PMP hopes to pay off the rest of its $51.7m debt by 2017 after cutting it by 42 per cent last financial year, as it looks to industry consolidation on the horizon. In its first AGM in the black since 2010, Matthew Bickford-Smith, chairman, says he is ‘sure some form of rationalisation will occur’ in the heatset market and the company is ‘ready’ to be involved. However, he says while consolidation is ‘necessary’, PMP has not yet seen any opportunities for itself.

Peter George, CEO of PMP

Peter George, CEO of PMP, also implied consolidation is necessary, saying in his outlook that prices will remain ‘subdued’ because of industry over-capacity. Bickford-Smith says the print giant wants to ‘eliminate financial risk from operating risk’ by getting rid of its debt and feels this is ‘the most responsible approach to running the business.’ He says, “It is our intention to… hold sufficient cash reserves within the business to enable us to go about our day to day business without the reliance upon external funding.” At the AGM PMP switched out a non-executive director, appointing Anthony Cheong to replace the retiring Sik Ngee Goh, and re-electing Bickford-Smith as chairman. The company made a net profit of $3.4m last year compared to the $70.2m loss of FY2013 as it slashed its operating expenses by 16.5 per cent to $900.3m, including cutting staff expenses by 18 per cent. Sales revenue dipped below $900m, falling 7.8 per cent to $899.2m and propped up by $9.2m of other revenue. EBIT before significant items fell 14.7 per cent to $28.8m. The company was weighed down by a 72 per cent drop in directories volumes, losing PMP $50m all by itself in just one year, as they go online, and major client Sensis emphasises its digital growth.

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