The FTSE 100 publishing and data company that has been one of the hardest-hit victims of an AI-driven market sell-off has insisted it is \u201calmost inconceivable\u201d that the technology could replicate its business.<\/p>\n
Nick Luff, finance chief of Relx, argued that its \u201cunique\u201d and \u201ccomprehensive\u201d data meant that it had an advantage over machine learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that information base which is critical. It\u2019s unique, it\u2019s comprehensive, it\u2019s continuously updated on an industrial scale,\u201d Luff said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got public records, which we\u2019ve been collecting for decades, many which aren\u2019t even available publicly any more. We\u2019ve got thousands of licensed data sources coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 After a brutal week, can Relx fend off the threat from AI?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Relx \u2014 formerly known as Reed Elsevier \u2014 has found itself at the centre of the storm that has gripped the media and software sector, shedding about \u00a39.4 billion of its market value since the start of last week, as its shares have fallen 20 per cent to their lowest level in almost five years.<\/p>\n Markets have become unsettled by the release of a range of products by the artificial intelligence company Anthropic for its Claude Cowork office assistant. Its 11 plugins promise to automate a variety of tasks for companies across legal, marketing and customer support<\/a>.<\/p>\n The contagion has since spread to other sectors including wealth management<\/a>, which was triggered by Altruist, a US-based wealth management platform, unveiling a tool to help financial advisers quickly personalise clients\u2019 investment strategies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clearly not us,\u201d Luff said. \u201cSometimes \u2026 the market takes a while before it starts differentiating and distinguishing between companies in different positions.\u201d<\/p>\n At the centre of the market\u2019s angst is the fear that AI will eat away at core parts of Relx\u2019s business, selling information and analytics to professionals in the legal, insurance and medical industries via its subscription platforms such as LexisNexis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the short run, share prices are all about sentiment and how the market sees things and so on. In the long run, they\u2019re about company performance and that\u2019s what we control,\u201d Luff said. <\/p>\n Luff set out his defence as Relx reported a 7 per cent rise in revenue on an underlying basis to \u00a39.6 billion last year, in line with forecasts from City analysts. Statutory pre-tax profit also rose 7 per cent to \u00a32.8 billion, up from \u00a32.6 billion in 2024. The media group guided towards \u201canother year of strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit\u201d.<\/p>\n The shares closed 39p, or 1.9 per cent, higher at \u00a320.52.<\/p>\n \u2022 LSEG boss under pressure to show AI is no threat to its business<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Unlike London Stock Exchange Group, which has also been hit by fears over AI disruption<\/a>, Relx has refrained from striking licensing deals with any AI providers. \u201cOur content is something that we use inside our products, not make available to others,\u201d Luff said.<\/p>\n Despite being one of London\u2019s largest companies, Relx makes relatively few headlines and Erik Engstrom, the Swede who has led the business for the past 15 years, has only ever given one media interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n It will continue to press ahead with a share buyback programme worth \u00a32.25 billion this year, of which \u00a3250 million has been completed. The full-year dividend was raised by 7 per cent to 67\u00bdp a share.<\/p>\n