Computershare will use its own cash and
some credit to fund the deal, which the company says will be profit positive
from year one.
The news comes as the mailing sector is
awash with rumours that giant courier company DHL is also looking to buy a
mailing house.
Computershare is best known to the print
industry as the company behind the initiative to abolish the need for printed
annual reports, through its so called e-Tree project, which gained support
amongst ill-informed Federal politicians eager to be seen to be 'doing something
for the environment'. Computershare's main business is in the distribution of
financial documents and information.
QM is one of the top mail houses in the
country. Salmat is by far the biggest, with QM, Security Mail and the newly
formed iGroup in the next level. The next tier behind these three are a long
way back.
QM Techologies has just released its
figures for the half year ended December 31. For the period, the company
reported a net profit of $4.94m, which was down 4.9 per cent on the $5.19m
profit in the same period last year. Half year revenue was up 3.5 per cent to
$35.01m.
QM says the increased revenue was mainly
from increased print volumes in essential mail. The lower net profit reflects
the company's continued investment in operational facilities, capital and
process improvements and full colour technologies.
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