RELX PLC (RELX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. As you may have seen from our press release this morning, we delivered strong financial results in 2023, and we make further operational and strategic progress.

大家早安。感謝您今天抽空加入我們。正如您可能從我們今天早上的新聞稿中看到的，我們在 2023 年取得了強勁的財務業績，並且在營運和策略方面取得了進一步進展。

Underlying revenue growth was 8%. Underlying adjusted operating profit growth was 13%. Adjusted earnings per share growth was 11% at constant currency, and we are proposing an 8% increase in the pound sterling full year dividend. All four business areas performed well in 2023. And on this chart, you can also see the relative sizes of the business segment within each business area.

基本收入成長率為 8%。基本調整後營業利潤成長率為 13%。以固定匯率計算，調整後每股盈餘成長 11%，我們建議將英鎊全年股利增加 8%。所有四個業務領域在 2023 年都表現良好。在這張圖表上，您還可以看到每個業務領域內業務部門的相對規模。

In Risk, strong fundamentals continue to drive underlying revenue growth of 8% with underlying adjusted operating profit growth of 9%. In Business Services, which represents around 45% divisional revenue, growth continued to be driven by financial crime compliance and digital fraud and identity solutions, and we saw a strengthening in new sales in the second half. In Insurance, which represents just under 40% of divisional revenue, strong growth was driven by further expansion of solution sets across markets supported by positive market factors. Specialized industry data services, which represents just over 10% of divisional revenue, saw strong growth led by the Commodity Intelligence and Aviation segment. Going forward, we expect continued strong underlying revenue growth with underlying adjusted operating profit growth, slightly exceeding underlying revenue growth.

在風險方面，強勁的基本面持續推動基本收入成長 8%，基本調整後營業利潤成長 9%。在佔部門收入約 45% 的商業服務領域，成長繼續受到金融犯罪合規以及數位詐欺和身分解決方案的推動，我們看到下半年新銷售額的加強。佔部門收入近 40% 的保險業務強勁增長是由於在積極的市場因素的支持下，跨市場解決方案集的進一步擴展推動的。專業行業數據服務僅佔部門收入的 10% 以上，在商品情報和航空部門的帶動下實現了強勁增長。展望未來，我們預期基本收入將持續強勁成長，基本調整後營業利潤成長將略高於基本收入成長。

In STM, further development of analytics continue to drive the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth segments. Underlying revenue growth was 4% and underlying adjusted operating profit growth was also 4% with a slight increase in adjusted operating margin. In databases, tools and electronic reference and corporate primary research, which together represents around 45% of divisional revenue, strong growth was driven by further development of higher value-add analytics and decision tools. Primary Research, Academic and Government segments, which also represents around 45% of divisional revenue, continued to be driven by strong growth in article submissions with pay to publish open access articles growing particularly strong. Going forward, we expect continued good underlying revenue growth, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth slightly exceeding online revenue growth.

在 STM 中，分析的進一步發展繼續推動業務組合向更高成長領域的持續轉變。基本收入成長率為 4%，基本調整後營業利潤成長率也為 4%，調整後營業利潤率略有增加。在資料庫、工具和電子參考以及企業初級研究領域，這些領域合計佔部門收入的 45% 左右，強勁增長是由更高附加價值分析和決策工具的進一步開發推動的。初級研究、學術和政府部門也佔部門收入的 45% 左右，繼續受到文章提交量強勁增長的推動，其中付費發布開放獲取文章的增長尤其強勁。展望未來，我們預計基本收入將持續良好成長，基本調整後營業利潤成長將略高於線上收入成長。

In Legal, we saw a further improvement in underlying revenue growth to 6%, up from 5% last year, driven by the continued shift in business mix towards higher-growth legal analytics. Underlying adjusted operating profit growth was ahead of revenue growth at 8%. We continue to see strong growth in Law Firm and Corporate Markets, which account for over 60% of divisional revenue. Lexis+, our integrated analytics offering, has continued to see strong uptick and usage growth across customer segments. Lexis+ AI, our new platform, leveraging generative AI functionality, was launched commercially in October. The initial customer reaction has been very positive and the rollout has started well. Going forward, we expect continued strong underlying revenue growth with underlying adjusted operating profit growth exceeding underlying revenue growth.

在法律業務領域，由於業務組合持續轉向高成長的法律分析，我們看到基本收入成長從去年的 5% 進一步提高至 6%。基本調整後營業利潤成長 8%，領先營收成長。我們繼續看到律師事務所和企業市場的強勁成長，佔部門收入的 60% 以上。我們的整合分析產品 Lexis+ 在各個客戶群中持續強勁成長和使用量成長。 Lexis+ AI 是我們利用生成式人工智慧功能的新平台，於 10 月投入商業營運。最初的客戶反應非常積極，並且推出工作進展順利。展望未來，我們預期基本營收成長將持續強勁，基本調整後營業利潤成長將超過基本營收成長。

Exhibitions delivered strong revenue growth and an improvement in profitability. Underlying revenue growth was 30%, driven by a significant increase in face-to-face activity with average like-for-like event revenue across the portfolio ahead of pre-pandemic levels for the full year. The improvement in profitability reflects both the higher activity levels and the structurally lower cost base with the adjusted operating margin also above pre-pandemic levels for the full year. Going forward, we expect strong underlying revenue growth with a further improvement in adjusted operating margin.

展覽帶來了強勁的收入成長和獲利能力的提高。由於面對面活動大幅增加，整個投資組合的平均同類活動收入超過了全年疫情前的水平，基本收入增加了 30%。獲利能力的改善反映了較高的活動水準和結構性較低的成本基礎，調整後的全年營業利潤率也高於大流行前的水準。展望未來，我們預期基礎營收將強勁成長，調整後營業利潤率將進一步改善。

Our strategic direction is unchanged. We leverage deep customer understanding to combine leading content and data sets with powerful technologies in global platforms to build increasingly sophisticated information-based analytics and decision tools that deliver enhanced value to professional and business customers across market segments. We have been able to develop and deploy these tools across the company by embracing artificial intelligence technologies for well over a decade. We are confident that our ability to leverage AI and other technologies as they evolve will continue to be an important driver of customer value and growth in our business for many years to come.

我們的策略方向沒有改變。我們利用對客戶的深入了解，將領先的內容和數據集與全球平台中的強大技術相結合，構建日益複雜的基於資訊的分析和決策工具，為跨細分市場的專業和商業客戶提供更高的價值。十多年來，我們透過採用人工智慧技術，已經能夠在整個公司開發和部署這些工具。我們相信，我們利用人工智慧和其他技術不斷發展的能力將在未來許多年繼續成為客戶價值和業務成長的重要驅動力。

Our growth objectives are: for Risk, to sustain strong long-term growth in the current range; for both STM and Legal, to continue on the improving growth trajectory; and for Exhibitions, to continue on the improved long-term growth profile. When combined with our strategy of driving continuous process innovation to manage cost growth below revenue growth, resulted continued strong earnings growth with improving returns.

我們的成長目標是： 對於風險，在目前範圍內維持強勁的長期成長；對於 STM 和 Legal 來說，繼續保持改善的成長軌跡；對於展覽而言，持續改善長期成長狀況。與我們推動持續流程創新以將成本成長控制在收入成長以下的策略相結合，實現了持續強勁的獲利成長和不斷提高的回報。

I will now hand over to Nick Luff, our CFO, who will talk you through our results in more detail. I will be back afterwards for a quick wrap-up and our usual Q&A.

現在我將把工作交給我們的財務長尼克·拉夫 (Nick Luff)，他將更詳細地向您介紹我們的結果。之後我會回來進行快速總結和我們通常的問答。

Thank you, Erik. Good morning, everyone. Let me start by providing more detail on the group financials. As Erik said, underlying revenue growth was 8% with underlying adjusted operating profit growth well ahead of that at 13%. As a result, the adjusted operating margin improved to 33.1%. Improved operating results flowed through to adjusted earnings per share, which increased 11% at constant currency despite higher interest rates. Returns continue to improve with ROIC up 1.5 percentage points to 14%. Cash conversion was strong at 98%, contributing to a slight reduction in leverage to 2.0x at the lower end of our typical range. Given our overall performance, we have been able to increase the proposed full year dividend by 8% to 58.8p per share. Acquisition spend in the year is relatively modest at GBP 130 million, and we deployed GBP 800 million on share buybacks.

謝謝你，埃里克。大家，早安。讓我先提供有關集團財務狀況的更多詳細資訊。正如 Erik 所說，基本收入成長率為 8%，基本調整後營業利潤成長率遠高於 13%。因此，調整後的營業利益率提高至 33.1%。經營績效的改善帶動了調整後的每股盈餘，儘管利率上升，但以固定匯率計算，每股盈餘仍成長了 11%。回報率持續改善，ROIC 上升 1.5 個百分點，達到 14%。現金轉換率高達 98%，使得槓桿率略有下降至 2.0 倍，處於我們典型範圍的下限。鑑於我們的整體業績，我們已經能夠將擬議的全年股息增加 8% 至每股 58.8 便士。今年的收購支出相對較少，為 1.3 億英鎊，而我們部署了 8 億英鎊用於股票回購。

Looking at revenue, you can see the continued strong growth in Risk, while STM maintained its improved growth rate and Legal with a pickup in its growth. These strong growth, together with the sustained recovery of Exhibitions took underlying revenue growth for the group as a whole to 8%. Electronic revenue, representing 83% of the total, grew GBP 0.07 underlying with the strong growth in face-to-face activity, more than offsetting the print decline, given the overall rate of 8%. It was a 1 percentage point drag on overall growth from the effects of biannual events cycling out in Exhibitions while currency movements were broadly neutral to the group level, resulting in reported revenue growth in sterling was 7%.

從收入來看，您可以看到風險業務持續強勁成長，而STM維持了較高的成長率，法律業務成長加快。這些強勁的成長，加上展覽業的持續復甦，使整個集團的基本收入成長達到 8%。電子收入佔總收入的 83%，由於面對面活動的強勁增長，增長了 0.07 英鎊，遠遠抵消了紙質收入的下降，因為總體增長率為 8%。由於一年兩次的展覽活動的影響，整體增長受到 1 個百分點的拖累，而貨幣走勢對集團層面而言大致中性，導致報告的英鎊收入增長 7%。

Risk and Legal delivered strong underlying growth in adjusted operating profit, both slightly ahead of revenue growth while STM underlying profit growth was in line with revenue growth. Exhibitions profit saw very strong growth, reflecting the increase in activity levels against a structurally lower cost base. Overall, group adjusted operating profit was up 13% underlying, up 12% in total of constant currency and up 13% in sterling to over GBP 3 billion. Margins were up slightly in Risk and STM and up a little more in Legal as we continue to focus on keeping cost growth below revenue growth across the group. Exhibitions margins are now above the levels achieved pre-pandemic. Combined, these movements saw group margins increased to 33.1%, an improvement of 1.7 percentage points.

風險和法律業務在調整後營業利潤方面實現了強勁的基本成長，均略高於營收成長，而 STM 基本利潤成長與營收成長一致。展覽利潤成長非常強勁，反映出活動水準的增加與結構性較低的成本基礎相比。總體而言，集團調整後營業利潤成長了 13%，以固定貨幣計算成長了 12%，以英鎊計算成長了 13%，達到 30 億英鎊以上。由於我們持續致力於將整個集團的成本成長低於收入成長，因此風險和 STM 的利潤率略有上升，法律業務的利潤率也略有上升。展覽利潤率目前高於大流行前的水平。綜合來看，這些措施使集團利潤率提高至 33.1%，提高了 1.7 個百分點。

Here's the group adjusted income statement showing the underlying growth of 8% in revenue and 13% in operating profit. The interest expense increased with the effect of interest rate and gross debt up to 4.6%, reflecting higher rates for dollars and for euros. The interest expense includes a charge of GBP 26 million for the early redemption of a high coupon bond. Without that, the effective interest rate would have been 4.2%. The tax charge was GBP 553 million with an effective tax rate of 20.4%. The tax rate benefited from nonrecurring tax credits, which resulted in an effective rate below our normal ongoing rate. Net profit was close to GBP 2.2 billion, up 9% at constant currency and up 10% in sterling. All that gave us adjusted earnings per share of 114p, up 11% at constant currency and up 12% in sterling.

這是集團調整後的損益表，顯示營收成長 8%，營業利益成長 13%。受利率和總債務影響，利息支出增加至 4.6%，反映出美元和歐元利率上升。利息費用包括提前贖回高息債券的2,600萬英鎊費用。如果沒有這個，實際利率將為 4.2%。稅費為 5.53 億英鎊，有效稅率為 20.4%。稅率受益於非經常性稅收抵免，這導致有效稅率低於我們正常的持續稅率。淨利潤接近 22 億英鎊，以固定匯率計算成長 9%，以英鎊計算成長 10%。所有這些使我們的調整後每股收益達到 114 便士，按固定匯率計算增長 11%，以英鎊計算增長 12%。

Here, you can see how the high earnings flow to cash flow with EBITDA now over GBP 3.5 billion. CapEx was GBP 477 million equating to 5% of revenue, leaving us with adjusted cash flow conversion of 98%, similar to typical levels pre-pandemic. Cash interest paid was GBP 294 million, the increase reflecting higher interest rates. Cash tax paid of GBP 619 million was higher than the income statement charge, which benefited from the nonrecurring tax credits, which were noncash. Total free cash flow was just under GBP 2 billion.

在這裡，您可以看到高收益如何轉化為現金流，EBITDA 目前已超過 35 億英鎊。資本支出為 4.77 億英鎊，相當於收入的 5%，調整後的現金流轉換率為 98%，與疫情前的典型水準相似。支付的現金利息為 2.94 億英鎊，成長反映了利率上升。支付的現金稅為 6.19 億英鎊，高於損益表費用，這得益於非現金的非經常性稅收抵免。自由現金流總額略低於 20 億英鎊。

Here's how we deployed that free cash flow. We completed 6 small acquisitions during the year for a total consideration of GBP 130 million, the largest of which was Human API, a health care data platform that joins the life insurance segment within Risk. Total dividend payments in the year were close to GBP 1.1 billion, and we deployed GBP 800 million on the share buyback. Overall, with an acquisitions, dividends and share buybacks broadly utilized the full GBP 2 billion of free cash flow. Year-end net debt decreased slightly as a result of currency translation effects.

以下是我們如何部署自由現金流。年內，我們完成了 6 項小型收購，總代價為 1.3 億英鎊，其中最大的一筆收購是 Human API，這是一個醫療保健數據平台，將人壽保險業務納入 Risk 範圍內。全年股息支付總額接近 11 億英鎊，我們部署了 8 億英鎊用於股票回購。總體而言，透過收購、股息和股票回購廣泛利用了全部 20 億英鎊的自由現金流。由於貨幣換算影響，年末淨債務略為下降。

Our priorities for use of cash are unchanged, although it remains our #1 priority, and we continue to invest in the business with CapEx consistently around 5% of revenues. We augment that (inaudible) with the level of visions, with the level of spend typically being the most significant variable in our uses of cash, depending on the opportunities that arise. Average acquisition spend over both the last 5 and 10 years has been around GBP 400 million with 2023, a below average year. We pay out around half of our adjusted earnings in dividends and have been able to increase the dividend every year for well over a decade. Leverage has typically been in the 2.0x to 2.5x range, strong cash generation, improving EBITDA and modest acquisition spend in the year mean leverage was at the lower end range at the end of 2023 at 2.0x net debt to EBITDA.

