Wolters Kluwer 2023 Nine-Month Trading
Update
Alphen aan den Rijn, November 1, 2023 – Wolters Kluwer,
a global leader in professional information, software solutions and
services, today releases its scheduled 2023 nine-month trading
update.
Highlights
- Guidance for 2023 reiterated.
- Nine-month revenues up 4% in constant currencies and up
5% organically.
- Recurring revenues (82% of total revenues) up 7% organically;
non-recurring revenues down 2%.
- Digital & services revenues (94% of total) up 6%
organically; print down 7%.
- Expert solutions revenues (58% of total) up 7%
organically.
- Nine-month adjusted operating profit down 2% in
constant currencies.
- Adjusted operating profit margin 26.1%, down 150 basis points,
as expected.
- We continue to expect an increase in the full-year 2023
adjusted operating profit margin.
- Nine-month adjusted free cash flow down 13% in constant
currencies.
- Unfavorable timing of working capital movements and higher
capital expenditures.
- Net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio 1.6x as of September 30,
2023.
- Share buyback 2023: on track to reach €1 billion by
year-end.
- Share buyback 2024: mandate signed to repurchase up to
€100 million in January and February 2024.
Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chair of the Executive Board,
commented: “In the first nine months, we have sustained
strong organic growth in our important recurring revenue streams
across all five divisions. The down-cycle in transactional revenues
has lasted longer than we expected, but we are nonetheless on track
to deliver good organic growth and margin improvement for the full
year. Investments in product development, including in artificial
intelligence, were maintained at high levels as we continue to see
exciting opportunities to grow our business and support our
professional customers in the years ahead.”
Nine Months to September 30, 2023
Total revenues were up 2% overall reflecting the impact of the
weaker U.S. dollar, particularly in the third quarter of 2023.
Excluding the effect of currency, acquisitions, and divestments,
organic revenues were up 5% in the first nine months (9M 2022: 6%).
Recurring revenues (82% of total revenues) sustained strong
momentum, growing 7% organically which was in line with 2022 and in
line with the first half of 2023 (9M 2022: 7%; HY 2023: 7%).
Within recurring revenues, cloud software subscription revenues
grew 15% organically (9M 2022: 18%).
Non-recurring revenues (18% of total revenues) declined 2%
organically (9M 2022: growth of 4%). These revenues include
transactional fees in our Financial & Corporate Compliance
division, software license and implementation fees in our software
businesses, and other non-subscription products and services.
Viewed by format, digital revenues (85% of total) grew 7%
organically (9M 2022: 8% growth). Services revenues (9% of
total) increased 1% organically (9M 2022: 5% growth),
deteriorating slightly in the third quarter due to the
transactional trends in Financial & Corporate Compliance. Print
revenues (6% of total) declined 7% organically (9M 2022: 4%
decline), as expected.
Revenues from North America (65% of total) grew 4% organically
(9M 2022: 6%), with stronger momentum in Health dampened by slower
growth in the other divisions. Revenues from Europe (27% of total)
grew 7% (9M 2022: 5%). Revenues from Asia Pacific & Rest
of World (8% of total) grew 8% organically (9M 2022: 15%).
Nine-month adjusted operating profit declined 2% in constant
currencies. The nine-month adjusted operating profit margin was
26.1%, down 150 basis points compared to the same period in 2022,
as expected. The margin primarily reflects a 6% increase in total
personnel costs (as we filled open positions) combined with an
increase in personnel-related expenses, such as travel. Product
development spend was maintained at 11% of revenues, an increase
from the comparable period (9M 2022: 10% of revenues).
Health: Nine-month revenues increased 6% in
constant currencies and 6% organically (9M 2022: 5%). Clinical
Solutions recorded 7% organic growth (9M 2022: 8%), supported by
continued good renewals for UpToDate, drug information solutions,
and our Emmi patient engagement solution. Revenues in surveillance,
compliance, and terminology solutions remained soft. Health
Learning, Research & Practice recorded 4% organic growth (9M
2022: 2%), benefitting from good subscription renewals for the Ovid
medical research solution, strong growth in open access journal
content, and the addition of the New England Journal of Medicine
(NEJM) digital distribution contract. As expected, journal print
subscriptions, advertising and reprints declined, as did print book
revenues. The integrations of Nurse Tim and Invistics, acquired
this year, are proceeding to plan.
