Diversified printing group OPUS has posted a $12m profit for 2015 as cashed-up major shareholder 1010 Printing backed the acquisition of new assets including Adelaide laminating and foiling business Protectaprint.
“Our full-year 2015 result shows we are delivering on the plan agreed with our major shareholder, 1010 Printing Group, over 12 months ago,” said Cliff Brigstocke, CEO, OPUS Group. Hong Kong-based 1010 Printing became a 62 % majority shareholder two years ago after OPUS survived a near death financial experience with a $28 million capital raising.
OPUS reported total revenue of $115m for 2015, with its flagship Publishing Services Division reporting a slight revenue drop to $94.9m.
Brigstocke said the company’s debt-free balance sheet and strong cash flow had enabled the acquisition of a number of speciality assets during the year to 31 December 2015.
“Our debt free status has enabled us to take advantage of selective Capex investment with the most recent being the assets of Protectaprint, where we will be bringing in-house all aspects of cover embellishments to provide improved speed to market and cost savings. With 1010’s ongoing support, we have now completed a number of cross-border customer deals as well as realising procurement savings by leveraging the combined Group’s buying power.
The Publishing Services division showed a slight 1% drop to $94,963,000 over the year ended 30 Jun 2014 which contained the sales from significant lost account, and if restated, shows the underlying performance is in-fact recovering well. Digital print production has been a key component of our strategy as does working alongside 1010 and offering both on and off-shore production.
The Outdoor Media division posted over $20m in revenue, with earnings before tax of $4.3m, following the company’s decision to offload its New Zealand outdoor media business.
The Outdoor Media sector continued to perform strongly however increased competition is impacting margins. The full-year result is 3% down on the year ended 30 June 2014 and reflects the divestment of the New Zealand Outdoor Media business. The New Zealand divestment will allow a much clearer focus for the Australian Outdoor Media business; Cactus Imaging and plans are in place to capitalise on this. Similar to the Publishing division, further selected Capex has been approved to drive revenue and profitability of the business.
Executive Chairman, Richard Celarc said: “To build on our six-month results in this way is testament to all the hard work put in by our team and the strong support we have from 1010. As I mentioned in my six-monthly results comments, we are building on what is a successful formula, a back-to-basics approach that is simple and clear to all, combined with a hands-on management style.”
OPUS announced a fully franked final dividend of 2 cents per share.