我們使用現金的優先事項並沒有改變，儘管它仍然是我們的第一優先事項，我們繼續投資於該業務，資本支出始終佔收入的 5% 左右。我們透過願景水平來增強這一點（聽不清楚），支出水平通常是我們現金使用中最重要的變量，取決於出現的機會。過去 5 年和 10 年的平均收購支出約為 4 億英鎊，到 2023 年將低於平均值。我們將調整後收益的大約一半用於股息，並且十多年來每年都能夠增加股息。槓桿率通常在 2.0 倍至 2.5 倍範圍內，強勁的現金產生能力、改善的 EBITDA 以及年內適度的收購支出意味著槓桿率在 2023 年底處於較低範圍，為 EBITDA 淨債務的 2.0 倍。

We continue to return our surplus capital through the share buyback with GBP 1 billion of spend announced today for 2024, of which GBP 150 million has already been deployed. Alongside our financial performance, we continue to make progress on our corporate responsibility objectives. Anchored by the purpose of the company, we focus primarily on our unique contributions using our products and skills to benefit society in ways only we can.

我們繼續透過股票回購返還盈餘資本，今天宣布了 2024 年支出 10 億英鎊，其中 1.5 億英鎊已經部署。除了我們的財務表現外，我們還在企業責任目標方面不斷取得進展。以公司的宗旨為基礎，我們主要關注我們的獨特貢獻，利用我們的產品和技能，以我們所能造福的方式造福社會。

We also performed well on those metrics where we can be compared to others. This is a selection of our key CR data showing that 2023 was another year of solid progress. And our commitment to corporate responsibility continues to be recognized by external reporting agencies. We rated AAA with MSCI for an eighth consecutive year and ranked second in our sector globally with Sustainalytics in the top 1% of companies overall.

我們在那些可以與其他公司進行比較的指標上也表現良好。這是我們精選的關鍵 CR 數據，顯示 2023 年又是紮實進展的一年。我們對企業責任的承諾繼續得到外部報告機構的認可。我們連續第八年被 MSCI 評為 AAA 級，並在全球行業中排名第二，Sustainalytics 躋身公司整體前 1% 之列。

With that, I will hand you back to Erik.

這樣，我會把你交還給艾瑞克。

Thank you, Nick. Just to summarize what we have covered this morning. In 2023, we delivered strong financial results and we made further operational and strategic progress. The improving long-term growth trajectory is being driven by the ongoing shift in our business mix towards higher growth analytics and decision tools. Going forward, we continue to see positive momentum across the group and we expect another year of strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit as well as strong growth in adjusted earnings per share on a constant currency basis.

謝謝你，尼克。只是總結一下我們今天早上所討論的內容。 2023 年，我們取得了強勁的財務業績，並取得了進一步的營運和策略進展。我們的業務組合不斷轉向更高成長的分析和決策工具，推動了長期成長軌蹟的改善。展望未來，我們繼續看到整個集團的積極勢頭，我們預計收入和調整後營業利潤將在新的一年實現強勁的基本增長，以及按固定匯率計算的調整後每股收益將強勁增長。

And with that, I think we're ready to go to questions.

至此，我想我們已經準備好要提問了。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of George Webb with Morgan Stanley.

我們現在開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）第一個問題來自喬治·韋伯與摩根士丹利的線路。

Thank you, I want to start with 2 areas, please. Firstly, on the Lexis+ AI side, in terms of how customers are reacting around commercial launch, noting that this is a platform upgrade, are you expecting customers to wait until the end of their renewal cycles if they want to make the upgrade? Or are you seeing customers come in to you ahead of renewal? And then also around that (inaudible) days, can you give any feel for the levels of initial commercial uptick you've been seeing as you've gone through that rollout?

謝謝，我想從兩個方面開始。首先，在 Lexis+ AI 方面，就客戶對商業發布的反應而言，注意到這是一次平台升級，您是否希望客戶等到續訂週期結束時才能進行升級？或是您看到客戶在續訂之前來找您？然後，在那（聽不清楚）的日子裡，您能否對您在推出過程中所看到的初始商業成長水平有任何感覺？

And secondly, when you think about the M&A environment into 2024, you pointed out, Nick, that over the last few years and particularly in 2023, it's been a -- about smaller deals, that spend has been at a lower end. Do you expect that to change this year based on what you're seeing in terms of your potential acquisition pipeline as well as the valuation levels out there?

其次，當您考慮 2024 年的併購環境時，尼克指出，在過去幾年中，特別是在 2023 年，對於規模較小的交易，支出一直處於較低水平。根據您對潛在收購管道以及估值水平的觀察，您預計今年這種情況會改變嗎？

Okay. I'll let Nick answer the second, but let me take the first here that I think when it comes to something as important, I guess, as the deployment of generative AI, I think we're likely to see a combination of both. Traditionally, platform upgrades have come into play at the renewal cycle, most of the time, which is typically 3-year renewals, which is why deployment or penetration of new platforms come through gradually. But I think in this case, I think we're going to see a combination of both. I think we'll see some of that wait renewal, and I think we will see many that also step up as a new sale, as an upgrade whenever they see it available. We will see, of course, over time how that pattern develops.

好的。我會讓尼克回答第二個問題，但讓我來回答第一個問題，我認為當涉及到像生成人工智慧的部署這樣重要的事情時，我認為我們很可能會看到兩者的結合。傳統上，平台升級大多是在更新周期中發揮作用，通常是3年更新一次，這就是為什麼新平台的部署或滲透是逐漸進行的。但我認為在這種情況下，我們將看到兩者的結合。我認為我們會看到其中一些等待續約，而且我認為我們會看到許多人也會在看到可用時作為新銷售或升級進行升級。當然，隨著時間的推移，我們將會看到這種模式如何發展。

You asked about early signs because we are doing very well in the marketplace, we get very significant positive feedback from our customers. We track a significant number of internal metrics on that. But because it's a competitive market, and we have other players also participating, we have not been disclosing and don't plan to disclose detailed tracking of what those metrics look like. But it's a very, very positive early launch that I think our customers are very happy with and that we are very happy with.

您詢問了早期跡象，因為我們在市場上做得很好，我們從客戶那裡得到了非常重要的正面回饋。我們對此追蹤了大量內部指標。但由於這是一個競爭激烈的市場，而且我們還有其他參與者參與其中，因此我們尚未揭露也不打算揭露這些指標的詳細追蹤情況。但這是一次非常非常積極的早期發布，我認為我們的客戶對此非常滿意，我們也對此感到非常滿意。

George, on your question on M&A. And obviously, as you know, our focus is on organic development primarily as a business, and there's lots of opportunities to continue to grow, continue to adopt new technologies within the business without acquisition. But we do look for where there are things that can enhance, accelerate the organic development. We will look at acquisitions. That typically means they are in what you might call bolt-on size. And obviously, what happens in year-to-year very much varies with the opportunities within that. But there's nothing different in the pipeline and range of opportunities that we see today than normal. Last year happened to work out to be a relatively low year, but that was just the way it fell. No change in approach and nothing particularly different in the pipeline valuations.

喬治，關於併購的問題。顯然，如您所知，我們的重點主要是作為一項業務的有機發展，並且有很多機會繼續成長，繼續在業務中採用新技術而無需收購。但我們確實在尋找可以增強、加速有機發展的東西。我們將關注收購。這通常意味著它們的尺寸可以稱為螺栓固定尺寸。顯然，每年發生的情況因其中的機會而異。但我們今天看到的機會和範圍與平常沒有什麼不同。去年碰巧是相對低迷的一年，但事實就是如此。方法沒有改變，管道估值也沒有特別不同。

Not the key, really. Obviously, what matters is the value to us, and that's where we see opportunities that can add value to our business, we'll go after them, but it does vary from year to year.

