Wolters Kluwer 2025 Half-Year Report
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY) reported strong H1 2025 results with revenues of €3,052 million, up 6% in constant currencies and 5% organically. The company demonstrated robust performance in recurring revenues, which grew 7% organically and represent 84% of total revenue. Expert solutions (59% of total) grew 6% organically, while recurring cloud software (21% of total) saw 15% organic growth.
The adjusted operating profit reached €865 million, up 14% in constant currencies, with margins improving by 190 basis points. The company updated its FY2025 guidance, expecting mid to high-single-digit growth in diluted adjusted EPS in constant currencies. Notably, Wolters Kluwer made significant progress integrating generative AI capabilities across its platforms and is investing in agentic AI solutions.
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY) ha riportato risultati solidi nel primo semestre 2025 con ricavi pari a 3.052 milioni di €, in crescita del 6% a valute costanti e del 5% su base organica. L'azienda ha mostrato una performance robusta nei ricavi ricorrenti, che sono cresciuti del 7% organicamente e rappresentano l'84% del totale dei ricavi. Le soluzioni esperte (59% del totale) sono aumentate del 6% organicamente, mentre il software cloud ricorrente (21% del totale) ha registrato una crescita organica del 15%.
L'utile operativo rettificato ha raggiunto 865 milioni di €, in aumento del 14% a valute costanti, con margini migliorati di 190 punti base. L'azienda ha aggiornato le previsioni per l'intero anno 2025, prevedendo una crescita a cifra singola medio-alta dell'utile diluito rettificato per azione a valute costanti. Di rilievo, Wolters Kluwer ha fatto notevoli progressi nell'integrazione delle capacità di intelligenza artificiale generativa nelle sue piattaforme e sta investendo in soluzioni di intelligenza artificiale agentica.
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY) reportó sólidos resultados en el primer semestre de 2025 con ingresos de 3.052 millones de €, un aumento del 6% en monedas constantes y del 5% orgánicamente. La compañía mostró un desempeño robusto en ingresos recurrentes, que crecieron un 7% orgánicamente y representan el 84% del total de ingresos. Las soluciones expertas (59% del total) crecieron un 6% orgánicamente, mientras que el software en la nube recurrente (21% del total) experimentó un crecimiento orgánico del 15%.
El beneficio operativo ajustado alcanzó los 865 millones de €, un aumento del 14% en monedas constantes, con márgenes mejorados en 190 puntos básicos. La compañía actualizó sus previsiones para el año fiscal 2025, esperando un crecimiento de un dígito medio a alto en el BPA ajustado diluido en monedas constantes. Cabe destacar que Wolters Kluwer ha avanzado significativamente en la integración de capacidades de inteligencia artificial generativa en sus plataformas y está invirtiendo en soluciones de inteligencia artificial agentiva.
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY)는 2025년 상반기에 강력한 실적을 보고했으며, 매출은 30억 5,200만 유로로 환율 변동을 제외한 기준에서 6%, 유기적으로는 5% 증가했습니다. 회사는 반복 매출에서 견고한 성과를 보였으며, 이는 유기적으로 7% 성장하여 전체 매출의 84%를 차지합니다. 전문가 솔루션(전체의 59%)은 유기적으로 6% 성장했으며, 반복 클라우드 소프트웨어(전체의 21%)는 15%의 유기적 성장을 기록했습니다.
조정 영업이익은 8억 6,500만 유로에 달해 환율 변동을 제외한 기준에서 14% 증가했으며, 마진은 190 베이시스 포인트 개선되었습니다. 회사는 2025 회계연도 가이던스를 업데이트하여 환율 변동을 제외한 기준에서 희석 조정 주당순이익이 중고 단위 숫자 성장할 것으로 예상하고 있습니다. 특히, Wolters Kluwer는 생성 AI 기능을 자사 플랫폼 전반에 걸쳐 통합하는 데 큰 진전을 이루었으며, 에이전트형 AI 솔루션에 투자하고 있습니다.
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY) a publié de solides résultats pour le premier semestre 2025 avec un chiffre d'affaires de 3 052 millions d'euros, en hausse de 6 % en devises constantes et de 5 % en croissance organique. L'entreprise a démontré une performance robuste dans les revenus récurrents, qui ont augmenté de 7 % en organique et représentent 84 % du chiffre d'affaires total. Les solutions expertes (59 % du total) ont progressé de 6 % en organique, tandis que le logiciel cloud récurrent (21 % du total) a connu une croissance organique de 15 %.
Le résultat d'exploitation ajusté a atteint 865 millions d'euros, en hausse de 14 % en devises constantes, avec une amélioration des marges de 190 points de base. L'entreprise a mis à jour ses prévisions pour l'exercice 2025, anticipant une croissance à un chiffre moyen à élevé du BPA ajusté dilué en devises constantes. Notamment, Wolters Kluwer a réalisé des progrès significatifs dans l'intégration des capacités d'IA générative sur ses plateformes et investit dans des solutions d'IA agentique.
Wolters Kluwer (OTC:WTKWY) meldete starke Ergebnisse für das erste Halbjahr 2025 mit einem Umsatz von 3.052 Millionen €, was einem Anstieg von 6 % in konstanten Währungen und 5 % organisch entspricht. Das Unternehmen zeigte eine robuste Entwicklung bei den wiederkehrenden Umsätzen, die organisch um 7 % wuchsen und 84 % des Gesamtumsatzes ausmachen. Die Expertenlösungen (59 % des Gesamtumsatzes) wuchsen organisch um 6 %, während die wiederkehrende Cloud-Software (21 % des Gesamtumsatzes) ein organisches Wachstum von 15 % verzeichnete.
Der bereinigte Betriebsgewinn erreichte 865 Millionen €, ein Anstieg von 14 % in konstanten Währungen, mit einer Margenverbesserung um 190 Basispunkte. Das Unternehmen hat seine Prognose für das Geschäftsjahr 2025 aktualisiert und erwartet ein Wachstum des verwässerten bereinigten Gewinns je Aktie in konstanten Währungen im mittleren bis hohen einstelligen Bereich. Bemerkenswert ist, dass Wolters Kluwer bedeutende Fortschritte bei der Integration generativer KI-Fähigkeiten in seine Plattformen gemacht hat und in agentenbasierte KI-Lösungen investiert.
- Recurring revenues (84% of total) grew 7% organically
- Adjusted operating profit increased 14% to €865 million in constant currencies
- Operating profit margin improved by 190 basis points
- Recurring cloud software grew 15% organically
- Diluted adjusted EPS up 14% to €2.70 in constant currencies
- Adjusted free cash flow increased 13% to €505 million
- Non-recurring revenues declined 4% organically
- Net debt increased 46% to €4,274 million
- Net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio increased to 2.1x from 1.6x
- Adverse USD exchange rate movement impacting financial outlook
- Plans to divest Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting unit
Wolters Kluwer 2025 Half-Year Report
Alphen aan den Rijn, July 30, 2025 – Wolters Kluwer, a global leader in professional information solutions, software and services, today releases its half-year 2025 results.
Highlights
- Guidance for 2025 updated. (See page 2).
