Trading Statement

    RNS Number : 1984K
  Electric Word PLC
  16 December 2008
   

    16th December 2008
    Electric Word plc 
    ("Electric Word" or the "Company")
    Trading Statement
    Electric Word plc (ELE.L), the specialist information publisher, today announces the following update for the year ended 30th November
2008 prior to entering its close period and ahead of its preliminary results announcement on 17 February 2009.
    Group adjusted profits before tax for 2008 are expected to be in line with market expectations, reflecting good performances from the
company's professional publishing businesses. Sales are expected to be slightly ahead of expectations.
    Trading in the professional education business, which publishes mainly for the UK schools sector, has been ahead of 2007 and also above
the Board's expectations for the year. Speechmark, the professional development publishing business for speech therapists and special needs
professionals acquired late in 2007, has performed strongly in improving both sales and margins. 
     In Optimus Professional Publishing, growth was led by the teacher conferences and by books sales, both in large part through the
strength of the online and email channels. In 2008 the Group invested in building its range of professional development books for teachers
and this can be expected to continue with margins likely to improve as the business matures. The education division as a whole benefitted
from the deepening synergies between the Optimus, Speechmark and Incentive Plus businesses, with the Speechmark acquisition in particular
supporting growth in both profits and margins. 
    Sales in Sport Business Group were also ahead of 2007, including advertising revenues, although the strongest growth came from
subscription revenue as a result of improving yields. 
    Electric Word's consumer publishing also addresses both education and sports markets. The sports performance websites, newsletters and
books, which are aimed at competitive athletes and coaches, performed well and grew earnings in the year. 
    MyChild, in which a majority stake was acquired in November 2007, provides information and products for parents to support their
children's educational development. The MyChild business has evolved over the course of the year since acquisition. During the year it
became apparent that more value was being created in the website and associated email database than from the initial investment in building
subscriptions for the print magazine. As a result, the MyChild business, which was loss making for the full year, has been restructured and
will now continue as an online business only (www.mychild.co.uk). 
    The reshaping of the MyChild business has incurred one-off restructuring costs, all of which will be provided for in 2008 in a net
charge of �289,000 along with some impairment of the goodwill value of the business. Going forward the business will operate from a lower
base of revenue and costs and is expected to make a positive contribution to earnings in 2009 as part of an integrated consumer publishing
division. 
    Julian Turner, Chief Executive of Electric Word, commented:
    "Our success in building online communities around electronic newsletters in education and other target markets has created an
opportunity to further strengthen the company's online advertising sales capacity in the coming year. 
    "Despite the challenges of the broader economic environment, current trading continues to demonstrate the robust nature of Electric
Word's markets, products and revenue mix as we enter 2009."
    - ENDS -
    Enquiries:
 Julian Turner, Chief Executive, Electric Word  020 7954 3470
 Helen Thomas/Tim Spratt, Financial Dynamics    020 7831 3113
 Andrew Potts, Panmure Gordon                   020 7459 3600



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