真的不是關鍵。顯然，重要的是對我們的價值，這就是我們看到可以為我們的業務增加價值的機會的地方，我們會追求它們，但每年都會有所不同。

The next question comes from the line of Adam Berlin with UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的亞當柏林 (Adam Berlin)。

Two from me. Firstly, on STM, can you give us some metrics on the Journals business for this year, submissions, articles published growth in number of pay to publish articles, that would be very helpful, just to understand the dynamics there.

我的兩個。首先，關於 STM，您能給我們一些有關今年期刊業務的指標嗎？投稿量、文章發表量、付費發表文章數量的增長情況，這對於了解那裡的動態非常有幫助。

And the second thing is, can you give us the impact of the biannual events returning in 2024, the pound impact or percentage impact to help us model Exhibitions revenue for 2024?

第二件事是，您能否向我們提供 2024 年兩年一度的活動的影響、英鎊影響或百分比影響，以幫助我們對 2024 年的展覽收入進行建模？

Again, I'll give the second one to -- ask Nick to answer the second one here. On STM, in the Journal business, as you know, the main driver of that business is the long-term volume growth in the industry. The long-term driver, of course, has been the increase in number continues to grow. But how that then impacts their research activity and submissions to us is a key driver. And the number of article submissions to us increased significantly last year so that if you now look at an absolute growth rate maybe average two years typically because it was, again, higher this past year than it was the year before, and it came back pretty rapidly.

再次，我會把第二個問題交給──請尼克在這裡回答第二個問題。在 STM 期刊業務中，如您所知，該業務的主要驅動力是該行業的長期銷售成長。當然，長期驅動力是數量的持續成長。但這如何影響他們的研究活動和向我們提交的資料是一個關鍵驅動因素。去年向我們提交的文章數量顯著增加，因此，如果您現在看一下絕對增長率，通常可能是平均兩年，因為去年的增長率再次高於前一年，而且回報相當可觀迅速。

But if you look at the two together, we're back in the sort of strong growth, high single digits that we've averaged over a longer term historically, and you would probably take as a typical increase in the long run. So back to very strong growth even if you take a 2-year average, not just a strong -- the very strong one we had last year.

但如果你把兩者放在一起看，我們又回到了歷史上長期平均的強勁增長和高個位數增長，你可能會認為這是長期的典型增長。因此，即使你採用兩年的平均水平，也能回到非常強勁的成長，而不僅僅是去年的強勁成長。

When it comes to submissions to pay to publish, that's going even faster. I mean we're talking now at -- depending on who define some of the ones where they opt later, we're talking about submission growth rates in the 30% plus category and we're talking about number of articles published in pay to publish growing at 20% or 20% to 30% range in the past year. So it's very -- continued very strong growth and that looks very healthy to us.

當涉及到付費發布的提交時，速度會更快。我的意思是，我們現在談論的是——取決於誰定義了他們稍後選擇的一些內容，我們談論的是 30% 以上類別的提交增長率，我們談論的是付費發表的文章數量過去一年，出版量增加了20% 或20% 至30%。所以這是非常持續非常強勁的成長，對我們來說看起來非常健康。

And Nick, on Exhibition.

還有尼克，在展覽上。

Yes, Adam, the cycling events, the biannual cycling events, as you say, and we are now really back to the normal historic pattern and being an even year 2024, it's like continuously you'll see a boost to the revenues from that. But that typical -- if you look back in history, 5%, 6% plus or minus, depending on which is whether it's cycling in or cycling out, that's a good guide.

是的，亞當，自行車賽事，一年兩次的自行車賽事，正如你所說，我們現在真的回到了正常的歷史模式，並且 2024 年是平年，你會看到收入不斷增加。但這是典型的——如果你回顧歷史，5%、6% 加或減，這取決於它是循環進入還是循環退出，這是一個很好的指導。

Great. And can I just have one more question. Any comment on Germany, German -- I know that you don't comment on specific deals, but are the uni in Germany, can you tell us if the German universities are signing up to the new project deal and if that -- if there's momentum there?

偉大的。我還能再問一個問題嗎？關於德國的任何評論，德語——我知道你不會評論具體交易，但是德國的大學，你能告訴我們德國大學是否簽署了新的項目協議，如果有——如果有勢頭有嗎？

Well, I mean, as I said, the main driver of growth, growth in volume and growth in revenue in the primary research segment of our STM business is volume growth, volume of article submissions and therefore, over time, what we publish on that. And as you have seen, if you followed us for a long time, as many of you have, you've noticed that the exact method with which they pay, whether pay to read or paid to publish or if they put together or separately, how they buy doesn't seem to have had much of the impact on the growth trade trajectory historically. And I expect that to continue, that the main driver is going to continue to be volume growth and that how they pay and how they buy together or separate, again, it's not likely to have a very big impact on the growth trajectory going forward either.

嗯，我的意思是，正如我所說，我們STM 業務主要研究領域的增長、數量增長和收入增長的主要驅動力是數量增長、文章提交量，因此，隨著時間的推移，我們在該領域發布的內容。正如你所看到的，如果你像你們中的許多人一樣長期關注我們，你就會注意到他們付費的確切方式，無論是付費閱讀還是付費出版，或者是放在一起還是分開，從歷史上看，他們的購買方式似乎並沒有對貿易成長軌跡產生太大影響。我預計這種情況將持續下去，主要驅動力將繼續是銷售成長，以及他們如何支付以及如何一起或分開購買，這也不可能對未來的成長軌跡產生很大的影響。

The next question comes from the line of Carl Murdock-Smith with Berenberg.

下一個問題來自卡爾·默多克·史密斯與貝倫貝格的關係。

Two from me. Firstly, just in terms of your comments, you said that you expect both STM and Legal to continue on the improving growth trajectory. I just wanted to kind of ask what you mean by trajectory there. So do you expect further acceleration from the 6% in Legal and 4% in STM? Or do you mean for it to simply continue at that higher growth rates relative to historic?

我的兩個。首先，就您的評論而言，您表示預計 STM 和 Legal 都將繼續走上改善的成長軌道。我只是想問一下你所說的軌跡是什麼意思。那麼您預期法律領域的 6% 和 STM 領域的 4% 會進一步加速嗎？還是你的意思是讓它繼續保持相對於歷史水準更高的成長率？

And then secondly, along the same theme, I was wondering if you could just comment on pricing discussions with customers, particularly if inflation comes down or whether you're finding your pricing discussions kind of not really impacted by inflation as your growth has been in the past?

其次，沿著同一主題，我想知道您是否可以對與客戶的定價討論發表評論，特別是如果通貨膨脹下降，或者您是否發現您的定價討論並沒有真正受到通貨膨脹的影響，因為您的增長一直在過去？

Yes. So I'll again cover the first, and I'll ask Nick to cover the second on pricing. Well, as we say in our press releases, as you've seen, is that the improving growth trajectory over the last few years and in this year continues to be driven by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher growth analytics and decision tools. That's our strategy, and it continues to be our strategy. And therefore, the growth objective, for both STM and Legal, the growth objectives are to continue on this improving trajectory. That means to continue to drive the business mix shift towards higher growth analytics and decision tools.

是的。因此，我將再次討論第一個問題，並請尼克討論第二個關於定價的問題。正如我們在新聞稿中所說，正如您所看到的，過去幾年和今年成長軌蹟的改善繼續受到業務組合向更高成長分析和決策工具的持續轉變的推動。這是我們的戰略，而且仍然是我們的戰略。因此，對於 STM 和 Legal 來說，成長目標都是繼續沿著這種改善的軌跡發展。這意味著繼續推動業務組合轉向更高成長的分析和決策工具。

However, to develop, to deploy and then to sell these tools have a certain cycle and those divisions are 75% to 80% subscription based often with sort of 3-year contracts that roll through. So therefore, I think you have to continue to assume that the improvement in growth rate is going to come through gradually over the next several years that this is not a 1-year flip and it isn't what we have had, and it's probably not what you're going to see going forward. But when I say the growth objective is to continue on the improving growth trajectory, that's what I mean.

