Publishing Technology 6 months on
Much has happened since VISTA and Ingenta announced their merger to become the world's largest provider of digital solutions for the publishing industry. It has been a hectic six months, but the ongoing process of integration has co-existed comfortably with the continued growth of all business divisions. Herein we detail just some of the changes and important deals that have come from the merger.
Half Year Results
Nothing quite illustrates the success of a new company as much as its interim results; Publishing Technology's were announced on 28th September. The results showed some solid performance on which we expect to see further growth.
Highlights include:
• Group revenue for the period up 22% to £6.6m (2006: £5.4m)
• EBITDA profit of £0.2m
• Profit of £0.1m, before merger costs of £0.1m and goodwill amortisation of £0.3m (due to new IFRS accounting requirements)
• All business units making a positive contribution to group expenses since the merger
• Substantial business wins and a strong pipeline of new business
• Cross-selling of services by VISTA and Ingenta business units to each other’s clients testifies to the benefits of the merger
• Anticipated stronger second half of the year due to increased high margin revenue streams and continued cost savings
George Lossius, Chief Executive, commented:
"I am delighted to able to report an EBITDA profit for the six months to June 30, 2007, thanks to improved performances across the group and positive contributions from each business unit. We won several important contracts in our first half year. We signed up over 15 new publishers, including the third largest UK university press and two large US university presses, and have signed both UNICEF and the BBC as clients, the latter for a combination of our online products and sales representation. These new business wins demonstrate our ability to deliver the promised benefits of the merger of the VISTA, Ingenta and PCG businesses, namely to cross-sell services across our print and online and sales representation business units. Integration is virtually complete, the anticipated synergies are beginning to yield gains, and we expect the merger to continue to deliver further cost savings, interest charge reductions and revenue enhancements in the second half of the year."
You can read the full results announcement here.
Rebranding
With new branding due for launch at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishing Technology has unveiled its redesigned corporate website - www.publishingtechnology.com. This is the latest and to date, the most visible, step in the ongoing project to create Publishing Technology's brand identity. It is now much more comprehensive and professional in terms of its content and design and we feel it strongly represents the company and its objectives going forward.
New Signings
Publishing Technology recently announced its work with BBC Monitoring. The world’s largest broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation, selected Publishing Technology for the range of services and expertise it provides with the objective of expanding the commercial reach of its flagship open source intelligence resource, BBC Monitoring. Through the synergy between its divisions—VISTA, Ingenta and PCG—Publishing Technology will be the “one-stop shop” providing digital publishing consultancy, market research, information architecture, web design and maintenance, content conversion and hosting, and sales representation which will facilitate BBC Monitoring’s entry into new markets. Read the full press release on our website.
Our sister company VISTA recently announced that Sdu, the leading Dutch publisher of legal and professional journals and books, has selected VISTA’s information commerce software to provide realtime customer profile management supporting online access to Sdu’s NBDOnline website. Ongoing developments will integrate this new software with existing technologies, supplied to Sdu by VISTA and other providers, to create a comprehensive management system for online and offline publishing activities. Read the full press release on our website.
The success is not just limited to Ingenta and VISTA - Publishers Communication Group (PCG) also recently announced two exciting agreements. The University of Chicago Press has selected PCG to deliver a comprehensive European Sales and Marketing program. PCG will work closely with the University of Chicago Press to expand the circulation of its 44 journal publications – which cover academic fields such as medicine, social sciences, economics and philosophy – in European libraries, hospitals, medical schools, government agencies and research facilities.
PCG has also announced its agreement with the University of California Press to deliver European Sales Representation. PCG will be providing a full-time, dedicated sales representative to UC Press, based in the United Kingdom and covering most of Europe. The agreement began at the start of July and covers the Press’ own journals, along with those of the societies on behalf of which it publishes, including the American Anthropological Association’s electronic collection of anthropological scholarship, AnthroSource.