Cision reported fourth quarter revenue slipped 6% from 2010 to 252M SEK, but organic growth swung positive to increase four percent on strength of its U.S. performance.
Cision posted 12 percent growth in the U.S. in Q4 on revenue of 165.1M SEK, although revenue slipped 2.5% for the full year 2011 at 598.2M.
“There are clear signs that our 2010-11 investments in sales and marketing in the U.S. are paying off,” said CEO Hans Gieskes, noting improvements in Europe also boosted revenue. The company continues to struggle in Canada, where revenue fell 13% in Q4.
Divestments and currency effects put a 28M SEK hit on revenue for Q4, but net profit jumped 150% to 25M SEK for the quarter over Q4 2010.
For the year, operating revenue hit 969M SEK, down 14% from 2010 on divestments of its Germany and Finland opreations, but organic growth was 0.4% for the year. Gieskes noted it was Cision’s first full year of organic growth in four years.
Fifty-eight percent of Cision’s revenue for 2011 was derived from subscriptions. It counted 13,305 customers at the end of the year, including nearly, 9,000 for its CisionPoint PR software.
Cision shed 118 staffers in 2011, although it added headcount in the U.S.