STOCKHOLM: Cision reported $46.4 million in revenues for its third quarter, a 22% decrease from the $60 million* it generated in the same period last year. Organic growth also declined by 13% for the quarter, which ended September 30.
The company posted a $44.3 million loss for the quarter, compared to a $35.5 million loss in the year-ago period. The recession, currency exchange rates, and restructuring costs related to the sale of some of its businesses, including the UK Print Monitor Division, impacted results, the company said.
Cision CEO Hans Gieskes noted in the earnings statement released October 22 that during the past nine months, the company has divested “five separate businesses in the monitor services area, with revenues of about SEK 400 million [$57 million]… 600 employees and significant operating losses.”
“We are pleased to have accomplished these transactions… 2009 will continue to be a challenging year,” he said. “I believe the structural activity to date means that Cision's business prospects for the future are greatly improved.”
Cision's total global revenues for the first nine months of the year were $166.5 million, down from last year's $186 million.
The Stockholm-based company, which offers media monitoring software, media contact lists, and analysis platforms, noted that the recession created “weak demand,” but it expects solutions like the integrated CisionPoint software to become “increasingly essential to PR and communication professionals” as more content is created and utilized on Web and mobile platforms. The company reported that increasing revenues from its monitoring of social media services helped offset weakness of print monitor services.
In the US, a region that performed better than other areas, 57% of its clients use CisionPoint, up from 48% in Q2. The platform launched in 2007 and it includes news monitoring, distribution, and analytic functions. Total US revenues for the quarter were $22.1 million, up slightly from $21 million during the same period in 2008. North America retained good margins of 20% despite the recession, the company said.
*All figures were converted from Swedish Kroner to US dollars using the XE currency converter.
