (2019: £33m), which can only be used to offset future capital gains.
10 Earnings per share
Accounting policy
Earnings per share (‘EPS’) is calculated by taking the reported net profit attributable to shareholders and dividing this by the total
weighted average number of shares.
Adjusted earnings per share is calculated by dividing adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders by the total weighted
average number of shares.
EARNINGS PER SHARE – FOR THE YEAR
ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Basic earnings per share
Diluted earnings per share
2020
2019
2018
Net profit
attributable
to RELX PLC
shareholders
£m
Weighted
average
number
of shares
(millions)
1,224 1,926.2
1,224 1,937.8
Net profit
attributable
to RELX PLC
shareholders
£m
Weighted
average
number
of shares
(millions)
1,505 1,943.5
1,505 1,956.2
Net profit
attributable
to RELX PLC
shareholders
£m
Weighted
average
number
of shares
(millions)
1,422 1,977.2
1,422 1,990.8
EPS
(pence)
77.4p
76.9p
EPS
(pence)
63.5p
63.2p
EPS
(pence)
71.9p
71.4p
The diluted figures are calculated after taking account of potential additional ordinary shares arising from share options and
conditional shares.
ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE
2020
2019
2018
Adjusted net
profit
attributable
to RELX PLC
Weighted
average
number
of shares
(millions)
1,543 1,926.2
shareholders
£m
Adjusted net
profit
attributable to
RELX PLC
shareholders
£m
Weighted
average
number of
shares
(millions)
1,808 1,943.5
Adjusted
EPS
(pence)
93.0p
Adjusted net
profit
attributable to
RELX PLC
shareholders
£m
Weighted
average
number of
shares
(millions)
1,674 1,977.2
Adjusted
EPS
(pence)
84.7p
Adjusted
EPS
(pence)
80.1p
Adjusted earnings per share
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 10 Earnings per share (continued)
RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED NET PROFIT ATTRIBUTABLE TO RELX PLC SHAREHOLDERS
2020
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Other deferred tax credits from intangible assets*
Acquisition-related items
Net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Disposals and other non-operating items
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
* Movements on deferred tax liabilities arising on acquired intangible assets that do not qualify for tax amortisation.
2019
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Other deferred tax credits from intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Disposals and other non-operating items
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
2018
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Other deferred tax credits from intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Disposals and other non-operating items
Exceptional tax credit
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
153
Total
£m
1,224
395
(78)
(18)
9
(127)
138
1,543
Total
£m
1,505
321
(57)
69
10
(40)
1,808
Total
£m
1,422
322
(55)
71
7
19
(112)
1,674
Pre tax
adjustment
£m
Tax on
adjustment
£m
360
–
(12)
11
(130)
183
35
(78)
(6)
(2)
3
(45)
Pre tax
adjustment
£m
Tax on
adjustment
£m
295
–
84
13
(51)
26
(57)
(15)
(3)
11
Pre tax
adjustment
£m
Tax on
adjustment
£m
288
–
84
9
33
–
34
(55)
(13)
(2)
(14)
(112)
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 154
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
11 Statement of cash flows
Accounting policy
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances, call deposits and other short-term highly liquid investments and are held in the
statement of financial position at fair value.
RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROFIT TO CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATIONS
Operating profit
Share of results of joint ventures
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Amortisation of internally developed intangible assets
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Depreciation of right-of-use assets
Share based remuneration
Total non-cash items
Increase in inventories and pre-publication costs
Decrease/(increase) in receivables
(Decrease)/increase in payables
Increase in working capital
Cash generated from operations
CASH FLOW ON ACQUISITIONS
Purchase of businesses
Deferred payments relating to prior year acquisitions
Total
RECONCILIATION OF NET BORROWINGS
At start of year
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Decrease/(increase) in short-term bank loans,
overdrafts and commercial paper
Issuance of term debt
Repayment of term debt
Repayment of leases
Change in net borrowings resulting from cash flows
Borrowings in acquired businesses
Remeasurement and derecognition of leases
Inception of leases
Fair value and other adjustments to borrowings
and related derivatives
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
2020
£m
1,525
(15)
376
319
60
88
25
868
(18)
149
(245)
(114)
2,264
2020
£m
(864)
(5)
(869)
2019
£m
2,101
(41)
294
249
58
82
32
715
(14)
(116)
79
(51)
2,724
2019
£m
(399)
(24)
(423)
2018
£m
1,964
(32)
287
225
62
77
41
692
(7)
(89)
27
(69)
2,555
2018
£m
(919)
(16)
(935)
Note
12
Cash and
cash
equivalents
£m
138
Borrowings
£m
(6,414)
Related
derivative
financial
instruments
£m
52
Finance
lease
receivable
£m
33
2020
£m
(6,191)
2019
£m
(6,177)
2018
£m
(5,042)
(51)
–
–
–
–
(51)
–
–
–
–
1
88
–
436
(2,342)
1,233
105
(568)
(3)
(8)
(25)
(76)
(29)
(7,123)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
72
(5)
119
–
(51)
27
1
–
–
–
(15)
(15)
–
–
1
–
(1)
18
436
(2,342)
1,233
90
(634)
(3)
(8)
(24)
(4)
(34)
(6,898)
(98)
(729)
617
86
(97)
(6)
(28)
(60)
(147)
(958)
211
81
(812)
(12)
(12)
(28)
(94)
271
(6,191)
(25)
(246)
(6,177)
Net borrowings comprise cash and cash equivalents, loan capital, lease liabilities and receivables, promissory notes, bank and other
loans, derivative financial instruments that are used to hedge certain borrowings and adjustments in respect of cash collateral
received/paid. The Group monitors net borrowings as part of capital and liquidity management.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 155
12 Acquisitions
Accounting policy
Goodwill, being the excess of the consideration over the net tangible and intangible assets acquired, represents benefits which do
not qualify for recognition as intangible assets, including: the ability of a business to generate higher returns than individual assets;
skilled workforces; and acquisition synergies that are specific to the Group. In addition, goodwill arises on the recognition of
deferred tax liabilities in respect of intangible assets for which amortisation does not qualify for tax deductions.
During the year, a number of acquisitions were made. The net assets of the businesses acquired are incorporated at their fair value to the
Group. Provisional fair values of the consideration given and of the assets and liabilities acquired are summarised below.
Goodwill
Intangible assets
Property, plant and equipment
Non current assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Borrowings
Deferred tax
Net assets acquired
Consideration (after taking account of £29m (2019: £32m; 2018: £27m) net cash acquired)
Less: consideration deferred to future years
Less: acquisition date fair value of equity interest
Net cash flow
Fair value
2020
£m
570
427
3
1
20
(24)
(3)
(90)
904
904
(40)
–
864
Fair value
2019
£m
257
245
1
4
20
(53)
(6)
(44)
424
424
(10)
(15)
399
Fair value
2018
£m
626
423
5
12
24
(72)
(12)
(51)
955
955
(36)
–
919
During 2020, RELX completed several acquisitions for a total of £878m, or £904m adjusted for debt and cash acquired. On 31 January
2020, RELX acquired 100% of the share capital of ID Analytics, a provider of credit and fraud solutions for consideration of $375m. On 19
March 2020, RELX acquired 100% of the share capital of Emailage, a provider of email based fraud solutions for consideration of $480m.
Both of these acquisitions are part of Risk. On December 9, 2020, RELX acquired 100% of the share capital of Shadow Health, a developer
of virtual simulations in nursing and healthcare education which is part of STM.
The businesses acquired in 2020 contributed £70m to revenue, increased adjusted operating profit by £13m, decreased net profit by
£32m (after charging £44m of integration costs and amortisation of acquired intangibles) and contributed £9m to net cash inflow from
operating activities for the part year under the Group’s ownership and before taking account of acquisition financing costs. Had the
businesses been acquired at the beginning of the year, on a pro forma basis the Group revenues, adjusted operating profit and net profit
attributable to RELX PLC shareholders for the year would have been £7,148m, £2,082m and £1,229m respectively, before taking account
of acquisition financing costs.
13 Equity dividends
ORDINARY DIVIDENDS PAID IN THE YEAR
RELX PLC
RELX NV
Total
2020
£m
880
–
880
2019
£m
842
–
842
2018
£m
420
376
796
The RELX NV amount shown relates to dividends paid prior to the corporate simplification.
Ordinary dividends declared and paid in the year ended 31 December 2020, in amounts per ordinary share, comprise: a 2019 final
dividend of 32.1p (2019: 29.7p; 2018: 27.7p) and a 2020 interim dividend of 13.6p (2019: 13.6p; 2018: 12.4p), giving a total of 45.7p (2019: 43.3p;
2018: 40.1p).
The Directors of RELX PLC have proposed a final dividend of 33.4p (2019: 32.1p; 2018: 29.7p), giving a total for the financial year of 47.0p
(2019: 45.7p; 2018: 42.1p). The total cost of funding the proposed final dividend is expected to be £643m, for which no liability has been
recognised at the statement of financial position date.
The Employee Benefit Trust has currently waived the right to receive dividends on RELX PLC shares. This waiver has been applied to
dividends paid in 2020, 2019 and 2018.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 156
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
14 Goodwill
Accounting policy
On the acquisition of a subsidiary or business, the purchase consideration is allocated between the net tangible and intangible
assets on a fair value basis, with any excess purchase consideration representing goodwill. Goodwill arising on acquisitions
also includes amounts corresponding to deferred tax liabilities recognised in respect of acquired intangible assets.
Goodwill is recognised as an asset and reviewed for impairment when there is an indicator that the asset may be impaired and
at least annually. Any impairment is recognised immediately in the income statement and not subsequently reversed.
On disposal of a subsidiary or business, the attributable amount of goodwill is included in the determination of the profit or loss
on disposal.
At each statement of financial position date, the carrying amounts of tangible and intangible assets and goodwill are reviewed to
determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the
recoverable amount, which is the higher of value in use and fair value less costs to sell, of the asset is estimated in order to determine
the extent, if any, of the impairment loss. Where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets, value
in use estimates are made based on the cash flows of the cash generating unit to which the asset belongs. Intangible assets with an
indefinite useful life are tested for impairment at least annually and whenever there is any indication that the asset may be impaired.
If the recoverable amount of an asset or cash generating unit is estimated to be less than its net carrying amount, the net carrying
amount of the asset or cash generating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount. Impairment losses are recognised immediately
in the income statement in administration and other expenses.
Critical judgement and key source of estimation uncertainty
The carrying amounts of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets in each business are reviewed for impairment at least
annually. The carrying amounts of all other intangible assets are reviewed where there are indications of possible impairment.
An impairment review involves a comparison of the carrying value of the asset with estimated values in use based on the latest
management cash flow projections, approved by the Board. Key areas of judgement in estimating the values in use of businesses
are the growth in cash flows over a forecast period of up to five years, the long-term growth rate assumed thereafter and the
discount rate applied to the forecast cash flows. A description of the key assumptions and sensitivities is provided below.
At start of year
Acquisitions
Disposals
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
2020
£m
6,824
570
(6)
(164)
7,224
2019
£m
6,899
257
(64)
(268)
6,824
The carrying amount of goodwill is after cumulative amortisation of £1,151m (2019: £1,178m), which was charged prior to the adoption
of IFRS, and £9m (2019: £9m) of subsequent impairment charges recorded in prior years.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 157
14 Goodwill (continued)
Impairment review
Impairment testing of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets is performed at least annually in accordance with the methodology
described above. There were no charges for impairment of goodwill or indefinite lived intangible assets in 2020 (2019: nil).
Goodwill is compiled and assessed among groups of cash generating units, which represent the lowest level at which goodwill is
monitored by management. Typically, acquisitions are integrated into existing business units, and the goodwill arising is allocated to
the groups of cash generating units (CGUs) that are expected to benefit from the synergies of the acquisition. As the business areas have
become increasingly integrated and globalised, the current CGU allocation reflects the global leverage of assets, skills, knowledge and
technology platforms, and the monitoring of goodwill by management.
GOODWILL
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
Total
The key assumptions used for each group of cash generating units are disclosed below:
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
Scientific, Technical & Medical
Risk
Legal
Exhibitions
2020
£m
1,669
3,546
1,395
614
7,224
2019
£m
1,594
3,186
1,428
616
6,824
2020
2019
Pre-tax
discount
rate
9.8%
10.6%
11.2%
12.6%
Nominal
long-term
market
growth rate
3%
3%
2%
3%
Nominal
long-term
market
growth rate
3%
3%
2%
3%
Pre-tax
discount rate
9.4%
10.0%
10.6%
11.6%
The pre-tax discount rates used are based on the Group’s weighted average cost of capital, adjusted to reflect a risk premium specific
to each business. The Group’s weighted average cost of capital is derived from a risk free rate, a market risk premium, a risk adjustment
(beta) and a cost of debt adjustment. The key assumptions within the forecast growth in the cash flows over a forecast period of up to
five years are revenue growth, operating margin and cash conversion. Revenue growth and operating profit margin forecasts for each
CGU are derived from past results adjusted by management based on salient current and future considerations. Cash conversion rates
for each CGU are based on historical cash conversion rates. Nominal long-term market growth rates, which are applied after the
forecast period of up to five years, do not exceed the long-term average growth prospects for the sectors and territories in which the
businesses operate.
A sensitivity analysis has been performed based on changes in key assumptions considered to be reasonably possible by management:
an increase in the discount rate of 0.5%, a decrease in the compound annual growth rate for cash flow in the five-year forecast period of
2.0%, and a decrease in the nominal long-term market growth rates of 0.5%. Following the disruption to the business due to Covid-19
a further sensitivity analysis has been performed on the Exhibitions cash generating unit which assumes a longer recovery period.
Management forecasts reflect a range of downside scenarios including the Exhibitions business continuing to be impacted by
Covid-19 related restrictions throughout 2021 with only gradual recovery in the following years. These sensitivity analyses show
that no impairment charges would result from these scenarios. Refer to pages 88 and 89 for further details.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 158
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
15 Intangible assets
Accounting policy
Intangible assets acquired as part of a business combination are stated in the statement of financial position at their fair value as
at the date of acquisition, less accumulated amortisation. Internally generated intangible assets are stated in the statement of
financial position at the directly attributable cost of creation of the asset, less accumulated amortisation.
Intangible assets acquired as part of business combinations comprise: market-related assets (e.g. trademarks, imprints, brands);
customer-related assets (e.g. subscription bases, customer lists, customer relationships); editorial content; software and systems
(e.g. application infrastructure, product delivery platforms, in-process research and development); contract-based assets
(e.g. publishing rights, exhibition rights, supply contracts); and other intangible assets. Internally generated intangible assets
typically comprise software and systems development where an identifiable asset is created that is probable to generate future
economic benefits.
