Company Remains Fully Operational During the Crisis; Credits the Perseverance of Employees and Support from Clients and Vendors
NEW YORK, NY, July 28, 2020 – TransPerfect, the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, today announced billed revenue for the second quarter of 2020 of $198.7 million, which is roughly flat to the same period in 2019 when taking M&A into account (up 3.9% overall). The company’s services, deemed essential in many markets, have been provided continuously and without interruption throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The company credits its ability to maintain operations during the crisis to the perseverance of its staff and the support of its clients and vendors.
A Message from Phil Shawe, President and CEO
COVID-19 is having an unprecedented global impact on people and businesses alike. We feel very fortunate to have remained able to service our clients without interruption during this crisis.
There is no doubt that this continuity was achieved due to the unwavering dedication of our staff. Short-term and selfless sacrifices were made at some level by virtually every member of our organization, and we believe this has positioned us well for long-term stability.
Our first priority was ensuring the health and safety of our staff. In this regard, TransPerfect adapted nimbly to the new reality of remote workplaces—sometimes doing so under extremely stressful conditions. Given the uncertainty of the economy at the end of the first quarter, we also took measures to secure the long-term health of our business and preserve jobs through shared sacrifice. Our staff members showed their character, supported one another, and personified the phrase "grace under pressure."
Our second priority was to continue to serve our clients effectively with no interruption of service or decrease in quality or timeliness. In the 27 years since forming TransPerfect, I have never seen a greater spirit of collaboration between our team members and our clients. Technology and innovation goals immediately pivoted, seeking to enable our clients to perform better within their new remote work environments. Software features that support remote working were pushed to the forefront of our technology roadmap, and our clients quickly adopted these throughout the second quarter.
Our third priority was maintaining financial stability and a healthy balance sheet. I would like to express my gratitude to our 25,000 vendors around the world, many of whom volunteered to help us in any way possible. Much of our supply chain rests with the professional translators, smaller agencies, and other outsourced vendors. We consider all of them vital stakeholders in our business, and we appreciate their support.
Our fourth priority was civic duty, and we sought ways to help the communities in which we live and work. From the onset of the crisis in New York City, we volunteered to translate essential communications into multiple languages so that NYC could provide timely and accurate information to its culturally diverse residents. Our Barcelona team produced an informational video on COVID-19 workplace safety featuring recommendations from groups like the World Health Organization (WHO)—the video was originally intended for internal use, but it was so well-received that we released it publicly for no charge, providing thousands of copies to businesses worldwide in multiple languages. For the legal community, we offered free online notary services via videoconference to help reduce the need for face-to-face interactions. In sum, TransPerfect approached Q2 with a mindset of not abandoning our principles in the wake of the crisis, and we managed to make these and other modest contributions to the common good.
We are approaching Q3 with the same principles and priorities outlined above. Despite the ongoing battle against COVID-19, the abilities and perseverance of our team have allowed us to meet the needs of our clients—and to do so with the quality and service levels they have come to expect. We are cautiously optimistic our progress will continue in a similar fashion in Q3.
My heartfelt thanks goes to the TransPerfect family and to our extended family of clients and vendors who have placed their trust in us during this difficult time. We will continue to work to earn that trust every day—and together, we will emerge from this crisis stronger.
About TransPerfect
TransPerfect is the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business. From offices in over 100 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 5,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect’s GlobalLink® Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, TransPerfect is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified. TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.