BSI maintains 15 years of revenue growth with record 2014
20 April 2015,
• Six per cent increase takes total revenue to £287.1m
• Significant acquisitions boost presence in North America and Africa
BSI, the business standards company, has announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2014. Growth of 6% maintains BSI’s unbroken 15-year track record of annual increases in underlying* revenue.
Key points:
• Revenue increased 6% to £287.1m (2013: £271.8m)
• Underlying operating profit up 3% to £29.1m (2013: £28.3m)
• Net cash increased 22% to £52.8m (2013: £43.4m), no external debt
• Acquisitions in San José, California and Pretoria, South Africa announced in early 2015
Howard Kerr, Chief Executive, commented: “Over the past few years we have transformed BSI into an integrated global enterprise able to serve clients across the world. 2014 was an important year in this process, with our network of offices and integrated product offering further established and now helping us to serve our existing clients better and reach out to new ones. Sterling strengthened in 2014 against our major trading currencies, and this had an adverse effect on our reported revenue and profit, but we were able to show good growth in both, as our business is well balanced between geographies, business streams and industrial sectors.”
Two acquisitions were made by BSI in January 2015: Environmental and Occupational Risk Management Inc. (EORM), based in San José, California, with six offices and 160 people; and the PricewaterhouseCoopers Systems Certification business in Pretoria, South Africa. Both enhanced our presence in their respective regions, and established important bases for expansion.
BSI’s global reach now extends to 76 offices across 28 countries and headcount increased by 4% to over 3,000 employees. A record number of clients, up 11% to 80,000, were served over the year across 121,000 business sites in more than 172 countries. BSI’s capabilities in Knowledge, Assurance and Compliance are now recognized by multinationals, SMEs and governments alike.
BSI’s role as the UK’s National Standards Body saw it continue to engage and influence, both at home and internationally, driving the concept of standards as consensus knowledge across a range of sectors and themes including building information, supply chain management, smart cities and corporate governance. This work is helping propel the UK into a pioneering position in these areas and new domains such as assisted living, cell therapies and offshore renewable energy, contributing to innovation, trade and business performance.
Kerr concluded: “After a challenging 2013, I was pleased to see optimism amongst our clients returning. The stronger trading conditions experienced in 2014 have allowed us to accelerate our strategy to become global leaders in helping our clients develop the necessary organizational resilience to thrive in a global marketplace. We continue to approach 2015 and beyond with some optimism, while carefully watching the macro-economic developments of our business world.”
A detailed business and financial review as well as the financial statements and notes to the financial statements may be found by following the hyperlink below to the on-line edition of our annual report and financial statements 2014.