Tax & Accounting: Nine-month revenues
increased 8% in constant currencies and 8% organically (pro forma
9M 2022: 9%), including a better-than-expected third quarter in
Europe. The North American business recorded 8% organic growth (9M
2022: 11%), driven by continued strong performance of our
cloud-based software suite, CCH Axcess. Outsourced professional
services grew well organically, but more moderately than in the
prior year. Tax & Accounting Europe recorded 7% organic growth
with good growth across all countries. Asia Pacific & Rest of
World grew 7% organically, with double-digit organic growth in
China.
Financial & Corporate Compliance:
Nine-month revenues increased 1% in constant currencies and 1%
organically (pro forma 9M 2022: 5%). Recurring revenues
increased 5% organically (pro forma 9M 2022: 8%), while
non-recurring revenues declined 7% (pro forma 9M 2022: 0%)
continuing the trend seen in the first half. Legal Services grew 1%
organically (pro forma 9M 2022: 4%), with robust growth in
recurring revenues largely offset by a 9% decline in Legal Services
transactional fees (pro forma 9M 2022: 2% decline) amidst the
ongoing downturn in M&A and IPO activity. Financial Services
revenues were flat on an organic basis (pro forma 9M 2022: 6%
growth), as good growth in recurring revenues was erased by a 6%
decline in transactional revenues (pro forma 9M 2022: 2% growth)
reflecting the downturn in lending volumes.
Legal & Regulatory: Nine-month revenues
declined 5% in constant currencies (mainly due to the disposal of
the French and Spanish legal publishing assets on November 30,
2022) but grew 4% on an organic basis (pro forma 9M 2022: 4%).
Legal & Regulatory Information Solutions grew 4% organically,
as 8% organic growth for our digital information solutions more
than offset print decline. Legal & Regulatory Software revenues
grew 5% organically, with robust growth in subscriptions and
transactional fees (ELM) partly offset by lower implementation
services revenues.
Corporate Performance & ESG: Nine-month
revenues increased 8% in constant currencies. On an organic basis,
revenues increased by 8% (pro forma 9M 2022: 11%), with
recurring revenues up 12% but non-recurring software licenses and
professional services revenues stable. Our EHS/ORM1 solutions
(Enablon) delivered 15% organic growth (9M 2022: 24%). The CCH
Tagetik corporate performance suite delivered 14% organic growth
(9M 2022: 14%), benefitting from demand for the ESG reporting and
global minimum tax reporting modules. Finance, Risk & Reporting
saw nine-month organic revenues decline in line with the first half
due to the conclusion of two implementations and the exit from
Russia and Belarus.
Corporate costs increased 14% in constant currencies and on an
organic basis in the first nine months, due to higher personnel
costs and personnel-related expenses coupled with higher spending
on various projects.
Cash Flow and Net Debt
Nine-month adjusted operating cash flow declined 11% in constant
currencies, reflecting unfavorable timing of working capital
movements as well as increased capital expenditures related to
product development. As a result, nine-month adjusted free cash
flow decreased 13% in constant currencies.
Cash flow used for dividends amounted to €440 million in the
first nine months. Total acquisition spending, net of cash acquired
and including transaction costs, was €60 million in the first nine
months, primarily relating to the acquisition of Nurse Tim in
January 2023 and Invistics in June 2023. In the first nine months,
€693 million of cash flow was deployed towards the 2023 share
repurchase program.
As of September 30, 2023, net debt stood at €2,684 million
(compared to €2,253 million at year-end 2022). Twelve months’
rolling net-debt-to-EBITDA was 1.6x (compared to 1.3x at year-end
2022).
Sustainability Update
Throughout 2023, we have continued to invest in programs
designed to attract, engage, retain, and develop talent globally.
Our employee turnover rate has improved despite global competition
for technology skills and other talent. Our annual compliance
training program was rolled out in September to all employees. As
of the end of October, 99% of employees globally have completed the
training program.
As reported previously, in early 2023, we submitted near-term
emissions reduction targets to the Science-Based Targets initiative
(SBTi) for validation. We also committed to reduce our emissions in
line with a pathway to limit global warming to 1.5C and reaching
net-zero by no later than 2050.
Our real estate rationalization program remains an important
effort to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.
Through the first nine months of 2023, this program achieved a 3%
organic reduction in our global office footprint (m2) compared to
year-end 2022. Meanwhile, our cloud migration and on-premise server
decommissioning program made significant progress in September and
October with over 1,000 servers eliminated year to date.