然而，這些工具的開發、部署和銷售都有一定的周期，而且這些部門 75% 到 80% 都是基於訂閱的，通常會簽訂為期 3 年的合約。因此，我認為你必須繼續假設成長率的改善將在未來幾年逐漸實現，這不是一年的翻轉，也不是我們所經歷的，而且可能不是你未來會看到的。但當我說成長目標是繼續改善成長軌跡時，這就是我的意思。

And on the question on inflation. I mean our pricing has never really been that influenced by inflation, whether it's high or low. It's all about the value we can provide to customers. And of course, the growth is being driven by the introduction of new tools, new features, new data sets, new analytics. And of course, if we get greater adoption of that across a range of customers and each and individual a customer taking up more of those tools, you will see increased spend from individual customers. That's not really an increase in price.

關於通貨膨脹問題。我的意思是，我們的定價從來沒有真正受到通貨膨脹的影響，無論通貨膨脹是高還是低。這一切都與我們能為客戶提供的價值有關。當然，這種成長是由新工具、新功能、新資料集、新分析的引入所推動的。當然，如果我們在一系列客戶中更廣泛地採用這種工具，並且每個客戶都使用更多這些工具，您將看到個人客戶的支出增加。這並不是真正的價格上漲。

And if you look at any kind of unit pricing metrics, actually, it's always coming -- typically will be coming down, and we're representing that additional value. So it's -- we've not seen a change in that. So the inflation rate in the general economy is not particularly relevant to our pricing.

如果你看任何類型的單位定價指標，實際上，它總是會出現——通常會下降，而我們代表的是附加價值。所以我們沒有看到這方面的改變。所以整體經濟的通膨率與我們的定價並不是特別相關。

The next question comes from the line of Nick Dempsey with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的尼克·登普西。

I have three questions. So first of all, Thomson Reuters last week was talking about price contributing about 3.5 points to their revenue growth, that was on a group basis. Obviously, quite a lot of that is legal. Nick just talked about price not being a very relevant part of what you do. So is there a true difference between how Thompson Reuters and you are thinking about pricing legal? Was there perhaps a definitional difference here between whether we're talking about customers spending more or a true price increase? That's the first question.

我有三個問題。首先，湯森路透上週談到價格對其收入成長的貢獻約為 3.5 個百分點，這是基於集團的。顯然，其中很多都是合法的。尼克剛剛談到價格與你所做的事情不是一個非常相關的部分。那麼，湯森路透和您對合法定價的看法是否存在真正的區別？我們談論的是客戶支出增加還是真正的價格上漲，這之間可能存在定義上的差異嗎？這是第一個問題。

Second one, can you give us an indication of the underlying market trends that you are currently seeing in both insurance and business services within Risk? So are you seeing some tough comps now in insurance after last year's good start to the year? Just an understanding of that picture now.

第二個問題，您能否向我們介紹一下您目前在風險領域的保險和商業服務中看到的潛在市場趨勢？那麼，繼去年的良好開局之後，您現在是否看到保險業面臨一些艱難的競爭？現在只是了解那張照片。

And the last question, you've already answered a couple of questions on Lexis+ AI. I was just wondering if you can give us a bit more of an indication of this interest. So are we talking about hundreds of law firms? And within firms, are they taking that product, that platform on a widespread basis across the firm, so you'd see a noticeable difference on their spend? Or are we talking about a few units or geographies trialing it?

最後一個問題，您已經回答了幾個關於 Lexis+ AI 的問題。我只是想知道您是否可以向我們提供更多有關這種興趣的資訊。那我們談的是數百家律師事務所嗎？在公司內部，他們是否在整個公司廣泛採用該產品、該平台，因此您會看到他們的支出有明顯差異嗎？或者我們正在談論一些單位或地區正在嘗試它？

Maybe Nick will take the first one as a follow-up to the price question.

也許尼克會把第一個當作價格問題的後續。

Nick, you have to ask other companies what they -- when they talk about price and exactly how they describe it. But I think the point for us is it's about each customer taking more modules, taking more analytics and taking up more of our content sets and so on. So that should lead to an overall increase in spend on that individual customer, but we wouldn't regard that as price they're getting more value for the additional spend. So that's how we would characterize it.

尼克，你必須詢問其他公司，當他們談論價格時，他們是什麼，以及他們如何描述價格。但我認為對我們來說，重點是每個客戶都採用更多的模組、更多的分析以及更多的內容集等等。因此，這應該會導致該個人客戶的支出整體增加，但我們不會認為這是他們從額外支出中獲得更多價值的價格。這就是我們如何描述它的特徵。

So if you go on to risk, I would say, basically, as expected, we saw last year towards the end of last year, continued improvement, both in new sales and in activity levels in Business Services. So Business Services growth rate within Risk have gradually been coming up over the last few months and it continues that way in the beginning of this year. And as you said, they are actually now like in a slightly less strong growth period in early 2023. So we expect that to continue.

因此，如果你繼續冒險，我想說，基本上，正如預期的那樣，去年年底我們看到，商業服務的新銷售和活動水平持續改善。因此，風險領域的商業服務成長率在過去幾個月中逐漸上升，並且在今年年初繼續如此。正如您所說，它們現在實際上正處於 2023 年初稍微不那麼強勁的增長期。因此我們預計這種情況將持續下去。

And then, on the other hand, Insurance that had that ramp up towards a late -- towards the end of 2022 and grew very strongly during all of 2023, they are now starting to lap at a time when they grew a little more strongly than they have in the past. So we would expect that the overall growth rate on top of that now maybe then moderates down towards historical averages relatively soon. And that's exactly what has happened over the last month or two. And as a whole, that division, therefore, continues to grow, almost exactly in line with what we had expected and what it has done at this time of year, most years when they had a good year. So it's on track for what we expected. And as you said, slightly moderating in one and slightly accelerating in the other.

另一方面，保險業在 2022 年底才開始出現成長，並在 2023 年全年成長非常強勁，現在開始成長，當時它們的成長比他們過去有過。因此，我們預計目前的整體成長率可能會相對較快地放緩至歷史平均值。這正是過去一兩個月發生的事。因此，總體而言，該部門繼續成長，幾乎完全符合我們的預期以及每年這個時候的表現，大多數年份都是他們度過了美好的一年。所以它正在達到我們的期望。正如你所說，其中一個稍微緩和，另一個稍微加速。

The last part, you asked about Lexis+ AI. And yes, we are seeing very strong interest, very strong uptake. We had many thousands of law firms signing up for the initial sort of commercial insider program. We had certain advantages and certain previews and test and other. And since it's gone commercial, we have seen many firms signing up fully with large and wide deployment and significant step up in usage, and we've seen some others that have done small and initial tests, but it's a full range and it's very active out there, very active, it's very positive. And the feedback we are getting is very good and we've gotten some very specific reports on how much they estimate they save in time and effort and so on that are, of course, very feature-specific and function specific and very private, but, to each firm. But it is very positive, and we have basically a full range of the alternatives that you mentioned. It is not one that's dominating.

上一部分，您問到了Lexis+ AI。是的，我們看到了非常強烈的興趣和強烈的接受度。我們有成千上萬的律師事務所簽署了最初的商業內幕計劃。我們有一定的優勢以及一定的預覽和測試等。自從它商業化以來，我們已經看到許多公司完全簽約，進行了大規模和廣泛的部署，並且使用量顯著增加，我們還看到其他一些公司已經進行了小型和初步測試，但它是全方位的，而且非常活躍那裡非常活躍，非常積極。我們得到的回饋非常好，我們收到了一些非常具體的報告，說明他們估計節省了多少時間和精力等等，當然，這些報告非常特定於功能和功能，而且非常私密，但是，到每個公司。但這是非常積極的，我們基本上有你提到的全方位的替代方案。它不是一個占主導地位的人。

The next question comes from the line of Tom Singlehurst with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的湯姆辛格赫斯特 (Tom Singlehurst)。

Yes. Tom here from Citi. Three if it's okay, two on AI and one on Semantics, I think is probably the right word. But on AI, Lexis+ AI you've talked about. You've also launched Scopus AI within STM and one of the webinars you hosted explicitly said that it was an add-on charge for product. I'm just wondering whether you expect that to have a distinct positive impact on STM growth in 2024 or whether it will just take time to sort of work through in the same way that you described the impact at Lexis.

