17th Feb 2014 12:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Media company Electric Word PLC Friday said it swung into a pretax loss in its last financial year as it booked GBP1.7 million in restructuring, tax recognition and impairment costs, though its revenues rose thanks to increased sales in its live events business.
However, the company which is going through a major restructuring as it pushes towards more diggital publishing and live events, said that its trading for 2014 is ahead of 2013 and in line with expectations, and it expects to make further progress through the course of the year.
The company swung to a pretax loss of GBP1.2 million for the year to November 30, 2013, compared with a profit of GBP173,000 a year earlier, due to increased impairment charges, restructuring costs and staff costs.
Electric Word has been winding down its Incentive Plus business, restructuring its healthcare business, and closing an office in Milton Keynes and centralising back-office functions in its London office.
The GBP1.7 million in restructuring and impairment costs includes GBP325,000 for redundancies and office closure costs, a writedown of GBP611,000 on goodwill and intangible assets for the Radcliffe Publishing business it acquired, and a GBP47,000 writedown on Incentive Plus and its restructured health business.
The company said that a majority of Radcliffe Publishing's business is in the declining print publishing sector, and whilst it has invested in moving it towards digital, it cannot justify its previous carrying value.
Revenue rose to GBP14.6 million, up slightly from GBP14.3 million in the previous year, driven by 22% revenue growth in its live events and 19% revenue growth in its Sport & Gaming division, offsetting declines of 12% in its Health division and 1% Education division.
In Sport & Gaming, revenue rose to GBP6.2 million from GBP5.2 million in the previous year. Electric Word is moving the division's revenue mix away from print advertising towards digital subscriptions and live events. The company said it expects to see subscription revenue in the division grow in 2014 as average customer value is enhanced by the launch of new premium services in both its SportBusiness and iGaming brands.
In its Health division, revenue declined to GBP3.9 million from GBP4.5 million, as it saw declines in book publishing from its Radcliffe and Speechmark brands. The company plans to integrate the two brands and shift towards e-books and digital products.
"In 2013 we have put in place the plans that we set out at the end of the last year, investing in each of our three divisions to focus on the long-term value of the most important products," said Chief Executive Julian Turner in a statement. "To do that effectively we have simplified the business and strengthened the senior team, including at board level."
Shares in Electric Word were trading up 3.5% at 3.75 pence Monday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright © 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
ELE.L