Wolters Kluwer Health Cluster Strategy Day: Global Leadership in Medical and Health Information

| Source: Wolters Kluwer N.V. Wolters Kluwer N.V.

Today Wolters Kluwer will hold a series of presentations and product demonstrations for analysts and investors at its Health cluster's offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The meeting, hosted by cluster senior management and key business unit executives, will focus on Wolters Kluwer's new strategy for leadership in medical and health-related professional information services.
"Medical and health information is a $4 billion industry and Wolters Kluwer is positioned to be the global leader for English-language content and tools" said Hugh Yarrington, Executive Board Member of Wolters Kluwer. "We are extending our proprietary content and brands to software solutions that help health professionals be more productive. Thanks to steady product introductions and acquisitions of smart tool companies, Internet and electronic products already represent almost one-third of the Health cluster's annualized sales of more than €700 million."
 
Christopher Ainsley, President & CEO of Wolters Kluwer Health, explained the new strategy: "Since Wolters Kluwer's decision to divest science activities and focus on health, we have moved aggressively to change how we manage this business. We reorganized the stand-alone operating companies into four customer-facing groups, to better serve medical and health professionals. We have many renowned brands including Ovid, the industry's leading electronic delivery platform. Its open technology is proving optimal to serve at the core of our electronic strategy. We also have identified new growth areas, in particular clinical tools, where we are accelerating development of an innovative line of integrated disease and drug information solutions to boost growth."
 
Wolters Kluwer's Health cluster is comprised of four customer groups: Medical Research, Professional & Education, Pharma Solutions, and Clinical Tools. The cluster's strategy is to expand its portfolio of top medical content, increase its market share in medical research, accelerate growth of clinical tools, and revitalize its core text, reference and pharmaceuticals businesses.
 
The cluster's medium-term objective is to grow organic sales at above the industry's 2-5% average while continuing to make acquisitions that enhance the electronic strategy and provide double-digit growth. Margins are expected to expand from 2001's 15.7% towards the company's average margins of above 20%.
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Downloadable copies of the powerpoint presentation are available at www.wolterskluwer.com. Webcast replay of the presentation will also be available on the website as soon as possible.
 
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as 'expect', 'should', 'could', 'shall', and similar expressions. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and events could differ materially from what is expected presently.
Factors leading thereto may include without limitations general economic conditions, conditions in the markets in which Wolters Kluwer is engaged, behavior of customers, suppliers and competitors, technological developments, as well as legal and regulatory rules affecting Wolters Kluwer's businesses.
 
Note for the editor:
Wolters Kluwer is a multinational information services company with annual revenues of more than EUR 3.8 billion, employing 20,000 people in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. The company's core activities are Legal, Tax & Business, Health, and Education. The Wolters Kluwer shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam. Preliminary results will be announced in January 2003. The financial results for the year 2002 will be announced on March 11, 2003.
 
Internet: www.wolterskluwer.com
For more information, please contact:
Press: Eric Heres, tel. +31 20 6070 335
e-mail: press@wolterskluwer.com (press)
Analysts/Investors: Oya Yavuz, tel. +31 20 6070 407
e-mail: ir@wolterskluwer.com (investor relations)