Opus has announced a $7.8m loss before tax in first-half FY15, compared to the $31m loss in it recorded during the same period last year, but the company has paid off its $50m debt. The multi-sector print company’s losses after tax amounted to $8.7m for the first-half of FY15 compared to $35.2m same time last year. It recorded a slump of seven per cent in its revenue totalling $57.9m compared to $62.1m the same period in the previous year.
Cliff Brigstocke
Revenue was down nine per cent to $46.3m in its publishing division however its outdoor media division for first-half of 2015 rose five per cent to $11.5m. The company has paid off its net debt thanks in large part to its new owner Hong Kong based 1010 Printing. Cliff Brigstocke Opus Group CEO says, “Significant effort and time was dedicated to our successful recapitalisation, including our $28m capital raising and the resultant introduction of 1010 Printing Group as our new major shareholder is now behind us. He says, “As a result we are debt free, and without the shackles that we had to work under for much of the past two years, we can be fully focused on meeting our customers’ requirement in this fast changing environment.” Brigstocke says the company is ‘shackle free’ because of a ‘major staff restructure in August which has re-set the cost base of the business’. He says it was not jut removing staff costs; the ‘restructure has enabled much improved decision making with the leaner organisational structure bringing us all much closer to our customers’. Opus reported a fall of 19 per cent of its EBITDA publishing division to $5.7m, and an eight per rise for its outdoor media division to $1.9m from $1.7m in the same period last year, which excludes restructuring costs, material merger transaction costs as well as legal expenses. Opus says the shortfall in its publishing division is due losing one large account in the ‘period when the business was under financial strain’. However, the company is glad about its outdoor media performance, which it says was due to market share gain and ‘being a major participant in the growing out-of-home media. Brigstocke says, “Our recent investment in the latest Fuji Uvi star billboard printer has significantly increased our efficiency, capacity and range of products [that] we can produce – from highest quality backlit displays through to point of sale advertising. “We also invested in latex print technology which has expanded our capabilities especially in the fast growing transit signage sector.”
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