LanguageLine Revenues Grow by 8.6% in 2017 to USD 451m

Teleperformance, the parent company of LanguageLine Solutions, reported its 2017 annual results (report available here) on February 28, 2018. Revenue came in at EUR 4.2 bn (USD 5.15bn), a growth of 9% over the last year. Earnings as expressed in EBITDA were EUR 720m (USD 883m), up some 29% over a year ago.

Teleperformance, a french call-center operator, bought LanguageLine, a remote interpreting provider, back in August 2016 for USD 1.5bn at a valuation of 10x EBITDA. This is the first full year consolidation of the LanguageLine revenue into the parent company and Teleperformance pegged the “positive contribution from the first-time consolidation of LanguageLine Solutions over a 12-month period at EUR 282m.”

A spokesperson for LanguageLine clarified when contacted by Slator that revenues for the interpretation provider grew by 8.6% from USD 415m in 2016 to USD 451m in 2017. In a statement accompanying the release of the annual report, Teleperformance called LanguageLine’s 2017 growth “in line with the forecasts provided by the Group when the acquisition was announced.”

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Furthermore, Teleperformance said that LanguageLine saw its business growth accelerate in the fourth quarter due to hurricanes in the US and expects LanguageLine’s “high-margin business” to continue growing at a similar pace in 2018.

Teleperformance divides itself into two business lines: Core Services, which cover customer care, technical support and customer acquisition, and Specialized Services, which  LanguageLine falls under, along with a visa application management service call TLScontact as well as some two other related services.

LanguageLine and TLScontact together accounts for about 85% of the revenue of Specialized Services in 2017. The report said that EBITDA margin before non-recurring items increased to 29.9% from 25.9% in 2016 for this division and attributed it to the consolidation of LanguageLine into the financial report. Teleperformance expects margins to remain high in 2018 for Specialized Services.

As Slator reported earlier, over-the-phone interpreting constitutes the bulk of LanguageLine’s business.