Wolters Kluwer First-Quarter 2024 Trading Update

 Wolters Kluwer First-Quarter 2024 Trading Update

Alphen aan den Rijn, May 1, 2024 – Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions and services, today releases its first-quarter 2024 trading update.

Highlights

• Full-year 2024 guidance reiterated.
• First-quarter revenues up 6% in constant currencies and up 6% organically.
  • Recurring revenues (82%) up 7% organically; non-recurring revenues up 1% organically.
  • Expert solutions revenues (59%) up 8% organically.
  • Cloud software revenues (18%) up 16% organically.
• First-quarter adjusted operating profit margin increased.
• First-quarter adjusted free cash flow increased in constant currencies.
• Net debt-to-EBITDA was 1.4x as of March 31, 2024.
• 2024 share buyback: €353 million of intended share buyback of €1 billion completed in the year through April 29, 2024.
  
  

Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chair of the Executive Board, commented: “We’ve had a good start to the year, with 6% organic growth and improvements in the margin and free cash flow. We continued to invest in scaling our expert solutions, rolling out several new products, and expanding into adjacent markets. And, we are increasing our investment in deploying artificial intelligence to bring benefits to customers. I am pleased to reiterate our full-year guidance.”

First-quarter 2024 developments

First-quarter revenues increased 5% in reporting currencies, reflecting organic growth of 6% (1Q 2023: 6%), slightly offset by the impact of currency due to the weaker U.S. dollar compared to a year ago (average EUR/USD rate was €/$1.09 in 1Q 2024 versus €/$1.07 in 1Q 2023).

Recurring revenues (82% of revenues), which include subscriptions and other repeating revenue streams, sustained 7% organic growth (1Q 2023: 7%). Non-recurring revenues (18% of revenues) increased 1% organically, slowing slightly compared to a year ago (1Q 2023: 2%). Within non-recurring revenues, transactional revenues posted 3% organic growth (1Q 2023: 1% decline), as Financial & Corporate Compliance transactional trends started to stabilize and Legal & Regulatory transactional revenues (ELM Solutions) remained strong. Organic growth in software license and implementation fees and other non-recurring revenues slowed to 1% (1Q 2023: 2%). The adjusted operating profit margin increased in the first quarter compared to first quarter 2023.