REED ELSEVIER 2012 RESULTS
Reed Elsevier, the global professional information company, reports growth in revenue, operating profit and earnings in the twelve months to 31 December 2012.
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Financial highlights Ø Underlying revenue growth +4% (+3% excluding biennial exhibition cycling) to £6,116m/€7,523m Ø Underlying adjusted operating profit growth +6% to £1,713m/€2,107m Ø Adjusted EPS +7% to 50.1p for Reed Elsevier PLC; +14% to €0.95 for Reed Elsevier NV Ø Reported EPS +42% to 46.0p for Reed Elsevier PLC; +53% to €0.90 for Reed Elsevier NV Ø Full year dividend +7% to 23.0p for Reed Elsevier PLC; +7% to €0.467 for Reed Elsevier NV Ø Return on invested capital up by 0.7 percentage points to 11.9% Ø Net debt £0.3bn lower at £3.1bn; 2.2x EBITDA pensions and lease adjusted (1.7x unadjusted) |
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Operational highlights Ø Revenue growth driven by volume growth, new products, and expansion in high growth markets Ø Profitability gains driven by process innovation and portfolio development Ø All five business areas contributed to underlying revenue and profit growth Ø Continued improvement in revenue mix by format, geography, and type Ø Accelerated portfolio reshaping; gross proceeds from disposal of non-core businesses £242m Ø £250m of share buybacks completed in 2012 Ø £100m of share buybacks completed in 2013 YTD; further £300m to be deployed in remainder of 2013 |
Commenting on the results, Anthony Habgood, Chairman, said:
"Reed Elsevier executed well on its strategic and financial priorities in 2012. Positive revenue momentum and focus on operating efficiency combined to lift underlying operating profit growth and earnings. We have continued to strengthen our balance sheet while maintaining organic investment, and sharpening the focus of our business. We are recommending a 7% increase in the full year dividends for both Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV, reflecting our confidence in the long term outlook for Reed Elsevier."
Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented:
"In 2012 we made good progress on our strategy to systematically transform our business into a professional information solutions provider that combines content & data with analytics & technology in global platforms. We continued to do this primarily through organic development, with acquisitions limited to small content and data assets across markets and assets in high growth geographies. We also accelerated the evolution of our portfolio by disposing of businesses that no longer fit our strategy, using the proceeds to buy back shares. As a result of these actions we are continuing to improve the quality of our earnings, to deliver more predictable revenues, a higher growth profile, and improving returns.
By the end of 2012 approximately 80% of our revenues were in our targeted formats of electronic and face to face, which generated average underlying revenue growth rates of +5-7%. Although the outlook for the macro environment, and its impact on our customer markets, is mixed, we have entered 2013 with positive momentum, and expect another year of underlying revenue, profit, and earnings growth."
