Quarto Group Inc Half-Year Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2017

Quarto Group Inc (LON:QRT), the leading global illustrated book publisher has announced its unaudited half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2017.

1.     All results relate to continuing operations.

2.     Adjusted measures are stated before amortisation of acquired intangibles and exceptional items.

Financial Highlights

· Lower than expected publishing performance with revenue down 13%.

· Lower revenue combined with higher than expected one-off, non recurring costs impacted  profit, resulting in a higher adjusted loss before tax of $8.7m (H1 2016 loss: $1.6m).

· Group overheads, though lower, included one-off, non-recurring costs related to personnel and  IT systems upgrades, partially offset by favourable currency movements.

· Net debt rose 5% to $75.8m (H1 2016: $72.5m) and reflects a higher first half loss, partially  offset by a net reduction in working capital.

· Owing to the increased second half weighting, the Group will not pay an interim dividend but will  review the final dividend policy over the coming months in consultation with shareholders.

· The Board has received a preliminary approach to acquire the Company at a price it considers  to be attractive and reflective of the inherent value of the business as a global publishing  platform – and hence worthy of due consideration. Discussions with the bidder are at an early  stage and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made or as to the terms of any such  offer.  

Operational Highlights

· Continued softness in the retail environment across both domestic markets, characterised by a  changing product mix and unusually high returns from key customers.

· In the US, despite a revenue contribution from becker&mayer, total revenue was affected by the  significant sales of colouring books in H1 2016 which were not repeated or replaced by another  trend in H1 2017.

· Adult publishing imprints and international English language co-edition sales most strongly hit by  market softness. More resilient performance from Children’s publishing imprints and Foreign  Language sales.

· Disposals of trading businesses completed, reported within Discontinued Operations for the  period to disposal.

· Strong and deep Autumn and Holiday publishing programme and healthy order book visibility for  the second half of the year.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive, Marcus Leaver said: 

 

“As highlighted in our trading update in July, this set of results is below expectations. However, it needs to be set in the context of both a soft retail environment and the new reality of a higher second-half seasonality for the Group as a pure-play publishing business, especially with the addition of becker&mayer to our portfolio.

 

It has been a transitional period with the completion of the disposals of our non-core businesses while facing a challenging trading background in our key domestic markets. We have seen lower initial orders and reprints from some large customers. In particular, most of our adult imprints have performed below our expectations.

 

While we expect the soft retail environment to continue, we have an excellent publishing programme for the Autumn and the Holiday period – one of our strongest in the last few years. Order book visibility is healthy and our sales teams have the right plans in place to capture all possible opportunities. We have confidence throughout the Group in delivering a strong finish to the year.”

 

Gresham House Strategic PLC (LON:GHS) has a total interest of 4.4% in Quarto Group Inc, correct as of 30 June 2017 month end NAV announcement, released 03 July 2017