是的。湯姆來自花旗銀行。如果可以的話，三個，兩個關於人工智慧，一個關於語義，我認為可能是正確的詞。但是在人工智慧方面，你談到了Lexis+人工智慧。您還在 STM 中啟動了 Scopus AI，並且您主辦的一場網路研討會明確表示這是產品的附加費用。我只是想知道您是否預計這會對 2024 年 STM 的成長產生明顯的正面影響，或者是否需要時間以您描述的 Lexis 影響相同的方式完成工作。

The second question on AI is around investment. Publicists have said they're investing EUR 100 million a year, WPP GBP 250 million a year, Thompson Reuters more than $100 million a year. Can you quantify the investment that you are making or have made and whether there's any incremental spend on AI beyond the existing R&D budgets? Second question.

關於人工智慧的第二個問題是關於投資的。公關人員表示，他們每年投資 1 億歐元，WPP 每年投資 2.5 億英鎊，湯普森路透每年投資超過 1 億美元。您能否量化您正在或已經進行的投資，以及是否有超出現有研發預算的人工智慧增量支出？第二個問題。

And then thirdly, I just really wanted to go back to that point you just made, Erik, on sort of historical trends because all the way through last year, there were constant references to historical trends, either you grow above them or in line with them. I suppose I'm just trying to get a sense of whether you are signaling that we've had a period of above-trend growth and we're going to be slowing down or whether the new level, the new base that you set in 2023 is the new normal. Those are the three questions.

第三，艾瑞克，我真的很想回到你剛才提出的關於歷史趨勢的觀點，因為去年以來，人們不斷地提到歷史趨勢，要么你超越它們，要么與它們保持一致。他們。我想我只是想了解一下您是否表示我們已經經歷了一段高於趨勢的增長時期並且我們將會放緩，或者您設定的新水平、新基礎是否已經到來2023 年是新常態。這是三個問題。

Yes. I'll cover the first and the third, but maybe I'll cover the first and ask Nick to do it in order here, right? On AI, yes, we have several initiatives in STM. The ones that have been announced to the market would be the Scopus AI, which was announced last summer and then launched commercially recently. And we had, of course, CinicalKey AI, which was announced now a couple of months ago.

是的。我將介紹第一個和第三個，但也許我會介紹第一個並請尼克按順序完成，對吧？在人工智慧方面，是的，我們在 STM 方面有一些舉措。已向市場發布的產品是 Scopus AI，該產品於去年夏天發布，最近推出商業化。當然，我們還有 CinicalKey AI，它是在幾個月前發布的。

And the difference between the Legal division and the STM division, is that the Legal division has a main core platform that's being used across over 60% of the customer base, maybe even more over time and that core platforms then leverage internationally, and we put feature and functionality on top of that or embedded in a fully integrated platform. So that Lexis+ AI is an integrated platform that then would have feature and functionality launches within it.

法律部門和STM 部門之間的區別在於，法律部門有一個主要的核心平台，超過60% 的客戶群正在使用該平台，隨著時間的推移，可能會更多，而且該核心平台會在國際上發揮作用，我們把在此之上或嵌入到完全整合的平台中的特性和功能。因此，Lexis+ AI 是一個整合平台，可以在其中發布功能和功能。

STM has -- even though it's technically behind the scenes, the same infrastructure is that has several different and separate products that are sold to the market that then have their own AI tool kit on top. And they will, therefore, be brought to market at different times and separately, which means that any one of those will have a smaller impact on the commercial progress of the division individually. But of course, taken together over time, it's going to be a significant positive impact. But so if you look at Scopus AI specifically, it's a very sophisticated high-end embedded research platform tool and it is not covering a large part of the STM division.

STM 擁有——儘管它在技術上處於幕後，但相同的基礎設施有幾種不同且獨立的產品，這些產品銷往市場，然後在其之上擁有自己的人工智慧工具包。因此，它們將在不同的時間單獨推向市場，這意味著其中任何一個對該部門的商業進展的影響都較小。但當然，隨著時間的推移，這將產生重大的正面影響。但如果你具體看看 Scopus AI，它是一個非常複雜的高階嵌入式研究平台工具，它並沒有涵蓋 STM 部門的很大一部分。

So therefore, its impact commercially to us is going to be gradual and will take time to come through and drive any impact on revenue growth for the division. But the customer feedback has been very positive. The customer interest has been very high. We have had a very high number of customers engaged with us on this platform over the last few weeks on different types of introductory calls and presentations we have had, but it's going to be gradual and it will take time to have a commercial impact.

因此，它對我們的商業影響將是漸進的，需要一段時間才能顯現出來並推動對該部門收入成長的影響。但客戶的反饋非常正面。客戶的興趣非常高。在過去的幾周里，我們有大量客戶在這個平台上與我們進行了不同類型的介紹電話和演示，但這將是漸進的，需要時間才能產生商業影響。

Tom, your second question on investment, et cetera, and AI. Look, we are always, of course, spending on and investing in adopting new technologies, either AI or anything else, building new data sets, building new products. And generative AI is obviously a significant opportunity, particularly for Legal, but also for STM as we've been discussing.

湯姆，你的第二個問題是關於投資等以及人工智慧。當然，我們總是在採用新技術（無論是人工智慧還是其他技術）、建立新資料集、建立新產品方面進行支出和投資。生成式人工智慧顯然是一個重要的機會，特別是對於法律部門來說，而且對於我們一直在討論的 STM 來說也是如此。

But what we're putting into it and behind it is really where are we directing our resource, where are we directing our spend and it's not really changing the overall amount that we're spending and putting behind the growth opportunities. And of course, the other thing generative AI gives is internal opportunities to make ourselves more efficient, our internal processes, and we're obviously working on that as well. So when you put all that together, we are obviously bring a lot of focus and effort into the generative AI opportunities, but that doesn't change our overall approach of ensuring that cost growth gains below revenue growth in all of our businesses as we go forward.

但我們在其中和背後投入的實際上是我們在哪裡引導我們的資源，我們在哪裡引導我們的支出，並且它並沒有真正改變我們支出和支持增長機會的總體金額。當然，生成式人工智慧提供的另一件事是內部機會，使我們自己更有效率，我們的內部流程，我們顯然也在努力解決這個問題。因此，當你把所有這些放在一起時，我們顯然在生成人工智慧機會上投入了大量的精力和精力，但這並沒有改變我們確保所有業務的成本增長低於收入增長的總體方法向前。

On the third question, the fact that we have now stopped referring to historical trends in our comparisons is an accurate observation, of course. We have used the reference to historical trends a few times for several years now. But we have stopped doing that because the company has now had several years of our improving growth trajectory in both revenue and profit.

關於第三個問題，我們現在在比較中不再提及歷史趨勢，這當然是一個準確的觀察。幾年來，我們已經多次引用歷史趨勢。但我們已經停止這樣做了，因為該公司多年來收入和利潤的成長軌跡都在改善。

So the question of what we are referring to when you say historical trends have become less clear to some of our observers. So we moved off of that and instead focus on describing our growth objectives very clearly, overall, as well as by each division. And then in the guidance, in the outlook for each year, describing what we see for that year very precisely, so that it's clear the range of growth we expect right now.

