| Share capital and shares held in treasury |
23 Share capital and shares held in treasury Accounting policy Ordinary shares are classified as equity. Incremental costs directly attributable to the issue of ordinary shares are recognised as a deduction from equity, net of any tax effects. Share premium is the excess of the consideration received over the nominal value of the shares issued. Shares of RELX PLC that are repurchased and not cancelled are classified as shares held in treasury. The consideration paid, including directly attributable costs, is recognised as a deduction from equity. Shares of RELX PLC that are purchased by the Employee Benefit Trust are also classified as shares held in treasury, with the cost recognised as a deduction from equity. |
RELX PLC | | | | | | | | | CALLED UP SHARE CAPITAL – ORDINARY SHARES OF UK 14 ⁵¹/₁₁₆ PENCE EACH ALLOTTED, ISSUED AND FULLY PAID | | No. of shares | | 2024
GBPm | | No. of shares | | 2025
GBPm | At start of year | | 1,906,907,605 | | 275 | | 1,880,844,719 | | 272 | Issue of ordinary shares | | 2,937,114 | | - | | 2,215,646 | | - | Cancellation of ordinary shares | | (29,000,000) | | (3) | | (55,000,000) | | (8) | At end of year | | 1,880,844,719 | | 272 | | 1,828,060,365 | | 264 |
| | | | | | | | | NUMBER OF ORDINARY SHARES | | Year ended 31 December | | | 2024
Shares in
issue net of
treasury
shares*
(millions) | | Shares in
issue
(millions) | | Treasury
shares
(millions) | | 2025
Shares in
issue net of
treasury
shares*
(millions) | At start of year | | 1,881.5 | | 1,880.8 | | (24.9) | | 1,855.9 | Issue of ordinary shares | | 2.9 | | 2.2 | | - | | 2.2 | Repurchase of ordinary shares | | (28.9) | | - | | (39.5) | | (39.5) | Net release of shares by the employee benefit trust | | 0.4 | | - | | 0.4 | | 0.4 | Cancellation of ordinary shares | | - | | (55.0) | | 55.0 | | - | At end of year | | 1,855.9 | | 1,828.1 | | (9.0) | | 1,819.1 |
* | At 31 December 2025 the total shares in issue net of treasury shares is 1,819,061,446 (2024: 1,855,941,895). |
All of the ordinary shares rank equally with respect to voting rights and rights to receive dividends, except for the shares held in treasury, which do not attract voting or dividend rights. There are no restrictions on the rights to transfer shares. The issue of ordinary shares in the year relates to the exercise of share options. During the year, RELX PLC repurchased 39.5m (2024: 28.9m; 2023: 30.9m) ordinary shares for an average price of 3,797p.
Total consideration for these repurchased shares was £1,500m (2024: £1,000m; 2023: £800m). On 5 December 2025, RELX PLC announced a non-discretionary programme to repurchase further ordinary shares up to the value of £250m. At 31 December 2025, an accrual of £250m was recognised in respect of this non-discretionary commitment. A further 8.8m RELX PLC ordinary shares have been repurchased in January and February 2026 under this programme. The Employee Benefit Trust purchases RELX PLC shares which, at the trustees’ discretion, can be used in respect of the exercise of share options and to meet commitments under conditional share awards. During the year, the Employee Benefit Trust purchased 1.9m shares for a total cost of £76m (2024: £75m; 2023: £50m). At 31 December 2025, shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust were £153m (2024: £139m; 2023: £117m) at cost. During 2025, 55m (2024: 29m) ordinary shares held in treasury were cancelled. At 31 December 2025, RELX PLC shares held in treasury related to 4,891,047 (2024: 5,295,154; 2023: 5,663,529) ordinary shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust; and 4,107,872 (2024: 19,607,670; 2023: 19,712,193) ordinary shares held by the parent company.
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