Cision AB (publ) Interim report January-September 2008, October 23 2008

Cision AB (publ) Interim report January-September 2008, October 23 2008

UK recovery delayed. Impairment of goodwill. New CEO appointed.

• The Group's operating revenue amounted to SEK 1,296 million (1,413). Organic
growth in local currency
was negative in an amount of -3 percent (2). Exchange rate effects negatively
impacted revenue by
SEK 67 million.
• Operating profit excluding goodwill impairments amounted to SEK 54 million
(144) and profit before tax was
SEK -225 million (99). Earnings per share were SEK -3,43 (0.76).
• Excluding goodwill impairments, restructuring expenses and costs related to
the takeover bid in 2008,
operating profit amounted to SEK 90 million (173) and the operating margin was
6.9 percent (12.3).
Exchange rate effects negatively impacted profit by SEK 8 million.
• Excluding goodwill impairments, restructuring expenses and costs related to
the takeover bid in 2008,
operating profit in the third quarter amounted to SEK 21 million (60) and the
operating margin was 5.0
percent (13.0). Restructuring expenses during the quarter were SEK 7 million.
Exchange rate effects in
the third quarter compared with the corresponding period in 2007 did not impact
profits.
• In the third quarter, a goodwill impairment of SEK 241 million was carried
out, related to a more conservative
view for UK operations.
• Operating cash flow amounted to SEK 83 million (180). Free cash flow amounted
to SEK -3 million (45).
• The recovery of the UK operations was further delayed. Organic growth in the
North American region
slowed during the third quarter due to the impact of a weaker economy in the US
as well as an unfavorable
development for US broadcast monitoring services. CisionPoint sales in the US
continued to perform
well.
• On October 7, 2008, Hans Gieskes was appointed Chief Executive Officer of
Cision.
• As announced in the press release published on June 18, Cision expects
operating profit before restructuring
expenses for full-year 2008 to be significantly lower than in 2007.

Comment by Cision CEO Hans Gieskes:
“Cision's result during the first nine months of the year was disappointing,
mainly due to ongoing challenges in
the UK operations. Turning the UK business around is the top priority for me
during my initial time at Cision,
focusing on returning the region to organic growth in parallel with reviewing
further cost cuts.
In North America, we experienced slow growth in the US market, resulting in a
decline in margins during
the quarter. However, the continued success of the CisionPoint launch should
enable us to protect the margins
we have seen from this region in the longer term. In the Nordic region, margins
to date have been unsatisfactory 
following a prolonged restructuring phase, but renewed efforts to reduce costs
will enable us to improve performance over time.

I joined Cision because I believe in the company's future potential as a market
leader in media intelligence
services worldwide and with a strong new service offering being rolled out
through CisionPoint. However, we
must now increase the pace of conversion from an analogue to a digital business
model, with a lower cost
base and a high share of recurring revenues. Underperforming parts of our
business must rapidly return to
profitability. At the same time, we must continue to strengthen our offering and
always aim to exceed our
clients'expectations.”


For further information, please contact:
Hans Gieskes, President and CEO, telephone +46 (0)8 507 410 10
e-mail: hans.gieskes@cision.com

Erik Forsberg, CFO, telephone +46 (0) 8 507 410 91
e-mail: erik.forsberg@cision.com

Cision AB (publ)
SE-114 88 Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone: +46 (0) 8 507 410 00
www.cision.com

Cision improves clients' performance through integrated services and software
solutions for reputation and campaign management, media monitoring and research
of media contacts.
Cision AB is quoted on the Nordic Exchange and has approx. 17 000 shareholders.
The company has around 2,600 employees and a turnover of SEK 1.9 billion in
2007. Cision operates in the US, UK, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Norway, Finland,
Denmark, Portugal, Lithuania, the Netherlands and China and has partners in
another 125 countries.