Half year turnover and profits dip at Printing.com
PRINTING.COM has seen half year profits decrease slightly to £350,000 on turnover that also dipped 2.8% to £10.43m.
EBITDA before exceptional costs was £1.35m for the half year to the end of September, down from £1.50m – a decrease of 10%.
Pre-tax profit before exceptional costs was maintained at £510,000 but exceptional costs relating to a severance payment made to Hans Scheffer, the managing director of the group’s Dutch subsidiary Media Facility Group BV, of £160,000 reduced pre-tax profit to £350,000 (2011: £500,000).
The group said earnings were lower than anticipated due to lower sales across the UK and Irish Franchise Networks. In addition, the launch of some of the new initiatives centred on the adding of templates to group channels took longer than envisaged, it said.
Tony Rafferty, chief executive, said: “It continued to be a frenetic period in the evolution of the company’s core systems however we are now at the point where the emphasis is moving from software development to deployment and magnetisation.”
Looking ahead, he added: “In the short term we may still encounter earnings head winds as we commit more funds to market and refine [our] various new initiatives. Accordingly it is appropriate that we remain cautious in the short term but believe we have taken the right steps that will lead to progressive earnings growth.”
An interim dividend of 1.05p per share (2011: 1.05p) to be paid on December 14.
