Springer Nature report as follows:
Springer Nature delivered strong results in the first quarter of 2026. Revenue increased to €451.4m (Q1 2025: €450.3m) with 6.2% underlying growth, driven by Research, with continued strength in full open access (FOA). Reported growth in revenue was 0.3% due to adverse FX movements.
Adjusted operating profit of €106.7m (Q1 2025: €107.9m) represented underlying growth of 8.6%, reflecting improved product mix and operating leverage.
Frank Vrancken Peeters, CEO of Springer Nature, said: “Our first-quarter results were driven by our Research segment, which continued to outperform the market. Strong underlying growth was supported by our leadership in open access and a people‑led approach to Technology and AI, where our expert teams deploy AI tools to transform the publishing process, accelerate the dissemination of trusted knowledge, and safeguard trust and integrity.”
Segments
Research reported revenue of €359.9m (Q1 2025: €354.9m) with underlying growth of 7.2% driven by the Journals portfolio, with notable strength in FOA.
The number of published articles rose by nearly 15% across the whole portfolio during the first quarter compared to market growth in the period of around 6%.
The 2026 contract renewal season is progressing as expected.
During the first quarter Springer Nature signed 14 new transformative agreements with national consortia, government bodies and research institutions around the world to further support the transition to OA. Springer Nature’s transformative agreements, increasingly referred to simply as open access agreements, cover more than 4,000 institutions.
During the period, Springer Nature launched 19 new journals including the introduction of Nature Progress, a new OA journal series, starting with Nature Progress Oncology and Nature Progress Brain Health.
AI tools are reducing friction in the publishing process and supporting growth, whilst AI-based checks help maintain research integrity. Papers benefiting from AI assists and checks provided by the SNAPP backbone are on track to increase 25% in 2026 from over 1.5m papers in 2025.
Book revenues grew modestly, primarily due to growth in digital.
Adjusted operating profit in Research grew 8.4% in underlying terms to €100.2m (Q1 2025: €99.5m).
In Health, revenue was €40.8m (Q1 2025: €41.1m), with underlying growth of 1.8%. Growth benefited from a good performance in scientific affairs services in International Healthcare and growth in DACH markets. Revenues in the Netherlands were broadly level with the prior year against a strong comparison in Q1 2025, which benefited from a new edition of the Schlichting test.
Adjusted operating profit in Health grew 9.1% in underlying terms to €4.8m (Q1 2025: €4.5m) benefiting from revenue growth and cost containment measures partially offset by some investment in sales capabilities in the DACH region.
Education revenue was €51.2m (Q1 2025: €54.4m), reflecting underlying growth of 3.3% with a positive start to the year in Southern Hemisphere markets. Education reported revenue declined 5.9% due to adverse FX movements, primarily the result of hyperinflation in Argentina and the strength of the Euro against the Indian Rupee.
Adjusted operating profit in Education grew 39.2% in underlying terms to €1.8m (Q1 2025: €3.7m). The underlying increase was primarily driven by favourable product mix. On a reported basis, adjusted operating profit declined 51.3% due to the impact of the adverse foreign exchange movements described above.
Outlook
The company continues to expect FY 2026 revenue to grow in underlying terms between 5% and 6% with the AOP margin increasing by around 30 basis points in underlying terms, reiterating the outlook given with FY 2025 results on 17 March 2026.
Alexandra Dambeck, CFO of Springer Nature, said: “The strong momentum in our portfolio in the first quarter underpins our outlook for FY 2026.”
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