Revenues increased 4% over prior year and ordinary earnings per share grew by 22%
Well on track to meet full-year outlook
Amsterdam (May 9, 2007) - Wolters Kluwer, a leading global information services and publishing company, today announced first-quarter 2007 results showing total revenue growth of 4%, organic revenue growth of 3%, and an increase in ordinary earnings per share of 22%, as the company made a strong start in executing its strategy to accelerate profitable growth.

Highlights for the first quarter of 2007 include[1]:

- Revenues of EUR 847 million, a 4% increase over first-quarter 2006 (EUR 818 million)
- Organic revenue growth of 3% (first-quarter 2006: 1%)
- Ordinary EBITA increased 25% to EUR 158 million (first-quarter 2006: EUR 126 million)
- Ordinary EBITA margin of 19% (first-quarter 2006: 15%)
- Structural cost savings of EUR 37 million (an increase of 32% over the same period in 2006)
- Strong free cash flow of EUR 102 million (first-quarter 2006: €82 million)
- Ordinary diluted EPS increased 22% to €0.30; in constant currencies: EUR 0.32 (an increase of 35% over first-quarter 2006)

Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, commented on the company's performance over the first quarter of 2007:

"Our first-quarter results support Wolters Kluwer's goal of accelerating profitable growth to deliver superior value for our shareholders. With both increased revenues and improved organic revenue growth compared to the first quarter of last year, we have achieved a strong start to 2007 and are well on track to meet our 2007 outlook. In particular, we saw record performance in the Corporate Legal Services unit and strong online sales in the Legal, Tax & Regulatory Europe division.

"Throughout the year we will continue to emphasize rigorous execution of our growth strategy worldwide across the company. This strategy focuses on growing our leading positions, capturing key adjacent markets, exploiting global scale and scope, and continuing to institutionalize operational excellence. Each of our divisions has initiatives in place to contribute in all of these areas, focusing on leveraging our deep customer insight and investments to maximize our growth opportunities.

"As announced in March, we reached an agreement on the sale of the Education division. This will enable Wolters Kluwer to return value to our shareholders through a share buy-back program as well as reduce debt and fund investments in growth opportunities for the company."

Key division highlights, reflecting results over the first quarter:

Health: Overall flat organic revenue growth as strong growth at Ovid, Clinical Solutions and in the core Pharma Solutions unit was offset by timing differences in wholesaler orders at Professional and Education and the impact of price compression on contracts at Healthcare Analytics which were renewed in 2006.

Corporate & Financial Services: Significant organic revenue growth of over 8%, with strong performance from the Corporate Legal Services unit and good growth for core lending and deposit product lines within the Financial Services unit.

Tax, Accounting & Legal: Revenues increased 11% driven largely by acquisitions, with organic revenue growth of 1% reflecting continued strong growth in Tax and Accounting U.S. and Canada, offset by timing differences in the publishing schedule at Law & Business U.S. compared with 2006.

Legal, Tax & Regulatory Europe: Strong organic revenue growth of 5% reflecting good performance in most countries as well as the timing of a key French trade show in March 2007 compared to April 2006. The division experienced double-digit online growth, most notably in Italy, Spain, Central Europe, and Belgium.

[1] First-quarter 2007 results reflect the Education division as discontinued operations following the March 26, 2007, announcement of its sale. 2006 results have been restated accordingly.