Wolters Kluwer, the parent of CCH, had double-digit organic growth in earnings and revenue for its Tax & Accounting division in 2010 as the company produced an overall 4 percent growth in revenue. That came with sales continuing a strong shift to electronic services and services and away from print products. Software revenue grew by 5 percent in North America and what was described as "user growth in core platforms."
Tax & Accounting EBITA was $353 million for the year ended December 31, up from $334 million in 2009. The results were up 23 percent organically and 19 percent overall. The division's revenue reached $1.233 billion, up 13 percent organically from $1.228 billion. The top line grew by 5 percent organically.
Although the company's research platform, IntelliConnect, has had a rough start, chief executive Nancy McKinstry said the product had a good year. "The division saw significant growth in users of IntelliConnect. The division also expanded its footprint in the area of corporate tax," she said. McKinstry touted the growth of Internet-based products and said that ProSystem fx Portal has been the fastest growing product ever for the division. She said that 700,000 portals have been licensed. That came as rival Thomson Reuters, which has had portals longer, said it had 500,000 licensed portals in 2010, up 200,000 for the year.
Overall, revenue was about $4.88 billion, an increase of 4 percent when measured in euros. Net income was also up 4 percent to about $609.5 million.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