- Revenues
€3,052 million , up6% in constant currencies and up5% organically.
- Recurring revenues (
84% of total) grew7% organically; non-recurring declined4% organically. - Expert solutions (
59% of total) grew6% organically. - Recurring cloud software (
21% of total) grew15% organically.- Adjusted operating profit
€865 million , up14% in constant currencies.
- Adjusted operating profit
- Margin rose 190 basis points, reflecting mix shift and cost efficiencies.
- Diluted adjusted EPS
€2.70 , up14% in constant currencies. - Adjusted free cash flow
€505 million , up13% in constant currencies. - Net-debt-to-EBITDA of 2.1x; Return on invested capital (ROIC) of
18.5% . - Interim dividend
€0.93 per share, set at40% of prior year total dividend. - On track to complete 2025 share buyback of up to
€1 billion . - Financial & Corporate Compliance division to divest Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting unit.
- Diluted adjusted EPS
Interim Report of the Executive Board
Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chair of the Executive Board, commented: “We delivered
Key Figures – Six months ended June 30 | |||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG |
Business performance – benchmark figures | |||||
Revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit | 865 | 765 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit margin | |||||
Adjusted net profit | 631 | 566 | + | + | |
Diluted adjusted EPS (€) | 2.70 | 2.36 | + | + | |
Adjusted free cash flow | 505 | 445 | + | + | |
Net debt | 4,274 | 2,932 | + | ||
ROIC | |||||
IFRS reported results | |||||
Revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | ||
Operating profit | 765 | 690 | + | ||
Profit for the period | 553 | 509 | + | ||
Diluted EPS (€) | 2.36 | 2.12 | + | ||
Net cash from operating activities | 670 | 622 | + | ||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Full-Year 2025 Outlook
We have updated our guidance for full-year 2025. We continue to expect full-year 2025 organic growth to be broadly in line with the prior year. Despite the adverse USD exchange rate movement, the absence of last year’s pension gain, and additional restructuring, we now expect the adjusted operating profit margin in reported currency to be near the top end of our range, supported by most divisions. We expect diluted adjusted EPS to grow in mid- to high-single digits in constant currencies. Due to the USD exchange rate movement, we now expect ROIC in reported currency to be around
Full-Year 2025 Outlook | ||||
Performance indicators | 2025 Guidance | Previous Guidance | 2024 Actual | |
Adjusted operating profit margin* | ||||
Adjusted free cash flow** | ||||
ROIC* | ± | |||
Diluted adjusted EPS growth** | Mid- to high-single-digit growth | Mid-single-digit | ||
*Guidance for adjusted operating profit margin and ROIC is in reporting currency and assumes an average EUR/USD rate in 2025 of €/ |
In 2024, Wolters Kluwer generated over
Restructuring costs are included in adjusted operating profit. We now expect 2025 restructuring costs to be in the range of
Our guidance assumes no additional significant change to the scope of operations, apart from acquisitions or divestitures already completed. We may make further acquisitions or disposals which can be dilutive to margins, earnings, and ROIC in the near term.
2025 outlook by division
Our guidance for full-year 2025 organic revenue growth by division is as follows:
Health: we continue to expect FY 2025 organic growth to be in line with or slightly below prior year (FY 2024:
Tax & Accounting: we continue to expect FY 2025 organic growth to be in line with prior year (FY 2024:
Financial & Corporate Compliance: we expect FY 2025 organic growth to be below prior year (FY 2024:
Legal Regulatory: we continue to expect FY 2025 organic growth to be in line with prior year (FY 2024:
Corporate Performance & ESG: we continue to expect FY 2025 organic growth to be above prior year (FY 2024:
Progress against 2025-2027 strategic plan
In February 2025, we announced our 2025-2027 strategic plan, which sets out three priorities:
- Scale expert solutions: we will continue to grow our expert solutions, increasing penetration and promoting cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) revenue models. We are focused on embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics into our solutions and pursuing ways to leverage our content and data for customers.
- Accelerate growth: we intend to pursue high-growth adjacencies with a build, buy, or partner approach. We will focus on accelerating the pace of innovation to advance customer productivity and outcomes while further developing partnerships to extend our market reach.
- Evolve capabilities: we intend to elevate our go-to-market capabilities and enhance sales effectiveness. We intend to embrace new technologies to drive operational performance and to continue fostering a great place to work and best-in-class sustainability performance.
In the first half of 2025, we made progress on all fronts. Expert solutions accounted for
Advancing cloud-based solutions. Recurring cloud software revenues accounted for
Integrating generative and agentic AI into workflows. We made significant progress in rolling out generative AI features across both expert solutions and information platforms, building on more than 10 years of experience in embedding AI into our products. A significant majority of our revenues today are AI-enabled, with our major product suites now also offering generative AI features. Generative AI capabilities enhance our customers’ workflows, providing increased productivity and improved outcomes, while also supporting retention and upsell rates, attracting new customers, and keeping our solutions competitive. Solutions such as VitalLaw AI and InView Legal are supporting attorneys with GenAI-enabled search, summarization, drafting, and content creation. And, we will soon be introducing a new generative AI version of UpToDate that leverages clinical intelligence to understand complex medical queries, provide transparent answers, and inform diagnostic decisions.
We have also been making significant investments in agentic AI capabilities and have several agentic solutions in development or in customer beta programs. For example, in Tax & Accounting, we are integrating AI agents into our cloud-based solution, CCH Axcess, to automate complex workflows, enhance decision-making, and deliver productivity gains to our clients. In Corporate Performance and ESG, we launched TeamMate+ AI Editor, an agentic writing engine that helps internal auditors improve the quality of documentation. Underpinning these developments is our proprietary, patent-pending AI-Enablement Platform designed to support rapid deployment of agentic solutions.
Extending into higher-growth market segments. Secondly, we made important investments in higher-growth adjacent markets. The acquisitions of Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. (RASi) in Financial & Corporate Compliance and Brightflag in Legal & Regulatory augment our organic efforts to build out our positions in the mid-sized corporate market for legal services and legal spend management solutions. We also added partnerships to extend our reach: Health is partnering with Microsoft to integrate UpToDate with Dragon Copilot for healthcare workflows. In Corporate Performance & ESG, Enablon established a partnership with Enterprise Health to enhance our EHS offerings to support organizations in delivering safer, healthier workplaces.
Investing to evolve our go-to-market. We made progress on upgrading systems to further enhance sales effectiveness and customer support. For example, in Tax & Accounting, we have enhanced our e-commerce channels to address the growing share of firms preferring digital renewals.
Financial policy, capital allocation, net debt, and liquidity
We use our 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.
As we execute on our strategic priorities, we aim to maintain leverage in the range of 1.5x to 2.5x, providing a strong and secure financial foundation for our business. We may temporarily deviate from this range, but our high proportion of recurring revenues and resilient free cash flows give us the ability to rapidly return to this range.
Dividend policy and interim dividend 2025
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 ratio3 can therefore vary from year to year. Proposed annual increases in the dividend per share consider our financial performance, market conditions, and our need for financial flexibility. The policy takes into account 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.
