InnerWorkings hails best year ever

InnerWorkings has said that a strong performance by its domestic US operations helped it overcome a soft economic climate in Europe to round off what the company hailed its "best year ever".

The Chicago-based managed print services provider’s fourth quarter 2012 revenues rose 19% to $208m on the same period in 2011, while earnings for the three month period before interest, taxes and deductions were up to nearly 12% to $12.5m from $11.2m.

For the year to 31 December 2012, the company generated $797.7m in revenues, up 26% year-on-year, while EBITDA for the year was up 20% to $45.3m.

Chief executive Eric Belcher said, "Looking back at 2012, it was our best year ever and given our success in signing larger, new long-term contracts, some of which have only just started to ramp, 2013 is on track to be an even more exciting year."

Belcher added that InnerWorkings generated more than $100m in incremental organic revenue from new clients.

"Wins this year included large contracts with brand-name companies like TNT Financial, Gannett and Procter & Gamble, to name a few. Every major client up for contract renewal in 2012 resigned multi-year agreements with us and we’ve also taken over additional categories in geographies with a number of our existing clients," he said.

However, Belcher admitted that customer spending in Europe was down, which he attributed to the economic downturn in the region. However, he stressed that InnerWorkings had still managed to grow its European top line by 67%, which included nearly 13% in organic growth. 

"We wouldn’t change a thing with respect to our decision to penetrate Europe, and of course we remain in full-attack mode in the region," he said.

"We expect Europe to play out in a similar way, as the U.S. market did for us in 2008 and 2009, where a step back in our client’s spending patterns created larger business development opportunities for us. There’s no doubt that every major corporation doing business in Europe is feeling economic pressure and the idea of partnering up with InnerWorkings to take out bad costs and their indirect spend categories is just that much more appealing."

Belcher also predicted the company’s investments in both resources and personnel will pay dividends this year in the potentially huge emerging markets of Brazil and China.

"While we had very little in the way of revenue in China and Brazil in 2012, we’ve entered 2013 with new contracts and full head of steam and we expect big things from both countries this year," he said, adding the company was open to additional international acquisitions.

"Asia and the whole Pacific Rim would clearly be an area where we if we were able to come to terms and fall in love with an entrepreneur that we would move forward for sure," added Belcher.