In preparation for compliance with the EU Corporate
Sustainability Reporting Directive and European Sustainability
Reporting Standards (ESRS), which become mandatory as of financial
year 2024, we have carried out an initial double materiality
assessment based on the ESRS.
Share Cancellation 2023
On August 31, 2023, we cancelled 9.0 million shares that were
held in treasury, as approved by shareholders at the AGM in May
2023. Following this cancellation, the number of issued ordinary
shares is 248,516,153. As of September 30, 2023, 242.9 million
shares were outstanding and 5.6 million shares were held in
treasury.
Share Buyback Program 2023 and 2024
In February 2023, we announced a 2023 share buyback program of
up to €1 billion. In the year to date, through October 30, 2023, we
have completed approximately 80% of this buyback, having
repurchased €803 million in shares (7.2 million shares at an
average price of €111.96). A third-party mandate is in place to
complete the final tranche of €197 million in the period starting
November 2, 2023, up to and including December 27, 2023.
For the upcoming year 2024, we have this week signed a
third-party mandate to execute up to €100 million in share buybacks
for the period starting January 2, 2024, up to and including
February 19, 2024.
We continue to believe this level of share buybacks leaves us
with ample headroom to support our dividend plans, to sustain
organic investment, and to make selective acquisitions. The share
repurchases may be suspended, discontinued, or modified at any
time.
Third party mandates are governed by the limits of relevant laws
and regulations (in particular Regulation (EU) 596/2014) and
Wolters Kluwer’s Articles of Association. Repurchased shares are
added to and held as treasury shares and are either cancelled or
held to meet future obligations arising from share-based incentive
plans. We remain committed to our anti-dilution policy which aims
to offset the dilution caused by our annual incentive share
issuance with share repurchases.
Full-Year 2023 Outlook
We reiterate our guidance for 2023 as shown in the table below.
We expect organic growth to pick up slightly in the fourth quarter
and we expect the adjusted operating margin to improve year-on-year
in the fourth quarter, resulting in a margin increase for the full
year. Adjusted free cash flow in constant currencies is expected to
increase in the fourth quarter.
Full-Year 2023 Outlook |
|
Performance indicators |
2023 Guidance |
2022 Actual |
Adjusted operating profit margin* |
26.1%-26.5% |
26.1% |
Adjusted free
cash flow** |
Around €1,200 million |
€1,220 million |
ROIC* |
16.5%-17.0% |
15.5% |
Diluted adjusted EPS growth** |
High-single-digit |
8% |
*Guidance for adjusted operating profit margin and ROIC is in
reporting currency and assumes an average EUR/USD rate in 2023 of
€/$1.08. **Guidance for adjusted free cash flow and diluted
adjusted EPS is in constant currencies (€/$ 1.05). Guidance
reflects share repurchases of €1 billion in 2023. |
|
If the current U.S. dollar rate persists, currency will have a
slightly negative effect on full-year 2023 results reported in
euros. In 2022, Wolters Kluwer generated over 60% of its revenues
and adjusted operating profit in North America. As a rule of thumb,
based on our 2022 currency profile, each 1 U.S. cent move in the
average €/$ exchange rate for the year causes an opposite change of
approximately 3 euro cents in diluted adjusted EPS2.
We include restructuring costs in adjusted operating profit. We
continue to expect 2023 restructuring costs to be in the range of
€10-€15 million (FY 2022: €6 million). We now expect adjusted net
financing costs3 in constant currencies to be €30-€35 million
(previous guidance: €40 million). We expect the benchmark tax rate
on adjusted pre-tax profits to be in the range of 23.0%-24.0% (FY
2022: 22.6%). Capital expenditure is expected to be at the upper
end of our normal guidance range of 5.0%-6.0% of total revenues (FY
2022: 5.4%). We continue to expect the full-year 2023 cash
conversion ratio to reduce to approximately 100% (FY 2022:
107%).
Our guidance assumes no additional significant change to the
scope of operations. We may make further acquisitions or disposals
which can be dilutive to margins, earnings, and ROIC in the near
term.
2023 outlook by division (new five-division
structure)
Health: we now expect organic growth to be in
line with or slightly better than in the prior year
(FY 2022: 5%); we continue to expect the full-year
adjusted operating profit margin to be stable (FY 2022: 29.9%).