The interim dividend for 2025 has been set at
Progress on 2025 share buyback
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.
On February 26, 2025, we announced our intention to repurchase shares for up to
For the period July 31, 2025, up to and including November 3, 2025, we have signed a third-party mandate to execute approximately
Assuming global economic conditions do not deteriorate substantially, we 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 repurchase program may be suspended, discontinued, or modified at any time.
Share cancellation 2025
At the 2025 Annual General Meeting on May 15, 2025, 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
As of July 29, 2025, Wolters Kluwer held 8.0 million shares in treasury (equivalent to approximately
Net debt, leverage, credit facility, and liquidity position
Net debt on June 30, 2025, was
The net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio based on twelve months’ rolling EBITDA to June 30, 2025, increased to 2.1x (December 31, 2024: 1.6x).
Gross debt of
As of June 30, 2025, we had drawn
Half-Year 2025 Results
Benchmark figures
Group revenues were
Revenues from North America accounted for
Adjusted operating profit was
Restructuring expenses, which are included in adjusted operating profit, were
Adjusted net financing costs increased to
Adjusted profit before tax was
Adjusted net profit was
Diluted adjusted EPS was
IFRS reported figures
Reported operating profit increased
Reported financing results amounted to a net cost of
As a result, net profit for the period increased
Cash flow
Adjusted operating cash flow was
Net interest paid, excluding lease interest paid, increased to
Total acquisition spending, net of cash acquired and including transaction costs, was
Dividends paid amounted to
Sustainability developments
In 2025, we are focused on programs designed to support employee engagement, inclusion, belonging, and general well-being, with a particular emphasis on initiatives that assist employees in developing their skills, strengthen their workplace connections, and reinforce their alignment with our mission and purpose. Our workforce turnover rate5 was
Our global real estate and facilities management team continued executing on plans to deliver a further reduction in our office footprint while at the same time improving workspaces for employees. As of June 30, 2025, our real estate footprint measured in square meters was reduced by
We have started using a supplier sustainability assessment tool to enhance our insights into sustainability risks across our supply chain and support engagement with vendors on decarbonization and labor practices. In April 2025, the SBTi validated our net-zero targets, which include a
Our ESG risk rating from Morningstar Sustainalytics stands at 12.2 currently, and we remain among the top
Divisional Review
Group-wide organic revenue growth was
Divisional Summary – Six months ended June 30 | |||||||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | ||||||
Revenues | |||||||||||
Health | 788 | 771 | + | + | + | ||||||
Tax & Accounting | 837 | 775 | + | + | + | ||||||
Financial & Corporate Compliance2 | 635 | 600 | + | + | + | ||||||
Legal & Regulatory | 487 | 458 | + | + | + | ||||||
Corporate Performance & ESG2 | 305 | 287 | + | + | + | ||||||
Total revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | + | + | ||||||
Adjusted operating profit | |||||||||||
Health | 260 | 223 | + | + | + | ||||||
Tax & Accounting | 308 | 271 | + | + | + | ||||||
Financial & Corporate Compliance2 | 211 | 207 | + | + | - | ||||||
Legal & Regulatory | 98 | 78 | + | + | + | ||||||
Corporate Performance & ESG2 | 18 | 18 | + | + | + | ||||||
Corporate | (30) | (32) | - | - | - | ||||||
Total adjusted operating profit | 865 | 765 | + | + | + | ||||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | |||||||||||
Health | |||||||||||
Tax & Accounting | |||||||||||
Financial & Corporate Compliance2 | |||||||||||
Legal & Regulatory | |||||||||||
Corporate Performance & ESG2 | |||||||||||
Total adjusted operating profit margin | |||||||||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Total recurring revenues, which include subscriptions and other renewing revenue streams, accounted for
Revenues by Type – Six months ended June 30 | |||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | ||
Digital and service subscription | 2,346 | 2,177 | + | + | + | ||
Print subscription | 61 | 61 | |||||
Other recurring | 149 | 143 | + | + | + | ||
Total recurring revenues | 2,556 | 2,381 | + | + | + | ||
Transactional - FCC | 176 | 168 | + | + | + | ||
Transactional - LR | 51 | 48 | + | + | + | ||
Print books | 49 | 56 | - | - | - | ||
Other non-recurring | 220 | 238 | - | - | - | ||
Total non-recurring revenues | 496 | 510 | - | - | - | ||
Total revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | + | + | ||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Health
- Organic growth
4% , led by Clinical Solutions up6% organically. - Learning, Research & Practice grew
1% organically (+5% ex-print) against a challenging comparable. - Margin mainly reflects ongoing mix shift, expense management and efficiency programs.
Health – Six months ended June 30 | ||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Revenues | 788 | 771 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit | 260 | 223 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||
Operating profit | 242 | 203 | + | |||
Net capital expenditure | 17 | 21 | ||||
Ultimo FTEs | 3,536 | 3,434 | ||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Wolters Kluwer Health revenues increased
Adjusted operating profit increased
Clinical Solutions (
Health Learning, Research & Practice (
Tax & Accounting
- Organic growth
6% , with good performance in both North America and Europe. - Recurring revenues (
92% of division) up7% organically, with recurring cloud software up17% . - Margin increase reflects expense management partly offset by increased investment.
Tax & Accounting – Six months ended June 30 | ||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Revenues | 837 | 775 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit | 308 | 271 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||
Operating profit | 294 | 263 | + | |||
Net capital expenditure | 35 | 34 | ||||
Ultimo FTEs | 6,928 | 6,988 | ||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Tax & Accounting revenues increased
Adjusted operating profit increased
Tax & Accounting North America (
Tax & Accounting Europe (
Tax & Accounting Asia Pacific & Rest of World (
Financial & Corporate Compliance
- Organic growth
4% , supported by6% growth in recurring revenues. - Trends in transactional and other non-recurring revenues (
32% of division total) deteriorated. - Margin decline reflects increased investment partly offset by expense management.
Financial & Corporate Compliance – Six months ended June 30 | |||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG |
Revenues | 635 | 600 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit | 211 | 207 | + | + | - |
Adjusted operating profit margin | |||||
Operating profit | 186 | 189 | - | ||
Net capital expenditure | 34 | 34 | |||
Ultimo FTEs | 4,099 | 3,810 | |||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Financial & Corporate Compliance revenues increased
Adjusted operating profit increased
In Legal Services (
In Financial Services (
On July 21, 2025, we announced an agreement to divest the Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting unit to Regnology Group GmbH (Regnology) for an enterprise value of approximately
Legal & Regulatory
- Organic growth
6% , led by7% growth in digital information solutions. - Software businesses grew
5% organically. - Margin increase reflects mix shift, expense management and efficiency programs.
Legal & Regulatory – Six months ended June 30 | ||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Revenues | 487 | 458 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit | 98 | 78 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||
Operating profit | 71 | 63 | + | |||
Net capital expenditure | 25 | 26 | ||||
Ultimo FTEs | 4,357 | 4,309 | ||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Legal & Regulatory revenues increased
Adjusted operating profit increased
Legal & Regulatory Information Solutions (
Legal & Regulatory Software (
Corporate Performance & ESG
- Organic revenue growth
7% , with recurring cloud software revenues up17% . - Recurring revenues (
75% of division) grew14% organically, while non-recurring declined10% . - Margin reflects sustained investment in product development, sales and marketing.
