Building on its performance in 2019, the Cegos Group renews its commitment to making Learning and Development a key driver of economic recovery

02/07/2020

The Cegos Group closed the year 2019 with consolidated revenues of €200 million. The Group’s Ebitda stands at €20.4 million. These results are remaining stable compared to 2018.While the crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary ban on classroom training naturally impacted the Group's business in the first few months of 2020, Cegos was immediately able to offer its full range of distance learning solutions to organisations wishing to continue training their teams during this period.As we begin to emerge from this unprecedented health crisis, the Cegos Group, a long-standing partner of private and public companies alike, is more committed than ever to ensuring that skills development is at the heart of the economic recovery and supports everyone in the face of the future changes in professional practice.In 2019, Cegos once again consolidated its position as the international leader in Learning & DevelopmentThe Cegos Group generated revenues of €200 million in 2019, remaining unchanged from 2018:*In a transformed French market following the formal application of the “Avenir Professionnel” (Professional Future) Act, Cegos’ turnover grew by 1%, at €137 million.It should be noted that the labour dispute and strikes in December 2019 slowed what had been good growth momentum, with Cegos posting a 4% increase on 2019 revenues at the end of November.*Internationally, the Cegos Group generated a consolidated revenue of €63 million in 2019, down 3% on the previous year.In line with its ambitions, the Cegos Group has developed and deployed a number of new products in 2019, with the aim of making training a key driver of performance:- Launch of new international training offers, with the 100% digital #UP collection (12 titles in 7 languages). This new collection dedicated to soft skills (cross-disciplinary and behavioural skills) joins the 3,000 items of Cegos digital content already available on the LearningHub@Cegos platform, which has more than 300,000 active users.- Supporting the transformation of the French public sector as a training organisation listed by UGAP (the central public procurement agency): UGAP members have signed more than 1,000 training agreements with Cegos, including 400 in 2019 alone.

Outlook for 2020: making training a key driver of economic recovery and employabilitySupporting organizations during the pandemic with remote solutionsThe COVID-19 crisis has caused an abrupt shutdown of the economy worldwide. The Cegos Group is of course suffering the effects of this pandemic, with cumulative revenues at the end of April 2020 down 32% compared to the end of April 2019.However, from the very outset of the lockdown period and faced with the ban on "classroom" training in many countries, the Cegos Group was able to draw on its strong digital capabilities and the expertise of its teams around the world to support companies and their teams in this unprecedented situation.The Group's capacity for 100% distance learning has made it possible to ensure the continuity of training already planned or to offer this alternative to customers who had opted for training combining classroom and distance learning.In just a few weeks, Cegos also adapted and strengthened its offer to enable its clients to cope with this crisis:- Expansion of the Cegos 100% remote training offer, with the creation of a range of 50 "fully digital" training courses covering the topics most requested by clients;- Provision of nearly 700 classroom training sessions in a "Distance Learning Classroom" format;- Ramp-up of the #UP collection, which offers 12 100% digital training courses in 7 languages;- Provision of free training modules on topics related to distance management, stress management, etc.Strong assets and some signs of an upturn in activityThe Group has strong assets to face the coming months, including:- The extent of its training offer, all modes combined (classroom, 100% digital or blended courses)- Its ability to provide training around the world, with an international presence further strengthened in January 2020 by the acquisition of Crescimentum, Brazil's leading leadership training provider- The renewed confidence of its many private and public sector clients.Thanks to the lifting of lockdown measures in many countries, in recent weeks the Group has once again been in a position to deploy all its activities (classroom, distance learning or mixed courses).In many countries, classroom training courses have once again been provided, with a growing influx of enrolments. In tailored training, key clients are relaunching projects that have been temporarily postponed or are planning new programmes for the second half of the year.José Montes, Cegos Group CEO, sums up:"Like all companies, we have been gripped by this crisis of an unprecedented scale and complexity. The year 2020 will clearly be a bad year. However, I am extremely proud of the commitment, tenacity and adaptability of our teams around the world: it’s thanks to them that we have been able to stand by our customers and adapt our solutions to ensure the continuity of training without taking any health risks.Looking to the future, we already know that this pandemic will cause lasting changes in the way we work and will have a significant impact on employment. In response to an unprecedented economic crisis, millions of employees around the world will have to upgrade their skills or retrain quickly. This is a societal challenge that goes far beyond the field of economics alone.If there was still any doubt of it, this crisis has revealed the absolutely crucial role played by learning & Development. And of course, just as it has over the course of its nearly 100-year history, the Cegos Group will be there to make the development of skills a driver of competitiveness and employability”.Download our dedicated press release.