Business News
Trading update Q3 2008 – Successful sales at Drupa reflected in sales figures despite holiday period
Monday 03. November 2008 - Punch Graphix nv experienced an increase of 1.6% (on a comparable basis) in its sales for the third quarter of 2008 compared with the same period last year.
A drop in sales of 4.3% (on a comparable basis) was seen for the first 9 months of the year. The worldwide financial crisis has also affected Punch Graphix: there are a number of orders where delivery has been postponed until next year and there have also been a few cancellations. However, at the moment the Group still sees no reason to amend its forecasts for sales and net profits for 2008. The Group will closely monitor its cost structure to keep in line with the changes in market conditions.
Development in sales
Key points in the development in sales after 9 months:
Exchange rate effects The exchange rate developments in certain currencies – primarily USD and GBP – have had a negative effect equal to -3.3% on the comparable development in sales over the 9 months.
Phasing out distribution and maintenance of third party products The decision to phase out the distribution of third party products led to a drop in sales amounting to EUR 2.2 million after 9 months on a comparable basis (-1.8% of last years consolidated sales figure). However, that decision will have a positive effect on the results.
If exchange rates had remained constant and there had been no phasing out of the distribution of third party products, an increase in sales of 0.8% on a comparable basis would have been realised over the 9 months.
Prepress Solutions The very large drop in OEM activities in the newspaper segment, totalling -33% after 9 months, was partly compensated by a significant rise of +31% in basysPrint sales.
Consumables The negative development in the sales of consumables is primarily due to exchange rate effects and the above-mentioned phasing out of third party product distribution. When these factors are excluded, income from consumables fell by 2.9% on a comparable basis after 9 months.
OEM contract for Prepress Solutions
Punch Graphix and Agfa have reached an agreement to renew their partnership for the manufacture of newspaper CtP systems for a further 4 years.
Prospects
The Group is maintaining its forecast of a slight rise in both sales and net profits for the full year 2008 compared with the pro forma consolidated figures for 2007 (EUR 163 million in sales and EUR 15.7 million net profit) for those activities that were continued.
Purchase of own shares
The Executive Board has decided to make use of the authorisation granted to it to purchase its own shares. That authorisation allows the Executive Board to acquire its own shares up to the maximum allowed by law and by the articles of association at the time of purchase, at a price that lies between the nominal value and 110% of the stock market price at the time of acquisition. The company will provide regular information on the number of own shares purchased and the average purchase price in its quarterly trading updates. As at the end of October 2008, the company had bought a total of 1,130,466 shares Punch Graphix at an average price of EUR 3.35, representing 3.94% of the total amount of shares outstanding.