Corporate Performance & ESG – Six months ended June 30 | ||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Revenues | 305 | 287 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit | 18 | 18 | + | + | + | |
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||
Operating profit | 2 | 4 | - | |||
Net capital expenditure | 36 | 32 | ||||
Ultimo FTEs | 2,405 | 2,445 | ||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Corporate Performance & ESG revenues increased
Adjusted operating profit rose
In EHS & ESG, (
Our Corporate Performance, Corporate Tax, and Audit & Assurance (
Corporate
Net corporate expenses were reduced by
Corporate – Six months ended June 30 | ||||||
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Adjusted operating profit | (30) | (32) | - | - | - | |
Operating profit | (30) | (32) | - | |||
Net capital expenditure | 0 | 0 | ||||
Ultimo FTEs | 142 | 141 | ||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Risk Management
In our 2024 Annual Report, the company described certain risk categories that could have a material adverse effect on its operations and financial position. Those risk categories are deemed to be incorporated and repeated in this report by reference. In the company’s view, the nature and potential impact of these risk categories on the business are not materially different for the second half of 2025.
Statement by the Executive Board
The Executive Board is responsible for the preparation of the 2025 Half-Year Report, which includes the Interim Report of the Executive Board and the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2025. The condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2025, are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union. The responsibility of the Executive Board includes selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
The Interim Report of the Executive Board endeavors to present a fair review of the situation of the business at the balance sheet date and of the state of affairs in the half-year under review. Such an overview contains a selection of some of the main developments in the first six months of the financial year and can never be exhaustive. This Interim Report also contains the current expectations of the Executive Board for the second half of the financial year. With respect to these expectations, reference is made to the disclaimer about forward-looking statements on page 37 of this half-year report. As required by provision 5:25d (2)(c) of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht) and on the basis of the foregoing, the Executive Board confirms that to its knowledge:
- The condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2025, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position, and profit or loss of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
- The Interim Report of the Executive Board includes a fair overview of the situation at the balance sheet date, the course of affairs during the first six months of the financial year of the company, and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, and the reasonably to be expected course of affairs for the second half of 2025 as well as an indication of important events that have occurred during the six months ended June 30, 2025, and their impact on the condensed consolidated interim financial statements, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the second half of 2025, and also includes the major related parties transactions entered into during the six months ended June 30, 2025.
Alphen aan den Rijn, July 29, 2025
Executive Board
N. McKinstry, CEO and Chair of the Executive Board
S. Caywood, Member of the Executive Board
K. B. Entricken, CFO and Member of the Executive Board
The content of this Half-Year Report has not been audited or reviewed by an independent external auditor.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months
ended June 30, 2025, and 2024
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of profit or loss
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of cash flows
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of financial position
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of the changes in total equity
Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of profit or loss
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | Note | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | ||
Revenues | 5 | 3,052 | 2,891 |
Cost of revenues | (818) | (799) | |
Gross profit | 2,234 | 2,092 | |
Sales costs | (473) | (472) | |
General and administrative costs | (977) | (929) | |
Total operating expenses | (1,450) | (1,401) | |
Other gains and (losses) | (19) | (1) | |
Operating profit | 765 | 690 | |
Financing results | (39) | (26) | |
Share of profit of equity-accounted associates, net of tax | 1 | 1 | |
Profit before tax | 727 | 665 | |
Income tax expense | (174) | (156) | |
Profit for the period | 553 | 509 | |
Attributable to: | |||
| 553 | 509 | |
| 0 | 0 | |
Profit for the period | 553 | 509 | |
Earnings per share (EPS) (€) | |||
Basic EPS | 2.37 | 2.13 | |
Diluted EPS | 2.36 | 2.12 | |
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |||
2025 | 2024 | |||
Comprehensive income: | ||||
Profit for the period | 553 | 509 | ||
Other comprehensive income: | ||||
Items that are or may be reclassified subsequently to the statement of profit or loss: | ||||
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations | (394) | 121 | ||
Net gains/(losses) on hedges of net investments | 30 | (9) | ||
Net gains/(losses) on cash flow hedges | (2) | (2) | ||
Items that will not be reclassified to the statement of profit or loss: | ||||
Remeasurements on defined benefit plans | 8 | 4 | ||
Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the period, before tax | (358) | 114 | ||
Income tax on other comprehensive income | 2 | (1) | ||
Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the period, net of tax | (356) | 113 | ||
Total comprehensive income for the period | 197 | 622 | ||
Attributable to: | ||||
| 197 | 622 | ||
| 0 | 0 | ||
Total | 197 | 622 |
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of cash flows
(in millions of euros) | Note | Six months ended June 30 | ||||
2025 | 2024 | |||||
Cash flows from operating activities | ||||||
Profit for the period | 553 | 509 | ||||
Adjustments for: | ||||||
Income tax expense | 174 | 156 | ||||
Share of profit of equity-accounted associates, net of tax | (1) | (1) | ||||
Financing results | 39 | 26 | ||||
Amortization, impairment, and depreciation | 244 | 232 | ||||
Book (profit)/loss on disposal of operations and non-current assets | 0 | – | ||||
Changes in employee benefit provisions | 3 | 1 | ||||
Additions to and releases from provisions | 2 | 1 | ||||
Appropriation of provisions | (3) | (4) | ||||
Share-based payments | 15 | 14 | ||||
Autonomous movements in working capital | (110) | (117) | ||||
Other adjustments | 2 | 3 | ||||
Total adjustments | 365 | 311 | ||||
Interest paid and received (including the interest portion of lease payments) | (56) | (27) | ||||
Paid income tax | (192) | (171) | ||||
Net cash from operating activities | 670 | 622 | ||||
Cash flows from investing activities | ||||||
Net capital expenditure | (147) | (147) | ||||
Acquisition spending, net of cash acquired | 7 | (822) | (1) | |||
Receipts from divestments, net of cash disposed | 7 | 0 | ‒ | |||
Net cash used in investing activities | (969) | (148) | ||||
Cash flows from financing activities | ||||||
Repayment of loans | (352) | (630) | ||||
Proceeds from new loans | 1,540 | 775 | ||||
Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities | (30) | (31) | ||||
Collateral | 2 | (3) | ||||
Repurchased shares | (509) | (516) | ||||
Dividends paid | 10 | (297) | (276) | |||
Net cash used in financing activities | 354 | (681) | ||||
Net cash flow before effect of exchange differences | 55 | (207) | ||||
Exchange differences on cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts | (65) | 26 | ||||
Net change in cash and cash equivalents less bank overdrafts | (10) | (181) | ||||
Cash and cash equivalents less bank overdrafts at January 1 | 945 | 989 | ||||
Cash and cash equivalents less bank overdrafts at June 30 | 935 | 808 | ||||
Add: Bank overdrafts used for cash management purposes at June 30 | 7 | 37 | ||||
Cash and cash equivalents at June 30 in the statement of financial position | 942 | 845 |
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of financial position
(in millions of euros) | Note | June 30, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | June 30, 2024 | ||||
Goodwill | 4,882 | 4,710 | 4,418 | |||||
Intangible assets other than goodwill | 1,884 | 1,735 | 1,574 | |||||
Property, plant, and equipment | 70 | 79 | 78 | |||||
Right-of-use assets | 186 | 214 | 227 | |||||
Investments in equity-accounted associates | 12 | 13 | 12 | |||||
Financial assets and other receivables | 12 | 16 | 18 | |||||
Contract assets | 14 | 18 | 19 | |||||
Deferred tax assets | 58 | 56 | 53 | |||||
Total non-current assets | 7,118 | 6,841 | 6,399 | |||||
Inventories | 70 | 79 | 81 | |||||
Contract assets | 168 | 148 | 163 | |||||
Trade and other receivables | 1,323 | 1,394 | 1,340 | |||||
Current income tax assets | 111 | 82 | 87 | |||||
Cash and cash equivalents | 942 | 954 | 845 | |||||
Assets classified as held for sale | 8 | ‒ | ‒ | 5 | ||||
Total current assets | 2,614 | 2,657 | 2,521 | |||||
Total assets | 9,732 | 9,498 | 8,920 | |||||
Issued share capital | 29 | 29 | 30 | |||||
Share premium reserve | 87 | 87 | 87 | |||||
Other reserves | 771 | 1,429 | 1,421 | |||||
Equity attributable to the owners of the company | 887 | 1,545 | 1,538 | |||||
Non-controlling interests | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Total equity | 887 | 1,545 | 1,538 | |||||
Long-term debt, excl. lease liabilities | 9 | 4,478 | 3,484 | 3,475 | ||||
Lease liabilities | 9 | 156 | 179 | 196 | ||||
Deferred tax liabilities | 359 | 324 | 283 | |||||
Employee benefits | 59 | 67 | 80 | |||||
Provisions | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
Non-current deferred income | 117 | 110 | 121 | |||||
Total non-current liabilities | 5,174 | 4,169 | 4,160 | |||||
Deferred income | 1,922 | 2,054 | 2,005 | |||||
Other contract liabilities | 72 | 76 | 84 | |||||
Trade and other payables | 922 | 1,087 | 885 | |||||
Current income tax liabilities | 130 | 117 | 121 | |||||
Short-term provisions | 25 | 28 | 20 | |||||
Borrowings and bank overdrafts | 9 | 547 | 359 | 37 | ||||
Short-term lease liabilities | 9 | 53 | 63 | 62 | ||||
Liabilities classified as held for sale | 8 | ‒ | ‒ | 8 | ||||
Total current liabilities | 3,671 | 3,784 | 3,222 | |||||
Total liabilities | 8,845 | 7,953 | 7,382 | |||||
Total equity and liabilities | 9,732 | 9,498 | 8,920 |
Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in total equity
(in millions of euros) | 2025 | |||
Equity attributable to the owners of the company | Non-controlling interests | Total equity | ||
Balance at January 1, 2025 | 1,545 | 0 | 1,545 | |
Total comprehensive income for the period | 197 | 0 | 197 | |
Share-based payments | 15 | ‒ | 15 | |
Final cash dividend 2024 | (349) | ‒ | (349) | |
Repurchased shares | (521) | ‒ | (521) | |
Balance at June 30, 2025 | 887 | 0 | 887 |
(in millions of euros) | 2024 | |||
Equity attributable to the owners of the company | Non-controlling interests | Total equity | ||
Balance at January 1, 2024 | 1,749 | 0 | 1,749 | |
Total comprehensive income for the period | 622 | 0 | 622 | |
Share-based payments | 14 | – | 14 | |
Final cash dividend 2023 | (324) | 0 | (324) | |
Repurchased shares | (523) | – | (523) | |
Balance at June 30, 2024 | 1,538 | 0 | 1,538 |
Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements
Note 1 Reporting entity
Wolters Kluwer N.V. (the company) with its subsidiaries (together referred to as ‘the group’, and individually as ‘group entities’) is a global provider of information, software solutions, and services for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, financial and corporate compliance, legal and regulatory, and corporate performance and ESG sectors. Our expert solutions combine deep domain knowledge with technology to deliver both content and workflow automation to drive improved outcomes and productivity for our customers.
These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (interim financial statements) for the six months ended June 30, 2025, comprise the group and the group’s interests in associates.
Note 2 Basis of preparation
Statement of compliance
These interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) 34 Interim Financial Reporting, as adopted by the European Union. As such, the financial statements do not include all the information required for a complete set of IFRS financial statements. However, selected explanatory notes are included to explain events and transactions that are significant to get an understanding of the changes in the group’s financial position and performance since the last annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024.
The interim financial statements for the six months period ended June 30, 2025, have been abridged from Wolters Kluwer’s 2024 Financial statements as part of the 2024 Annual Report. These interim financial statements have not been audited or reviewed by the external auditor. The interim financial statements were authorized for issuance by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board on July 29, 2025.
Accounting policies
The accounting policies applied in these interim financial statements are the same as those applied in the 2024 Financial statements, apart from the effect of the following new accounting standards and amendments which became effective as of January 1, 2025:
- Lack of exchangeability (amendments to IAS 21).
These amendments did not have any impact on the amounts recognized in the current or prior periods and are not expected to significantly affect future periods.
Effect of forthcoming accounting standards
A number of new standards and amendments are not yet effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and have not been early adopted in these interim financial statements. As disclosed in the Annual Report 2024, IFRS 18 will not change how we recognize and measure items in the financial statements. However, it will affect the way we present and disclose information in our financial statements.
Functional and presentation currency
The interim financial statements are presented in euros, which is the company’s functional and presentation currency. Unless otherwise indicated, the financial information in these interim financial statements is in euros and has been rounded to the nearest million.
Exchange rates to the euro | 2025 | 2024 |
U.S. dollar (at June 30) | 1.16 | 1.07 |
U.S. dollar (average six months) | 1.09 | 1.08 |
U.S. dollar (at December 31) | 1.04 |
Judgments and estimates
The preparation of the interim financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires management to make judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income, and expense.
In preparing these interim financial statements, the significant judgments made by management in applying the group’s accounting policies and the key sources of estimation and uncertainty were the same as those applied to the 2024 Financial statements (reference is made to Note 3 – Accounting estimates and judgments of the 2024 Financial statements).
The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making the judgments about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not clear from other sources. Actual results may differ from those estimates and may result in material adjustments in the next financial period(s).
Reference is also made to Note 29 - Financial risk management of the 2024 Financial statements, which outlines Wolters Kluwer’s exposure to a variety of risks, including market risk, currency risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and credit risk. These risks have not substantially changed since the issuance of our 2024 Annual Report.
Note 3 Seasonality
The overall impact of seasonality on group revenues and costs is limited. Revenue recognition does not always follow the pattern of cash flows as the revenues for certain license contracts are deferred.
