QRT.L Regulatory News (QRT)

2 May 2006 14:08

Quarto Group Inc02 May 2006 THE QUARTO GROUP, INC. CHAIRMAN'S AGM STATEMENT "an excellent start to 2006" At the AGM in London this afternoon of Quarto, the fully listed independent bookproducer and publisher, based in London, Laurence F. Orbach, Chairman and ChiefExecutive, will state: "We've made an excellent start to 2006, in the face of trading conditions in ourmajor markets that continue to be demanding. For the first quarter, to March 31, 2006, unaudited operating profits* of£731,000 (2005: £255,000) are at a record level, and up 187%, on revenue of£18.0 million(2005: £17.0 million), up 6%. For the 12 months ended March 31,2006 operating profits* increased by 28% to £9.3 million (2005: £7.2 million). Asummarised trading statement is set out below: March 31 Three months Trailing 12 months 2006 2005 2006 2005 £000 £000 £000 £000 Revenue 17,951 17,014 95,975 82,167 ______ ______ ______ ______ ======== ======== ======== ========Gross profit 6,640 5,937 33,082 28,155 Overheads (5,909) (5,682) (23,831) (20,909) ______ ______ ______ ______ Operating profit 731 255 9,251 7,246 Interest (608) (489) (2,342) (1,786) ______ ______ ______ ______ Pre-tax profit 123 (234) 6,909 5,460 ______ ______ ______ ______ ======== ======== ======== ======== Our international co-edition segment showed particularly strong results, and, onthe publishing side, sales in the UK moved into slightly more positiveterritory. Publishing sales in the US remained unexciting, but this has more todo with changes in distribution arrangements in the primary channels that weserve than to any market weakness. The new arrangements should be settling induring the next quarter. "The first quarter is, traditionally, our weakest quarter for revenue, butcurrent indications are that 2006 overall will be stronger than last year. Asnoted in my Chairman's letter on last year's results, we have been havingdifficulty with some of our magazine titles, published in the UK. I am happy toannounce that we disposed of these titles today. Last year, at about this time,we restructured our marketing services units in the UK. I am pleased to reportthat the savings we expected are being achieved." *before amortization of intangibles and non-recurring items Notes for Editors: Quarto is an international book producer and publisher with two principalstrands of activity: it publishes, under imprints owned by the Group, books andart prints in the US, the UK, and Australia; and it creates books that arelicensed to other publishers for publication under their own imprints in manylanguages around the world. In 2005, Quarto increased adjusted pre-tax profit by 12% to £6.6m and reportedadjusted diluted earnings per share of 20.8p (21.5p at constant tax rates, whichwould have represented a seventh successive annual increase). Enquiries: The Quarto Group, Inc. Laurence Orbach (Chairman & CEO) 020-7700 9003 Mick Mousley (Finance Director) 020-7700 9004 Bankside Consultants Limited Charles Ponsonby 020-7367 8851 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange