$11.1 million loss another blow to PMP

PMP takes a further battering this week, reporting a loss of $11.1 million in its 2009 first-half earnings.

There have been a number of upheavals hitting the company recently, beginning with the exit of CEO, Brian Evans, the closure of some print operations in South Australia and Queensland and now, a third strike with results described by  chairman Graham Reaney as “disappointing.”

PMP’s EBIT result was only $33.5 million for the first-half, ending 31 December 2008, down by 30.4 per cent on the same period last year. The integration of Times Printing took three months longer than expected, and along with redundancy costs – including ten executive positions – incurred costs of $28.1 million.

Revenue for PMP’s print business was down to $377.6 million and, according to acting CEO, Richard Allely, “performed well below expectations.” He was hopeful of PMP’s Australian distribution and fulfilment where much of the lost volume from its Coles food catalogues (which it lost last year) has already been replaced with new business.

New Zealand continues to be a difficult market for PMP, with reduced revenues in its print and distribution and fulfilment businesses.

Allely admitted that PMP has a tough battle ahead of it, but he does not expect the company’s second-half results to deviate too far from these current figures.

“The combination of falling consumer confidence, higher labour costs and strong competition, will make achieving growth challenging for the remainder of fiscal 2009,” he said.

“While precise forecasts are difficult at this stage … we expect the second-half earnings to be as strong as the first-half.”

The hunt for a new CEO is still continuing.