Intangible assets, other than journal titles determined to have indefinite lives, are amortised on a straight-line basis over their
estimated useful lives. The estimated useful lives of intangible assets with finite lives are as follows: market and customer-related
assets – 3 to 40 years; content, software and other acquired intangible assets – 3 to 20 years; and internally developed intangible
assets – 3 to 10 years. Journal titles determined to have indefinite lives are not amortised and are subject to impairment review
at least annually, including a review of events and circumstances to ensure that they continue to support an indefinite useful life.
Critical judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
On acquisition of a subsidiary or business, the purchase consideration is allocated between the net tangible and intangible assets
other than goodwill on a fair value basis, with any excess purchase consideration representing goodwill. The valuation of acquired
intangible assets represents the estimated economic value in use, using standard valuation methodologies, including as
appropriate, discounted cash flow, relief from royalty and comparable market transactions. Acquired intangible assets are
capitalised and amortised systematically over their estimated useful lives, subject to impairment review. The assumptions used
are subject to management judgement.
Appropriate amortisation periods are selected based on assessments of the longevity of the brands and imprints, the strength
and stability of customer relationships, the market positions of the acquired assets and the technological and competitive risks
that they face. Certain intangible assets in relation to acquired science and medical publishing businesses have been determined
to have indefinite lives. The longevity of these assets is evidenced by their long-established and well-regarded journal titles, and
their characteristically stable market positions. The assumptions used are subject to management judgement.
Development spend encompasses investment in new products and other initiatives, ranging from the building of online delivery
platforms, to launch costs of new services, to building new infrastructure and applications. Launch costs and other ongoing
operating expenses of new products and services are expensed as incurred. The costs of building product applications, platforms
and infrastructure are capitalised as intangible assets, where the investment they represent has demonstrable value and the
technical and commercial feasibility is assured. Costs eligible for capitalisation must be incremental, clearly identified and directly
attributable to a particular project. The resulting assets are amortised over their estimated useful lives. Impairment reviews are
carried out at least annually where indicators of impairment are identified. Judgement is required in the assessment of the potential
value of a development project, the identification of costs eligible for capitalisation and the selection of appropriate asset lives.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 159
Total
£m
10,695
245
333
(215)
(382)
10,676
427
318
(160)
(186)
11,075
7,161
543
(215)
(265)
7,224
695
(148)
(121)
7,650
Market and
customer-
related
£m
Content,
software
and other
£m
Total
acquired
intangible
assets
£m
Internally
developed
intangible
assets
£m
4,025
161
–
(28)
(158)
4,000
271
–
(6)
(124)
4,141
2,166
182
(28)
(91)
2,229
237
(14)
(75)
2,377
3,724
84
–
(57)
(116)
3,635
156
–
(64)
(44)
3,683
3,266
112
(57)
(103)
3,218
139
(56)
(35)
3,266
7,749
245
–
(85)
(274)
7,635
427
–
(70)
(168)
7,824
5,432
294
(85)
(194)
5,447
376
(70)
(110)
5,643
2,946
–
333
(130)
(108)
3,041
–
318
(90)
(18)
3,251
1,729
249
(130)
(71)
1,777
319
(78)
(11)
2,007
1,771
1,764
417
417
2,188
2,181
1,264
1,244
3,452
3,425
15 Intangible assets (continued)
Cost
At 1 January 2019
Acquisitions
Additions
Disposals and other
Exchange translation differences
At 1 January 2020
Acquisitions
Additions
Disposals and other
Exchange translation differences
At 31 December 2020
Accumulated amortisation
At 1 January 2019
Charge for the year
Disposals and other
Exchange translation differences
At 1 January 2020
Charge for the year*
Disposals and other
Exchange translation differences
At 31 December 2020
Net book amount
At 31 December 2019
At 31 December 2020
* Includes impairments of acquired intangible assets of £42m in Legal and £23m in Exhibitions, and an impairment of internally developed intangible assets of
£29m in Exhibitions which has been classified as exceptional. Refer to note 2 for further detail on the exceptional costs in Exhibitions.
Included in content, software and other acquired intangible assets are assets with a net book value of £36m (2019: £54m) that arose
on acquisitions completed prior to the adoption of IFRS that have not been allocated to specific categories of intangible assets. Internally
developed intangible assets typically comprise software and systems development where an identifiable asset is created that is
expected to generate future economic benefits.
Included in market and customer-related intangible assets are £111m (2019: £114m) of journal titles relating to Scientific, Technical &
Medical determined to have indefinite lives based on an assessment of their historical longevity and stable market positions. Indefinite
lived intangibles are tested for impairment at least annually. See note 14 for details of impairment testing.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 160
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
16 Investments
Accounting policy
Investments, other than investments in joint arrangements and associates, are stated in the statement of financial position at
fair value. Changes in the fair value of investments held as part of the venture capital portfolio are reported in disposals and other
non-operating items in the income statement. All items recognised in the income statement relating to investments, other than
investments in joint arrangements and associates, are reported as disposals and other non-operating items.
Venture capital investments and equity investments represent interests in listed and unlisted securities. The fair value of listed
securities is based on quoted prices in active markets. The fair value of unlisted securities is based on management’s estimate of fair
value based on standard valuation techniques, including market comparisons and discounts of future cash flows, having regard to
maximising the use of observable inputs and adjusting for risk. Advice from valuation experts is used as appropriate.
All joint arrangements are classified as joint ventures because the Group shares joint control and has rights to the net assets of the
arrangements. Investments in joint ventures and associates are accounted for under the equity method and stated in the statement
of financial position at cost as adjusted for post-acquisition changes in the Group’s share of net assets, less any impairment in value.
Investments in joint ventures
Venture capital investments
Total
2020
£m
103
259
362
2019
£m
118
133
251
The value of venture capital investments and equity investments has been determined by reference to quoted prices in active markets,
other observable market inputs or, when these are not available, by reference to inputs we believe would reflect the assumptions
market participants would use. Venture capital investments include a £173m investment in Palantir Technologies Inc which listed on
the Nasdaq during 2020. The valuation of the investment is based on Palantir’s share price on 31 December 2020 of $23.55. Gains
and losses included in the consolidated income statement are provided in note 8.
An analysis of changes in the carrying value of investments in joint ventures is set out below:
At start of year
Share of results of joint ventures
Dividends received from joint ventures
Additions
Disposals
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Summarised aggregate information in respect of the Group’s share of joint ventures is set out below:
Revenue
Net profit for the year
Total assets
Total liabilities
Net assets
Goodwill
Total
2020
£m
118
15
(31)
–
–
1
103
RELX’s share
2020
£m
60
15
84
(45)
39
64
103
2019
£m
104
41
(34)
24
(11)
(6)
118
2019
£m
123
41
112
(58)
54
64
118
The Group’s consolidated other comprehensive income includes no income or losses relating to joint ventures in either period.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 161
17 Property, plant and equipment
Accounting policy
Property, plant and equipment are stated in the statement of financial position at cost less accumulated depreciation. No depreciation
is provided on freehold land. Freehold buildings and long leaseholds are depreciated over their estimated useful lives up to a
maximum of 50 years. Short leases are written off over the duration of the lease. Depreciation is provided on other assets on a
straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives as follows:
– land and buildings: land – not depreciated; leasehold improvements – shorter of life of lease and 10 years;
– fixtures and equipment: plant – 3 to 20 years; office furniture, fixtures and fittings – 5 to 10 years; computer systems,
communication networks and equipment – 3 to 7 years.
Cost
At start of year
Acquisitions
Capital expenditure
Disposals
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Accumulated depreciation
At start of year
Charge for the year
Disposals
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
2020
Land and
buildings
£m
Fixtures and
equipment
£m
213
–
4
(7)
(4)
206
143
9
(7)
(2)
143
602
3
39
(111)
(6)
527
492
51
(111)
(4)
428
Total
£m
815
3
43
(118)
(10)
733
635
60
(118)
(6)
571
Net book amount
63
99
162
No depreciation is provided on freehold land of £13m (2019: £14m).
Amounts relating to right-of-use assets under IFRS 16 can be found in note 23.
2019
Land and
buildings
£m
Fixtures and
equipment
£m
223
1
5
(8)
(8)
213
146
9
(7)
(5)
143
70
640
–
42
(59)
(21)
602
519
49
(59)
(17)
492
110
Total
£m
863
1
47
(67)
(29)
815
665
58
(66)
(22)
635
180
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 162
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
18 Financial instruments
Accounting policy
Financial instruments comprise investments (other than investments in joint ventures or associates), trade receivables, cash
and cash equivalents, payables and accruals, borrowings and derivative financial instruments.
Investments (other than investments in joint ventures and associates) are described in note 16. The fair value of such investments
is based on standard valuation techniques, including market comparisons and discounts of future cash flows, having regard to
maximising the use of observable inputs and adjusting for risk. (These investments are typically classified as either Level 2 or 3
in the IFRS 13 fair value hierarchy).
Trade receivables are carried in the statement of financial position at invoiced value less allowance for expected credit losses.
Expected credit losses are based on the ageing of trade receivables, experience and circumstance. Borrowings and payables are
recorded initially at fair value and subsequently carried at amortised cost (other than fixed rate borrowings in designated hedging
relationships for which the carrying amount of the hedged portion of the borrowings is subsequently adjusted for the gain or loss
attributable to the hedged risk).
Derivative financial instruments are used to hedge interest rate and foreign exchange risks. Where an effective hedge is in place
against changes in the fair value of fixed rate borrowings, the hedged borrowings are adjusted for changes in fair value attributable
to the risk being hedged with a corresponding income or expense included in the income statement within finance costs. The
offsetting gains or losses from remeasuring the fair value of the related derivatives are also recognised in the income statement
within finance costs. When the related derivative expires, is sold or terminated, or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting, the
cumulative change in fair value of the hedged borrowing is amortised in the income statement over the period to maturity of the
borrowing using the effective interest method.
Changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments that are designated and effective as hedges of future cash flows are
recognised (net of tax) in other comprehensive income and accumulated in the hedge reserve. The fair value amounts relating to
foreign currency basis spreads are recorded in a separate component of equity in the cost of hedging reserve. If a hedged firm
commitment or forecasted transaction results in the recognition of a non-financial asset or liability, then, at the time that the asset or
liability is recognised, the associated gains or losses on the derivative that had previously been recognised in other comprehensive
income are included in the initial measurement of the asset or liability. For hedges that do not result in the recognition of an asset or
a liability, amounts deferred in the hedge reserve are recognised in the income statement in the same period in which the hedged
item affects net profit or loss. Any ineffective portion of hedges is recognised immediately in the income statement.
Cash flow hedge accounting is discontinued when a hedging instrument expires or is sold, terminated or exercised, or no
longer qualifies for hedge accounting. At that time, any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument recognised in other
comprehensive income is either retained in the hedge reserve until the firm commitment or forecasted transaction occurs, or,
where a hedged transaction is no longer expected to occur, is immediately credited or expensed in the income statement.
Derivative financial instruments that are not designated as hedging instruments are recorded in the statement of financial position
at fair value, with changes in fair value recognised in the income statement.
The fair values of derivative financial instruments represent the replacement costs calculated using observable market rates of
interest and exchange. The fair value of long-term borrowings is calculated by discounting expected future cash flows at observable
market rates. (These instruments are accordingly classified as Level 2 in the IFRS 13 fair value hierarchy.)
The main financial risks faced by the Group are liquidity risk, market risk – comprising interest rate risk and foreign exchange risk –
and credit risk. Financial instruments are used to finance the Group’s businesses and to manage interest rate and foreign exchange
risks. The Group’s businesses do not enter into speculative derivative transactions. Details of financial instruments subject to liquidity,
market and credit risks are described below.
Liquidity risk
The Group maintains a range of borrowing facilities and debt programmes to fund its requirements at competitive rates.
The balance of long-term debt, short-term debt and committed bank facilities is managed to provide security of funding, taking
into account the cash generation cycle of the business and the uncertain size and timing of acquisition spend. To accommodate the
significant free cash flow generated by the Group and to capitalise on an inexpensive source of funding, a meaningful portion of the
overall debt portfolio is typically kept short-term as long as there exists acceptable liquidity in the commercial paper markets and
sufficient capacity under committed credit lines. The Group’s treasury policies ensure adequate liquidity by requiring that (a) no more
than $2bn of term debt matures in any 12-month period, (b) the sum of term debt maturing over the ensuing 12 months plus short-term
borrowings is less than the sum of available cash plus committed facilities and (c) minimum levels of borrowing with maturities over
three and five years are maintained.
The treasury policies ensure debt efficiency by (a) targeting certain levels of short-term borrowings across a given year, (b) maintaining
a weighted average maturity of the gross debt portfolio of approximately five years and (c) minimising surplus cash balances. From
time to time, based on cash flow and market conditions, the Group may redeem term debt early or repurchase outstanding debt in
the open market.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 163
18 Financial instruments (continued)
Debt is issued to meet the funding requirements of various jurisdictions and in the currencies that are needed. It is recognised that debt
can act as a natural translation hedge of earnings, net assets and net cash flow in currencies other than the reporting currency. For this
reason, the majority of the Group’s net debt is denominated in US dollars and euros, reflecting the Group’s largest geographical markets.
There were no changes to the Group’s long-term approach to capital and liquidity management during the year.
The remaining contractual maturities for borrowings and derivative financial instruments are shown in the table below. The table shows
undiscounted principal and interest cash flows and includes contractual gross cash flows to be exchanged as part of cross-currency
interest rate swaps and forward foreign exchange contracts where there is a legal right of set-off.
AT 31 DECEMBER 2020
Contractual cash flow
Borrowings
Fixed rate borrowings
Floating rate borrowings
Lease liabilities
Derivative financial liabilities
Cross-currency interest rate swaps
Forward foreign exchange contracts
Derivative financial assets
Interest rate derivatives
Cross-currency interest rate swaps
Forward foreign exchange contracts
Total
AT 31 DECEMBER 2019
Borrowings
Fixed rate borrowings
Floating rate borrowings
Lease liabilities
Derivative financial liabilities
Interest rate derivatives
Cross-currency interest rate swaps
Forward foreign exchange contracts
Derivative financial assets
Interest rate derivatives
Cross-currency interest rate swaps
Forward foreign exchange contracts
Total
Carrying
amount
£m
(6,541)
(307)
(275)
Within
1 year
£m
(576)
(307)
(103)
1-2 years
£m
2-3 years
£m
3-4 years
£m
4-5 years
£m
More than
5 years
£m
Total
£m
(157)
–
(72)
(737)
–
(57)
(1,173)
–
(41)
(737)
–
(17)
(3,963)
–
(34)
(7,343)
(307)
(324)
(3)
(9)
(32)
(1,416)
(8)
(356)
(29)
(214)
(9)
(24)
(495)
–
–
–
(573)
(2,010)
49
66
42
(6,978)
Carrying
amount
£m
(5,293)
(779)
(342)
20
30
1,425
(959)
Within
1 year
£m
(1,332)
(779)
(104)
(4)
(1)
(29)
(1)
(41)
(1,984)
35
14
32
(6,367)
19
31
1,977
(2,214)
18
7
370
(198)
13
26
223
(775)
6
7
25
(1,209)
1
544
–
(704)
1
–
–
(3,996)
59
614
2,043
(7,841)
Contractual cash flow
1-2 years
£m
2-3 years
£m
3-4 years
£m
4-5 years
£m
More than
5 years
£m
(528)
–
(92)
–
(16)
(351)
10
7
354
(616)
(134)
–
(62)
–
(16)
(179)
8
7
185
(191)
(732)
–
(50)
–
(35)
(34)
8
26
35
(782)
Total
£m
(6,015)
(779)
(388)
(498)
–
(32)
(2,791)
–
(48)
(1)
(15)
–
3
7
–
(536)
(2)
(512)
–
(4)
(635)
(2,548)
–
515
–
(2,838)
48
593
2,551
(7,177)
The carrying amount of derivative financial liabilities comprises nil (2019: £4m) in relation to fair value hedges, £6m (2019: £13m)
in relation to cash flow hedges and £6m (2019: £17m) not designated as hedging instruments. The carrying amount of derivative
financial assets comprises £114m (2019: £50m) in relation to fair value hedges, £37m (2019: £27m) in relation to cash flow hedges
and £6m (2019: £4m) not designated as hedging instruments.
Other payables balance of £49m (2019: £108m), including put options, are currently expected to be settled in 4 to 5 years.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 164
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
18 Financial instruments (continued)
At 31 December 2020, the Group had access to a $3,000m committed bank facility, consisting of various tranches with maturities
through to July 2024, which was undrawn, and an additional committed bank facility of c.$600m maturing in April 2021, which was
also undrawn. These facilities back up short-term borrowings. All borrowings that mature within the next 18 months can be covered
by the facility and by utilising available cash resources.
The committed bank facilities are subject to a financial covenant typical to the Group’s size and financial strength. The Group had
significant headroom within this covenant for the year ended 31 December 2020. There are no financial covenants in any outstanding
public bonds.
Market risk
The Group’s primary market risks are interest rate fluctuations and exchange rate movements. Derivatives are used to manage the risks
associated with interest rate and exchange rate movements and the Group does not enter into speculative derivatives. Where the impact
of derivatives on the income statement and the statement of financial position could be significant, hedge accounting is applied (subject to
satisfying the required criteria) as described in ‘Hedge accounting’ below. Derivatives used by the Group for hedging a particular risk are
not specialised and are generally available from numerous sources. The Group is also exposed to changes in the market value of its venture
capital investments as described in note 16. The impact of market risks on net post-employment benefit obligations and taxation is excluded
from the following market risk sensitivity analysis.
Interest rate exposure management
The Group’s interest rate exposure management policy aims to minimise interest costs with an acceptable level of year on year volatility.
To achieve this, the Group uses fixed rate term debt and interest rate swaps to give a target mix of fixed rate and floating rate borrowings.
Interest rate derivatives are used only to hedge an underlying risk and no net market positions are held.
At 31 December 2020, 65% of gross bank and bond borrowings were at fixed rate. A 100 basis point reduction in interest rates would
result in an estimated decrease in net finance costs of £23m (2019: £31m), based on the composition of financial instruments including
cash, cash equivalents, bank loans and commercial paper borrowings at 31 December 2020. A 100 basis point rise in interest rates
would result in an estimated increase in net finance costs of £23m (2019: £31m).
The impact on net equity of a theoretical change in interest rates as at 31 December 2020 is restricted to the change in carrying value
of floating rate to fixed rate interest rate derivatives in a designated cash flow hedge relationship and undesignated interest rate derivatives.
A 100 basis point reduction in interest rates would result in an estimated decrease in net equity of £1m (2019: £1m) and a 100 basis point
increase in interest rates would increase net equity by an estimated £1m (2019: £1m). The impact of a change in interest rates on the
carrying value of fixed rate borrowings in a designated fair value hedge relationship would be offset by the change in carrying value
of the related interest rate derivative. Fixed rate borrowings not in a designated hedging relationship are carried at amortised cost.
Foreign currency exposure management
Translation exposures arise on the earnings and net assets of individual businesses whose operational currencies are other than sterling.
Some of these exposures are offset by denominating borrowings in US dollars, euros and other currencies. Currency exposures on
transactions denominated in a foreign currency are generally hedged using forward contracts. In addition, recurring transactions and
future investment exposures may be hedged, in advance of becoming contractual. The precise policy differs according to the specific
circumstances of the individual businesses. Highly predictable future cash flows may be covered for transactions expected to occur during
the next 24 months (50 months for the Scientific, Technical & Medical subscription businesses) within limits defined according to the period
before the transaction is expected to become contractual. Cover takes the form of foreign exchange forward contracts. Further information
is provided in ‘Cash flow hedges’ below.
A theoretical weakening of all currencies by 10% against sterling at 31 December 2020 would decrease the carrying value of net
assets, excluding net borrowings, by £803m (2019: £749m). This would be offset to a degree by a decrease in net borrowings of £713m
(2019: £526m). A strengthening of all currencies by 10% against sterling at 31 December 2020 would increase the carrying value of
net assets, excluding net borrowings, by £803m (2019: £749m) and increase net borrowings by £713m (2019: £526m).
A retranslation of the Group’s net profit for the year, assuming a 10% weakening of all foreign currencies against sterling but excluding
transactional exposures, would reduce net profit by £95m (2019: £129m). A 10% strengthening of all foreign currencies against sterling
on this basis would increase net profit for the year by £95m (2019: £129m).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 165
18 Financial instruments (continued)
Credit risk
The Group seeks to manage interest rate risk and limit foreign exchange risks described above by the use of financial instruments
and as a result has a credit risk from the potential non-performance by the counterparties to these financial instruments, which are
unsecured. The amount of this credit risk is normally restricted to the amounts of any hedge gain and not the principal amount being
hedged. The Group also has a credit exposure to counterparties for the full principal amount of cash and cash equivalents. Credit risks
are controlled by monitoring the credit quality of these counterparties, principally licensed commercial banks and investment banks
with strong long-term credit ratings, and the amounts outstanding with each of them.
The Group has treasury policies in place which do not allow concentrations of risk with individual counterparties and do not allow
significant treasury exposures with counterparties which are rated lower than A-/A3 by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.
At 31 December 2020, cash and cash equivalents totalled £88m (2019: £138m), of which 77% (2019: 93%) was held with banks rated
A-/A3 or better.
The Group also has credit risk with respect to trade receivables due from its customers, which include national and state governments,
academic institutions and large and small enterprises including law firms, book stores and wholesalers. The concentration of credit
risk from trade receivables is limited due to the large and broad customer base. Trade receivable exposures are managed locally in the
business units where they arise. Where appropriate, business units seek to minimise this exposure by taking payment in advance and
through management of credit terms. Expected credit losses are based on management’s assessment of the risk taking into account
the ageing profile, experience and circumstance. The maximum exposure to credit risk is represented by the carrying amount of each
financial asset, including derivative financial instruments, recorded in the statement of financial position.
Included within trade receivables are the following amounts which are past due, after considering loss allowance: past due up to one
month £170m (2019: £215m); past due two to three months £83m (2019: £108m); past due four to six months £34m (2019: £39m); and
past due greater than six months £46m (2019: £45m).
Hedge accounting
The hedging relationships that are designated under IFRS 9 – Financial Instruments are described below.
Fair value hedges
The Group has entered into interest rate swaps and cross-currency interest rate swaps to hedge the exposure to changes in the fair
value of fixed rate borrowings due to interest rate and foreign currency movements which could affect the income statement. The table
below details the designated fair value hedge relationships that were in place at 31 December 2020, swapping fixed rate term debt issues
denominated in US dollars (USD) and euros to floating rate USD and euro debt respectively for the whole or part of their term, together
with the related fixed and floating rates.
FAIR VALUE HEDGE RELATIONSHIPS
€550m loan notes and €550m interest rate swaps maturing 2020
31 December
2020
Principal
amount
£m
–
31 December
2019
Principal
amount
£m
(466)
Fixed rate
Floating rate
2.5% Euribor+1.1%
€500m bond and €500m interest rate swaps maturing 2021
(448)
(423)
0.4% Euribor+0.3%
$700m bond and $700m interest rate swaps maturing 2023
(513)
(528)
3.5% LIBOR+0.8%
€500m bond and €500m interest rate swaps maturing 2024
(448)
(423)
1.0% Euribor+0.7%
€600m bond and €600m/$669.3m cross-currency interest rate swaps maturing 2025
(490)
(505)
1.3% LIBOR+1.3%
$200m bond and $200m interest rate swaps maturing 2027
(146)
(2,045)
(151)
(2,496)
7.2% LIBOR+5.8%
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 166
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
18 Financial instruments (continued)
The gains and losses on the borrowings and related derivatives designated as fair value hedges, which are included in the income
statement as part of finance costs, together with the total carrying values of the borrowings and related derivatives included in the
statement of financial position, for the three years ended 31 December 2020, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:
GAINS/(LOSSES) ON BORROWINGS AND RELATED DERIVATIVES
AND CARRYING VALUES
USD debt
Related interest rate swaps
EUR debt
Related interest rate swaps
Total relating to USD and EUR debt
Total related interest rate swaps
Net gain on borrowings and related derivatives/total carrying value
GAINS/(LOSSES) ON BORROWINGS AND RELATED DERIVATIVES
AND CARRYING VALUES
USD debt
Related interest rate swaps
EUR debt
Related interest rate swaps
Total relating to USD and EUR debt
Total related interest rate swaps
Net (loss)/gain on borrowings and related derivatives/total carrying
1 January
2020
£m
(13)
13
–
(39)
39
–
(52)
52
–
1 January
2019
£m
13
(14)
(1)
(39)
39
–
(26)
25
Fair value
movement
gain/(loss)
£m
(25)
25
–
(47)
47
–
(72)
72
–
Fair value
movement
gain/(loss)
£m
(26)
27
1
(2)
2
–
(28)
29
Exchange
gain/(loss)
£m
2
(2)
–
3
(3)
–
5
(5)
–
31 December
2020
£m
(36)
36
–
(83)
83
–
(119)
119
–
Exchange
gain/(loss)
£m
–
–
–
2
(2)
–
2
(2)
31 December
2019
£m
(13)
13
–
(39)
39
–
(52)
52
Carrying
values
£m
(701)
36
(665)
(1,467)
83
(1,384)
(2,168)
119
(2,049)
Carrying
values
£m
(699)
13
(686)
(1,853)
39
(1,814)
(2,552)
52
value
(1)
1
–
–
(2,500)
GAINS/(LOSSES) ON BORROWINGS AND RELATED DERIVATIVES
AND CARRYING VALUES
USD debt
Related interest rate swaps
EUR debt
Related interest rate swaps
Total relating to USD and EUR debt
Total related interest rate swaps
Net loss on borrowings and related derivatives/total carrying value
1 January
2018
£m
12
(12)
–
(17)
17
–
(5)
5
–
Fair value
movement
gain/(loss)
£m
–
(1)
(1)
(21)
21
–
(21)
20
(1)
Exchange
gain/(loss)
£m
1
(1)
–
(1)
1
–
–
–
–
31 December
2018
£m
13
(14)
(1)
(39)
39
–
(26)
25
(1)
Carrying
values
£m
(701)
(14)
(715)
(1,952)
39
(1,913)
(2,653)
25
(2,628)
All fair value hedges were highly effective throughout the three years ended 31 December 2020.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 167
18 Financial instruments (continued)
Gross borrowings as at 31 December 2020 included £15m (2019: £19m) in relation to fair value adjustments to borrowings previously
designated in a fair value hedge relationship which were de-designated in 2008. The related derivatives were closed out on de-designation
with a cash inflow of £62m. £3m (2019: £3m) of these fair value adjustments were amortised in the year as a reduction to finance costs.
Cash flow hedges
As part of the Group’s interest rate exposure management, it has entered into certain cross-currency interest rate derivatives,
individual components of which have been accounted for as cash flow hedges (with the remaining components accounted for as fair
value hedges, as described above). These comprised interest rate derivatives which swapped a fixed rate €600m bond, issued in May
2015 and maturing in May 2025, to floating rate USD debt for the whole of its term. The component relating to the swap of the euro credit
margin to USD is being accounted for a cash flow hedge under IFRS 9, with the amount associated with foreign currency basis spreads
recorded in the cost of hedging reserve.
As part of the Group’s foreign currency exposure management, it has entered into forward foreign exchange contracts which fix the
exchange rate on a portion of future foreign currency subscription revenues forecast by the businesses for up to 50 months. These
have been accounted for as cash flow hedges under IFRS 9 of the forecast foreign currency revenues, with gains and losses on the
forward contracts deferred in the hedge reserve until the related revenue is recognised, at which time the accumulated gains and
losses are reclassified to the income statement.
Movements in the hedge reserve and the cost of hedging reserve in 2019 and 2020, including gains and losses on cash flow hedging
instruments, were as follows:
Hedge reserve at 31 December 2018: gains/(losses) deferred
(Losses)/gains arising in 2019
Amounts recognised in income statement
Hedge reserve at 31 December 2019: (losses) /gains deferred
Gains/(losses) arising in 2020
Amounts recognised in income statement
Hedge reserve at 31 December 2020: gains/(losses) deferred
Interest rate
hedge reserve
£m
1
(1)
–
–
4
–
4
Cost of
hedging
reserve
£m
(7)
–
–
(7)
(1)
–
(8)
Foreign
currency
hedge reserve
£m
(38)
17
35
14
(9)
22
27
Total
£m
(44)
16
35
7
(6)
22
23
All cash flow hedges were highly effective throughout the two years ended 31 December 2020.
A deferred tax debit of £4m (2019: nil) in respect of the above gains and losses at 31 December 2020 was also deferred in the
hedge reserve.
Of the amounts recognised in the income statement in the year, losses of £18m (2019: £35m) were recognised in revenue, and losses
of £4m (2019: nil) were recognised in finance costs. A tax credit of £5m (2019: £6m) was recognised in relation to these items.
The deferred gains and losses on foreign currency cash flow hedges at 31 December 2020 are currently expected to be recognised in
the income statement in future years as shown in the table below, together with the principal amount of hedges relating to each year
and their total carrying values included within derivative assets and liabilities in the statement of financial position:
2021
2022
2023
2024
Total
Foreign
currency
hedge reserve
£m
4
13
9
1
27
Principal
amount of
hedges
£m
499
392
215
32
1,138
Carrying
values
£m
10
13
9
1
33
The cash flows for these hedges are expected to occur in line with the recognition of the gains and losses in the income statement,
or in the preceding year. These cash flows are included in the table on page 163.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 168
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
19 Inventories and pre-publication costs
Accounting policy
Inventories and pre-publication costs are stated at the lower of cost, including appropriate attributable overhead, and estimated net
realisable value. Such costs typically comprise direct internal labour costs and externally commissioned editorial and other fees.
