Salmat has pinned its faith in catalogues as part of a multi-media strategy involving online ordering.
The $375 million sale of Salmat’s BPO division means that it now derives most of its revenue from its Consumer Marketing Solutions division, which includes catalogues, according to the group’s 2012-13 results.
The Sydney-based communications group capitalised on the BPO sale to record a $40.1 million profit for the 12 months to 30 June 2013.
Salmat’s underlying result, a $16.7 million profit, was up 31.5% year-on-year compared to 2011-12. The BPO deal helped Salmat eliminate its $241.6 million debt and finish the financial year with $90 million in the bank.
Total revenue dropped 32% to $560.3 million, while continuing revenue fell 7.9% to $467.6 million. Consumer Marketing Solutions revenue fell 5.3% to $260.8 million, partly due to a drop in catalogue volumes.
[Related: Salmat wins big at catalogue awards]
“We retained market share in catalogues and are now seeing many retailers return to the category after trialling other media,” said Salmat.
“Our focus is now on integrating both the print and online elements… of our Universal Catalogue solution and we have had good early success with this approach.
“We’ve also had particular success in selling campaign-based catalogue solutions via the self-service portal, with double-digit revenue growth in the SME segment.”
Interim chief executive Peter Mattick said the 2012-13 result was “reasonable” given the “ongoing economic pressures” on its retail clients.
“While there is still more investment and work to be done, we are positive that we are on the right track for future growth,” he said.
“Now that BPO has been divested, we have a clear focus on sales and clients within our remaining business to drive growth in the next few years.”
[Related: More finance news]
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