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Quarto, the publicly-quoted book publisher and packager, has said that it has seen "faint signs of stirring demand" in the US, its largest market, while trading in the UK remains"usefully ahead".
At the group's annual general meeting held today (16th June) Laurence Orbach, chairman & chief executive, said the demand in the US was being driven both by the ending of the year-long destocking undertaken by some large US retailers, and expectations of seasonal demand increases in the latter part of the year.
Orbach added: "Since our Q1 announcement seven weeks ago, the trading performance has remained satisfactory and the trading outlook has not changed appreciably. Sales in the UK continue to remain usefully ahead of last year's, and the international co-edition segment's forward orders continue to be robust."
For the year ended 31st December, 2008, Quarto increased revenues by 13% to £112.7m and adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 10% to £22.0 million. Pretax profit was flat at £7.7m.