Note 4 Benchmark figures
Wherever used in these interim financial statements, the term ‘adjusted’ refers to figures adjusted for non-benchmark items and, where applicable, amortization and impairment of goodwill and acquired identifiable intangible assets.
Adjusted figures are non-IFRS compliant financial figures, but are internally regarded as key performance indicators to measure the underlying performance of the business. These figures are presented as additional information and do not replace the information in the consolidated interim statement of profit or loss and in the consolidated interim statement of cash flows. The term ‘adjusted’ is not a defined term under IFRS.
Reconciliation of benchmark figures
Revenue Bridge
(in millions of euros) | € | % |
Revenues HY 2024 | 2,891 | |
Organic change | 143 | 5 |
Acquisitions | 41 | 1 |
Divestments | (10) | 0 |
Currency impact | (13) | 0 |
Revenues HY 2025 | 3,052 | 6 |
U.S.
Reconciliation between operating profit and adjusted operating profit
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | ||
2025 | 2024 | ||
Operating profit | 765 | 690 | |
Amortization and impairment of acquired identifiable intangible assets | 81 | 72 | |
Impairment of goodwill | ‒ | 2 | |
Non-benchmark items in operating profit | 19 | 1 | |
Adjusted operating profit (A) | 865 | 765 |
Reconciliation between financing results and adjusted net financing costs
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Financing results | (39) | (26) |
Non-benchmark items in financing results | 1 | 1 |
Adjusted net financing costs | (38) | (25) |
Reconciliation between profit for the period and adjusted net profit
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the company (B) | 553 | 509 |
Amortization and impairment of acquired identifiable intangible assets and goodwill | 81 | 74 |
Tax on amortization and impairment of acquired identifiable intangible assets and goodwill | (20) | (19) |
Non-benchmark items, net of tax | 17 | 2 |
Adjusted net profit (C) | 631 | 566 |
Summary of non-benchmark items
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Included in other gains and (losses): | ||
Divestment-related results | (1) | – |
Acquisition-related costs | (17) | (1) |
Additions to acquisition integration provisions | (1) | 0 |
Total non-benchmark income/(costs) in operating profit | (19) | (1) |
Included in financing results: | ||
Employee benefits financing component | (1) | (1) |
Total non-benchmark income/(costs) in financing results | (1) | (1) |
Total non-benchmark items before tax | (20) | (2) |
Tax on non-benchmark items | 3 | 0 |
Non-benchmark items, net of tax | (17) | (2) |
Reconciliation between net cash from operating activities and adjusted free cash flow
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Net cash from operating activities | 670 | 622 |
Net capital expenditure | (147) | (147) |
Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities | (30) | (31) |
Paid acquisition-related costs | 11 | 1 |
Paid divestment expenses | 1 | 0 |
Adjusted free cash flow (D) | 505 | 445 |
Return on invested capital (ROIC) calculation
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | Six months ended June 30 | |
12 months rolling | 2025 | 2024 |
Adjusted operating profit | 1,700 | 1,530 |
Allocated tax | (394) | (352) |
Net operating profit after allocated tax (NOPAT) | 1,306 | 1,178 |
Average invested capital | 7,070 | 6,740 |
ROIC-ratio (%) | 18.5 | 17.5 |
Per share information
(in euros, unless otherwise stated) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Total number of ordinary shares outstanding at June 301) | 231.4 | 237.4 |
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding (E)1) | 233.2 | 239.1 |
Diluted weighted average number of ordinary shares (F)1) | 234.0 | 240.1 |
Adjusted EPS (C/E) | 2.71 | 2.37 |
Diluted adjusted EPS (C/F) | 2.70 | 2.36 |
Diluted adjusted EPS in constant currencies | 2.71 | 2.38 |
Basic EPS (B/E) | 2.37 | 2.13 |
Diluted EPS (B/F) | 2.36 | 2.12 |
Adjusted free cash flow per share (D/E) | 2.17 | 1.86 |
Diluted adjusted free cash flow per share (D/F) | 2.16 | 1.85 |
1) In millions of shares
Benchmark tax rate
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Income tax expense | 174 | 156 |
Tax benefit on amortization and impairment of acquired identifiable intangible assets | 20 | 19 |
Tax benefit/(expense) on non-benchmark items | 3 | 0 |
Tax on adjusted profit before tax (G) | 197 | 175 |
Adjusted net profit (C) | 631 | 566 |
Adjustment for non-controlling interests | 0 | 0 |
Adjusted profit before tax (H) | 828 | 741 |
Benchmark tax rate (G/H) (%) | 23.8 | 23.6 |
Cash conversion ratio
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Operating profit | 765 | 690 |
Amortization, impairment, and depreciation | 244 | 232 |
EBITDA | 1,009 | 922 |
Non-benchmark items in operating profit | 19 | 1 |
Adjusted EBITDA | 1,028 | 923 |
Autonomous movements in working capital | (110) | (117) |
Net capital expenditure | (147) | (147) |
Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities | (30) | (31) |
Interest portion of lease liabilities | (3) | (4) |
Adjusted operating cash flow (I) | 738 | 624 |
Adjusted operating profit (A) | 865 | 765 |
Cash conversion ratio (I/A) (%) | 85 | 82 |
Note 5 Segment reporting
Divisional revenues and operating profit
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 20241 | |
Revenues | ||
Health | 788 | 771 |
Tax & Accounting | 837 | 775 |
Financial & Corporate Compliance | 635 | 600 |
Legal & Regulatory | 487 | 458 |
Corporate Performance & ESG | 305 | 287 |
Total revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 |
Operating profit/(loss) | ||
Health | 242 | 203 |
Tax & Accounting | 294 | 263 |
Financial & Corporate Compliance | 186 | 189 |
Legal & Regulatory | 71 | 63 |
Corporate Performance & ESG | 2 | 4 |
Corporate | (30) | (32) |
Total operating profit | 765 | 690 |
1) The comparative figures were updated to reflect the transfer of our Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting unit to the Financial & Corporate Compliance division. See Appendix 4 for more information.
The group disaggregates revenues by media format and by revenue type as part of the management information discussed by the Executive Board. Reference is made to Appendix 2 and 3 of this report.
