Wolters Kluwers, parent to CCH, reported a period of flat revenue for the first half ended June 30 with profit down 5 percent over last year’s corresponding half company-wide revenue was about $2.24 billion, virtually unchanged when measured in euros. It Tax and Accounting business did better than the corporate average with revenue up 2.5 percent and EBITA up 1.6 percent. While not spelled out in financial tables, the company had 7 percent organic growth in its core tax market in North America.
The company has reorganized into four divisions. Two of them, Tax and Accounting and Legal & Regulatory, split apart Tax, Accounting & Legal, which had been the North American operations, largely CCH. The new divisions operate worldwide.
The company reported results under both the old and new schemes. Under TAL, revenue grew to $633 million, up slightly from $625 million in last year’s corresponding period. EBITA for the unit of $169 million was virtually unchanged from $171 million a year earlier. Most of the revenue increase came from currency gains. Tax and Accounting results varied little from TAL with revenue rising to $639 million from $623 million. The major difference was that the new unit had organic revenue growth that exceeded gains from currency.
A press release mentioned last year’s launch by CCH of a SaaS-based version of the ProSystem fx Suite as well as its IntelliConnect platform, which replaced the Tax Research Network and Knowledge Connect, its knowledge management system. However, there was no characterization of the performance of any of these products, other than a statement that IntelliConnect has 200,000 customers worldwide.
In a Webcast, CEO Nancy McKinstry noted the tax growth in the American market and said there had been strong performance of ProSystem fx Document and Scan. Tax and Accounting, like other divisions, saw gains in online products offset by declines in the tax of print publishing products.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
