Massive revenue fall fails to dent CPI results

Paper merchant posts $1.3 million profit despite unprecedented level of failures in printing industry.

In its results for the year ended 30 June 2010, the company reported underlying earnings of $7.8 million, an increase of 6.2 per cent over the prior year. Revenue was down 21.6 per cent to $374.9 million.

Managing director, Bernard Cassell, (pictured) told Print21 that the increase was a result of changes within CPI over the last year as it adjusted to the effects of the GFC.

“I’m happy with the progress we’ve made,” he said. “We’ve been through a heavy period of restructuring which has involved the sale of businesses, mergers and rationalisations, so it’s nice to come out the other end, going onwards without more change on the horizon.”

Overall, Cassell believes that times are still tough and the battle isn’t over yet. “I think the industry remains in a difficult state at the moment – you’ve just got to continue battling through,” he said. “When you go through so much change, you cause a lot of problems for your staff and customer; now we are in a position where we have finished with that and can get on with life.”

One of the most notable failures to impact upon CPI was Sydney-based Quality Print Group, which collapsed in June this year. Cassell previously described this closure as “the most significant of the uninsured failures.”