Note 6 Earnings per share
Earnings per share (EPS)
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the company (B) | 553 | 509 |
Weighted average number of shares | ||
in millions of shares | ||
Outstanding ordinary shares at January 1 | 238.5 | 248.5 |
Effect of repurchased shares | (5.3) | (9.4) |
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the period (E) | 233.2 | 239.1 |
Basic EPS (€) (B/E) | 2.37 | 2.13 |
Diluted weighted average number of shares | ||
in millions of shares | ||
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the period (E) | 233.2 | 239.1 |
Long-Term Incentive Plan | 0.8 | 1.0 |
Diluted weighted average number of ordinary shares for the period (F) | 234.0 | 240.1 |
Diluted EPS (€) (B/F) | 2.36 | 2.12 |
Note 7 Acquisitions and divestments
Acquisitions
Total acquisition spending in the first half of 2025, net of cash acquired, was
On March 13, 2025, Wolters Kluwer Financial & Corporate Compliance completed the acquisition of Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. (“RASi”) for
On May 2, 2025, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory acquired Inisoft Group, s.r.o. (Inisoft), a Czech provider of regulatory compliance software for the waste management sector, for
On May 30, 2025, Wolters Kluwer Health acquired IntelliLearn Pty Ltd. (IntelliLearn), a provider of online courseware solutions for nursing schools in Australia and the U.S., for
On June 11, 2025, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory acquired Brightflag, a global cloud-based provider of AI-powered legal spend and matter management software, for
In the first half of 2025, acquisition-related costs were
Acquisition-related results
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Consideration payable in cash | 822 | – |
Deferred and contingent acquisition payments | 13 | – |
Total consideration | 835 | 0 |
Non-current assets | 312 | – |
Current assets | 79 | – |
Non-current liabilities | (3) | – |
Current liabilities | (33) | – |
Deferred tax liabilities | (59) | – |
Fair value of net identifiable assets/(liabilities) | 296 | 0 |
Goodwill on acquisitions | 539 | 0 |
Cash effect of the acquisitions: | ||
Consideration payable in cash | 822 | – |
Cash acquired | (2) | – |
Deferred and contingent considerations paid | 2 | 1 |
Acquisition spending, net of cash acquired | 822 | 1 |
The fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities will be revised if new information, obtained within one year from the acquisition date, about facts and circumstances that existed at the acquisition date, causes adjustments to the above amounts, or for any additional provisions that existed at the acquisition date.
The goodwill relating to acquisitions represents future economic benefits specific to the group arising from assets that do not qualify for separate recognition as intangible assets. This includes expected new customers who generate revenue streams in the future, revenues generated because of new capabilities of the acquired product platforms, as well as expected synergies that will arise following the acquisitions.
Of the goodwill recognized in 2025, none was deductible for income tax purposes (HY 2024: none).
Divestments
Net disposal proceeds were immaterial in the first half of 2025, and related to the sale of certain assets in the Financial & Corporate Compliance division (HY 2024: nil).
Note 8 Assets/liabilities classified as held for sale
In September 2024, Wolters Kluwer Health completed the divestment of its continuing medical education provider Learner’s Digest International (LDI), previously classified as an asset held for sale.
Net assets classified as held for sale
(in millions of euros) | June 30, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | June 30, 2024 |
Assets of disposal groups classified as held for sale | – | – | 5 |
Liabilities of disposal groups classified as held for sale | – | – | (8) |
Net assets of disposal groups classified as held for sale | 0 | 0 | (3) |
Assets and liabilities of disposal groups
(in millions of euros) | June 30, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | June 30, 2024 |
Non-current assets | – | – | 3 |
Other current assets | – | – | 2 |
Current liabilities | – | – | (8) |
Net assets of disposal groups classified as held for sale | 0 | 0 | (3) |
Net assets classified as held for sale
The revenues, adjusted operating profit, and operating profit of the disposal groups can be specified as follows:
(in millions of euros) | Six months ended June 30 | |
2025 | 2024 | |
Revenues | – | 9 |
Adjusted operating profit | – | (4) |
Operating profit | – | (6) |
Note 9 Net debt
Reconciliation gross debt to net debt
(in millions of euros, unless otherwise stated) | June 30, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | June 30, 2024 | |||
Gross debt | ||||||
Bonds | 4,319 | 3,324 | 3,323 | |||
Private placements | 118 | 122 | 116 | |||
Other long-term loans | 17 | 21 | 16 | |||
Deferred and contingent acquisition payments | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
Derivative financial instruments | 23 | 17 | 18 | |||
Long-term debt (excl. lease liabilities) | 4,478 | 3,484 | 3,475 | |||
Lease liabilities | 156 | 179 | 196 | |||
Total long-term debt | 4,634 | 3,663 | 3,671 | |||
Borrowings and bank overdrafts | 547 | 359 | 37 | |||
Short-term lease liabilities | 53 | 63 | 62 | |||
Deferred and contingent acquisition payments | 12 | 2 | 2 | |||
Derivative financial instruments | 1 | 3 | 8 | |||
Total short-term debt | 613 | 427 | 109 | |||
Total gross debt | 5,247 | 4,090 | 3,780 | |||
Minus: | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | (942) | (954) | (845) | |||
Collateral | ‒ | (2) | (3) | |||
Derivative financial instruments: | ||||||
Non-current asset | ‒ | ‒ | ‒ | |||
Current asset | (31) | ‒ | ‒ | |||
Net debt | 4,274 | 3,134 | 2,932 | |||
Net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio (on a rolling basis)* | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
* Net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio is based on a twelve-months rolling EBITDA.
On March 20, 2025, the group issued a new
On June 30, 2025, the group issued a new
As of June 30, 2025, the group has drawn
Note 10 Equity, LTIP, and dividends
The group made progress on the share buyback program of up to
For the period starting July 31, 2025, up to and including November 3, 2025, the group has now engaged third parties to execute a maximum of
Shares repurchased are added to and held as treasury shares and will be used for capital reduction purposes and to meet obligations arising from share-based incentive plans. In 2025, the group used 0.4 million shares held in treasury for the vesting of the LTIP grant 2022-24, the second tranches of the Restricted Stock Units (RSU) 2023 plan, and the first tranches of the RSU 2024 plan.
In the first six months of 2025, treasury shares were used for the vesting of Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) shares; no new shares were issued. The LTIP 2022-24 vested on December 31, 2024. Total Shareholder Return (TSR) ranked fourth relative to the peer group of 15 companies, resulting in a payout of
Under the 2025-27 LTIP grant, 235,012 shares were conditionally awarded to the Executive Board and other senior managers in the first six months of 2025. In the first six months of 2025, a total of 30,418 shares were forfeited under the long-term incentive plans.
RSU shares are granted and vest over time (with 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years vesting periods), vesting is conditioned on continued employment. There are no performance conditions that need to be met for the RSU shares to vest. Under the 2025-2027 RSU grant, 29,821 shares were awarded to key employees (in 2024: 31,314). In the first six months of 2025, a total of 2,265 shares were forfeited under the RSU plans (2024: 632) and 21,900 shares were released (2024: 11,927).
A final dividend of
For 2025, the interim dividend was set at
At June 30, 2025, the Executive Board jointly held 528,886 shares (December 31, 2024: 487,952 shares), of which 459,852 shares (December 31, 2024: 427,202 shares) were held by Ms. McKinstry, 15,000 shares were held by Ms. Caywood, and 54,034 shares (December 31, 2024: 60,750 shares) by Mr. Entricken.
At June 30, 2025, Mrs. A.E. Ziegler held 2,513 Wolters Kluwer ADRs (December 31, 2024: 1,894 ADRs). None of the other members of the Supervisory Board held shares in Wolters Kluwer (December 31, 2024: none of the other members of the Supervisory Board held shares).
Note 11 Related party transactions
There were no major related party transactions entered into during the six months period ended June 30, 2025.
