ACCC approval comes just in time for PMP

ACCC gives the nod to PMP, making its acquisition of Times Printers Australia official as the company prepares for a tight new financial year.

The $80 million purchase now puts PMP in a prime position to assert its presence in Victoria and increases its market share to 35 per cent. Breathing a sigh of relief after the ACCC rejected its merger with McPhersons earlier this year, chief executive Brian Evans said that:

"We are delighted that the ACCC has cleared the way for us to proceed with the Times Printers purchase," he said. "This transaction makes good business sense for PMP for all the reasons outlined in our original announcement."

The run of good news may well be a confidence booster for PMP, after Evans announced that the company is likely to experience weaker results in the first half of the 2007-08 financial year and is banking on greater revenues in the second half to produce a result closely aligned with the previous year.

Remaining optimistic, Evans said: "We expect first-half earning in the $45-48 million range, which sets the group up to deliver a full-year result consistent with market guidance to date."

Citing strong competition conditions, Evans pointed to the company's improved operating platform as making it well placed to continue with higher print volumes.

"As well as the changing revenue mix from directories printing, PMP's higher proportion of long-term contracted work will lead to a more even spread of revenue and earnings over the full year," he said.

PMP will now look at upgrading its print assets in Victoria and Queensland, which will require capital of $100 million over the next three years. "This work is necessary to deliver new capacity and production efficiency in line with the gains from our refit of the Moorebank plant in Sydney two years ago," Evans said.