Wolters Kluwer issues Q1 Trading Update, with Legal & Regulatory revenues up 7% organically

Global News

05
May
2023

Editor

Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information, software solutions and services, today released its first-quarter 2023 trading update.

Highlights include:

• First-quarter revenues up 5% in constant currencies and up 6% organically.
• Recurring revenues (82%) up 7% organically; non-recurring revenues up 2% organically.
• Digital & services revenues (94%) grew 7% organically; print revenues declined 5% organically.
• Expert solutions revenues (58%) grew 7% organically. 

Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chair of the Executive Board, commented: “We have seen a good start to the year, with performance broadly as expected. Product investment has been sustained at high levels as we continue to pursue opportunities for organic growth while enhancing our solutions for customers. The creation of a fifth division, Corporate Performance & ESG, was implemented in March and our teams around the world are focused on executing on our strategy. We are confident in reiterating our guidance for full-year 2023.” 

With regard to the company’s legal business, revenues for the Legal & Regulatory (LR) division grew 7% organically (1Q 2022: 6%). Legal & Regulatory Information Solutions (74% of divisional revenues) delivered stable 3% organic growth (1Q 2022: 3%), as digital and services subscriptions increased 8% organically (1Q 2022: 7%), more than compensating for a decline in training and other non-recurring products. The Enablon EHS/ORM[1] platform delivered double-digit organic growth in both recurring cloud subscriptions and non-recurring software license fees in the quarter. In constant currencies, divisional revenues declined 3% due to the divestment on November 30, 2022, of legal publishing assets in France and Spain.

In February Wolters Kluwer moved to align its Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) Solutions business with its LR division, bringing the company’s legal software assets closer together to enhance product innovation. 

Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions previously sat within the company’s GRC division, which was also home to financial technology business lines. The move to strategically align Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions with the Legal & Regulatory division, follows the creation of a new division, Corporate Performance & ESG (CP & ESG), by the Dutch technology company. The new division brings together its global software businesses that focus on corporate performance management, environmental health and safety (EHS), and risk. Wolters Kluwer Enablon, which previously sat within the LR division, will move to CP & ESG.

The LR division is globally run by CEO Martin O’Malley, who joined Wolters Kluwer in 2017 as the Managing Director for the Benelux region of Legal & Regulatory. Prior to joining Wolters Kluwer, O’Malley spent more than 20 years in leadership roles across different global groups, including Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Product Development, Marketing and Content.