11th Mar 2019 09:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Quarto Group Inc on Monday said its revenue fell 2.1% in 2018, but its loss narrowed significantly, helped by cost-reduction programme.
The illustrated book publisher said its pretax loss narrowed to USD57,000 in 2018 from USD21.2 million a year earlier, due a big reduction in exceptional charges and a decrease in administrative expenses to USD23.9 million from USD27.9 million.
Exceptional items, in 2018, comprised reorganization costs of USD2.9 million, USD800,000 with respect to the board changes and USD1.5 million of refinancing costs. This compared to goodwill impairment of USD17.4 million, impairment of pre-publication costs of USD4.9 million and other items of USD1.9 million in 2017.
Meanwhile, revenue slipped to USD149.3 million from USD152.5 million, hurt by the weaker performance of all of Quarto's units.
In the US, Publishing revenue was down by 1.5% to USD73.0 million, while the UK Publishing division delivered revenue down 2.8% to USD70.7 million.
The Q Partners unit, which identifies and manages new business opportunities, delivered revenue of USD5.6 million, down slightly from USD5.7 million the year before.
"The board are fully focused on achieving stability in the business, returning the group to full health and defining further growth strategies for 2020 and beyond," said Chief Executive Chuk Kin Lau.
"I remain confident in the business model and future prospects of Quarto. The group is uniquely positioned in the market and its vision stays unchanged; to become the dominant publisher of illustrated books worldwide," added Lau.
Quarto shares were trading 4.6% higher on Monday at 57.00 pence each.
Related Shares:
QRT.L