Less than a year out of a major capital restructuring, Opus Group has posted an initial six monthly profit of $4.8 million and paid out 20% of it in dividends.

Australia's biggest plastic packaging manufacturer Pact reported a profit of $67.63 million for the year, up 17% on the previous year. "The Board and management continue to assess a range of M&A opportunities focussing on adjacencies, geographical expansion and acquisitions."

Australasia's leading printer PMP says its resurgent catalogue business has driven ‘a major uplift in profit' to $8 million, after several years of 'unsatisfactory performance.' However, revenue was down by $87.5 million (9.7%) to $811.7 million.

James Cryer reckons it’s too easy for printers to get bogged down in technical arguments about digital printing, such as dye-sublimation v’s toner, or whether a thermal inkjet heads are preferable to piezo. He argues we should focus on what digital technology can do for us.

Over 60 of the industry’s leading players have signed up to showcase their latest technologies at next month’s Visual Impact and Exhibitions Expo in Melbourne. “We are absolutely delighted with the calibre of names on our exhibitor list," said Peter Harper of Visual Connections.

A project aimed at ensuring that printed matter can be effectively recycled is proving a challenge for industry consultant Laurel Brunner. "It’s work that must be done, no matter how numb and bludgeoned it leaves the little grey cells."

Print technology developer EFI has appointed marketing specialist Mark Fletcher to its Asia Pacific (APAC) marketing team. Fletcher will take up his new Sydney-based position next week.

PaperlinX has reported a loss of $392.3 million following the disastrous collapse of its European operation and says it will seek shareholder support to change its corporate name to Spicers Limited.

Printing Industries claims a major victory for employers at the Fair Work Commission, defeating an AMWU application that sought to vary the Graphic Arts Award by providing time-off in lieu of overtime at the overtime rate rather than the current time-for-time rate.

Stan Moore has stepped aside as CEO of the National Packaging Covenant as the sustainable packaging initiative begins an organisational restructure ahead of a updated Covenant due next year. Moore previously had been critical of the federal government’s commitment to the scheme.

APN News & Media, the trans-Tasman newspaper publisher and radio station operator, reported a 67% slump in profit to $7.5 million for the six months to June 30, down from $22.6 million. ARM, the Australian regional newspaper unit, posted a 5% fall in first-half revenue to $94.5m.

Rob Mesaros has been named the new South Pacific MD of HP’s new personal systems and printing businesses unit to be known as HP Inc. HP plans to separate into two new publicly traded Fortune 50 companies - HP Enterprise and HP Inc.

APN Outdoor and oOh!media have both signed major deals aimed at boosting their presence in New Zealand’s thriving outdoor media advertising market.

Patent disputes happen all the time and the latest is by Memjet against HP, alleging infringement of its pagewide ‘waterfall’ technology on eight counts, citing just about everything HP has done in inkjet over the past few years. Andy McCourt looks at the ramifications.

The falling Australian dollar could lead to a ‘supply-side shock’ in the publishing paper market and threaten the future of some paper mills, say industry experts. "If they don’t increase their prices, some mills may not be able to continue to supply."

The age-old art of freehand sign making is being revived at the relaunched Signwave Australia centre in Balmain, Sydney. Once the norm, professionally designed and freehand painted signs have largely been replaced by computer technology and digital printers.