Global Sources' revenues slip 15% in 2009

NASDAQ-listed Global Sources just released full-year results. The company posted a more than 15% drop in revenues in 2009. Total revenues dropped from US$206.9 million in 2008 to US$174.5 million in 2009. GAAP net income also took a hit, falling from US$26.4 million to US$16.1 million – a plummet of more than 39%.

Online revenues dropped from US$94.5 million to US$85.4 million, a decrease of 9.6%. Print revenues continued their steady decline, falling from US$47.6 million in 2008 to US$30 million last year. That is a 37% decrease. Exhibitions held relatively firm (US$58.2 million vs. US$55.1 million).

On the upside, CFO David Gillian was “cautiously optimistic,” but expected the first half of 2010 to continue to be challenging. The company remains in a very strong cash position with US$158.3 million on hand and no debt. That results in a current PE of just over 8 if the cash is stripped out of the current market cap of US$292 million.