Dow Jones Newswires: Wolters Kluwer expands share buyback program as profit slips

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Wolters Kluwer NV on Friday expanded its share-buyback program as it reported a 1% fall in adjusted operating profit for the first nine months, but it backed its full-year guidance.

The Dutch information-services provider WKL, -0.45%  said it plans to buyback a further 100 million euros ($111.6 million) of shares this year, taking the total to EUR350 million. It also plans to buyback up to EUR50 million of shares in January to February.

Wolters Kluwer’s nine-month revenue rose 4%. Within this, digital & services revenue–which generates about 79% of the group total–rose 6% organically.

The company didn’t provide any numbers for either adjusted operating profit or revenue. Adjusted operating profit strips out exceptional and other one-off items.

The company has targeted a 2019 adjusted operating profit margin of 23.0%-23.5% and adjusted earnings per share to grow around 10%.