Wolters Kluwer 2021 Half-Year Report
Wolters Kluwer's 2021 Half-Year Report highlights revenues of €2,280 million, reflecting a 6% increase in constant currencies and 5% organically. Recurring revenues are up 5% organically. Adjusted operating profit saw a 14% rise to €613 million, with a margin of 26.9%. Diluted adjusted EPS increased 4% overall to €1.66. The interim dividend is set at €0.54 per share. Strong cash flow and a net debt of €2,417 million contribute to improved liquidity. The company expects full-year organic growth to enhance across all divisions while managing operational costs.
- Revenues increased to €2,280 million, a 6% rise in constant currencies.
- Adjusted operating profit rose 14% to €613 million, with a margin of 26.9%.
- Adjusted free cash flow increased 54% to €476 million.
- Interim dividend set at €0.54 per share, reflecting financial strength.
- Total revenues declined 1% compared to the previous year due to currency effects.
- Net profit decreased 4% to €360 million, with a diluted EPS drop of 2% to €1.37.
Wolters Kluwer 2021 Half-Year Report
August 4, 2021 – Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services, today releases its half-year 2021 results.
Highlights
- Revenues €2,280 million, up 6% in constant currencies and up 5% organically.
- Recurring revenues (
81% of total revenues) up5% organically; non-recurring up4% organically. - Digital & services revenues (
93% ) grew5% organically. - Expert solutions (
55% ) grew6% organically, excluding revenues associated with the PPP1.
- Recurring revenues (
- Adjusted operating profit €613 million, up 14% in constant currencies.
- Adjusted operating profit margin up 170 basis points to
26.9% . - Margin increase reflects operational gearing and both temporary and structural cost savings.
- Adjusted operating profit margin up 170 basis points to
- Diluted adjusted EPS €1.66, up 4% overall and up 19% in constant currencies.
- Adjusted free cash flow €476 million, up 54% in constant currencies, reflecting improved collections compared to a year ago.
- Balance sheet and liquidity further strengthened with recent refinancing actions.
- Net-debt-to-EBITDA 1.7x (FY 2020: 1.7x).
- Interim dividend
€0.54 per share, set at40% of prior year total dividend. - Share buyback: €229 million of 2021 program of up to €350 million repurchased to date.
- Guidance for 2021 updated and increased. (See page 2).
Half-Year Report of the Executive Board
Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, commented: “I am delighted to report that the first half has seen a faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic. Growth in recurring revenues has proved to be resilient, while most non-recurring revenue streams posted a strong rebound against declines in the comparable period. With our markets recovering and new sales picking up, we expect underlying operating costs to rise in the second half as we invest to support growth.”
Key Figures – Six months ended June 30 | |||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2021 | 2020 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG |
Business performance – benchmark figures | |||||
Revenues | 2,280 | 2,294 | - | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit | 613 | 577 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit margin | | | |||
Adjusted net profit | 437 | 426 | + | + | |
Diluted adjusted EPS (€) | 1.66 | 1.59 | + | + | |
Adjusted free cash flow | 476 | 336 | + | + | |
Net debt | 2,417 | 2,247 | + | ||
IFRS reported results | |||||
Revenues | 2,280 | 2,294 | - | ||
Operating profit | 519 | 500 | + | ||
Profit for the period | 360 | 374 | - | ||
Diluted EPS (€) | 1.37 | 1.40 | - | ||
Net cash from operating activities | 613 | 491 | + | ||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Full-Year 2021 Outlook
With our markets recovering from the effects of the pandemic, we now expect all divisions to see a year-on-year improvement in organic growth. Health, Tax & Accounting, and Legal & Regulatory divisions benefitted from timing in the first half, which we expect will reverse in second half. We expect underlying operating costs to rise in the second half as we step up investment and accelerate hiring to support growth and as we partly restore travel, promotion, and other costs that were curtailed during the crisis. We continue to plan for a gradual return to our offices, when and where circumstances allow, with currently some
Full-Year 2021 Outlook | |||
Performance indicators | 2021 Guidance | Previous Guidance | 2020 Actual |
Adjusted operating profit margin | Around | | |
Adjusted free cash flow | | | |
ROIC | Around | Around | |
Diluted adjusted EPS | High-single-digit growth | Mid-single-digit growth | |
Guidance for adjusted operating profit margin and ROIC is in reported currencies and assumes an average EUR/USD rate in 2021 of €/ |
If current exchange rates persist, the U.S. dollar rate will have a negative effect on 2021 results reported in euros. In 2020, Wolters Kluwer generated more than
We include restructuring costs in adjusted operating profit. We currently expect that restructuring costs will be in the range of
2021 Outlook by Division
Health: We expect organic growth to improve over 2020 levels and the adjusted operating profit margin to be stable year-on-year as temporary cost savings fade and investment rises in the second half.
Tax & Accounting: We expect organic growth to improve from 2020 levels and the adjusted operating profit margin to decline due to the absence of one-time benefits and the fading of temporary cost savings.
