The Corporate Executive Board Company ("CEB") (NASDAQ: EXBD) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007. Tom Monahan, Chief Executive Officer, was disappointed with lower than expected fourth quarter growth in Contract Value. He noted strengths in international and mid-market growth, outlined problem areas and described priorities going forward. CEB also announced Susane Berger as its Executive Director of Strategic Markets and Channel Operations.

Visit the CEB website at the link below for the complete financial release. Highlights from the release include:

CEB revenues for the fourth quarter increased 13.3 percent to $142.2 million from $125.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2006. Net income decreased 2.9% to $22.5 million from $23.2 million. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased 8.6% to $0.63 from $0.58 for the fourth quarter of 2006.

For the year ended December 31, 2007, revenues were $532.7 million, a 15.7% increase from $460.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Net income for 2007 increased 1.8% to $80.6 million from $79.2 million for 2006. Diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2007 were $2.17, an 11.9% increase from $1.94 for the year ended December 31, 2006.

Contract Value growth in the fourth quarter of 2007 was 10.7%, resulting from continued cross-sales to existing clients, new client acquisitions, and new program launches. Client renewal rate for the full year was 90% and the average cross-sell ratio was 3.47, reflecting cross-sell ratios of 4.03 in the Company’s large corporate market and 1.44 in the middle market.

• In the large corporate market, the membership network grew to over 3,600 companies, with almost 400 members joining their first CEB program during 2007.
• In the middle market, over 600 members joined their first CEB program during 2007, and this membership network now has over 1,100 members.

Tom Monahan, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am disappointed in our Contract Value growth. The lower than expected growth can be traced to two major factors: First, we saw weak new sales in our North American large corporate market due to delayed results from the sales recovery plan we discussed over the past year. Second, we saw slower growth than we would like in key segments of our customer base -- particularly at some of our largest customers, who maintained rather than grew their relationships with us in Q4. These results were somewhat offset by success and momentum in other, newer areas of our business, including 25% growth in international Contract Value and almost $12 million in new Contract Value from our Middle Market Platform. Across 2008, CEB’s senior leadership team will focus on four priorities to address the causes of our 2007 shortfall and pave the way for sustained growth in 2008 and beyond.

“First, we will remain focused on achieving the highest level of performance from our North American sales operation.

“Second, we will focus on driving growth of CEB’s largest customers by tightening the integration of our sales and service activities at these companies.

“Third, we will drive increased utilization of CEB services by our member executives and their teams from their first day of membership with us.

“And fourth, we will continue to accelerate growth from newer markets and products that target additional executive workflows and budgets in our member companies.

“I am confident that our focus on these priorities, combined with our strong relationships with over 4,700 companies around the world, will enable CEB to return to higher growth rates in 2008 as we continue to work against an immediately addressable $5 billion market opportunity.”

Find the complete release at the link below.

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