Pre-publication costs, representing costs incurred in the origination of content prior to publication, are expensed systematically
reflecting the expected sales profile over the estimated economic lives of the related products, generally up to five years.
Annual reviews are carried out to assess the recoverability of carrying amounts.
Raw materials
Pre-publication costs
Finished goods
Total
20 Trade and other receivables
Accounting policy
Trade receivables are stated net of a loss allowance for expected credit losses.
Trade receivables
Loss allowance
Prepayments and accrued income
Current tax receivable
Net finance lease receivable
Total
Trade receivables are predominantly non-interest bearing and their carrying amounts approximate to their fair value.
The movements in the loss allowance during the year were as follows:
At start of year
Charge for the year
Trade receivables written off
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
2020
£m
2
204
34
240
2019
£m
2
181
34
217
2020
£m
1,757
(99)
1,658
207
44
18
1,927
2020
£m
88
19
(8)
–
99
2019
£m
1,858
(88)
1,770
236
28
33
2,067
2019
£m
87
8
(4)
(3)
88
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 169
21 Trade and other payables
Accounting policy
Deferred income is recognised when either a customer has paid consideration, or RELX has an unconditional right to an amount
of consideration, in advance of the goods and services being delivered.
Trade payables
Accruals
Social security and other taxes
Other payables
Deferred income
Total
2020
£m
154
634
174
352
1,946
3,260
2019
£m
173
684
129
422
2,071
3,479
Trade and other payables are predominantly non-interest bearing and their carrying amounts approximate to their fair value.
Materially all of the opening deferred income balance has been recognised in the reporting period.
22 Borrowings
Accounting policy
Borrowings are recorded initially at fair value and subsequently carried at amortised cost, other than fixed rate borrowings in
designated hedging relationships for which the carrying amount of the hedged portion of the borrowings is subsequently adjusted
for the gain or loss attributable to the hedged risk. When the related derivative in such a hedging relationship expires, is sold
or terminated, or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting, the cumulative change in fair value of the hedged borrowing is
amortised in the income statement over the period to maturity of the borrowing using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost:
Short-term bank loans, overdrafts and commercial paper
Term debt
Lease liabilities
Term debt in fair value hedging relationships
Term debt previously in fair value hedging relationships
Total
2020
Falling due
within
1 year
£m
Falling due
in more than
1 year
£m
307
–
92
448
–
847
–
4,147
183
1,721
225
6,276
2019
Falling due
within
1 year
£m
Falling due in
more than
1 year
£m
779
716
93
472
–
2,060
–
1,792
249
2,080
233
4,354
Total
£m
307
4,147
275
2,169
225
7,123
Total
£m
779
2,508
342
2,552
233
6,414
The total fair value of financial liabilities measured at amortised cost (excluding lease liabilities) is £4,843m (2019: £3,491m). The total fair
value of term debt in fair value hedging relationships is £2,235m (2019: £2,629m). The total fair value of term debt previously in fair value
hedging relationships is £270m (2019: £276m).
RELX PLC has given guarantees in respect of certain long-term and short-term borrowings issued by subsidiaries. Included within term
debt above are debt securities issued by RELX Capital Inc., a 100% indirectly owned finance subsidiary of RELX PLC, which have been
registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. RELX PLC has fully and unconditionally guaranteed these securities,
which are not guaranteed by any other subsidiary of RELX PLC.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 170
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
22 Borrowings (continued)
Analysis by year of repayment
Within 1 year
Within 1 to 2 years
Within 2 to 3 years
Within 3 to 4 years
Within 4 to 5 years
After 5 years
After 1 year
Total
2020
2019
Short-term
bank loans,
overdrafts
and
commercial
paper
£m
307
–
–
–
–
–
–
307
Term debt
£m
448
32
651
1,082
673
3,655
6,093
6,541
Lease
liabilities
£m
92
47
44
37
28
27
183
275
Total
£m
847
79
695
1,119
701
3,682
6,276
7,123
Short-term
bank loans,
overdrafts
and
commercial
paper
£m
779
–
–
–
–
–
–
779
Term debt
£m
1,188
425
33
658
433
2,556
4,105
5,293
Lease
liabilities
£m
93
87
57
47
29
29
249
342
Total
£m
2,060
512
90
705
462
2,585
4,354
6,414
Short-term bank loans, overdrafts and commercial paper were backed up at 31 December 2020 by a $3,000m (£2,198m) committed
bank facility, consisting of tranches of: $31m maturing in 2021, $1,263m maturing in 2023 and $1,706m maturing in 2024, and a JPY
62.5bn ($605m, £443m) committed bank facility maturing in 2021. The committed bank facilities were undrawn.
Analysis by currency
US dollars
£ sterling
Euro
Other currencies
Total
2020
2019
Short-term
bank loans,
overdrafts
and
commercial
paper
£m
228
9
20
50
307
Term
debt
£m
2,751
–
3,790
–
6,541
Lease
liabilities
£m
120
60
61
34
275
Total
£m
3,099
69
3,871
84
7,123
Short-term
bank loans,
overdrafts
and
commercial
paper
£m
309
–
423
47
779
Term
debt
£m
2,915
–
2,378
–
5,293
Lease
liabilities
£m
168
71
70
33
342
Total
£m
3,392
71
2,871
80
6,414
Included in the US dollar amounts for term debt above is £560m (2019: £525m) of debt denominated in euros (€600m) (2019: €600m)
that was swapped into US dollars on issuance and against which there are related derivative financial instruments, which, as at
31 December 2020, had a fair value of £70m (2019: £21m).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 23 Lease arrangements
Accounting policy
All leases where RELX is the lessee (with the exception of short-term and low-value leases) are recognised in the statement of
financial position. A lease liability is recognised based on the present value of the future lease payments, and a corresponding
right-of-use asset is recognised. The right-of-use asset is depreciated over the shorter of the lease term or the useful life of the
asset. Lease payments are apportioned between finance charges and a reduction of the lease liability.
Low-value items and short-term leases with a term of 12 months or less are not required to be recognised on the balance sheet
and payments made in relation to these leases are recognised on a straight-line basis in the income statement.
The leases held by the Group can be split into two categories: property and non-property. The Group leases various properties,
principally offices, which have varying terms and renewal rights that are typical to the territory in which they are located.
Non-property includes all other leases, such as cars and printers.
Right-of-use assets
At start of year
Additions
Acquisitions
Remeasurement
Disposals
Depreciation
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions*
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
*Refer to note 2 for further detail on the exceptional costs in Exhibitions.
Lease liability
Current
Property
Non-property
Non-current
Property
Non-property
Total
2020
£m
264
25
1
12
(1)
(77)
(11)
3
216
2020
£m
(88)
(4)
(178)
(5)
(275)
171
2019
£m
263
62
4
29
(3)
(82)
–
(9)
264
2019
£m
(87)
(6)
(242)
(7)
(342)
Interest expense on the lease liabilities recognised within finance costs was £12m (2019: £15m; 2018: £14m).
As at 31 December 2020, RELX was committed to leases with future cash outflows totalling £9m (31 December 2019: £9m) which had
not yet commenced and as such are not accounted for as a liability as at 31 December 2020. A liability and corresponding right-of-use
asset will be recognised for these leases at the lease commencement date.
RELX subleases vacant space available within its leased properties. IFRS 16 specifies conditions whereby a sublease is classed as
a finance lease for the sub-lessor. The finance lease receivable balance held is as follows:
Net finance lease receivable
Short-term and low-value lease expenses have been included in note 3.
Interest income recognised in relation to finance lease receivables is disclosed in note 7.
2020
£m
18
2019
£m
33
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 172
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
24 Share capital, share premium and shares held in treasury
Accounting policy
Shares of RELX PLC that are repurchased and not cancelled are classified as shares held in treasury. The consideration paid,
including directly attributable costs, is recognised as a deduction from equity. Shares of RELX PLC that are purchased by the
Employee Benefit Trust are also classified as shares held in treasury, with the cost recognised as a deduction from equity.
RELX PLC
CALLED UP SHARE CAPITAL – ISSUED AND FULLY PAID
At start of year
Issue of ordinary shares
Issue of bonus share
Cancellation of shares
At end of year
No. of shares
1,980,802,659
1,496,653
–
–
1,982,299,312
2020
£m
286
–
–
–
286
No. of shares
2,011,043,101
3,059,558
1
(33,300,001)
1,980,802,659
2019
£m
290
1
–
(5)
286
At the 2019 AGM shareholders approved the issue of a bonus share with £4bn nominal value. The share was subsequently cancelled via a
capital reduction, creating £4bn of distributable reserves in RELX PLC to replace the RELX NV reserves lost in the corporate simplification.
NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES
Year ended 31 December
RELX PLC
At start of year
Issue of ordinary shares
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Net release of shares by the Employee Benefit Trust
At end of year
Shares in
issue
(millions)
Treasury
shares
(millions)
2020
Shares in
issue net of
treasury
shares
(millions)
2019
Shares in
issue net of
treasury
shares
(millions)
1,980.8
1.5
–
–
1,982.3
(49.0)
–
(7.8)
0.5
(56.3)
1,931.8
1.5
(7.8)
0.5
1,926.0
1,961.9
3.1
(33.5)
0.4
1,931.9
* At 31 December 2020 the total shares in issue net of treasury shares is 1,926,018,680 (2019: 1,931,782,622).
During the year, RELX PLC repurchased 7.8m (2019: 33.5m; 2018: 26.9m) RELX PLC ordinary shares for an average price of 1,918p;
these shares are held in treasury. The total consideration for the RELX PLC repurchases was £150m (2019: £600m).
The Employee Benefit Trust purchases RELX PLC shares which, at the trustees’ discretion, can be used in respect of the exercise
of share options and to meet commitments under conditional share awards. During the year, the Employee Benefit Trust purchased
1.8m shares for a total cost of £37m (2019: £37m; 2018: £43m). At 31 December 2020, shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust
were £97m (2019: £94m; 2018: £90m) at cost.
The issue of ordinary shares in the year relates to the exercise of share options.
All of the RELX PLC ordinary shares rank equally with respect to voting rights and rights to receive dividends, except for shares held
in treasury, which do not attract voting or dividend rights. There are no restrictions on the rights to transfer shares.
At 31 December 2020, RELX PLC shares held in treasury related to 6,192,953 (2019: 6,753,010; 2018: 7,130,366) RELX PLC ordinary
shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust; and 50,087,679 (2019: 42,267,027; 2018: 42,023,020) RELX PLC ordinary shares held
by the parent company. No RELX PLC ordinary shares held in treasury were cancelled in 2020 (2019: 33.3m).
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 25 Other reserves
At start of year
Profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Dividends paid
Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension schemes
Fair value movements on cash flow hedges
Transfer to net profit from cash flow hedge reserve
Tax recognised in other comprehensive income
Increase in share based remuneration reserve (net of tax)
Bonus issue of ordinary share
Cancellation of bonus share
Cancellation of shares
Settlement of share awards
Put option
Disposal of non-controlling interests
Acquisitions
At end of year
173
Hedge
reserve
2020
£m
7
–
–
–
(6)
22
(4)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
19
Other
reserves
2020
£m
972
1,224
(880)
(155)
–
–
39
27
–
–
–
(34)
–
–
2
1,195
Total
2020
£m
979
1,224
(880)
(155)
(6)
22
35
27
–
–
–
(34)
–
–
2
1,214
Total
2019
£m
984
1,505
(842)
(137)
16
35
15
33
(4,000)
4,000
(499)
(33)
(103)
5
–
979
Other reserves principally comprise retained earnings and the share based remuneration reserve.
26 Related party transactions
Transactions between RELX PLC and subsidiaries of the Group have been eliminated within the consolidated financial statements.
Transactions with joint ventures were made on normal market terms of trading and comprise sales of goods and services of nil
(2019: £4m; 2018: £3m) and the rendering and receiving of goods and services of £0.1m (2019: £0.1m; 2018: £0.1m). As at 31 December 2020,
amounts owed by joint ventures were £0.8m (2019: £5m; 2018: £2m) and amounts due to joint ventures were £0.4m (2019: £0.5m;
2018: £0.9m). See note 6 for details of the Group’s participation in defined benefit pension schemes.
Key management personnel are also related parties as defined by IAS 24 – Related Party Disclosures and comprise the Executive
and Non-Executive Directors of RELX PLC. Key management personnel remuneration is set out below. For reporting purposes,
salary, benefits and annual incentive payments are considered short-term employee benefits.
KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL REMUNERATION
Salaries, other short-term employee benefits and non-executive fees
Post-employment benefits
Share based remuneration*
Total
2020
£m
6
1
1
8
2019
£m
7
1
7
15
2018
£m
7
1
7
15
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Total Executive Directors
Salary
£’000
2,034
1,984
1,935
Benefits
£’000
99
101
99
2020
2019
2018
Annual
incentive
£’000
2,623
3,038
3,033
Cost of share
based
remuneration*
£’000
595
7,343
7,003
Cost of
pension
provision*
£’000
687
725
741
Total
£’000
6,038
13,191
12,811
* The figures for share based awards are calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the UK Regulations. The figure for performance-related share
based awards includes share price appreciation since the date the award was granted. Please see page 95 for further details. The cost of pension provision is
calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the UK Regulations. The amount is reduced by the Directors’ contributions and participation fee for
defined benefit schemes and reduced by the payments made to defined contribution schemes or in lieu of pension.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 174
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
26 Related party transactions (continued)
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Fees and benefits
2020
£’000
1,558
2019
£’000
1,569
2018
£’000
1,634
The remuneration of non-executive directors comprises fees for services, and benefits primarily relating to tax filing support in respect
of filings resulting from their directorships. No deemed benefits were provided during 2020 to former Directors (2019: nil; 2018: nil).
No loans, advances or guarantees have been provided on behalf of any Director. The aggregate gains made by Executive Directors
on the exercise of options during 2020 were nil (2019: nil; 2018: nil).
27 Exchange rates
The following exchange rates have been applied in preparing the consolidated financial statements:
Euro to sterling
US dollar to sterling
Income statement
2020
1.12
1.28
2019
1.14
1.28
2018
1.13
1.34
Statement of
financial position
2020
1.12
1.37
2019
1.18
1.33
28 Approval of financial statements
The consolidated financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 10 February 2021.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
175
29 Related undertakings
A full list of related undertakings (comprising subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates and other significant holdings) is set out below.
