Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 9811B

Quarto Group Inc

05 November 2009

 

Thursday November 5, 2009

THE QUARTO GROUP, INC - INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

"in line with expectations"

Quarto (QRT.L), the fully-listed international book publisher based in London, announces its interim management statement for the period from July 1, 2009 and its unaudited results to September 30, 2009. 

"The results for the year to date are in line with expectations."

"In the face of continuing weak demand in the US, our major market, EBITDA for the 9 months to September 30, 2009, has increased by 7% to £15.2 million. Revenues in the UK continue to run ahead of the comparable 2008 figures. At this stage, international co-edition book publishing revenues are ahead of last year's and, for the full year, our co-edition order book continues to be 6% ahead." reported Laurence F Orbach, chairman and chief executive of Quarto.

"The US market remains a big challenge, with cyclical as well as structural issues. However, attention to housekeeping has improved the Group's gross margins, and overheads are down. "

"Since July 1, 2009, there has been no material change in the financial position of the Group." 

Unaudited results, before amortization of non-current intangibles and non-recurring items

Nine months to September 30	Results		Growth
(£'000)	2009	2008	%
Revenue	74,653	79,113	(6)%
EBITDA	15,175	14,161	7%
Operating profit	5,657	6,111	(7)%
Profit before taxation	3,093	3,386	(9)%

Trailing twelve months to September 30 (£'000)	Results		Growth
	2009	2008	%
Revenue	108,299	111,597	(3)%
EBITDA	22,982	22,322	3%
Operating profit	10,896	11,344	(4)%
Profit before taxation	7,371	7,667	(4)%

Notes for Editors:

Quarto is an international book publisher and producer with two principal strands of activity: its Publishing segment publishes books, under imprints owned by the Group, in the US, Australia and the UK; and its Co-Edition Publishing segment creates books that are licensed to other publishers for publication under their own imprints in many languages around the world.

For the year ended December 31, 2008, Quarto increased revenues by 13% to £112.7 m and adjusted EBITDA by 10% to £22.0 m. Adjusted pre-tax profit was marginally increased at £7.7 m - an eighth successive annual increase - and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 9% to 26.5p. Unchanged total dividends per share of 7.15p were paid.

Enquiries:

The Quarto Group, Inc.                                                 020-7700 9004

Laurence Orbach (Chairman and CEO)                           

Mick Mousley (CFO)                              

Bankside Consultants Limited                                      020-7367 8851  

Charles Ponsonby    

 

END

 

 

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