27th Jun 2006 07:00
27 June 2006Pre-close Trading StatementPrior to entering its close period for the half year ended 30 June 2006,Communisis plc issued the following statement:We anticipate making progress for the first half year, although activity levelsin the second quarter have been lower than expected, in particular, direct mailprint volume declines have been greater than expected.The Print and Direct Mail businesses continue to experience challengingconditions. We expect turnover and profits to be behind last year and this hasled to the decision to rationalise Direct Mail into a single production centreof excellence. This should be completed by the end of the third quarter.Progress continued in improving the profitability of our Print ManagementServices business. With the maturity of the Market in the UK we are being moreselective in our approach to new business. Growth continues to come from ourstrategic contracts, in Europe and from developing relationships within our UKcontracts.Transactional Print Services continues to outperform our expectations. Althoughwe have seen the expected decline in cheque volumes, we continue to mitigatethis through efficiency programmes. Our acquired statementing business isperforming well with the migration plan for our new build centre of excellenceon track for 2007.We have completed the sale and leaseback of our PDM Bath facility for netproceeds before tax of ‚£14.3 million. The proceeds will be used to fund theexceptional costs of the Direct Mail reorganisation and to reduce bank debt.The lease term is for a period of 17 years with an initial annual rent of ‚£1.0million. This transaction will generate an exceptional profit before tax of ‚£9.5 million.For further information, please contact:David Jones, Chief Executive Tel: 020 7426 4690Communisis plcMark Whiteling, Finance Director Tel: 020 7426 4690Communisis plcWilliam Clutterbuck/Michelle Jeffery Tel: 020 7379 5151MaitlandENDCOMMUNISIS PLCRelated Shares:
Communisis PLC