LONDON, Jan. 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following Calendar Year in Review for Futuremedia plc (OTCBB:FMDAE) is presented by the company's CEO, George O'Leary.
As part of our continuing efforts to maintain an active dialogue with the company's shareholders, we are providing this "Calendar Year in Review" to capture the strategic changes that took place in 2008, summarize our accomplishments and outline our view of the company's short term outlook. Over the past 18 months we have been making conscious efforts to increase and maximize transparency.
Strategic Summary
Futuremedia has undergone a significant transformation in the 2008 calendar year. The most significant strategic objective was the sale of the FM Learning division. We accomplished this before October 1, 2008, and we have received the final payment earlier this week. We are pleased that we were able to accomplish this objective in spite of the financial markets' melt-down and onset of a global recession. As planned, the sale of the FM Learning division enabled us to focus entirely on our primary business (Button Group) in the events and exhibition space. To emphasize the significance of this change, we rebranded the company as SPICE and launched an effective marketing campaign in the fall of '08 that was extremely well received by our clients and vendors.
Another of our strategic objectives for 2008 was to expand our operations into growing, high-profile markets that have significant upside. With the opening of our office in Dubai and the appointment of Bill Devitt to run it, we are confident that we will start reaping rewards from this operation in the very near future. We are thrilled to have Bill back with 20 plus years of experience at the Button Group and his recent experience in Dubai and surrounding markets.
Finally, we made the further reduction of overhead costs a high priority in 2008. Our objective was to make wise investments at the operational level and reduce corporate costs to an absolute minimum. As a result, there are only two operational people left at the corporate level, myself as CEO and Liz McOwat as Company Secretary Corporate Controller. The results of our cost cutting are spelled out below and I can confidently assert that we've made great strides in our cost-cutting endeavors and continue to focus on resolving past financial legacy issues.
Financial Summary
Spice Revenues have increased 20% percent (year over year) during a global downward economic trend and Futuremedia corporate overhead costs have been cut from GBP 3 million down to a GBP 400k run rate going forward. Spice has transformed itself from a company that lost GBP 2 million 2 years ago to a company that broke even at the end of its 2008 fiscal year. More importantly, Spice is projecting a GBP 500k operating profit before corporate overhead for fiscal 2009. Futuremedia will go from a company that lost GBP 6 million on a consolidated basis 2 years ago to a company with a profit after corporate overhead projected for fiscal 2009. An additional cost cutting measure has presented itself with regard to our audit costs. At present, our stock is quoted concurrently on the OTC Bulletin Board and also on the Pink Sheets. As required by the OTC Bulletin Board, the company has been providing audited financial statements that comply with US GAAP standards in our annual 20F filing. The costs associated with this 20F filing and the US GAAP audit total over GBP 250k and are done in addition to the UK audit that we are required to conduct by law as a British company. Since most of the trading volume for our stock occurs on the Pink Sheets, we have decided to discontinue the US GAAP audit for the foreseeable future. As a result, as of February 17, 2009, our company stock will no longer be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board but will trade exclusively on the Pink Sheets. We are of course continuing with the filing of UK statutory accounts as per UK law, and those audited financial statements will be accessible to all investors as soon as completed. This is expected for end of March.
Management Team
Our considerable accomplishments in 2008 would not have been possible without the commitment of several key members of our team. First, James Schnauer has accepted the role of Managing Director for the company. James has been with the company for over 10 years and has done an exceptional job running and growing the USA operation. Next, Bill Devitt and the company have recently signed a long term contract. Bill will head up our Dubai Region and also work on strategic opportunities for all of our regions. Laurent Fiore and Leeza McGuire, who head up our Cannes, France Region, have also made long term commitments to the company. Laurent heads up technical services and has started Carbon Footprint, a company providing information and advice to exhibitors on how to make their exhibitions more GREEN. Leeza does a fantastic job heading up our events division for the company. Additionally, we have strengthened the London office by appointing Matt Rice to the role of Managing Director - London to deal with all client facing issues, creative and sales as Paul Godwin continues to head up account management, vendors and finance as Operations Director. And finally, Michael Jacquot has taken on the role of Spice, Finance Director and will be working with all regions to handle all financial matters within Spice.
Company Outlook
As everyone knows, we are in the midst of a global recession that has the prompted the vast majority of public companies to revise their revenue and earnings projections downward. I'm happy to report that in spite of a very difficult market, our new client wins and market share gains in new markets like Dubai, have lead us to project an 18% revenue growth for fiscal 2009 and positive operating earnings for the first time in several years. Because of the restructuring efforts that started on June 1st 2007, we've actually had an 18 month head start on most companies that have just recently been forced to focus on their business fundamentals and re-size their workforce to fit present market conditions. Because we're already well on our way to a successful restructuring, dealing with our past financial legacy issues, we're confident that our company is not only viable, but well positioned to both survive the bad times and capitalize handsomely during the eventual recovery period.
About Spice
Spice is a leading design, exhibition and events agency. With offices in London, Cannes, Los Angeles and Dubai, it has worldwide experience creating and delivering projects across a range of industries including IT & Telecommunications, Finance & Banking, Property, Television & Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, Food & Drink, Media & Publishing and Fashion & Beauty. With a proven track record spanning over three decades, Spice offers three-dimensional designs to provide creative solutions in the production and management of branded environments and content. Clients include CBS Paramount, Convergys, Estee Lauder, Microsoft Advertising, NBC Universal, Qatari Diar, Sony Ericsson and Union Properties. "SPICE" encompasses Strength, Passion, Innovation, Creativity and Excellence. For more information, visit www.spicebrand.com or contact Georgina Holmes at gholmes@spicebrand.com.
Futuremedia plc (OTCBB:FMDAE) is a global media company providing design, exhibition and event services to public and private sector organisations. Established in 1982, Futuremedia helps its clients to communicate their values, product and brand information to employees, customers and industry. For more information, visit www.futuremedia.co.uk.
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