Promethean boss upbeat despite slowing sales growth

PROMETHEAN World, the Lancashire education technology provider, said today the rates of its sales growth had slowed in the third quarter, but it still expects to meet market expectations. 

The Blackburn group, which listed on the full list of the Stock Market in March, and has since seen its share price nearly half, said revenues so far this year are up 25% to £193.7m in the nine months to the end of September.

The firm behind interactive whiteboards, which are installed in classrooms to help learning, said it had also won a major tender from the Italian government in what was the largest single tender to date from an EU country for interactive whiteboard technology.

The exact value of the ‘multi-million euro tender’ was not disclosed, but will require 8,000 interactive whiteboard systems in around 4,000 of Italy’s first grade secondary schools, which teach students aged between 11 and 13 years.

Regarding its trading performance Promethean said third quarter sales had been “solid”, but demand had dipped in the US.

The firm said: “The rate of third quarter revenue growth was slower than in the first half, with sales up 12% to £71.3m. This was partly expected due to a strong 2009 third quarter comparator period, but principally because the group witnessed a more difficult environment for education budgets, particularly in the United States.

Looking ahead, chief executive Jean-Yves Charlier, said some continued uncertainty in some regions such as the US, due to “budgetary uncertainty and constraints” would not be surprising.

He said: “Despite this, we are confident of sustaining solid revenue growth for the fourth quarter and for 2011. We are managing our operating cost base accordingly and, together with our ability to further leverage scale economies, we are therefore confident of delivering further good earnings growth going forward.

“Beyond the near-term, the long-term demand drivers remain very positive. Education remains a top priority for governments across the world.

“With only 7% of the world’s classrooms yet equipped with an interactive whiteboard and our products well aligned to most countries’ investment priorities for growth, the structural global opportunity for Promethean is very substantial.”