Note 12 Events after balance sheet date
On July 21, 2025, Financial & Corporate Compliance announced that it has signed a binding agreement to sell its Finance, Risk and Regulatory Reporting unit to Regnology Group GmbH (Regnology) for an enterprise value of approximately
Appendix 1 Divisional supplemental information – Six months ended June 30
(€ million, unless otherwise stated) | Change: | |||||||||
2025 | 2024 | Organic | Acquisition/ Divestment | Currency | ||||||
Health | ||||||||||
Revenues | 788 | 771 | 31 | (9) | (5) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 260 | 223 | 35 | 4 | (2) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Tax & Accounting | ||||||||||
Revenues | 837 | 775 | 44 | 22 | (4) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 308 | 271 | 31 | 7 | (1) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Financial & Corporate Compliance | ||||||||||
Revenues | 635 | 600 | 22 | 16 | (3) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 211 | 207 | (1) | 7 | (2) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Legal & Regulatory | ||||||||||
Revenues | 487 | 458 | 27 | 2 | 0 | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 98 | 78 | 20 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Corporate Performance & ESG | ||||||||||
Revenues | 305 | 287 | 19 | – | (1) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 18 | 18 | 0 | – | 0 | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Corporate | ||||||||||
Adjusted operating profit | (30) | (32) | 2 | – | 0 | |||||
Total Wolters Kluwer | ||||||||||
Revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | 143 | 31 | (13) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit | 865 | 765 | 87 | 18 | (5) | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | ||||||||||
Note: Acquisition/divestment column includes the contribution from 2025 and 2024 acquisitions before these became organic (12 months from their acquisition date), the impact of 2025 and 2024 divestments, and the effect of asset transfers between divisions, if any. 2024 figures are pro forma – see footnote 2. |
Appendix 2 Revenues by media format – Six months ended June 30
(€ million, unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Software | 1,413 | 1,318 | + | + | + | |
Digital information | 1,195 | 1,145 | + | + | + | |
Total digital | 2,608 | 2,463 | + | + | + | |
Services | 305 | 281 | + | + | + | |
139 | 147 | - | - | - | ||
Total revenues | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | + | + | |
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Appendix 3 Divisional revenues by type – Six months ended June 30
(€ million, unless otherwise stated) | 2025 | 2024 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG | |
Health | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 653 | 630 | + | + | + | |
Print subscription | 18 | 20 | - | - | - | |
Other recurring | 65 | 61 | + | + | + | |
Total recurring revenues | 736 | 711 | + | + | + | |
Print books | 19 | 24 | - | - | - | |
Other non-recurring | 33 | 36 | - | - | - | |
Total Health | 788 | 771 | + | + | + | |
Tax & Accounting | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 682 | 618 | + | + | + | |
Print subscription | 7 | 7 | - | - | - | |
Other recurring | 79 | 76 | + | + | + | |
Total recurring revenues | 768 | 701 | + | + | + | |
Print books | 12 | 13 | - | - | - | |
Other non-recurring | 57 | 61 | - | - | - | |
Total Tax & Accounting | 837 | 775 | + | + | + | |
Financial & Corporate Compliance | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 430 | 401 | + | + | + | |
Total recurring revenues | 430 | 401 | + | + | + | |
Legal Services (LS) transactional | 112 | 103 | + | + | + | |
Financial Services (FS) transactional | 64 | 65 | - | - | ||
Other non-recurring | 29 | 31 | - | - | - | |
Total Financial & Corporate Compliance | 635 | 600 | + | + | + | |
Legal & Regulatory | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 351 | 325 | + | + | + | |
Print subscription | 36 | 34 | + | + | + | |
Other recurring | 5 | 6 | - | - | - | |
Total recurring revenues | 392 | 365 | + | + | + | |
Print books | 18 | 19 | - | - | - | |
ELM transactional | 51 | 48 | + | + | + | |
Other non-recurring | 26 | 26 | + | + | - | |
Total Legal & Regulatory | 487 | 458 | + | + | + | |
Corporate Performance & ESG | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 230 | 203 | + | + | + | |
Total recurring revenues | 230 | 203 | + | + | + | |
Other non-recurring | 75 | 84 | - | - | - | |
Total Corporate Performance & ESG | 305 | 287 | + | + | + | |
Total Wolters Kluwer | ||||||
Digital and service subscription | 2,346 | 2,177 | + | + | + | |
Print subscription | 61 | 61 | ||||
Other recurring | 149 | 143 | + | + | + | |
Total recurring revenues | 2,560 | 2,381 | + | + | + | |
Print books | 49 | 56 | - | - | - | |
Transactional | 227 | 216 | + | + | + | |
Other non-recurring | 220 | 238 | - | - | - | |
Total non-recurring revenues | 496 | 510 | - | - | - | |
Total Wolters Kluwer | 3,052 | 2,891 | + | + | + | |
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
Appendix 4 Pro Forma Divisional Summary – Year ended December 31
As of January 1, 2025, Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting was transferred from Corporate Performance & ESG to Financial & Corporate Compliance. The table below provides pro forma divisional revenue and adjusted operating profit.
Pro forma divisional summary
€ million (unless otherwise stated) | 2024 | 2023 | ∆ | ∆ CC | ∆ OG |
Revenues | |||||
Health | 1,584 | 1,508 | + | + | + |
Tax & Accounting | 1,561 | 1,466 | + | + | + |
Financial & Corporate Compliance | 1,228 | 1,172 | + | + | + |
Legal & Regulatory | 946 | 875 | + | + | + |
Corporate Performance & ESG | 597 | 563 | + | + | + |
Total revenues | 5,916 | 5,584 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit | |||||
Health | 480 | 454 | + | + | + |
Tax & Accounting | 519 | 479 | + | + | + |
Financial & Corporate Compliance | 433 | 403 | + | + | + |
Legal & Regulatory | 176 | 138 | + | + | + |
Corporate Performance & ESG | 61 | 68 | - | - | - |
Corporate | (69) | (66) | + | + | + |
Total operating profit | 1,600 | 1,476 | + | + | + |
Adjusted operating profit margin | |||||
Health | |||||
Tax & Accounting | |||||
Financial & Corporate Compliance | |||||
Legal & Regulatory | |||||
Corporate Performance & ESG | |||||
Adjusted operating profit margin | |||||
∆: % Change; ∆ CC: % Change in constant currencies (€/ |
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information solutions, software 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 2024 annual revenues of
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Financial Calendar | |
August 26, 2025 | Ex-dividend date: 2025 interim dividend ordinary shares |
August 27, 2025 | Record date: 2025 interim dividend |
September 18, 2025 | Payment date: 2025 interim dividend |
September 25, 2025 | Payment date: 2025 interim dividend ADRs |
November 5, 2025 | Nine-Month 2025 Trading Update |
February 25, 2026 | Full-Year 2025 Results |
March 11, 2026 | Publication of 2025 Annual Report |
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1 Adjusted net financing costs include lease interest charges.
2 Throughout this document, 2024 pro forma figures are restated for the January 1, 2025 transfer of Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting from Corporate Performance & ESG to Financial & Corporate Compliance.
3 Dividend payout ratio: dividend per share divided by adjusted earnings per share.
4 Total cash and cash equivalents of
5 Rolling 12-month basis.
6 NCLEX = National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses or vocational nurses.
7 CBAM = refers to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
Attachment
