Besides growing export and a slight decrease in sales revenue, State Printing House Plc has closed a profitable year. The Company has successfully expanded its clientele and continued to keep its EBITDA margin above the industry average.
In spite of the crisis which affected the printing industry increasingly, Állami Nyomda posted HUF 14 billion sales revenue with only 4% decrease compared to the previous year. Besides the international decrease in documents and cards with high value added, the group could dynamically increase its sales in the forms segment. Due to unfavourable economic climate, most of our clients cut back on their orders and the turnover of vehicle documents (driving license, motor vehicle registration card, validating label) required by citizens decreased in Q4 as well so net operating income came to HUF 1 billion, which means a 20% drop year-on-year. Earnings per share amounted to HUF 73. By filtering out the effect of deferred tax expense due to the change in corporate tax, real EPS would come to HUF 77. Consolidated EBITDA was HUF 2 billion, a slight decrease over the previous year. At the same time, export sales of HUF 2.8 billion significantly contributed to stable profit. Állami Nyomda’s 14.3% EBITDA margin is still one of the best indicators in the industry.
The Board of Directors has authorized the management to carry on negotiations about the acquisition of a Central and an Eastern European printing house. If due-diligences meet the expectations, the acquisition may take place in the first half of the year. So the Board of Directors proposes the shareholders to move profit into a reserve.
Chief Executive Officer Gábor Zsámboki commented:
‘Last year we posted stable performance in a difficult economic climate. While the printing industry faced bankruptcies and hard times, we increased the number of our clients further. We carried on with research and development, among others nanotechnology researches and the development of our IT system. Due to the latter, we are entitled to personalize VISA EMV bankcards with chip. We completed successful projects in Israel, Romania and Bulgaria. As a result, export ratio exceeded 20%. In spite of the economic crisis influencing the domestic and international clients of Állami Nyomda, we preserved our clients, the Company’s security level, innovation ability which may ensure our future development. Acquisition plans may further strengthen the role of the Group in the European security printing industry.’
State Printing House Plc