2014-10-23 07:30:00 CEST

2014-10-23 07:30:02 CEST


REGULATED INFORMATION

Finnish English
Talentum Oyj - Interim report (Q1 and Q3)

Talentum Oyj, Interim Report Q3/2014


Helsinki, Finland, 2014-10-23 07:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 

TALENTUM OYJ        INTERIM REPORT        23 October 2014 at 8.30 a.m.

Talentum Oyj's Interim Report for January-September 2014:

OPERATING INCOME FOR THE THIRD QUARTER IMPROVED COMPARED TO LAST YEAR

July-September 2014 in brief

- Talentum Group's net sales totalled EUR 13.7 million (EUR 14.0 million)
- Operating income without non-recurring items was EUR -0.4 million (EUR -1.1
million) and operating income (EBIT) was EUR -0.3 million (EUR -1.0 million) 
- Operating income from the Event Business and Books and Legal Training improved
- Operating income from Magazine Business Finland and Magazine Business Sweden
was at the previous year's level 
- On 20 August 2014, Talentum announced that it will start acquiring its own
shares. A maximum of 350,000 shares will be acquired which corresponds to
approximately 0,8% of all Talentum Oyj shares. 
- Talentum Summa was published in Sweden on 20 August 2014

Net sales of business segments:

-Magazine Business Finland: EUR 4.8 million (EUR 5.1 million)
-Magazine Business Sweden: EUR 2.9 million (EUR 3.5 million)
-Event Business: EUR 2.0 million (EUR 2.1 million)
-Books and Legal Training: EUR 2.1 million (EUR 1.2 million)
-Direct Marketing: EUR 2.6 million (EUR 2.9 million)

January-September 2014 in brief

- Talentum Group's net sales totalled EUR 50.6 million (EUR 52.8 million)
- Operating income without non-recurring items was EUR 1.0 million (EUR -0.1
million) and operating income (EBIT) was EUR 0.2 million (EUR -0.3 million) 
- Operating income from the Event Business and Books and Legal Training improved
- Operating income from Magazine Business Sweden was at the previous year's
level 
- Operating income from Magazine Business Finland decreased

Net sales of business segments:

-Magazine Business Finland: EUR 17.9 million (EUR 18.9 million)
-Magazine Business Sweden: EUR 12.8 million (EUR 14.2 million)
-Event Business: EUR 7.9 million (EUR 8.5 million)
-Books and Legal Training: EUR 6.2 million (EUR 4.9 million)
-Direct Marketing: EUR 8.3 million (EUR 8.8 million)


KEY FINANCIAL FIGURES

EUR million                    7-9 2014  7-9 2013  1-9 2014  1-9 2013  1-12 2013
Net sales                          13.7      14.0      50.6      52.8       74.5
Operating income without           -0.4      -1.1       1.0      -0.1        3.1
 non-recurring items                                                            
as % of net sales                  -3.2      -7.5       1.9      -0.1        4.1
Operating income                   -0.3      -1.0       0.2      -0.3        1.4
as % of net sales                  -2.5      -7.1       0.4      -0.6        1.8
Income before taxes                -0.5      -1.2       0.3      -0.4        1.6
Net cash from operating                                 0.8       0.1        3.3
 activities                                                                     
Total assets                                           51.9      52.2       49.8
Investments                         0.1       0.3       3.9       1.2        1.5
as % of net sales                   0.5       2.1       7.6       2.3        2.0
Return on invested capital %                            2.8      -4.5        3.2
Return on equity %                                      1.3      -1.6        6.0
Equity ratio, %                                        43.0      45.7       47.4
Gearing ratio, % (net debt to                          23.0      20.2        4.4
 equity)                                                                        
Interest-bearing liabilities                            6.0       5.4        5.1
Net interest-bearing                                    3.9       3.6        0.8
 liabilities                                                                    
Personnel on average                                    721       748        750
Earnings per share, EUR           -0.01     -0.02      0.01     -0.01       0.03
Cash flow from operating                               0.02      0.00       0.08
 activities per share, EUR                                                      
Equity per share, EUR                                  0.38      0.41       0.43


Talentum's business operations are divided into six segments: Magazine Business
Finland, Magazine Business Sweden, Event Business, Books and Legal Training,
Direct Marketing and Other Activities. 

Chief Executive Officer Aarne Aktan:

”Consolidated operating income for the third quarter improved compared to last
year and was at the level we expected. 

The operations in the third quarter were hindered by the weakening of the
operating environment - especially in Finland. In the third quarter,
advertising sales in both Magazine Business Finland and Magazine Business
Sweden segments were at significantly lower level compared to last year. 

The development of Magazine Business Sweden's profitability in the third
quarter was not as good as at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, we
are satisfied with the improvement of the Event Business' and Books and Legal
Training's profitability. Operating income from Magazine Business Finland and
Direct Marketing was at the reference period's level. 

The integration of the B2B business acquired from Sanoma Pro last April into
the Books and Legal Training segment has proceeded as expected. 

Summa - Talentum's digital service package - was published in Sweden in August
and the service has been well received there by readers. At the same time, as
part of Summa's publication in Sweden, we launched Digital Teknik - a new,
fully digital content product - on the Swedish Market.  We will continue to
develop Summa in a goal-oriented way and we will add new features to the
service during the last quarter of the year. 

In the third quarter, digital sales amounted to EUR 2.1 million, of which EUR
1.5 million accumulated from Finland and EUR 0.7 million from Sweden.” 

Talentum prospects for 2014

Talentum specified in the interim report of 17 July 2014 its prospects for 2014
to read as follows: “Talentum estimates that its net sales for 2014 including
the B2B business acquired from Sanoma Pro will remain approximately at the same
level as in 2013. Comparable operating income without non-recurring items will
be higher than in 2013.” 

Prospects in this interim report are as stated above.

The impact of the B2B business acquired from Sanoma Pro on net sales for 2014
will be EUR 2 - 3 million. 

General statement

The forecasts and estimates presented here are based on the management's
current view of economic development, and the actual results may differ
substantially from what is now expected of the company. 

Financial information 2015

Talentum is planning to publish the results in 2015 as follows:

Full-year result 2014               12 February 2015
January-March result              29 April 2015
January-June result                17 July 2015
January-September result      22 October 2015

Briefing

A briefing will be held for analysts and the media on 23 October 2014 at 11.00
a.m. in Sokos Hotel Vaakuna, Asema-aukio 2, 00100, Helsinki, Finland. 


TALENTUM OYJ
Board of Directors

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CEO Aarne Aktan, tel. +358 40 342 4440 and CFO Niclas Köhler, tel. +358 40 342
4420 

DISTRIBUTION
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Principal media
www.talentum.com