14th Jun 2012 07:00
14 June 2012
St Ives plc - Interim Management Statement
St Ives plc, the UK's leading marketing services and print group, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement covering the period from 28 January 2012 to date.
For the eighteen week period to 1 June 2012, total sales from continuing operations were £110 million, approximately 6% higher than for the equivalent period in the previous financial year.
We are pleased to report that our overall performance continues to improve as expected, driven by our Marketing Services businesses. We have experienced further deterioration across our Print markets, as demand remains weak and trading conditions fiercely competitive; we have taken further action to reduce costs and continue to win and retain contracts albeit at lower prices.
Marketing Services
Incite, our recently acquired research and consultancy business, has integrated well and early trading has been very good. We are delighted with the high quality of the business and its people.
Our specialist retail consultancy business, Pragma, has performed well and demand for their commercial due diligence investor services has been particularly strong. We are planning to invest in additional headcount in this business to grow sales further next year.
Our field marketing business, Tactical Solutions, has performed very well and we continue to secure new business from cross selling opportunities across their and the group's customers.
Within Data Marketing, new business performance has been strong although, due to the general economic environment, we have experienced some reduction and deferral of marketing spend, particularly associated with larger projects, across the existing client base.
Our Books business remains strong and we continue to win market share. Margins are being negatively impacted by the publishing industry's shift towards ordering a greater number of smaller print runs, a dynamic that our recent investment in digital production is targeted to mitigate. This investment is due to come on line within the next three months.
In our Exhibition and Events business, we have started to see some increased activity ahead of the London Olympics, which is helping to deliver an improved performance for the business.
Point of Sale activity levels remain strong but the very difficult conditions being experienced in retail markets continue to drive margins down. The market for Direct Response remains challenging but we have benefited from the closure of our loss-making businesses that produced company reports and CD/DVD related print and continue to seek further efficiency improvement opportunities.
Group
Our balance sheet remains strong and we expect to complete the sale of our property in Crayford, for £3.3 million, before the financial year end. We have three remaining surplus properties currently for sale, with a combined value of approximately £4.0 million.
- Ends -
For further information contact:
St Ives plc 020 7928 8844
Patrick Martell, Chief Executive
Matt Armitage, Finance Director
MHP Communications 020 3128 8100
John Olsen / Ian Payne / Giles Robinson
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