Steve Liechti

Steven Liechti asked why a lawyer would purchase Protégé if already using workflow tools like Harvey or Leya, differentiating for large versus small lawyers. He also asked if the STM outlook guidance change from 'good' to 'strong' implies a like-for-like growth increase from 5% to 6% next year. Finally, he requested arguments on why LLMs or disruptors would find it difficult to penetrate the Risk market, specifically in business services or insurance.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff explained that Protégé's differentiation lies in its content-enabled nature, relying on RELX's unique data set, which is crucial for legal research. He noted RELX's large customer base (hundreds of thousands of users) and scale. CEO Erik Engstrom clarified that Protégé focuses on content-related workflows, complementing rather than competing with general legal tech software, and RELX views other workflow tools as potential partners. Luff confirmed the STM outlook upgrade is a more positive statement, implying an improvement in growth without specifying a numerical target. Engstrom and Luff emphasized that Risk's 90% machine-to-machine interactions, massive regulated data sets, and 20-year history of AI adoption make it incredibly difficult for LLMs or disruptors to replicate, as generative AI doesn't significantly add value to its mathematical calculations.

Steve Liechti inquired about forward booking trends for the Exhibitions division for the next year, RELX's views on the NIH APC proposals and their potential impact on average APCs or global APC limits, and the positioning of the Protégé General AI product within the broader AI portfolio.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff stated that Exhibitions maintains good momentum with a higher growth profile, but there's nothing specific to call out regarding forward booking trends. CEO Erik Engstrom explained that RELX continuously adjusts to evolving policies like NIH APC changes, leveraging its high-quality content, technology, and diverse journal portfolio to meet funder requirements without altering its core strategy. Regarding Protégé General AI, Engstrom clarified it's a natural evolution to ensure AI solutions are accessible at every customer touchpoint, allowing use with firm-specific, research, and personal content, and broad web content, while maintaining firewalled, industrial-grade principles for internal content.

Steve Liechti of Numis Securities Ltd asked about forward booking trends in Exhibitions, sought clarification on the group's like-for-like growth calculation after excluding print, and requested the like-for-like growth figures for Legal and STM on the old reporting basis.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff addressed all questions, stating that Exhibitions forward bookings are trending similarly across its diverse portfolio with no specific call-outs. He clarified the group's 7% growth calculation, noting that factors like disposals are excluded from underlying growth. He then provided the growth figures on the old basis for H1: STM would have been 4% and Legal would have been 8%, showing a step-up.

Steve Liechti of Numis Securities Ltd asked about forward booking trends in Exhibitions, sought clarification on the group's like-for-like growth calculation after the print resegmentation, and asked what the like-for-like growth would have been for STM and Legal on the old reporting basis.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff handled all questions. He stated that Exhibitions forward bookings are trending similarly across its diverse portfolio with no specific areas to call out. He explained that the group's 7% underlying growth is consistent on both the old and new basis because the print revenue decline included disposals, which are excluded from underlying calculations. He confirmed that on the old basis, STM growth would have been 4% and Legal would have been 8%, demonstrating the step-up to 9% in Legal on the new basis.

Steve Liechti of Numis Securities Ltd asked about forward booking trends in the Exhibitions business and sought clarification on the underlying growth calculations following the print resegmentation, comparing the new and old reporting bases.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff stated that Exhibitions forward bookings are trending similarly across its diverse portfolio with no specific areas of concern to highlight. He then walked through the growth math, confirming that group underlying growth would have been 7% on the old basis (including print), and on that same old basis, STM would have been 4% and Legal would have been 8%, confirming the analyst's calculations were directionally correct.

Steve Liechti of Numis Securities Ltd asked about forward booking trends in Exhibitions, sought clarification on the group's like-for-like growth calculation post-print resegmentation, and asked what the growth for STM and Legal would have been on the old reporting basis.

Answer

CFO Nick Luff stated that Exhibitions forward booking trends are similar across its diverse portfolio with nothing specific to call out. He clarified that the group's 7% underlying growth is consistent on both the old and new reporting bases because the print revenue decline included disposals, which are excluded from underlying calculations. He confirmed that on the old basis, STM growth would have been 4% and Legal would have been 8%.

Steve Liechti asked for clarification on Pearson's like-for-like sales growth figures (Q3 +4% vs. nine-month 2%), the expected duration and quantification of the drag from PDRI, and the reasons for the stronger-than-expected performance of PTE in Q3 and Q4 expectations.

Answer

CFO Sally Johnson confirmed the accuracy of the like-for-like numbers, attributing the difference to decimal places. She explained that PDRI's federal challenges are expected to extend into next year, with a strategic pivot towards enterprise and leveraging assets across Pearson. CEO Omar Abbosh noted that PTE performed well despite market headwinds and migration discussions, signaling market share gains and good visibility into Q4 registrations.

Steve Liechti from Deutsche Numis focused on the media business, asking for evidence of the Open Intelligence platform's success in pitches and seeking confirmation that the disruption from the media unit's consolidation is now contained.

Answer

WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser confirmed that while there was disruption in H1, the transformation is substantially complete with no lingering effects expected. He stated that Open Intelligence is being used successfully in the current, albeit slower, pitch environment and is already delivering substantial performance gains for incumbent clients. CEO Mark Read added that the rollout in the US and UK is the top priority to close competitive gaps.

Steve Liechti of Deutsche Numis asked about the rollout and success of the Open Intelligence platform in client pitches and whether the disruption from the WPP Media consolidation was contained or would drag into the second half of the year.

Answer

WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser confirmed that Open Intelligence is being successfully used in pitches and is already delivering substantial performance gains for incumbent clients. He also stated that while there was disruption in H1 from the transformation, it is now substantially complete, and he does not expect lingering effects in H2.