DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Wolters Kluwer NV said Wednesday that non-recurring revenue trends will pose a challenge in the first half of 2023 as it launched a buyback program of up to 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion).

The Dutch provider of professional information services said that among the non-recurring revenue streams legal services transactional revenue, and print books fell 1% in 2022 on an organic basis.

The company said it made a net profit of EUR1.03 billion compared with a net profit of EUR728 million for 2021 and consensus of EUR886.9 million, taken from FactSet and based on 11 analysts’ estimates.

Diluted adjusted earnings per share–one of the company’s preferred metrics, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–increased 8% on a constant currency basis to EUR4.14.

Revenue rose to EUR5.45 billion from EUR4.77 billion the year before. Consensus for the year was EUR5.36 billion, taken from FactSet and based on 11 analysts’

forecasts. The company said it benefited from a stronger dollar for most of the year.

The board raised its final dividend to EUR1.18 a share, from EUR1.03 in 2021, taking the total for the year to EUR1.81, a 15% increase on the year before.

The company said it expected high single-digit growth in 2023 diluted adjusted EPS on a constant currency basis.

“While non-recurring revenue trends still pose a challenge in the first half of 2023, we are confident of delivering robust organic growth and margin improvement for the full year,” Chief Executive Nancy McKinstry said.Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com