Shareholders show strong support for Andrew Price's radical turnaround strategy for the troubled paper merchant at today's AGM. Despite recent noise in the lead-up, the much anticipated PaperlinX showdown proved a remarkably quiet affair.
After a turbulent year all eyes were on the balance sheets, and while the company recorded a global loss, after tax, of $90.2 million, there was a steep improvement on the previous year's colossal loss of $266.7 million. In spite of losses, there was strong support from shareholders for newly appointed CEO Andrew Price's leadership through what is being viewed as a successful transition back towards profitability.
Andrew Price told Print21 that he was very happy with the level of support from shareholders, and that moving forward PaperlinX would continue its restructuring in Europe while Australia and Canada's operations would increase their diversification.
"The most important event of the transition was the rebranding of all PaperlinX businesses in Europe under one single brand. It presents a united face to the customer, and a more efficient back office. But one of the best side-effects is that it offers enormous career opportunities for our staff. We are advertising global positions right now, and will be advertising positions in Australia in the near future," said Price.
On the recent hot-button topic of its Step-Up Preference Security (Hybrid) holders, Price commented that the next stage will be the release of a bidder's statement in November for what he describes as a "takeover of the trust".
Global earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) showed a loss of -$21.4 million, however the ANZA region reported an profit of $13 million, a boost from $10.9 million in FY2012, with €27.3 million losses in Europe bringing down the total. This still represents a 21% improvement on $27.2 million loss in FY2012. Overall sales revenue was $2.76 billion worldwide, down 14% from $3.2 billion, and the company's net debt facility was reduced by 17%, now sitting at $123 million compared with $148 million for the previous fiscal year.
On the continued move towards diversification the packaging market was said to account for 7.7% of sales, while growth in visual technology solutions (VTS) contributed 11.6% of total sales. Development in these areas was seen as crucial to the overall turnaround strategy. The region reported increased profitability with strong margin management and expense control, while the Asian market saw a significant drop in demand.
Andrew Price reports that: "Overall, shareholders were appreciative of our efforts and offered their total support."