All are 100% owned directly or indirectly by the Group except where percentage ownership denoted in (x%).
Company name
Australia
Emailage Pty Ltd
Fitness Show Pty Ltd
Reed Business Information (Australia) Pty Ltd
Reed Exhibitions Australia Pty Ltd
Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd
Reed Oz Comic-Con Pty Ltd
RELX Australia Pty Ltd
Symbiotic Technologies Operation Pty Ltd
ThreatMetrix Pty Ltd
Austria
LexisNexis Verlag ARD ORAC GmbH & Co KG
ORAC Gesellschaft m.b.H.
Reed CEE GmbH
Reed Messe Salzburg GmbH
Reed Messe Wien GmbH
RELX Austria GmbH
Standout GmbH
Belgium
F4F Europe NV/SA
LexisNexis BV
Share
class
Preference
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Brazil
Quotas
Elsevier Editora Ltda
Quotas
Emailage Informática Ltda
Fircosoft Brasil Consultoria e Servicos de Informatica Ltda Quotas
Quotas
LexisNexis Informações e Sistemas Empresariais Ltda
Quotas
LexisNexis Serviços de Análise de Risco Ltda
Quotas
MLex Brasil Midia Mercadologica Ltda
Quotas
Reed Exhibitions Alcântara Machado Ltda
Quotas
SST Software do Brasil Ltda
Canada
LexisNexis Canada Inc
RELX Canada Ltd
Science-Metrix Inc
Class B Voting
Common shares
Common shares
China
Registered Capital
Beijing Bakery China Exhibitions Co., Ltd (25%)
Beijing Medtime Elsevier Education Technology Co., Ltd (49%) Registered Capital
Registered Capital
C-One Energy (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd
Registered Capital
Genilex Information Technology Co., Ltd
Registered Capital
ICIS Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd
Registered Capital
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd (49%)
Registered Capital
LexisNexis Risk Solutions (Shanghai) Information
Technologies Co., Ltd
Mack Brooks (Shanghai) Ltd
Reed Business Information (Shanghai) Co Ltd
Reed Elsevier Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd
Reed Exhibitions (China) Co., Ltd
Reed Exhibitions Hengjin Co., Ltd (51%)
Reed Exhibitions (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
Reed Huabai Exhibitions (Beijing) Co., Ltd (51%)
Reed Huabo Exhibitions (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd (65%)
Reed Huaqun Exhibitions Co., Ltd (52%)
Reed Kuozhan Exhibitions (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (60%)
Reed Sinopharm Exhibitions Co., Ltd (50%)
RELX (China) Investment Co., Ltd
Shanghai Datong Medical Information Technology Co., Ltd
Shanghai SinoReal Exhibitions Co., Ltd (27.5%)
Registered Capital
Registered Captial
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Reg
office
AUS2
AUS4
AUS1
AUS3
AUS3
AUS3
AUS3
AUS5
AUS5
AUT2
AUT2
AUT1
AUT3
AUT1
AUT3
AUT3
BEL2
BEL1
BRA1
BRA8
BRA2
BRA6
BRA7
BRA4
BRA3
BRA5
CAN1
CAN2
CAN3
CHN1
CHN2
CHN5
CHN6
CHN7
CHN8
CHN9
CHN17
CHN16
CHN3
CHN4
CHN15
CHN12
CHN4
CHN11
CHN4
CHN10
CHN4
CHN11
CHN13
CHN14
Company name
Denmark
Elsevier A/S
Dubai, UAE
Reed Exhibitions Free Zone-LLC
RELX Middle East FZ-LLC
Egypt
Elsevier Egypt LLC
France
Elsevier Holding France SAS
Elsevier Masson SAS
Evoluprint SAS
Fircosoft SAS
GIE EDI Data (83%)
GIE Juris Data
GIE PRK – Publicite Robert Krier
LexisNexis Business Information Solutions SA
LexisNexis Business Information Solutions Holding SA
LexisNexis International Development & Services SAS
LexisNexis SA
Reed Exhibitions ISG SARL
Reed Expositions France SAS
Reed Midem SAS
Reed Organisation SAS
RELX France SA
RELX France Services SAS
SAFI SA (50%)
Germany
Elsevier GmbH
Elsevier Information Systems GmbH
LexisNexis GmbH
PatentSight GmbH
Reed Exhibitions (Germany) GmbH
Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH
RELX Deutschland GmbH
Tschach Solutions GmbH
Greece
Mack Brooks Hellas SA
Hong Kong
Ascend China Holding Ltd
JC Exhibition and Promotion Ltd (65%)
JYLN Sager Ltd
Mlex Asia Ltd
Reed Business Information (China) Ltd
Reed Exhibitions Ltd
RELX (Greater China) Ltd
India
FircoSoft India Private Ltd
Next Events Private Ltd
Parity Computing India Private Ltd
Reed Elsevier Publishing (India) Private Ltd
Reed Manch Exhibitions Private Ltd (70%)
Reed Triune Exhibitions Private Ltd (72%)
RELX India Private Ltd
Indonesia
PT Reed Exhibitions Indonesia (70%)
Colombia
LexisNexis Risk Solutions S.A.S.
Ordinary
COL1
PT RELX Information Analytics Indonesia
Share
class
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered capital
Ordinary
Registered capital
Ordinary
Registered capital
Registered capital
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Class A
Class B
Ordinary
Reg
office
DNK1
UAE1
UAE2
EGY1
FRA1
FRA1
FRA2
FRA8
FRA3
FRA3
FRA4
FRA3
FRA5
FRA3
FRA3
FRA6
FRA4
FRA6
FRA4
FRA6
FRA8
FRA7
DEU3
DEU2
DEU4
DEU6
DEU4
DEU1
DEU1
DEU5
GRE1
HNK1
HNK1
HNK3
HNK5
HNK2
HNK1
HNK4
IND2
IND4
IND5
IND3
IND4
IND6
IND1
IDN1
IDN2
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 176
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
29 Related undertakings (continued)
Company name
Ireland
Elsevier Services Ireland Ltd
Emailage International Ltd
LexisNexis Risk Solutions (Europe) Ltd
LexisNexis Risk Solutions (Ireland) Ltd
3D4Medical Ltd
3D4Medical Support Services Ltd
Israel
LexisNexis Israel Ltd
Italy
Elsevier SRL
ICIS Italia SRL
Reed Exhibitions ISG Italy SRL
Reed Exhibitions Italia SRL
Japan
Ascend Japan KK
Elsevier Japan KK
LexisNexis Japan KK
PatentSight Japan Inc
Reed Exhibitions Japan KK
Reed ISG Japan KK
ThreatMetrix GK
Korea (Republic of)
Elsevier Korea LLC
LexisNexis Legal and Professional Service Korea Ltd
Reed Exhibitions Korea Ltd
Reed Exporum Ltd (60%)
Reed K. Fairs Ltd (70%)
Malaysia
LexisNexis Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Reed Exhibitions Sdn Bhd
Macau
Reed Exhibitions Macau Ltd
Mexico
Emailage MCA, SA de CV
Masson-Doyma Mexico, S.A.
Reed Exhibitions Mexico S.A. de C.V.
New Zealand
LexisNexis NZ Ltd
Share
class
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Common Stock
Common Shares
Ordinary
Ordinary
Membership Interest
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Reg
office
IRL2
IRL4
IRL1
IRL1
IRL3
IRL3
ISR1
ITA1
ITA2
ITA1
ITA1
JPN1
JPN2
JPN3
JPN6
JPN4
JPN5
JPN7
KOR1
KOR2
KOR3
KOR4
KOR3
MYS2
MYS1
MAC1
MEX2
MEX1
MEX1
NZL1
Philippines
Reed Elsevier Shared Services (Philippines) Inc.
Common Shares
PHL1
Poland
AI Digital Contracts Sp. z.o.o. (75%)
Elsevier Sp. z.o.o.
Russia
Elsevier OOO
LexisNexis OOO
Real Estate Events Direct OOO (80%)
RELX OOO
3D4Medical OOO
Ordinary
Ordinary
Participation Shares
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
POL1
POL2
RUS1
RUS1
RUS2
RUS1
RUS3
Company name
Saudi Arabia
Reed Sunaidi Exhibitions LLC(50%)
Singapore
Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Emailage Pte. Ltd
Lexis-Nexis Philippines Pte Ltd (75%)
Mack Brooks Asia Pte Ltd
Reed Business Information Pte Ltd
RE (HAPL) Pte Ltd
RELX (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
South Africa
Fircosoft South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Globalrange SA (Pty) Ltd
Korbitec (Pty) Ltd (78%)
LegalPerfectTSoftware Solutions (Pty) Ltd (78%)
LexisNexis (Pty) Ltd (78%)
LexisNexis Academic (Pty) Ltd (78%)
LexisNexis Risk Management (Pty) Ltd (78%)
Property Payment Exchange (SA) (Pty) Ltd (78%)
RELX (Pty) Ltd
Reed Exhibitions (Pty) Ltd (90%)
Reed Events Management (Pty) Ltd (90%)
Reed Exhibitions Group(Pty) Ltd (90%)
Reed Venue Management (Pty) Ltd (90%)
Winsearch Services (Pty) Ltd (78%)
Spain
Elsevier Espana SL
Switzerland
Fircosoft Schweiz GmbH
RELX Swiss Holdings SA
Taiwan
Elsevier Taiwan LLC
Thailand
MackBrooks Exhibitions Asia Ltd (49%)
Reed Tradex Company Ltd (49%)
RELX Holding (Thailand) Co., Ltd
RELX Information Analytics (Thailand) Co., Ltd
The Netherlands
AGRM Solutions C.V.
Elsevier B.V.
ICIS Benchmarking Europe B.V
LexisNexis Business Information Solutions B.V.
LexisNexis Univentio B.V.
LNRS Data Services BV
Misset Uitgeverij B.V.(49%)
One Business B.V. (33%)
RELX Employment Company B.V.
RELX Finance B.V.
RELX Holdings B.V.
RELX Nederland B.V.
RELX Overseas B.V.
Turkey
Elsevier STM Bilgi Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi
Mack Brooks Fuarcilik A.S
Reed Tüyap Fuarcilik A.Ș.(50%)
Share
class
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary B
Preference shares
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
A-shares
Ordinary
Ordinary
A-shares
Ordinary
Reg
office
SAU1
SGP1
SGP5
SGP2
SGP4
SGP3
SGP1
SGP2
ZAF1
ZAF2
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
ZAF3
Participations
ESP1
Ordinary
Ordinary
CHE2
CHE1
Ordinary
TWN1
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Partnership Interest
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Registered Capital
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
RE Shares
Ordinary
Registered Capital
A Ordinary
B Ordinary
THA3
THA1
THA2
THA4
NLD1
NLD1
NLD1
NLD1
NLD2
NLD1
NLD3
NLD4
NLD1
NLD1
NLD1
NLD1
NLD1
TUR1
TUR 3
TUR2
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 29 Related undertakings (continued)
Company name
United Kingdom
Apply Financial Ltd
Bradfield Brett Holdings Ltd
Butterworths Ltd
Cordery Compliance Ltd (71%)
Cordery Ltd (71%)
Crediva Ltd
Dew Events Ltd
Digital Foundry Network (50%)
Drayton Legal Recoveries Ltd
E & P Events LLP (50%)
Elsevier Life Sciences IP Ltd
Elsevier Ltd
Emailage Ltd
Fastener Fairs Ltd
Gamer Events Ltd
Gamer Network Ltd
Imbibe Media Ltd
Insurance Initiatives Ltd
Legend Exhibitions Ltd
LexisNexis Risk Solutions UK Ltd
LNRS Data Services HoldingsLtd
LNRS Data Services Ltd
Mack-Brooks Exhibitions Ltd
Mack-Brooks (France) Ltd
Mack-Brooks Publishing Ltd
Mack Brook Speciality Publishing Ltd
MCM Central Ltd
MCM Expo Ltd
Mendeley Ltd
MLex Ltd
Newsflo Ltd
NLife Ltd (23.5%)
Offshore Europe (Management) Ltd
Offshore Europe Partnership (50%)
Out There Gaming Ltd (70%)
Oxford Spires Management Co; Ltd (55%)
Prean Holdings Ltd
RE (EPS) Ltd
RE (HPL) Ltd
RE (RCB) Ltd
RE Secretaries Ltd
RE (SOE) Ltd
Reed Business Information Ltd
Reed Elsevier (UIG) Ltd
Reed Events Ltd
Reed Exhibitions Ltd
Reed Nominees Ltd
RELX (Holdings) Ltd
RELX (Investments) plc
RELX (UK) Ltd
RELX Finance Ltd
RELX Group plc
RELX Overseas Holdings Ltd
REV Venture Partners Ltd
SciBite Ltd
Snowflake Software Ltd
Symbiotic Technologies Operations Ltd
Tracesmart Ltd
Wunelli Ltd
Share
class
Company name
United States
Common Stock
Accuity Asset Verification Services Inc.
Common Stock
Accuity Inc.
Common Stock
Altiris, Inc.
American Textile Machinery Exhibitions International Inc. (40%) Common Stock
Common Stock
Aries Systems Corporation
Membership Interest
Chemical Data, LLC
Common Stock
Derman, Inc.
Partnership Interest
Dunlap-Hanna Publishers (50%)
Common Stock
Elsevier Holdings Inc.
Common Stock
Elsevier Inc.
Membership Interest
Elsevier Medical Information LLC
Common Stock
Elsevier STM Inc.
Common Stock
Emailage Corp.
Common Stock
Enclarity, Inc.
Membership Interest
Gaming Business Asia LLC (50%)
Common Stock
Health Market Science, Inc.
Membership Interest
ID Analytics LLC
Membership Interest
IDG-RBI China Publishers LLC (50%)
Common Stock
Knovel Corporation
Common Stock
Knowable Inc (75%)
Common Stock
LexisNexis Claims Solutions Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Coplogic Solutions Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis of Puerto Rico Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Risk Assets Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Risk Data Management Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Risk Holdings Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Risk Solutions Inc .
Common Stock
LexisNexis Risk Solutions FL Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis Special Services Inc.
Common Stock
LexisNexis VitalChek Network Inc.
Common Stock
LNRS Data Services Inc.
Common Stock
Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.
Common Stock
MLex US, Inc.
Common Stock
Parity Computing, Inc.
No Stock
PCLaw Time Matters LLC (51%)
Membership Interest
PoliceReports.US, LLC
Common Stock
Portfolio Media, Inc.
Common Stock
Reed Technology and Information Services Inc.
Common Stock
RELX Capital Inc.
Common Stock
RELX Inc.
Common Stock
RELX Risks Inc.
Common Stock
RELX US Holdings Inc.
Common Stock
Reman, Inc.
