Publishing Technology Plc Announces Preliminary Results For 2009

OXFORD, England, March 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Publishing Technology plc (PTO.L) (Publishing Technology, the Group), the AIM quoted, leading provider of information technology tools and online services to international book and academic publishers, is pleased to announce its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2009.

Highlights

- Total revenues of GBP15.3m (2008: GBP15.4m) - Group EBITDA of GBP0.9m (2008: GBP0.9m) - Gross profit of GBP6.1m (2008: GBP6.1m) - Net profit of GBP0.5m (2008: loss of GBP1.4m), after GBP0.2m forex loss (2008: GBP0.2m forex profit)

In last year's very difficult economic and business environment Publishing Technology recorded its first net profit and is now poised for further growth as markets recover and its new products gain customers.

2009 Successes included:

- First major digital platform sale in Japan - Opening of business in Brazil - Four sales of new advance products in the USA - A GBP1.9m improvement in net profit, posting an unadjusted net profit for the first time. - High levels of recurring contract renewals and extensions - GBP1m of positive cash flow

The company has a long list of blue-chip publishing clients such as Random House, Pearson, Hachette and Harper Collins and also helps publishing clients such as McGraw-Hill and the British Medical Journal to maximise revenues from digitialising their publications, journals etc and exploiting other on line revenues. In addition, the company has a new suite of software called 'advance', which deals with all publishers' distribution, editing, royalty payment systems - the company's systems handle the royalties of a number of renowned authors including JK Rowling.

Enabling digital transformation

The publishing industry is going through an exciting period of development and re-invention and the company's products are unique in the industry for the breadth and depth of their capabilities, and because they have been specifically developed to capitalise on digital routes to market.

Also, the e-book wave, Apple iPad and iPhone are a manifestation of the tremendous changes, but the transformation of publishing will also come from the systems needed to create, market, sell, fulfil, and financially manage the deconstructed and granular product of tomorrow, which the company's products also address.

Developing products core to publishers' evolving needs

Over the past three years the Group has invested heavily in new products:

- advance - supports publishers' infrastructure, such as production, distribution, royalties etc - pub2web - online multi-content platform that can host journals, books, manuals, podcasts etc - ICS - maximises the value of publisher's digital assets

The company also continues to invest in IngentaConnect, a major multi-content online research platform.

Expanding internationally to drive growth

During 2009 positive results were gained from expansion in Japan, Brazil and Germany. In Australia, following some market research and visits last year, it was decided to push forward with the sales of our advance product.

George Lossius, Chief Executive of Publishing Technology, commented:

Publishing across all sectors is going through huge change. The opportunities are considerable as publishers seek to capitalise on the digital revolution. Never has investment in the right systems and software been so relevant; I am pleased that we have the products to support publishers in their quest to maximise online revenues and support their overall software needs.

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