Governance, Risk & Compliance: We now expect organic growth to improve from 2020 levels, as a rebound in Legal Services transactional revenues is now expected to more than compensate for lower revenues associated with the PPP1. We expect the full-year adjusted operating profit margin to improve on the back of lower restructuring and provisions, despite increased investment.
Legal & Regulatory: We expect the division to return to positive organic growth driven by digital information and software revenues. We expect the adjusted operating profit margin to improve as lower restructuring more than offsets increased investment.
Our Mission, Business Model and Strategy
Our mission is to empower our professional customers with the information, software solutions, and services they need to make critical decisions, achieve successful outcomes, and save time. We support professionals across four main customer segments: health; tax & accounting; governance, risk & compliance; and legal & regulatory. All our customers face the challenge of increasing proliferation and complexity of information and the pressure to deliver better outcomes at a lower cost. Many of our customers are looking for mobility, flexibility, intuitive interfaces, and integrated open architecture technology to support their decision-making. We aim to solve their problems and add value to their workflow with our range of digital solutions and services, which we continuously evolve to meet their changing needs. Since 2003, we have been re-investing
Expert solutions, which combine deep domain knowledge with technology to deliver both content and workflow automation to drive improved outcomes and productivity for our customers, accounted for
- Health: clinical decision support tool UpToDate; clinical drug databases Medi-Span and Lexicomp; and Lippincott nursing solutions for practice and learning.
- Tax & Accounting: corporate performance solutions CCH Tagetik and TeamMate; professional tax and accounting software, including CCH ProSystem fx, CCH Axcess, and PFX Engagement in North America and similar software for professionals across Europe.
- Governance, Risk & Compliance: finance, risk, and regulatory reporting suite OneSumX; banking compliance solutions ComplianceOne, Expere, and Gainskeeper; and enterprise legal management software Passport and Tymetrix.
- Legal & Regulatory: EHS/ORM3 suite Enablon, and our range of workflow solutions for European legal professionals.
Our business model is primarily based on subscriptions and other recurring revenues (
We have been evolving our technology towards fewer, globally scalable platforms, with reusable components. We are transitioning our solutions to the cloud and leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and predictive analytics to drive further innovation. We are standardizing tools, streamlining our technology infrastructure (including data centers), and improving our development processes using the scaled agile framework. Our employees drive our achievements and we have been working to ensure we are providing engaging and rewarding careers.
Strategic Priorities 2019-2021
While the pandemic has had an impact on our financial trajectory, it has fully reinforced and validated many aspects of our strategy: the evolution towards digital and expert solutions, the transition to cloud-based software platforms, and the investment to upgrade internal systems, infrastructure, and digital marketing capabilities. Our strategic priorities for 2019-2021 continue to be:
- Grow Expert Solutions: We will focus on scaling our expert solutions by extending these offerings and broadening their distribution through existing and new channels, including strategic partnerships. We will invest to build or acquire positions in adjacent market segments.
- Advance Domain Expertise: We intend to continue transforming our information products and services by enriching their domain content with advanced technologies to deliver actionable intelligence and deeper integration into customer workflows. We will invest to enhance the user experience of these products through user-centric design and differentiated interfaces.
- Drive Operational Agility: We plan to strengthen our global brand, go-to-market, and digital marketing capabilities to support organic growth. We will invest to upgrade our back-office systems and IT infrastructure. Part of our 2019-2021 strategic plan is to complete the modernization of our Human Resources technology to support our efforts to attract and nurture talent.
Our strategy is focused on organic growth, although we may make further bolt-on acquisitions and non-core disposals to enhance our value and market positions. Acquisitions must fit our strategy, strengthen or extend our existing business, be accretive to diluted adjusted EPS in their first full year and, when integrated, deliver a return on invested capital above our weighted average cost of capital (
In the first half of 2021, group-wide product development spending (including capital expenditures) remained within our guided range of
We took steps to drive operational agility, leveraging standardized technology platforms and components and transitioning products to the cloud. In the first half of 2021, we successfully migrated our corporate performance management systems to the cloud-based CCH Tagetik solution and completed the consolidation of 280 product websites into a single Wolters Kluwer website.
ESG Priorities4
Our strategy aims to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction and impactful products and services, while fostering an engaged, talented, and diverse workforce, and ensuring strong corporate governance, secure systems, and efficient and environmentally-friendly operations. At the start of 2021, we rolled out a new sustainability plan (ENGAGE) to further advance these objectives.
In the first half of 2021, we made progress on a number of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. We advanced on programs to reduce our carbon emissions: our real estate rationalization program delivered a
In July 2021, we launched our first global, all-employee survey of diversity, equity & inclusion. The results will form the basis for setting new goals to ensure that we have a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we live and work.
And on the governance side, we have now incorporated six strategic and verifiable ESG measures and targets into management’s short-term incentive plan. Four of these ESG measures were also linked to our
Financial Policy, Capital Allocation, Net Debt, and Liquidity
Wolters Kluwer uses its free cash flow to invest in the business organically and through acquisitions, to maintain optimal leverage, and to provide returns to shareholders. We regularly assess our financial position and evaluate the appropriate level of debt in view of our expectations for cash flow, investment plans, interest rates, and capital market conditions. While we may temporarily deviate from our leverage target, we continue to believe that, in the longer run, a net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of around 2.5x remains appropriate for our business given the high proportion of recurring revenues and resilient cash flows.