No Stock
REV IV Partnership LP
Membership Interest
SAFI Americas LLC (50%)
Membership Interest
SageStream LLC
Common Stock
SciBite Inc.
Common Stock
Shadow Health, Inc.
Common Stock
Shadow Holding Ventures, Inc.
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2005 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2006 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2010 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2011 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2012 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Reed Elsevier Ventures 2013 Partnership LP
Partnership Interest
The Remick Publishers (50%)
Common Stock
ThreatMetrix, Inc.
Common Stock
World Compliance, Inc.
Vietnam
Reed Tradex Vietnam LLC (49%)
Ordinary
Share
class
Ordinary
7 ¹/2% Preferred
Income, Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
No Shares
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary,
Ordinary-A,
Ordinary-B
Ordinary
Ordinary, A Ordinary,
B Ordinary,
C Ordinary,
D Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary, A Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Partnership Interest
Ordinary
Ordinary
Deferred, Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
A Ordinary,
B Ordinary,
C Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Ordinary
Reg
office
GBR2
GBR1
GBR4
GBR4
GBR4
GBR5
GBR3
GBR3
GBR6
GBR3
GBR7
GBR7
GBR5
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR8
GBR3
GBR5
GBR1
GBR2
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR7
GBR4
GBR1
GBR12
GBR3
GBR3
GBR3
GBR10
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR3
GBR1
GBR1
GBR3
GBR3
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR1
GBR13
GBR2
GBR9
GBR5
GBR11
177
Reg
office
USA1
USA1
USA1
USA3
USA3
USA3
USA4
USA7
USA3
USA3
USA3
USA3
USA2
USA2
USA3
USA2
USA1
USA3
USA3
USA8
USA2
USA2
USA9
USA2
USA2
USA2
USA2
USA2
USA6
USA2
USA5
USA3
USA3
USA3
USA2
USA2
USA3
USA3
USA4
USA3
USA2
USA3
USA3
USA4
USA3
USA1
USA3
USA3
USA3
USA4
USA4
USA4
USA4
USA4
USA4
USA7
USA2
USA4
VIE1
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 178
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 December 2020
29 Related undertakings (continued)
Registered offices
Australia
AUS1: Building B, Level 2, Unit 11, 1 Maitland Place, Baulkham Hills, NSW 2153
AUS2: Level 11, 309 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
AUS3: Tower 2, Level 1, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood NSW 2067
AUS4: Fordham Business Advisors Pty Ltd, Rialto South Tower Level 35, 525 Collins
Street, Melbourne, VIC3000
AUS5: 1303, 799 Pacific Highway, Chatswood, NSW 2067
Austria
AUT1: Messeplatz 1, 1020, Wien, Austria
AUT2: Marxergasse 25, 1030, Wien, Austria
AUT3: Am Messezentrum 6, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
Belgium
BEL1: Oudenaardseheerweg 129, 9810 Nazareth, Belgium
BEL2: Guldensporenpark 36D, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
Brazil
BRA1: Rua da Assembleia no 100, 6th Floor, RJ Centro, Rio de Janiero, 20011-904, Brazil
BRA2: Rua Bela Cintra 2305, São Paulo, 01415-009,Brazil
BRA3: Rua Bela Cintra no. 1200, 10th floor, Sâo Paulo, 01415-001, Brazil
BRA4: Avenida paulista, 2300-Piso Pilotis room 28, Sao Paulo, 01310-300,Brazil
BRA5: Rua Cel Fonseca, 203 A-Centro, Botucatu, SP, 18600-200,Brazil
Rua Bela Cintra no. 1200, 5th floor, Sâo Paulo, 01415-002, Brazil
BRA6:
Alameda Rio Negro, 161 Alphaville Industrial, Barueri SP 06.455-000, Brazil
BRA7:
Rua Alvaro Anes 46, 3 Andar, Sâo Paulo, 05421-010, Brazil
BRA8:
Canada
CAN1: 123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Suite 700, Markham, Ontario, L3T 7W8, Canada
CAN2: 555 RIichmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario,M5V 3B1, Canada
CAN3: 26E-1501 av. McGill College, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3N9, Canada
China
CHN1: Zhongkun Building, Room 612, Gaoliangqiaoxie Street, No. 59, Haidan District,
Beijing, 100044, China
CHN2: West Building of Administration Building, Xueyuan Road No. 38 Peking University
Health Science Center, Haidan District, Beijing, 100191, China
CHN3: Oriental Plaza, No. 1 East Chang An Ave, Tower W1, 7th Floor, Unit 1-7, Dong Cheng
District, Beijing, 100738, China
CHN4: Ping An International Finance Center, Room 1504, 15th Floor, Tower A-101,
3-24 floor, Xinyuan South Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100027, China
CHN5: Unit 2480, Building 2, No. 7, Chuangxin Road, Science Park of Changping District,
Beijing, China
CHN6: Unit B1303-1 & 1305, 13F Center Plaza, 161 Linhe Road West, Tianhe District
Guangzhou, China
CHN7: 404 F4, No.9 Shangdi 9th Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100085, China
CHN8: Room 5106, Raffle City, 268 Middle Xizang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai,
200001, China
CHN9: Room A 100 of Room 0307, Floor 3, Building 3, 7 Middle Dongsanhuan road,
Chaoyang District, Beijing
CHN10: Intercontinental Center, 42F, 100 Yutong Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai,
200070, China
65, rue Camille Desmoulins, 92130, Issy les Moulineaux, France
Registered offices
France
FRA1:
FRA2: Parc Euronord – 10, rue du Parc – 31150 Bruguieres
FRA3: 141 rue de Javel, 75015 Paris
FRA4: 52 Quai de Dion Bouton 92800 Puteaux
Immeuble « Technopolis », 350 rue Georges Besse –Nîmes (30000)
FRA5:
FRA6: 27-33 quai Alphonse Le Gallo, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
FRA7: 6-8 Rue Chaptal, 75009 Paris
FRA8: 151-155 Rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France
Germany
DEU1: Völklinger Strasse 4, 40219, Düsseldorf, Germany
DEU2: Theodor-Heuss-Allee 108, D-60488, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
DEU3: Hackerbrücke 6, 80335, Munich, Germany
DEU4: Heerdter Sandberg 30, 40549, Düsseldorf, Germany
DEU5: Steinhäuserstrasse 9, 76135, Karlsruhe, Germany
DEU6: Joseph-Schumpeter-Allee 33, 53227, Bonn
Greece
GRE1: 188A, Filolaou Str.,Athens, 11632, Greece
Hong Kong
HNK1: 20/F Alexandra House, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong
HNK2: Level 54 Hopewell Center, 183 Queens Road East (Tricor Office), Hong Kong
HNK3: Flat 1506, 15/F, Lucky Center, No. 165-171 Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
HNK4:
HNK5:
11/F Oxford House, Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
3901, 39th Floor Hopewell Center, 183 Queens Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
India
IND1:
IND2:
IND3:
818, 8th Floor, Indraprakash Builing, 21 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, 110001,
India
S21 Vatika Centre, No 471 Anna Salai, Taynampet, Chennai, 600035, India
818, 8th Floor, Indraprakash Builing, 21 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, 110001,
India
IND4: Unit no 03,04,05 first floor, Southern Park D2 Saket, New Delhi, South Delhi ,110017,
IND5:
India
99/100, Prestige Towers Unit No. 505, Fifth Floor, Residency Road, Bangalore ,
Karnataka, 560025, India
IND6: #25, 3rd floor, 8th Main Road, Vasanthnager, Bangalore, 560052, India
Indonesia
IDN1:
IDN2:
Ireland
IRL1:
IRL2:
IRL3:
IRL4:
Menara Citicon Level 8. Unit 8011 & 8012 Jl. Letjen S. Parman No. 8 Kav 72 Slipi
Palmerah Jakarta Barat 11410 Indonesia
Gedung World Trade Center, 3 LT 20 Spaces JL Jend Sudirman Kav 29-31 RT/RW
008/003, Karet Kuningan, Setiabudi, Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta 12940 Indonesia
80 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Suite 4320, Atlantic Avenue, Westpark Business Campus, Shannon, Clare, Ireland
1st Floor The Grange Stillorgan Road, Blackrock, Co Dublin, Ireland
6th Floor, South Bank House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
CHN11: Room 319, 238 Jiangchangsan Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai, China
CHN12: Room 304, Sanlian Building, No.8, Huajing Road, Pudong District, Shanghai,
Israel
ISR1: Meitar, attorneys at Law, 16 Abba Hillel Road, Ramat Gan, 5250608, Israel
200070, China
CHN13: Building 2, Room No. 3895, Changjiang Avenue, No. 161, Changliang Farm,
Chongming County, Shanghai Municipality
CHN14: FL2, No.979, Yunhan Road, Nicheng Town, Pudong New Area
CHN15: Floor 2, No.979, Yunhan Road, Nicheng Town, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
4/F Block C, No 999 Jingzhong Road, Changning District, Shanghai, China
CHN16:
Room Jia301-22, No15, Lane152, Yanchang Road, Shanghai, China
CHN17:
Colombia
COL1: Philippe Prietocarrizosa & Uria Abogados, Carrera 9 No. 74-08 Oficina 105, Bogotá,
d.c., 76600, Colombia
Denmark
DNK1: Niels Jernes Vej 10, 9220, Aalborg Øst, Denmark
Dubai, UAE
UAE1: Office G-49, Building No 9, Dubai Media City, Post Box 502425, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates
UAE2: Al Sufouh Complex, Floor 3, No. 304, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Egypt
EGY1:
Land Mark Office Building, 2nd Floor, 90th Street, City Center, 5th Settlement,
New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
Italy
ITA1:
ITA2:
Japan
Via Marostica 1, 20146, Milan, Italy
Studio Colombo e Associati, Via Cino del Duca 5, 20122, Milano, Italy
1-9-15, Higashi Azabu, Minato-ku Tokyo Japan
JPN1: Kyodo Tsushin Kaikam 2F, 2-2-5 Toronomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001
JPN2: Ark Mori Building, 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6029, Japan
JPN3:
JPN4: Shinjuku-Nomura Bldg., 1-26-2 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
JPN5:
JPN6:
JPN7:
13-12 Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
7F Cross Office Uchisaiwaicho, 1-18-6 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
2-6, Kasumigaseki 3-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Korea (South)
KOR1: Chunwoo Building, 4th floor, 534 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoel, 140-861,
Korea, Republic of
KOR2: 206 Noksapyeong-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoel, Korea, Republic of
KOR3: 1622-24 Block A Terra Tower2, 201 Songpa-daero, Songpa-gu, Seoul Republic
of Korea
KOR4: 4th floor at 195-6 Jamsil-dong, Songpagu, Seoul
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 179
Registered offices
The Netherlands
NLD1: Radarweg 29, 1043 NX Amsterdam, Netherlands
NLD2: Galileiweg 8, 2333 BD Leiden, Netherlands
NLD3: Prins Hendrikstraat 17, 7001GK Doetinchem
NLD4: Spaklerweg 53, 1114 AE Amsterdam-Duivendrecht
Turkey
TUR1: Maslak Mah. Bilim Sokak Sun Plaza Kat:13 Şişli-Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
TUR2: E - 5 Karayolu Üzeri, Gürpınar Kavşağı 34500, Büyükçekmece ,Istanbul, 34500,
Turkey
TUR3: Fulya Mah. Hakkı Yeten Cad. No:10/C, Selenium Plaza Kat:5,6 Fulya, Beşiktaş
İstanbul, Turkey
United Kingdom
GBR1: 1-3 Strand, London, WC2N 5JR, United Kingdom
GBR2: Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, United Kingdom
GBR3: Gateway House, 28 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DN, United Kingdom
GBR4: Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4HH, United Kingdom
GBR5: Global Reach, Dunleavy Drive, Cardiff, CF11 0SN, United Kingdom
GBR6: The Eye, 1 Procter Street, London, WC1V 6EU, United Kingdom
GBR7: The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
GBR8: Third Floor, City Buildings, Carrington Street, Nottingham, NG1 7FG
GBR9: 1st Floor 80 Moorbridge Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 8BW
GBR10: 40 Kimbolton Road, Bedford, England, MK40 2NR
GBR11: 1000 Lakeside, Western Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3EN, United Kingdom
GBR12: 5 Oakwood Drive, Loughborough, England, LE11 3QF
GBR13: Biodata Innovation Centre Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge,
England, CB10 1DR
1007 Church Street, Evanston IL 60201
United States
USA1:
USA2: 1000 Alderman Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30005
USA3: 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169
USA4: 1105 North Market St, Wilmington, DE 19801
USA5: 3355 West Alabama Street, Houston, TX 77098
USA6: Puerta Del Condado #1095, Wilson Ave, Local #3, San Juan, PR 00907
USA7: 313 Washington Street, Suite 400, Newton, MA 02458
USA8: 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
USA9: 9443 Springboro Pike, Miamisburg, OH 45342
Vietnam
VIE1:
2nd Floor, Kova Center, 92G-92H Nguyen Huu Canh Street, Ward no. 22, District.
Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
29 Related undertakings (continued)
Registered offices
Malaysia
MYS1:
MYS2:
6th Floor, Akademi Etiqa, No. 23 Jalan Melaka, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Suite 29-1, Level 29, Vertical Corporate, Tower B, Avenue 10, The Vertical,
59200 Bangsar South City, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Macau
MAC1: Rua De Xangai, No. 175 Edif. Associacao Comercial de Macau, 11 Andar, Bloco K,
Macau
Mexico
MEX1:
MEX2:
Insurgentes Sur # 1388 Piso 8, Col. Actipan, Deleg. Benito Juarez, C.P. 03230 Ciudad
de México, México
DVNA Del Valle-Nunez y Asociados, Goldsmith No 37 Desp 803, Col Planco
Chapultepe, Ciudad de Viver, 11.560,México
New Zealand
NZL1:
Level 1, 138 The Terrace, P.O. Box 472, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
Philippines
PHL1: Building H, 2nd Floor, U.P. Ayalaland TechnoHub, Commonwealth Avenue,
Quezon City, Metro Manila, 1101, Philippines
Poland
POL1:
POL2:
Russia
RUS1:
RUS2:
RUS3:
Sw. Antoniego 2/4 50-073, Wrocław,Poland
Natpoll Building, ul. Migdalowa 4/59, 02-796, Warsaw, Poland
2-y Syromyatnichesky per.1, Delta Plaza business center, 105120, Moscow,
Russian Federation
Petrozavodskaya street 28/4, Building VI, room 2, 125475, Moscow, Russian
Federation
Krasnykh Partizan st. 152, Office 505, 350049, Krasnodar, Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
SAU1: Al Fadl Commercial Center, Jeddah, 21411, Saudi Arabia
3 Killiney Road, #08-01 Winsland House 1, Singapore, 239119, Singapore
Singapore
SGP1:
SGP2: 80 Robinson Road, #02-00, Singapore, 068898, Singapore
SGP3: 1 Changi Business Park Crescent, #06-01 Plaza 8 & CBP, 48602551, Singapore
SGP4:
SGP5:
120 Lower Delta Road, #12-02, Cendex Centre, 169208, Singapore
71 Robinson Road, #14-01, 068895, Singapore
South Africa
ZAF1: Regus Brooklyn Bridge, 3rd Floor Steven House, Brooklyn Bridge Office Park,
Fehrsen Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria
ZAF2: Fourways Gold Park, 1st Floor – Wentworth Building, 32 Roos Street, Fourways,
ZAF3:
2191, South Africa
215 Peter Mokaba Road (North Ridge Road), Morningside, Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal,
4001, South Africa
Spain
ESP1: C/ Josep Tarradellas 20-30, 1º / 20029, Barcelona, Spain
Switzerland
CHE1: Espace de L’Europe 3, 2002 Neuchatel, Switzerland
CHE2: Bahnhofstrasse 100, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Taiwan
TWN1: Rm N818, 8F, Chia Hsin Building II, No.9 , Lane 3, Minsheng West Road, Taipei
10449, Taiwan
Thailand
THA1: Sathorn Nakorn Building, Floor 32, No. 100/68-69 North Sathon Road, Silom,
Bangrak, Bangkok, 10500, Thailand
THA2: 14th Floor, CTI Tower, 191/70-73 Ratchadapisek Road, Khwaeng Klongtoey, Khet,
THA3:
THA4:
Klongtoey, Bangkok, Thailand
140/36, New ITF Tower, 17th Floor, Silom Road, Bangrak 10500, Bangkok, Thailand
2 Ploenchit Centre, Room 7, Floor G., Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110,
Thailand
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Notes to the consolidated financial statementsMarket segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 180
5 year summary
RELX consolidated financial information
Revenue
Reported operating profit
Adjusted operating profit
Reported net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
RELX PLC financial information
Reported earnings per ordinary share (pence)
Adjusted earnings per ordinary share (pence)
Dividend per ordinary share (pence)
Note
2020
£m
2019
£m
2018
£m
7,110
1,525
2,076
1,224
1,543
63.5p
80.1p
47.0p
7,874
2,101
2,491
1,505
1,808
77.4p
93.0p
45.7p
7,492
1,964
2,346
1,422
1,674
71.9p
84.7p
42.1p
1
1
2
2017
£m
7,341
1,905
2,284
1,648
1,620
81.6p
80.2p
39.4p
2016
£m
6,889
1,708
2,114
1,150
1,473
55.8p
71.4p
35.95p
(1) Adjusted figures are presented as additional performance measures used by management. A reconciliation of the adjusted measures to the comparable GAAP
measures can be found on page 188. Adjusted measures are stated before amortisation of acquired intangible assets, the net financing cost on defined benefit
pension schemes and acquisition-related items, exceptional tax credits, exceptional costs in the Exhibitions business in 2020 and in respect of attributable net
profit, reflect a tax rate that excludes the effect of movements in deferred taxation assets and liabilities that are not expected to crystallise in the near term and
includes the benefit of tax amortisation where available on acquired goodwill and intangible assets. Acquisition-related financing costs and profit and loss from
disposal gains and losses and other non-operating items are also excluded from the adjusted figures.
(2) Dividend per ordinary share is based on the interim dividend and proposed final dividend for the relevant year.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
181181
181
RELX PLC
Annual Report and
Financial Statements
In this section
182 RELX PLC statement of financial position
183 RELX PLC statement of changes in equity
183 RELX PLC accounting policies
184 Notes to the RELX PLC financial statements
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Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview
182
RELX PLC statement of financial position
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Non-current assets
Investments in subsidiary undertakings
Current assets
Receivables: amounts due from subsidiary undertakings
Total assets
Current liabilities
Taxation
Other payables
Net assets
Capital and reserves
Share capital
Share premium
Shares held in treasury
Capital redemption reserve
Other reserves
Merger reserve
Net profit
Reserves
Shareholders’ equity
Note
1
2020
£m
2019
£m
18,322
18,322
1,711
20,033
12
2
14
18,318
18,318
1,662
19,980
–
102
102
20,019
19,878
286
1,459
(789)
36
172
11,150
1,051
6,654
20,019
286
1,443
(739)
36
168
11,150
1,548
5,986
19,878
The RELX PLC Company financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 10 February 2021.
They were signed on its behalf by:
A J Habgood
Chair
N L Luff
Chief Financial Officer
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 183
RELX PLC statement of changes in equity
Balance at 1 January 2019
Total comprehensive income for the year
Dividends paid (4)
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Cancellation of shares
Bonus issue of ordinary share
Cancellation of bonus share
Issue of ordinary shares, net of expenses
Equity instruments granted to employees of the Group
Transfer of net profit to reserves
Balance at 1 January 2020
Total comprehensive income for the year
Dividends paid (4)
Repurchase of ordinary shares
Issue of ordinary shares, net of expenses
Equity instruments granted to employees of the Group
Transfer of net profit to reserves
Balance at 31 December 2020
Share
capital
£m
290
–
–
–
(5)
4,000
(4,000)
1
–
–
286
–
–
–
–
–
–
286
Share
premium
£m
1,415
–
–
–
–
–
–
28
–
–
1,443
–
–
–
16
–
–
1,459
Shares
held in
treasury
£m
(643)
–
–
(600)
504
–
–
–
–
–
(739)
–
–
(50)
–
–
–
(789)
Capital
redemption
reserve(1)
Other
reserves(2)
£m
31
–
–
–
5
–
–
–
–
–
36
–
–
–
–
–
–
36
£m
164
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
4
–
168
–
–
–
–
4
–
172
Merger
reserve(1)
Net
profit
£m
£m
2,063
15,150
1,548
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
(4,000)
–
–
–
–
–
–
– (2,063)
11,150 1,548
– 1,051
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
– (1,548)
11,150 1,051
Reserves(3)
£m
Total
£m
1,269 19,739
1,548
–
(842)
(842)
(600)
–
–
(504)
–
–
–
4,000
29
–
4
–
2,063
–
5,986 19,878
– 1,051
(880)
(880)
(50)
–
16
–
4
–
1,548
–
6,654 20,019
(1) The capital redemption and merger reserve do not form part of the distributable reserves balance.
(2) Other reserves relate to equity instruments granted to employees of the Group under share based remuneration arrangements, and do not form part
of the distributable reserves balance.
(3) Distributable reserves at 31 December 2020 were £6,916m (2019: £6,795m) comprising net profit and reserves, net of shares held in treasury.
(4) Refer to note 13 of the RELX consolidated financial statements on page 155 for further dividend disclosure.
RELX PLC accounting policies
Basis of preparation
RELX PLC meets the definition of a qualifying entity under FRS 100
(Financial Reporting Standard 100) issued by the Financial
Reporting Council (FRC). Accordingly, the financial statements
are prepared in accordance with FRS 101 (Financial Reporting
Standard 101) – Reduced Disclosure Framework as issued by
the Financial Reporting Council, incorporating the Amendments
to FRS 101 issued by the FRC in July 2015 and the amendments to
company law made by The Companies, Partnerships and Groups
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015.
As permitted by FRS 101, RELX PLC has taken advantage of the
disclosure exemptions available under that standard in relation to
share based payments, financial instruments, capital management,
presentation of comparative information in respect of certain
assets, presentation of a cash flow statement, standards not yet
effective, impairment of assets and related party transactions.
The RELX PLC financial statements have been prepared on the
historical cost basis.
Unless otherwise indicated, all amounts in the financial statements
are in millions of pounds.
The RELX PLC financial statements should be read in conjunction
with the Group consolidated financial statements and notes
presented on pages 132 to 180, which are also presented as the
RELX PLC consolidated financial statements. See the Basis of
preparation of the consolidated financial statements on page 137.
The RELX PLC financial statements are prepared on a going
concern basis, as explained on page 88.
As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, and
in compliance with The Companies, Partnerships and Groups
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015, the Company has not
presented its own profit and loss account but has presented the
net profit for the year on the statement of financial position.
The RELX PLC accounting policies under FRS 101 are set out below.
Investments
Fixed asset investments are stated at cost, less provision, if
appropriate, for any impairment in value. The fair value of the
award of share options and conditional shares over RELX PLC
ordinary shares to employees of the Group are treated as a
capital contribution.
Other assets and liabilities are stated at historical cost, less
provision, if appropriate, for any impairment in value.
Shares held in treasury
The consideration paid, including directly attributable costs, for
shares repurchased is recognised as shares held in treasury and
presented as a deduction from total equity. Details of share capital
and shares held in treasury are set out in note 24 of the Group
consolidated financial statements.
Foreign exchange translation
Transactions entered into in foreign currencies are recorded
at the exchange rates applicable at the time of the transaction.
Taxation
Refer to note 9 on pages 149 to 152 of the consolidated financial
statements for the taxation accounting policies.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 184
Notes to the RELX PLC financial statements
1 Investments
At 1 January 2019
Equity instruments granted to employees of the Group
At 1 January 2020
Equity instruments granted to employees of the Group
At 31 December 2020
2 Related party transactions
Subsidiary
undertaking
£m
18,314
4
18,318
4
18,322
Total
£m
18,314
4
18,318
4
18,322
All transactions with joint ventures, subsidiaries and the Group’s employees, which are related parties of RELX PLC, are reflected in
these financial statements. Transactions with key management personnel including share based remuneration costs are set out in
note 26 of the Group consolidated financial statements and details of the Directors’ remuneration are included in the Directors’
Remuneration Report on pages 93 to 114.
3 Contingent liabilities
There are contingent liabilities in respect of borrowings of subsidiaries guaranteed by RELX PLC as follows:
Contingent liabilities
2020
£m
6,516
2019
£m
5,777
Financial instruments disclosures in respect of the borrowings covered by the above guarantees are given in note 18 of the Group’s
consolidated financial statements.
4 Bonus share issue
At the 2019 AGM shareholders approved the issue of a bonus share with £4bn nominal value. The share was subsequently cancelled via a
capital reduction, creating £4bn of distributable reserves in RELX PLC to replace the RELX NV reserves lost in the corporate simplification.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
185
Other financial
information
In this section
186 Summary financial information in euros
187 Summary financial information in US dollars
188 Reconciliation of adjusted to GAAP measures
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Financial statements and other information
186
Summary financial information in euros
Basis of preparation
The Group’s consolidated financial information is presented in sterling. The summary financial information is a simple translation
of the Group’s consolidated financial statements into euros at the stated rates of exchange.
Income statement
Statement of
financial position
2020
1.12
2019
1.14
2018
1.13
2020
1.12
2019
1.18
2018
1.11
EXCHANGE RATES FOR TRANSLATION
Euro to sterling
Consolidated income statement
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Revenue
Operating profit
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjusted operating profit
Adjusted profit before tax
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjusted earnings per ordinary share
Basic earnings per ordinary share
Net dividend per ordinary RELX PLC share paid in the year
Net dividend per ordinary RELX PLC share paid and proposed in relation to the financial year
Consolidated statement of cash flows
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Net cash from operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash used in financing activities
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Movement in cash and cash equivalents
At start of year
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Adjusted cash flow
Consolidated statement of financial position
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Non-current assets
Current assets
Assets held for sale
Total assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Liabilities associated with assets held for sale
Total liabilities
Net assets
2020
€m
7,963
1,708
1,661
1,371
2,325
2,146
1,728
€0.897
€0.712
€0.512
€0.526
2020
€m
1,788
(1,314)
(531)
(57)
163
(57)
(7)
99
2019
€m
8,976
2,395
2,106
1,716
2,840
2,508
2,061
€1.060
€0.883
€0.494
€0.521
2019
€m
2,381
(835)
(1,515)
31
127
31
5
163
2018
€m
8,466
2,219
1,944
1,607
2,651
2,424
1,892
€0.957
€0.813
€0.453
€0.476
2018
€m
2,243
(1,436)
(806)
1
124
1
2
127
2,250
2,738
2,535
2020
€m
13,295
2,547
–
15,842
4,899
8,590
–
13,489
2,353
2019
€m
13,386
2,885
–
16,271
7,018
6,669
–
13,687
2,584
2018
€m
12,928
2,609
1
15,538
5,906
7,010
4
12,920
2,618
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020
187
Summary financial information in US dollars
Basis of preparation
The Group’s consolidated financial information is presented in sterling. The summary financial information is a simple translation
of the Group’s consolidated financial statements into US dollars at the stated rates of exchange. It does not represent a restatement
under US GAAP which would be different in some significant respects.
Income statement
Statement of
financial position
2020
1.28
2019
1.28
2018
1.34
2020
1.37
2019
1.33
2018
1.27
EXCHANGE RATES FOR TRANSLATION
US dollars to sterling
Consolidated income statement
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Revenue
Operating profit
Profit before tax
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjusted operating profit
Adjusted profit before tax
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjusted earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS)
Basic earnings per ADS
Net dividend per RELX PLC ADS paid in the year
Net dividend per RELX PLC ADS paid and proposed in relation to the financial year
Consolidated statement of cash flows
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Net cash from operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash used in financing activities
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Movement in cash and cash equivalents
At start of year
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Exchange translation differences
At end of year
Adjusted cash flow
Consolidated statement of financial position
AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Non-current assets
Current assets
Assets held for sale
Total assets
Current liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Liabilities associated with assets held for sale
Total liabilities
Net assets
2020
US$m
9,101
1,952
1,898
1,567
2,657
2,452
1,975
$1.025
$0.814
$0.585
$0.602
2020
US$m
2,043
(1,501)
(607)
(65)
184
(65)
2
121
2019
US$m
10,079
2,689
2,364
1,926
3,188
2,816
2,314
$1.191
$0.991
$0.554
$0.585
2019
US$m
2,674
(938)
(1,701)
35
145
35
4
184
2018
US$m
10,039
2,632
2,305
1,905
3,144
2,874
2,243
$1.134
$0.963
$0.537
$0.564
2018
US$m
2,660
(1,703)
(956)
1
150
1
(6)
145
2,572
3,075
3,006
2020
US$m
16,263
3,115
–
19,378
5,992
10,508
–
16,500
2,878
2019
US$m
15,088
3,252
–
18,340
7,910
7,517
–
15,427
2,913
2018
US$m
14,792
2,986
1
17,779
6,758
8,020
5
14,783
2,996
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 188
Reconciliation of adjusted to GAAP measures
The Group uses adjusted figures, which are not defined by generally accepted accounting principles (‘GAAP’) such as IFRS, as additional
performance measures. These measures are used by management, alongside the comparable GAAP measures, in evaluating the business
performance. The measures may not be comparable to similarly reported measures by other companies.
A reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to relevant GAAP measures is as follows:
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
Operating profit
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Reclassification of tax in joint ventures
Reclassification of finance income in joint ventures
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted operating profit
Profit before tax
Adjustments:
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Acquisition-related items
Reclassification of tax in joint ventures
Net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Disposals and other non-operating items
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted profit before tax
Tax charge
Adjustments:
Deferred tax movements on goodwill and acquired intangible assets
Other deferred tax credits from intangible assets*
Tax on acquisition-related items
Reclassification of tax in joint ventures
Tax on net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Tax on disposals and other non-operating items
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted tax charge
Net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Adjustments (post-tax):
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Other deferred tax credits from intangible assets*
Acquisition-related items
Net interest on net defined benefit pension obligation and other
Disposals and other non-operating items
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted net profit attributable to RELX PLC shareholders
Cash generated from operations
Adjustments:
Dividends received from joint ventures
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from disposals of property, plant and equipment
Expenditure on internally developed intangible assets
Payments in relation to acquisition-related items
Pension recovery payment
Repayment of lease principal
Sublease payments received
Exceptional costs in Exhibitions
Adjusted cash flow
*
Movements on deferred tax liabilities arising on acquired intangible assets that do not qualify for tax amortisation.
Refer to explanations on pages 55 and 58 for net adjusted interest and return on invested capital.
2020
£m
1,525
376
(12)
5
(1)
183
2,076
2019
£m
2,101
295
84
12
(1)
–
2,491
1,483
1,847
376
(12)
5
11
(130)
183
1,916
295
84
12
13
(51)
–
2,200
(275)
(338)
35
(78)
(6)
(5)
(2)
3
(45)
(373)
26
(57)
(15)
(12)
(3)
11
–
(388)
1,224
1,505
395
(78)
(18)
9
(127)
138
1,543
321
(57)
69
10
(40)
–
1,808
2,264
2,724
31
(43)
–
(319)
67
45
(89)
2
51
2,009
34
(47)
2
(333)
63
44
(86)
1
–
2,402
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information
Shareholder information
189
In this section
190 Shareholder information
192 Shareholder information and contacts
IBC 2021 financial calendar
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 190
Shareholder information
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020
The Annual Report and Financial Statements for RELX PLC for
the year ended 31 December 2020 are available on the Group’s
website, and from the registered office of RELX PLC shown on
page 192. Additional financial information, including the interim
and full-year results announcements, trading updates and
presentations, is also available on the Group’s website,
www.relx.com
The consolidated financial statements set out in the Annual Report
and Financial Statements are expressed in sterling, with summary
financial information expressed in euros and US dollars.
Share price information
RELX PLC’s ordinary shares are traded on the London
Stock Exchange.
Trading symbol
ISIN
PLC
REL
GB00B2B0DG97
RELX PLC’s ordinary shares are also traded on the Euronext
Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Trading symbol
ISIN
PLC
REN
GB00B2B0DG97
RELX PLC ordinary shares are traded on the New York Stock
Exchange in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADSs),
evidenced by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
Ratio to ordinary shares
Trading symbol
CUSIP code
PLC ADRs
1:1
RELX
759530108
The RELX PLC ordinary share price and the ADS price may be
obtained from the Group’s website, other online sources and the
financial pages of some newspapers.
For further information visit the ‘Investor Centre’ section
of the Group’s website www.relx.com/investorcentre
Information for registered
ordinary shareholders
Shareholder services
The RELX PLC ordinary share register is administered by Equiniti
Limited. Equiniti provides a free online portal for shareholders at
www.shareview.co.uk. Shareview allows shareholders to monitor
the value of their shareholdings, view their dividend payments and
submit dividend mandate instructions. Shareholders can also
submit their proxy voting instructions ahead of company meetings,
as well as update their personal contact details. Shareview
Dealing provides a share purchase and sale facility. Equiniti’s
contact details are shown on page 192.
Electronic communications
While hard copy shareholder communications continue to be
available to those shareholders requesting them, in accordance
with the Companies Act 2006 and the Company’s Articles of
Association, the Company uses the Group’s website as the main
method of communicating with shareholders. By registering their
details online at Shareview, shareholders can be notified by email
when shareholder communications are published on the Group’s
website. Shareholders can also use the Shareview website to
appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf at shareholder meetings.
Shareholders who hold their Company shares through CREST
may appoint proxies for shareholder meetings through the CREST
electronic proxy appointment service by using the procedures
described in the CREST manual.
Dividend mandates
Shareholders are encouraged to have their dividends paid
directly into a UK bank or building society account. This method
of payment reduces the risk of delay or loss of dividend cheques
in the post and ensures the account is credited on the dividend
payment date. A dividend mandate form can be obtained online
at www.shareview.co.uk, or by contacting Equiniti at the address
shown on page 192.
Equiniti has established a service for overseas shareholders
in over 90 countries, which enables shareholders to have
their dividends automatically converted from sterling and
paid directly into their nominated bank account. Further
details of this service, and the fees applicable, are available
at www.shareview.co.uk/info/ops or by contacting Equiniti
at the address shown on page 192.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan
Shareholders can choose to reinvest their Company dividends
by purchasing further shares through the Dividend
Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) provided by Equiniti. Further
information concerning the DRIP facility, together with
the terms and conditions and an application form can be
obtained online at www.shareview.co.uk/info/drip or by
contacting Equiniti at the address shown on page 192.
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Shareholder information
191
How to avoid share fraud and boiler room scams
The FCA has issued some guidance on how to recognise and avoid
investment fraud:
§ Legitimate firms authorised by the FCA are unlikely to contact
you unexpectedly with an offer to buy or sell shares
§ If you receive an unsolicited phone call, do not get into a
conversation, note the name of the person and firm contacting
you and then end the call
§ Check the Financial Services Register available at
https://register.fca.org.uk/ to see if the person and firm
contacting you is authorised by the FCA. If you wish to call
the person or firm back, only use the contact details listed on
the Register
§ Call the FCA on 0800 111 6768 if the firm does not have any
contact details on the Register, or if you are told that they are
out of date
§ Search the list of unauthorised firms to avoid at
https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-firms-
individuals#list
§ If you do buy or sell shares through an unauthorised firm, you
will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or
the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
§ Consider obtaining independent financial and professional
advice before you hand over any money. If it sounds too good
to be true, it probably is
How to report a scam
If you are approached by fraudsters, please tell the FCA using
the share fraud reporting form at www.fca.org.uk/consumers/
report-scam-unauthorised-firm, where you can find out more
about investment scams. You can also call the FCA Consumer
Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
If you have already paid money to share fraudsters, you should
contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online tool:
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud
Share dealing service
A telephone and internet dealing service is available through
Equiniti, which provides a simple way for UK resident shareholders
to buy or sell their shares. For telephone dealing call 0345 603
7037 between 8.30am and 5.30pm (UK time), Monday to Friday
(excluding public holidays in England and Wales), and for internet
dealing log on to www.shareview.co.uk/dealing. You will need
your shareholder reference number shown on your dividend
confirmation.
ShareGift
The Orr Mackintosh Foundation operates a charity share donation
scheme for shareholders with small parcels of shares whose
value makes it uneconomic to sell them. Details of the scheme
can be obtained from the ShareGift website at www.sharegift.org,
or by telephoning ShareGift on 020 7930 3737.
Sub-division of ordinary shares and share consolidation
On 28 July 1986, each RELX PLC ordinary share of £1 nominal
value was sub-divided into four ordinary shares of 25p each.
On 2 May 1997, each 25p ordinary share was sub-divided into two
ordinary shares of 12.5p each. On 7 January 2008, the ordinary
shares of 12.5p each were consolidated on the basis of 58 new
ordinary shares of 1451⁄116p nominal value for every 67 ordinary
shares of 12.5p each held.
Capital gains tax
The mid-market price of RELX PLC’s £1 ordinary shares on
31 March 1982 was 282p. Adjusting for the sub-divisions and
share consolidation referred to above results in an equivalent
mid-market price of 40.72p for each existing ordinary share of
1451⁄116p nominal value.
Warning to shareholders – unsolicited
investment advice
§ From time to time shareholders may receive unsolicited calls
from fraudsters
§ Fraudsters use persuasive and high-pressure tactics to lure
investors into scams, sometimes known as boiler room scams
§ They may offer to sell shares that turn out to be worthless or
non-existent, or to buy shares at an inflated price in return for
an upfront payment
§ While high profits are promised, if you buy or sell shares in this
way you will probably lose your money
§ Thousands of people contact the Financial Conduct Authority
(FCA) about investment fraud each year, with victims losing an
average of £32,000
Market segmentsGovernanceFinancial statements and other informationFinancial reviewCorporate ResponsibilityOverview 192
Shareholder information and contacts
Information for holders of ordinary shares
held through Euroclear Nederland
Shareholders with enquiries concerning RELX PLC ordinary
shares that are not held directly on the Register of Members and
are ultimately held through Nederlands Centraal Instituut voor
Giraal Effectenverkeer BV (Euroclear Nederland) should direct
their enquiries to the broker, financial intermediary, bank or
other financial institution that holds the shares on their behalf.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan
Shareholders can choose to reinvest their dividends by purchasing
shares through the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) provided
by ABN AMRO Bank NV. Further information concerning the DRIP
facility can be obtained via as.exchange.agency@nl.abnamro.com.
Information for ADR holders
ADR shareholder services
Enquiries concerning RELX PLC ADRs should be addressed
to the ADR Depositary, Citibank NA, at the address shown below.
Dividend payments on RELX PLC ADRs are converted into US
dollars by the ADR Depositary.
Annual Report on Form 20-F
The RELX Annual Report on Form 20-F is filed electronically with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. A copy
of the Form 20-F is available on the Group’s website, or from the
ADR Depositary at the address shown below.
Dividend currency elections
Shareholders appearing on the Register of Members or holding
their shares through CREST will continue to receive their
dividends in Pounds Sterling, but will have the option to elect
to receive their dividends in Euro. Euro payments will be made
by cheque only.
Shareholders who appear on the Register of Members and wish
to receive their dividend in Euro should contact our Registrar,
Equiniti on 0371 384 2960 (UK) or +44 (0) 121 415 0165 (from outside
the UK) for a dividend election form and further information
regarding the Euro dividend option. Alternatively, shareholders
can view and update their current dividend elections by registering
for a Shareview Portfolio at www.shareview.co.uk/register.
Shareholders who hold their shares through CREST and wish to
receive their dividend in Euro, must do so by following the CREST
Elections process.
Shareholders who hold RELX PLC shares through Euroclear
Nederland (via banks and brokers), will automatically receive their
dividends in Euro, but will have the option to elect to receive their
dividends in Pounds Sterling.
Shareholders who hold their shares through Euroclear Nederland
and wish to receive their dividends in Pounds Sterling should
contact their broker, financial intermediary, bank or other
financial institution that holds the shares on their behalf.
Contacts
RELX PLC
Head Office and Registered Office
1-3 Strand
London WC2N 5JR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7166 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20 7166 5799
Auditors
Ernst & Young LLP
1 More London Place
London SE1 2AF
United Kingdom
Registrar
Equiniti Limited
Aspect House
Spencer Road
Lancing BN99 6DA
West Sussex
United Kingdom
www.shareview.co.uk
Tel: 0371 384 2960 (UK callers)
Tel: +44 121 415 0165 (callers outside the UK)
Listing/paying agent for shares listed on Euronext Amsterdam
held through Euroclear Nederland
ABN AMRO Bank NV
Department Corporate Broking and Issuer Services HQ7212
Gustav Mahlerlaan 10
1082 PP Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Email: as.exchange.agency@nl.abnamro.com
RELX PLC ADR Depositary
Citibank Depositary Receipt Services
PO Box 43077
Providence, RI 02940-3077
USA
www.citi.com/dr
Email: citibank@shareholders-online.com
Tel: +1 877 248 4237
+1 781 575 4555 (callers outside the US)
RELX Annual report and financial statements 2020 | Financial statements and other information 2021 financial calendar
11 February Results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2020
22 April
22 April
29 April
30 April
18 May
21 May
3 June
8 June
29 July
5 Aug*
6 Aug*
Trading update issued in relation to the 2021 financial year
Annual General Meeting
Ex-dividend date – 2020 final dividend, ordinary shares and ADRs
Record date – 2020 final dividend, ordinary shares and ADRs
Dividend currency and DRIP election deadline
Euro dividend equivalent announcement
Payment date – 2020 final dividend, ordinary shares
Payment date – 2020 final dividend, ADRs
Interim results announcement for the six months to 30 June 2021
Ex-dividend date – 2021 interim dividend, ordinary shares and ADRs
Record date – 2021 interim dividend, ordinary shares and ADRs
* Please note that these dates are provisional and subject to change. The 2021 interim dividend payment dates in respect of ordinary shares and ADRs will be confirmed by the
Company in its 2021 Interim Results announcement, currently scheduled for release on 29July 2021.
Dividend history
The following tables set out dividends paid (or proposed) in relation to the three financial years 2018–2020.
ORDINARY SHARES
Final dividend for 2020**
Interim dividend for 2020
Final dividend for 2019
Interim dividend for 2019
Final dividend for 2018
Interim dividend for 2018
**Proposed dividend, to be submitted for approval at the Annual General Meeting of RELX PLC in April 2021
ADRS
Final dividend for 2020***
Interim dividend for 2020
Final dividend for 2019
Interim dividend for 2019
Final dividend for 2018
Interim dividend for 2018
***Payment will be determined using the appropriate £/US$ exchange rate on 3 June 2021.
pence per PLC ordinary share
33.40
13.60
32.10
13.60
29.70
12.40
$ per PLC ADR
***
0.18081
0.395086
0.16398
0.37612
0.159141
Payment date
3 June 2021
2 September 2020
28 May 2020
2 September 2019
4 June 2019
24 August 2018
Payment date
8 June 2021
8 September 2020
2 June 2020
5 September 2019
7 June 2019
29 August 2018
Credits
Designed and produced by
Conran Design Group
Board photography by
Douglas Fry, Piranha Photography
Printed by
Pureprint Group, ISO14001, FSC® certified and CarbonNeutral®
Printed on Revive 100 Silk which is made from 100% recovered
waste. All of the pulp is bleached using an elemental chlorine
free process (ECF). Printed in the UK by Pureprint using its
environmental printing technology; vegetable inks were used
throughout. Pureprint is a CarbonNeutral® company. Both
manufacturing mill and printer are ISO14001 registered and are
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) chain-of-custody certified.
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www.relx.com
Company ICompany HCompany GCompany FCompany JCompany ECompany DCompany CCompany BSiemensCompany AQuantity (portfolio size - number of patent families)Quality (Average Competitive Impact)0.00k1.41k2k3k4k5k6k7k8k9k10k11k12k1.61.01.21.82.02.22.42.62.83.23.0