Reed Elsevier looks online for growth - Times Online- Topic: BuildingWebsiteNews

Sir Crispin Davis, chief executive, said that he thought he could develop Reed's e-health activities from $200 million a year currently to "$1 billion in the next five years"; while the company's $500 million risk management business should increase "two to three times" in the same time frame. In the past nine months, Reed has bulked up its online presence through the acquisition of BuyerZone, a US online business for matching suppliers to business customers, and Emedia, a UK online marketing business. Reed said that sale would not be earnings dilutive, while Sir Crispin added that the company was "not a long term holder" of the 12 per cent stake it acquired in the purchaser. Legal and risk management division, Lexis Nexis, improved income by 13 per cent stripping out the impact of the dollar, to £260 million; while Reed Business, the professional publishing and exhibitions unit, saw a 7 per cent improvement like-for-like at £229 million. read more

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