Tax & Accounting: we continue to expect
organic growth to be lower than in the prior year (pro forma FY
2022: 8%) and the adjusted operating profit margin to decline
slightly compared to prior year (pro forma FY 2022: 32.6%).
Financial & Corporate Compliance: we now
expect full-year organic growth to be slower than in the prior year
(pro forma FY 2022: 4%), even as transactional trends improve in
the fourth quarter; we continue to expect the full-year adjusted
operating profit margin to improve slightly (pro forma FY 2022:
36.7%).
Legal & Regulatory: we continue to expect
organic growth to be in line with prior year (pro forma FY 2022:
4%) and the adjusted operating profit margin to increase for the
full year (pro forma FY 2022: 14.5%).
Corporate Performance & ESG: we now expect
organic growth to be in line with or to improve slightly from the
prior year (pro forma FY 2022: 12%) and the adjusted operating
profit margin to increase slightly for the full year (pro forma FY
2022: 12.4%).
Appendix 1a
Divisional Organic
Growth Rates – New Reporting Structure
|
9M 2023 |
Pro forma 9M 2022 |
Health |
6% |
5% |
Tax &
Accounting |
8% |
9% |
Financial
& Corporate Compliance |
1% |
5% |
Legal &
Regulatory |
4% |
4% |
Corporate Performance & ESG |
8% |
11% |
Total Wolters Kluwer |
5% |
6% |
In March 2023, a new division – Corporate Performance & ESG –
was created by bringing together four of our existing global
enterprise software businesses: CCH Tagetik and TeamMate (formerly
in Tax & Accounting), EHS/ORM (formerly part of Legal &
Regulatory, and FRR (formerly part of Governance, Risk &
Compliance). Governance, Risk & Compliance was renamed
Financial & Corporate Compliance and the Enterprise Legal
Management business (ELM) was transferred to Legal &
Regulatory. The Health division was not affected by this
organizational change. |
Appendix 1b
Divisional Organic
Growth Rates – Former Reporting Structure
|
Pro Forma 9M 2023 |
9M 2022 |
Health |
6% |
5% |
Tax &
Accounting |
8% |
9% |
Governance,
Risk & Compliance |
0% |
5% |
Legal & Regulatory |
6% |
5% |
Total Wolters Kluwer |
5% |
6% |
|
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in
information, software solutions and services for professionals in
healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance;
legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our
customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert
solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and
services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2022 annual revenues of €5.5 billion.
The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains
operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 20,900
people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den
Rijn, the Netherlands.
Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and
are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer
has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program.
The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S.
(WTKWY).
For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Financial Calendar
February 21, 2024 |
Full-Year 2023
Results |
March 6, 2024
|
Publication of
2023 Annual Report |
May 1, 2024 |
First-Quarter 2024
Trading Update |
May 8, 2024 |
Annual General
Meeting of Shareholders |
May 10, 2024 |
Ex-dividend date:
2023 final dividend |
May 13, 2024 |
Record date: 2023
final dividend |
June 4, 2024 |
Payment date: 2023
final dividend ordinary shares |
June 11, 2024 |
Payment date: 2023
final dividend ADRs |
July 31, 2024 |
Half-Year 2024
Results |
August 27, 2024 |
Ex-dividend date:
2024 interim dividend |
August 28, 2024 |
Record date: 2024
interim dividend |
September 19,
2024 |
Payment date: 2024
interim dividend |
September 26,
2024 |
Payment date: 2024
interim dividend ADRs |
October 30, 2024 |
Nine-Month 2024
Trading Update |
Media |
Investors/Analysts |
Paul Lyon |
Meg Geldens |
External
Communications |
Investor
Relations |
t +44
(0)7765-391-824 |
t +31
(0)172-641-407 |
press@wolterskluwer.com |
ir@wolterskluwer.com |
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 EHS/ORM = environmental, health & safety and operational
risk management.2 This rule of thumb excludes the impact of
exchange rate movements on intercompany balances, which is
accounted for in adjusted net financing costs in reported
currencies and determined based on period-end spot rates and
balances.3 Adjusted net financing costs include lease interest
charges. Guidance for adjusted net financing costs in constant
currencies excludes the impact of exchange rate movements on
currency hedging and intercompany balances.
- 2023.11.01 Wolters Kluwer Nine-Month 2023 Trading Update
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