Pulse Reports Profit Fall, Plans Chinese Launch

Research outsourcing and panels company Pulse Group has reported a drop in operating profit from $271k to just $50k for the financial year ended 31 May 2011, on a reduced revenue of $1.6m (down from $1.7m).

The firm said higher costs from expansion activities led to a marginal net loss of $8,342, compared with a profit of $237,600 in 2010, although gross margins remained constant year-on-year at 67% with gross profit down just 8.5% to $1.07m.

Pulse Group has offices in Kuala Lumpur, New York, London, Sydney, New Delhi and Singapore, and says it is planning to open a new operation in China.

The company manages www.planet-pulse.com , an online community of survey respondents throughout Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Earlier this year, it launched 'Pulse Connect' - an app which taps into the views of Facebook and LinkedIn participants globally, and established a new R&D laboratory.

Pulse Chairman and CEO Bob Chua commented: 'While the market research industry has remained relatively flat in the West, Asia has continued to develop. In response to this, our strategy has been to focus more on Asia-Pacific based clients over the past year or so and this is starting to pay off, resulting in new account wins, contract renewals, and a healthy pipeline for full year 2012. I believe that the group is well positioned for future expansion.'

Web site: www.pulse-group.com .