Elsevier increases sales and profits
Elsevier increased sales and profit in 2011 as the company said the decline in print sales was off-set by growth in medical research and electronic solutions.
The academic publisher saw its underlying sales grow by 2% to £2,058m for the year to 31st December 2011, from £2,026m in 2010, while its underlying operating profit increased by 4% to £768m from £724m, due to “increased efficiency” at the company.
The science and technology field performance particularly stood out, with the category increasing revenue by 4% due to “good growth in global research activity” while the health sciences genre remained flat by comparison. The publisher’s parent company Reed Elsevier said: “Good growth in medical research and electronic solutions were offset by print declines” and added that 2012 would continue to see “modest underlying revenue growth".
Reed Elsevier as a whole saw total revenue decline by 1% to £6,002m in 2011 but its pre-tax profit rose from £768m to £948m, whilst net debt was cut from £3.5bn to £3.4bn year-on-year. The company’s chief executive officer, Erik Engstrom, vowed to keep its five main assets Elsevier, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Lexisnexis Legal & Professional, Reed Exhibitions and Reed Business Information, defying some analysts’ calls to break up the company.