Dividend Policy and Interim Dividend 2021
Wolters Kluwer remains committed to a progressive dividend policy, under which we aim to increase the dividend per share in euros each year, independent of currency fluctuations. The payout ratio5 can vary from year to year. Proposed annual increases in the dividend per share take into account our financial performance, market conditions, and our need for financial flexibility. The policy takes into consideration the characteristics of our business, our expectations for future cash flows, and our plans for organic investment in innovation and productivity, or for acquisitions. We balance these factors with the objective of maintaining a strong balance sheet.
As announced on February 24, 2021, the interim dividend for 2021 was set at
Shareholders can choose to reinvest both interim and final dividends by purchasing additional Wolters Kluwer shares through the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) administered by ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Share Buyback 2021 and Share Cancellation 2021
As a matter of policy since 2012, Wolters Kluwer will offset the dilution caused by our annual incentive share issuance with share repurchases (Anti-Dilution Policy). In addition, from time to time when appropriate, we return capital to shareholders through share buyback programs. Shares repurchased by the company are added to and held as treasury shares and are either cancelled or utilized to meet future obligations arising from share-based incentive plans. The maximum number of shares which may be acquired will not exceed the authorization granted by the General Meeting of Shareholders.
On February 24, 2021, we announced our intention to repurchase shares for up to
During the year up until August 3, 2021, we have spent
For the period starting August 5, 2021, up to and including November 1, 2021, we have mandated a third party to execute
As of August 3, 2021, Wolters Kluwer held 7.5 million shares in treasury. A portion of these treasury shares will be retained in order to meet future obligations under share-based incentive plans.
At the 2021 Annual General Meeting of April 22, 2021, shareholders approved a resolution to cancel for capital reduction purposes any or all ordinary shares held in treasury or to be acquired by the company, up to a maximum of
Net Debt, Leverage, Sustainability-Linked Credit Facility, and Liquidity Position
Net debt at June 30, 2021, was
On March 30, 2021, we issued a new
Effective July 2021, we agreed to a one-year extension of our
Our liquidity position remains strong with, as of June 30, 2021, net cash available of
Half-Year 2021 Results
Benchmark Figures
Group revenues were
All main geographic regions reported improved organic growth. Revenues from North America, which accounted for
Adjusted operating profit was
Our share of profits of associates, net of tax, was nil (HY 2020:
Adjusted net financing costs increased to
Adjusted profit before tax was
The benchmark tax rate on adjusted profit before tax was
IFRS Reported Figures
Reported operating profit increased
Reported financing results amounted to a net cost of
The reported effective tax rate increased to
Cash Flow
Adjusted operating cash flow was
Cash payments related to leases, including
Net interest paid, excluding lease interest paid, increased to
Consequently, adjusted free cash flow was
Total acquisition spending, net of cash acquired and including transaction costs, was
Dividends paid to shareholders amounted to
Financial Calendar
August 31, 2021 Ex-dividend date: 2021 interim dividend
September 1, 2021 Record date: 2021 interim dividend
September 23, 2021 Payment date: 2021 interim dividend ordinary shares
September 30, 2021 Payment date: 2021 interim dividend ADRs
November 3, 2021 Nine-Month 2021 Trading Update
February 23, 2022 Full-Year 2021 Results
March 9, 2022 Publication of 2021 Annual Report and ESG Data Overview
April 21, 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
Media Investors/Analysts
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Forward-looking Statements and Other Important Legal Information
This report contains forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as “expect”, “should”, “could”, “shall” and similar expressions. Wolters Kluwer cautions that such forward-looking statements are qualified by certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from what is contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, general economic conditions; conditions in the markets in which Wolters Kluwer is engaged; conditions created by global pandemics, such as COVID-19; behavior of customers, suppliers, and competitors; technological developments; the implementation and execution of new ICT systems or outsourcing; and legal, tax, and regulatory rules affecting Wolters Kluwer’s businesses, as well as risks related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. In addition, financial risks such as currency movements, interest rate fluctuations, liquidity, and credit risks could influence future results. The foregoing list of factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Wolters Kluwer disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Elements of this press release contain or may contain inside information about Wolters Kluwer within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU).
Trademarks referenced are owned by Wolters Kluwer N.V. and its subsidiaries and may be registered in various countries.
1 Throughout this document, PPP refers to the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program established by the 2020 U.S. CARES Act. Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions (part of Governance Risk & Compliance) supported its bank customers in lending under this program. The PPP was reopened on January 11, 2021, and was ended on May 31, 2021.
2 Guidance for adjusted net financing costs in constant currencies excludes the impact of exchange rate movements on currency hedging and intercompany balances.
3 Throughout this document, EHS/ORM refers to environmental, health & safety and operational risk management.
4 Environmental, social and governance priorities.
5 Dividend payout ratio: dividend per share divided by adjusted earnings per share.
6 Net cash available consists of cash and cash equivalents of
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