因此，當你說歷史趨勢時，我們所指的問題對我們的一些觀察家來說已經變得不太清楚了。因此，我們放棄了這一點，轉而專注於非常清晰地描述我們的整體成長目標以及每個部門的成長目標。然後在指導中，在每年的展望中，非常精確地描述我們對當年的看法，以便明確我們現在預期的增長範圍。

But just to make sure that it's clear, we do not expect the improving long-term growth trajectory to stop or reverse. Our objective is to continue on this improving long-term growth trajectory, which is driven by the shift in business mix that we've talked about. But if you then bring that down to each division, we say that for the Risk division is to continue to drive strong growth in the current range for STM and Legal to continue on this improving growth trajectory, Legal will be gradual primarily subscription, it will come in over time and for Exhibitions to now operate in the higher growth -- higher value, higher growth and higher margin environment that they have now ended up in after the pandemic redefined that business.

但為了確保這一點清楚，我們預期長期成長軌跡的改善不會停止或逆轉。我們的目標是繼續保持這種不斷改善的長期成長軌跡，這是由我們所討論的業務組合轉變所推動的。但如果你將其歸結到每個部門，我們會說，風險部門將繼續推動當前範圍內的強勁增長，STM 和法律部門將繼續沿著這種改善的增長軌跡，法律部門將是漸進的主要訂閱，它將隨著時間的推移，展覽業現在將在更高的增長——更高的價值、更高的增長和更高的利潤率環境中運營，而在大流行重新定義了這一業務之後，它們現在最終陷入了這樣的環境。

The next question comes from the line of Steve Liechti with Numis.

下一個問題來自 Steve Liechti 和 Numis 的對話。

Yes, good morning, everybody. I've got two, please. First of all, on the STM for database and tools, I know you put it together in your commentary with corporate primary research. But can you give us a harder figure for STM database and tools as a percentage of that division? Maybe this year and last year. I've got 40% in my head, but I just wanted to confirm that. That's the first question.

是的，大家早安。我有兩個，拜託。首先，關於資料庫和工具的STM，我知道您在評論中將其與企業的基礎研究放在一起。但是您能給我們一個更難的 STM 資料庫和工具佔該部門的百分比的數字嗎？也許今年和去年。我腦子裡已經有40%了，但我只是想確認一下。這是第一個問題。

And then on Exhibitions, you kind of mentioned it there actually in your last comments on sort of faster long-term growth rate. And given the business as it is structured now today, what do you think would be a good like-for-like growth rate going forward from here? Again, in my head, I've got 5% to 6% organic growth historically was kind of the right number for you in the old days.

然後在展覽方面，您實際上在上次關於更快的長期成長率的評論中提到了這一點。考慮到目前的業務結構，您認為今後的年成長率是多少？再說一遍，在我看來，歷史上 5% 到 6% 的有機成長對過去來說是合適的數字。

So the first question on what proportion is database and tools, it's just under 40%. And then if you put in corporate primary research as well, you got to towards 45%.

所以第一個問題是資料庫和工具所佔的比例是多少，它略低於40%。然後，如果您也進行企業初步研究，您將達到 45%。

And on Exhibitions, I've said this before that in the near term on Exhibitions, we are 100% focused on sort of capturing the growth opportunity that exists there, which has here was the reopening as well as other opportunities. But now and going forward for the next few years, that we're really 100% focused on the growth opportunity and the value uplift we see from the introduction of new data-driven digital tools and the commercialization of that.

關於展覽，我之前說過，在展覽的短期內，我們 100% 專注於抓住那裡存在的成長機會，包括重新開放以及其他機會。但現在以及未來幾年，我們確實 100% 專注於我們從引入新的數據驅動數位工具及其商業化中看到的成長機會和價值提升。

But it's very clear to us now that Exhibitions is on track to become a higher value add, higher growth and higher margin business going forward than it was before COVID. I mean it's going to be higher value add based on the fact that we are introducing a range of digital tools, and we have increased the rate of innovation, the pace of innovation in that business now.

但現在我們非常清楚，與新冠疫情之前相比，展覽業有望成為一個更高附加價值、更高成長和更高利潤率的業務。我的意思是，基於我們正在引入一系列數位工具的事實，這將是更高的附加價值，並且我們現在已經提高了該業務的創新率和創新步伐。

It's going to be higher growth based on the improving ability that we have developed to commercialize this higher value add, and it's going to be higher margin based on the structurally lower cost base that we now have in the business. So that's the direction that we are going. Exactly how big that value uplift will be, exactly how much higher the growth rate will be, I guess we will see over the next few years. But it's going to be all of those three. I think that's pretty clear to us. But I would assume the next few years, it's going to be higher than it was before COVID or the numbers you mentioned.

基於我們將這種更高附加價值商業化的能力不斷提高，這將是更高的成長，並且基於我們現在在業務中結構性較低的成本基礎，這將是更高的利潤率。這就是我們前進的方向。我想我們將在未來幾年看到價值的提升到底有多大，成長率到底有多高。但這將是這三個人的全部。我認為這對我們來說很清楚。但我認為未來幾年，這個數字將高於新冠疫情之前或你提到的數字。

Great. Can I just come back on Nick's answer on the just under 40% in database and tools. Was that in the current year? Could you give me an equivalent again for -- sorry, I want to say currently, I mean, 2023. Can you give an equivalent figure for 2022 just because I would expect that business to be growing faster, therefore, the proportion to be increasing.

偉大的。我可以回到尼克關於資料庫和工具中略低於 40% 的回答嗎？那是在今年嗎？您能否再次給我一個等值的數字——抱歉，我想說的是，目前，我的意思是2023 年。您能否給出2022 年的等值數字，因為我預計該業務會增長得更快，因此比例會增加。

It doesn't change that much year-to-year. I mean as you say, it is growing faster. But as a proportion, it doesn't make that much difference in a single year.

每年都沒有太大變化。我的意思是正如你所說，它增長得更快。但從比例來看，一年內的差異並不大。

The next question comes from the line of Konrad Zomer with ABN AMRO ODDO.

下一個問題來自 Konrad Zomer 與 ABN AMRO ODDO 的關係。

I've got two. The first one is on your net working capital requirements. One of the beauties of your business model is that because of the subscription-based part of your revenues, net working capital tends to be negative, if you like. Is the structurally higher growth rate of your revenues going to have an impact on your net working capital requirements longer term?

我有兩個。第一個是您的淨營運資本要求。您的商業模式的優點之一是，如果您願意的話，由於您的收入中基於訂閱的部分，淨營運資本往往為負。從長遠來看，您的收入結構性較高成長率是否會對您的淨營運資本需求產生影響？

And my second question is on Exhibitions. You already explained the reason why you think margins could structurally improve because it's the digital tools, et cetera. But can you share with us what you think the split might be between higher growth and the scalability and higher margins or just higher margins because of the GBP 100 million of costs you took out during the pandemic.

我的第二個問題是關於展覽的。您已經解釋了為什麼您認為利潤率可以結構性地提高，因為這是數位工具等。但您能否與我們分享您認為更高的成長、可擴展性和更高的利潤率之間可能存在的分歧，或者只是因為您在大流行期間花費了1 億英鎊的成本而導致更高的利潤率。

I'll ask Nick to cover the first one.

我會請尼克來報道第一個。

Yes. Konrad, the work goes as you said that we have a good working (inaudible) with payments upfront for many of our products on a subscription basis. So operating with negative working capital. As the business grows, I don't anticipate any significant shift in that. It can clearly in any one year, just vary a little bit depending on exactly what happens around year-end in payments and things. But structurally, I don't see anything that's shifting it in any material way going forward.

是的。康拉德，正如您所說，我們的工作進展順利（聽不清楚），我們的許多產品都是在訂閱的基礎上預先付款的。因此，營運資金為負數。隨著業務的成長，我預計這種情況不會有任何重大變化。顯然，它可以在任何一年中發生，只是略有不同，具體取決於年底前後付款和其他事情發生的情況。但從結構上看，我沒有看到任何實質的改變。

And then when it comes to Exhibitions, there are really two sides to this. One is that as you can see for the actual 2023 results that you now have seen, Exhibitions now come back with a structurally lower cost base. So that's the starting point. That's now a historical fact the way we look at it. But then going forward from here, our strategy will be in Exhibitions as for the rest of the company to manage cost growth below revenue growth on the cost side.

