| Today Wolters Kluwer Legal, Tax & Business Europe will hold a series of presentations and product demonstrations for analysts and investors at its cluster's offices in Brussels. The meeting, hosted by cluster senior management and key business unit executives, will update company followers on Wolters Kluwer's strategy for Pan-European leadership and growth in six core professional information segments: legal, transport, financial & fiscal, human resources, public governmental administration, health & environment. |
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"Two years ago, Legal, Tax & Business Europe took its stand-alone country operations - each with its own organization, proprietary content and brands - and brought them into a coordinated European-wide management structure." said Jean-Marc Detailleur, acting CEO of the cluster and Executive Board Member of Wolters Kluwer. "This combination has enabled us to leverage the strengths of each local operation while focusing our portfolio, increasing operational efficiency, developing common IT systems and speeding new product time-to-market. The cluster approach has also provided a more effective framework for tackling the weaknesses of under performing companies, which are gradually being turned around."
"During 2002, the cluster made progress in reinforcing its number one and two positions in its core markets. Some 26% of the cluster's EUR 1,228 million in revenues came from revenues of electronic products, and profits showed modest improvement despite flat organic revenues. 2003 will be a year of further cost cutting in the face of a tough pricing environment, while we continue to invest in innovative solutions for our customers. We continue to make selective acquisitions that strengthen our offering and provide above-average growth."
"Much work remains to be done. Local companies must sharpen their focus on key account management, sales & marketing and their core strengths in content development, while the cluster level must realize the scale benefits of functions such as process improvement, IT development and production. But we have the strategy, the management and the organization needed for success as a multi-media provider of information services and solutions to our customers."
Today, Wolters Kluwer Legal, Tax & Business also announced that it has agreed to acquire Transwide.
Transwide is the European leader in enabling shippers and carriers to better collaborate during transport execution. Wolters Kluwer has been investing for over 15 years to digitize transport information and operates Teleroute, the leading European on-line freight and vehicle exchange and the Group's main transport technology asset. Transwide, in combination with Teleroute, operate the largest real time platforms and on-line solutions for Transport and Logistics companies and their customers in Europe. Teleroute offers a marketplace for carriers and forwarders whereas Transwide offers a communication solution between shippers and carriers. The platforms currently employ more than 230 people in 19 European countries. Over 36,000 users process millions of transactions to facilitate the transportation of over 120 millions of tons of goods per year. |
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| Downloadable copies of the powerpoint presentation of the Cluster Day in Brussels on May 16 2003, are available at www.wolterskluwer.com. Webcast replay of the presentation will also be available on the website as soon as possible. |
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Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as 'expect', 'should', 'could', 'shall', and similar expressions. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and events could differ materially from what is expected presently. Factors leading thereto may include without limitations general economic conditions, conditions in the markets in which Wolters Kluwer is engaged, behavior of customers, suppliers and competitors, technological developments, as well as legal and regulatory rules affecting Wolters Kluwer's businesses |
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Note for the editor:
About Wolters Kluwer Legal Tax & Business Europe
Wolters Kluwer Legal, Tax & Business Europe is the leading European publisher of professional content, active in important markets in both Western and Eastern Europe. Within the six core segments: legal, transport, financial & fiscal, human resources, public governmental administration, health & environment, it serves customers with reliable information of a high quality. The cluster has annual revenues (2002) of EUR 1,228 million and employs approximately 7,700 people.
About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a multinational information services company with annual revenues of more than EUR 3.9 billion, employing almost 20,000 people in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. The company's core activities are Legal, Tax & Business, Health and Education. Wolters Kluwer's shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.
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