Overall earnings before interest and tax were up 17 per cent to $45.5m compared to 39m the year before and earnings per share increased 22.4 per cent to 15.4 cents per share.

The drop in mail volumes was attributed to discretionary mail being impacted by the macro environment, adding that essential mail volumes, particularly in financial services clients, were also impacted.

While revenue for the Targeted Media Solutions – which incorporates letterbox delivery, mobile and interactive voice response and search engine Lasoo – only grew by 0.4 per cent, its massive jump in earnings was attributed to retailers continuing to recognise online as an important part of their media mix.

The company outlines that in the month of December alone, there were over 1.7 million visits to the Lasoo website. As previously stated, Lasoo is on track to break even by June 2011.

Meanwhile, Grant Harrod, chief executive of Salmat says within the Targeted Media Solutions arm, Salmat has seen organic growth amongst its existing client base, as they increasingly view catalogues as a media of choice.

He says, “The undeniable ability of this channel to drive sales has seen retailers’ increase frequency of distribution. In addition, the ability to segment delivery to suit specific demographics has also led to an increase in uptake by retailers.”

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