The company, which is the largest heat set web printer in Australia and New Zealand, has recorded a net profit of $ 33.6 m for the 12 months to June this year, with further profits expected to be the result of cost cutting, increased printing capabilities and recent acquisitions.
Contributing to the successful result was the permanent removal of $18 m in costs, due mainly to the retrenchment of staff, as well as the decentralisation of management.
However, revenue declined across some of the group’s divisions, including a 5.3 per cent decline in earnings in the company’s core printing division which totaled $652.3 m.
Print revenues, which were affected by capacity constraints imposed during the upgrade of printing equipment, as well as changes to paper purchasing arrangements, contributed significantly to a 6.6 per cent fall in the company’s total revenue to $1.245 bn.
But the June half yearly results indicated a dramatic recovery in earnings, up 86 per cent to $41.9 m compared with the year before, as the company reaped the benefits of a massive overhaul of its printing infrastructure.
CEO of PMP, Brian Evans, says despite a lower than expected earnings from the PMP printing division, the results indicate earnings will improve in the future.
“Our key achievement was to successfully streamline the business, removing costs, realising efficiencies and aligning operations to best utilise our investment in new print capacity,” he says
“Our investment in print was significant and while we commenced the depreciation charge mid way through the first half of 2005/2006, we are yet to see the benefits of this investment over a full year,” says Evans.
Evans says developments such as the company’s recent investment in global positioning and tracking systems – for its printing and distribution of catalogues – this year, as well as improvements in its Digital Premedia business, will increase earnings in the next 12 months.
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