Cision AB (publ) Interim report January–June 2009, July 23 2009
Strong return to profitability in the Nordics Divestment of loss-making UK print monitor operations
January-June • The Group’s operating revenue amounted to SEK 837 million (878). Organic growth was negative at 10 percent (–2). Exchange rate effects increased revenue by SEK 122 million. • Operating profit amounted to SEK 33 million (40) and the loss before tax was SEK 14 million (16). Earnings per share were SEK –0.40 (–0.11). • Excluding restructuring expenses and costs related to the takeover bid in 2008, operating profit amounted to SEK 48 million (69) and the operating margin was 5.7 percent (7.8). Exchange rate effects had a positive impact on operating profit of SEK 20 million. • For the period January–June, operating cash flow amounted to SEK 19 million (61) and free cash flow amounted to SEK –56 million (2). April–June • Excluding restructuring expenses, operating profit in the second quarter amounted to SEK 30 million (31) and the operating margin was 7.9 percent (7.2). Restructuring expenses during the quarter were SEK 6 million (13). Exchange rate effects had a positive impact on operating profit in the second quarter of SEK 10 million. • Following the divestment of the loss-making business units in the first quarter, the Nordic region reported a strong return to profitability in the second quarter, with an operating margin of 10.2 percent. • On July 23, it was announced that Cision signed a conditional agreement to sell its loss-making UK Print Monitor operations. • The impact of the recession increased in the second quarter in most of Cision’s market, particularly for transaction-based Monitor services. However, in Cision’s most important market, North America, the impact of the recession was successfully mitigated, mainly through cost reductions, leading to improved operating margins in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. Comment by Cision CEO Hans Gieskes: “The second quarter of 2009 marked a strong return to profitability in the Nordic region. Following the divestments of the loss-making businesses in the first quarter, the region now delivered an operating profit of SEK 6 million before restructuring charges, compared with a loss of SEK 10 million in the first quarter this year. Today, we were pleased to announce another key event in our strategy to improve profitability through structural activities, as we signed a conditional agreement to sell our loss-making UK Print Monitor operations. Upon completion of this transaction, we will have a fully digital business in the UK and service customers with a complete offering based on the CisionPoint platform. This is a much more attractive business model which should allow us to return to profitability in the UK. In most of our markets, we saw an increased impact of the recession in the second quarter. In North America, good cost control still allowed us to increase our operating margins in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. The successful rollout of CisionPoint continued in the US, where we were also encouraged by CisionPoint winning a prestigious CODiE Award, confirming that we have a winning service platform for the future.”
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