RELX vs WPP
Relx PLC and WPP PLC, side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in GBP, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | RELX | WPP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £9.6B | £13.6B |
| Net income | £2.1B | £-215.0M |
| Gross margin | 66.3% | 15.8% |
| Net margin | 21.7% | −1.3% |
| Return on equity | 70.6% | −7.1% |
| Diluted EPS | £1.12 | −£0.20 |
| Dividend / share | · | £0.32 |
| Payout ratio | · | · |
| Free cash flow | £2.8B | £633.0M |
| Equity | £2.4B | £2.5B |
| Net debt / equity | 3.02× | 0.88× |
| Current ratio | 0.49× | 0.89× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 6.2% | 2.5% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 11.0% | · |
WPP bills 1.4× the revenue of RELX, and WPP closed the last reported year at a loss.
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | RELX | WPP |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | £9.6B | £13.6B |
| FY2024 | £9.4B | £14.7B |
| FY2023 | £9.2B | £14.8B |
| FY2022 | £8.6B | £14.4B |
| FY2021 | £7.2B | £12.8B |
| FY2020 | £7.1B | £12.0B |
| FY2019 | £7.9B | £13.2B |
| FY2018 | £7.5B | £13.0B |
| FY2017 | £7.3B | £13.1B |
| FY2016 | £6.9B | £14.9B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | RELX | WPP |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | £2.1B | £-215.0M |
| FY2024 | £1.9B | £542.0M |
| FY2023 | £1.8B | £110.0M |
| FY2022 | £1.6B | £683.0M |
| FY2021 | £1.5B | £637.7M |
| FY2020 | £1.2B | £-3.0B |
| FY2019 | £1.5B | £844.1M |
| FY2018 | £1.4B | £824.6M |
| FY2017 | £1.6B | £2.0B |
| FY2016 | £1.1B | £1.4B |
11 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −£3,960,000,000 | WPP |
| FY2024 | −£5,307,000,000 | WPP |
| FY2023 | −£5,684,000,000 | WPP |
| FY2022 | −£5,876,000,000 | WPP |
| FY2021 | −£5,557,100,000 | WPP |
| FY2020 | −£4,892,800,000 | WPP |
| FY2019 | −£5,360,100,000 | WPP |
| FY2018 | −£5,554,700,000 | WPP |
| FY2017 | −£5,805,400,000 | WPP |
| FY2016 | −£7,998,300,000 | WPP |
| FY2015 | −£6,264,200,000 | WPP |
WPP has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 11 fiscal years. The gap has narrowed since the earliest year compared.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
11 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +22.9 pp | RELX |
| FY2024 | +16.3 pp | RELX |
| FY2023 | +18.2 pp | RELX |
| FY2022 | +13.7 pp | RELX |
| FY2021 | +14.7 pp | RELX |
| FY2020 | +41.2 pp | RELX |
| FY2019 | +12.1 pp | RELX |
| FY2018 | +12.2 pp | RELX |
| FY2017 | +6.9 pp | RELX |
| FY2016 | +6.7 pp | RELX |
| FY2015 | +6.8 pp | RELX |
RELX has kept the higher net margin in every one of these 11 fiscal years.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
WPP's net margin has been more volatile than RELX's over the 11 comparable fiscal years — 9.8 percentage points of standard deviation against 1.8.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
RELX led in net margin in every one of the 11 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
WPP's return on equity has been more volatile than RELX's over the 11 comparable fiscal years — 18.4 percentage points of standard deviation against 8.8.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
RELX led in return on equity in every one of the 11 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
11 of 11 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.