說到展覽，確實有兩個面向。一是，正如您現在看到的 2023 年實際結果所示，展覽現在以結構性較低的成本基礎回歸。這就是起點。現在，從我們的角度來看，這已成為歷史事實。但從現在開始，我們的策略將是在展覽方面，對於公司的其他部門來說，在成本方面將成本成長控制在收入成長以下。

Number 1 priority is always to drive higher value add to our customers, to drive higher revenue growth. The second priority is always to manage our cost growth to go below revenue growth. So from here going forward, you will continue to see that differentiation on an ongoing basis. The structural change has taken place and the difference between organic cost growth and organic revenue growth is what you'll see going forward.

第一要務始終是為我們的客戶帶來更高的附加價值，推動更高的收入成長。第二要務始終是控制我們的成本成長低於收入成長。因此，從現在開始，您將繼續看到這種持續的差異化。結構性變化已經發生，有機成本成長和有機收入成長之間的差異是您未來將看到的。

(Operator Instructions) The next question comes from the line of Sami Kassab with BNP.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 Sami Kassab 與 BNP 的線路。

I have three questions, please. The first one is on STM. And given that France, Canada, Switzerland, Finland have yet to renew their long-term journal contract, can you please comment on the renewal campaign, is it going a little bit better than last year because of Germany? Is it going a little bit less well because of other countries? Can you comment on the Journal renewal contract, please?

我有三個問題，請教。第一個是在STM上。鑑於法國、加拿大、瑞士、芬蘭尚未續簽長期期刊合同，您能否評論一下續約活動，是否因為德國而比去年好一些？是不是因為其他國家的原因，事情進展得不太順利？您能否對期刊續約合約發表評論？

The second question is on the Legal division. Given the duopolistic nature of the U.S. legal information market and given the sizes of Thompson and your business, historically, organic revenue growth rate for both companies have been quite similar. And Thompson is now talking about 9% organic revenue growth for their legal division, is that a target you think achievable for RELX Legal division as well? Or is Lexis losing market share?

第二個問題是關於法律部門的。考慮到美國法律資訊市場的雙寡頭性質以及湯普森和您的業務規模，從歷史上看，兩家公司的有機收入成長率非常相似。 Thompson 現在正在談論其法律部門 9% 的有機收入成長，您認為 RELX 法律部門也可以實現這一目標嗎？或者 Lexis 正在失去市場份額嗎？

And lastly, in the midst of COVID in '21, Erik, you were asked whether Exhibition had a long-term future within RELX. And if my memory serves me well, you then answered that before deciding on the face of the division, you had two key objectives or conditions, which were to normalize post COVID and to add more technology to the division to improve the value add. Both conditions have been met. Can you update us on the long-term future of Rx within the group?

最後，在 21 年的新冠疫情期間，Erik，有人問你，展覽在 RELX 內部是否有長期的未來。如果我沒記錯的話，您當時回答說，在決定該部門的面貌之前，您有兩個關鍵目標或條件，即在新冠疫情后實現正常化，並為該部門添加更多技術以提高附加價值。這兩個條件都已滿足。您能否向我們介紹一下集團內 Rx 的長期未來的最新情況？

Okay. Well, on STM. As I said before, the main driver of primary research is the volume growth and the trajectory of that is going -- which we talked about the numbers earlier. When it comes specifically to renewal cycle this year, it is going well. It's a good year. It is probably going slightly faster than the average over the last few years. So it's a good year. But again, as I said before, it's becoming less and less important exactly how people buy and the payment model because it's -- the main driver is that continuous volume growth.

好的。嗯，在STM上。正如我之前所說，初級研究的主要驅動力是數量成長及其發展軌跡——我們之前討論過這些數字。具體到今年的更新週期，進展順利。今年是個好年。它的發展速度可能略快於過去幾年的平均值。所以今年是個好年。但正如我之前所說，人們的購買方式和支付模式變得越來越不重要，因為主要驅動力是銷售的持續成長。

When you say Legal, we find it very difficult to try to interpret exactly how other companies report their growth rate and the different segments as those segments don't seem to match ours specifically. So I don't want to comment on what they are or what they have forecasted. I mean, when we look at what we have seen from last year, from 2023 actual, we don't see much of a difference in growth rate. I mean, you can look at what we report with 6% organic revenue growth for Legal for the last year, including 10% of print and including our news service in that very good growth for us, and we have been on a very good improving direction for us, and we know that we're delivering very high value tools to our customers and that the new tools are developing well and delivering very good value.

當你說法律時，我們發現很難嘗試準確地解釋其他公司如何報告其成長率和不同的細分市場，因為這些細分市場似乎與我們的具體情況並不相符。所以我不想評論他們是什麼或他們的預測。我的意思是，當我們看看去年的情況時，從 2023 年的實際情況來看，我們沒有看到成長率有太大差異。我的意思是，你可以看看我們報告的內容，去年法律業務的有機收入增長了6%，其中包括10% 的印刷業務，以及我們的新聞服務，這對我們來說是非常好的增長，而且我們一直在取得非常好的進展。我們知道我們正在為客戶提供非常高價值的工具，並且新工具正在開發良好並提供非常好的價值。

That's what we stay focused on. We have respect for our competitor or peer and I think it's good that they are also doing well. But we don't see any reason to believe that any of those numbers would indicate the loss of (inaudible) in any way or a loss of value share, and I believe that we were probably slightly (inaudible) earlier in the past year with the new AI tools. But that's our view, of course, and I think you should ask them about how they feel (inaudible).

這就是我們持續關注的重點。我們尊重我們的競爭對手或同行，我認為他們也做得很好是件好事。但我們沒有看到任何理由相信這些數字會以任何方式表明（聽不清楚）損失或價值份額的損失，而且我相信我們在過去一年中可能稍微（聽不清楚）早些時候新的人工智慧工具。但這當然是我們的觀點，我認為你應該詢問他們的感受（聽不清楚）。

When you get to Exhibitions. Yes, as I said a few minutes ago, is that we have been focused, as you said, on the recovery from COVID and capturing value uplift from the data-driven digital tools that we're introducing. And it is -- as we're doing that, it's becoming very clear to us that this is on track to become higher value add, higher growth and higher margin business than it was before COVID. And we can see the more valuable business going forward. I mean it's already a more valuable business today than it was before COVID. And from what we see, it's very clear that's going to be a more valuable business in a few years than it is today. The question is just how big is that value up. And I think it's too early as we're in this improving trajectory to estimate the scale of that value up to the pace of the value uplift, I think that will take us a few more years, but it's really on a good track right now.

當你到達展覽。是的，正如我幾分鐘前所說，正如您所說，我們一直專注於從新冠疫情中恢復過來，並從我們推出的數據驅動的數位工具中獲取價值提升。當我們這樣做時，我們變得非常清楚，與新冠疫情之前相比，該業務有望成為更高附加價值、更高成長和更高利潤率的業務。我們可以看到未來更有價值的業務。我的意思是，如今它已經是一項比新冠疫情之前更有價值的業務了。從我們的觀察來看，很明顯，幾年後這將成為比現在更有價值的業務。問題是這個價值有多大。我認為現在還為時過早，因為我們正處於這種改善的軌跡中，要估計該價值的規模與價值提升的速度，我認為這將需要我們幾年的時間，但現在確實處於良好的軌道上。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call over to Erik Engstrom for any closing remarks.

女士們先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉接給埃里克·恩斯特羅姆 (Erik Engstrom)，讓其結束語。

Well, thank you for joining us today, and I look forward to talking to you again soon.

好的，感謝您今天加入我們，我期待很快再次與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect. Goodbye.

女士們、先生們，會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。再見。