UNM Online Promises To Net Profits Within Four Years

Xilerate, the online division of United News and Media, is aiming for operating profits of £120-150m by 2004. The planned route to this success was outlined by Andrew Nugée, chief operating officer of the division, at the annual Merrill Lynch TMT conference yesterday.

Nugée said that the challenge for Xilerate was “to capitalise on the strength of our offline position in trade shows and publishing – the content, community and contacts – by adding commerce and interactivity to these marketplaces.”

Xilerate’s portfolio already includes B2C ventures including the ISP and portal LineOne and music related sites such as dotmusic and Rapture, but its sights are also set on B2B opportunities. “The B2B commerce potential is tremendous.” said Nugée. “The US market is currently worth around $100bn annually and in Europe we will see it climb to around $1trn by 2004.”

Xilerate’s share of the £270m development allocation has been increased from around £50m to between £80-120m as a result of the new business plans. Nugée also added that he welcomed the possibility of a merger with Carlton (see ITC Says Proposed Mergers Pass Public Interest Test) as he felt there was an “excellent fit” of the two companies’ consumer web businesses.

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