Strong catalogue growth boosts Salmat results

Double-digit growth in earnings puts Salmat on the lookout for mergers and acquisitions.

The communications group reported earnings for the financial year of $91.2 million, up by 17.3 per cent on the previous year, and a net profit after tax figure of $49.1 million, an increase from the $34.5 million in reached the year before. Part of the result came from winning the Coles catlogues distribution from PMP.

“The results reflect a strong focus on streamlining and consolidating the Salmat business while aligning our suite of services through the One Salmat strategy to drive profitable growth,” said Grant Harrod, (pictured), CEO.

Accoridng to Harrod, Salmat’s Business Process Outsourcing division performed well with earnings up 7.1 per cent for the financial year. “We expect the decline in mail volumes to slow and have a solid line up of new work to support this,” he said, adding that BPO would look at the possibility of including business colour printing, digitisation, end to end solutions such as accounts payable and other e-solutions.

This puts the company in a position to move into new markets, such as the small-to-medium enterprise space, reported by Print21 earlier this year, along with the chance to merge with, or acquire other businesses.
“We expect that merger and acquisition activity will complement our growth strategy in the coming years. Salmat is actively reviewing a number of opportunities to both strengthen our existing services as well as extend our one-to-one communication model,” Harrod told Print21.

In a statement, Salmat said that it anticipates market conditions remaining “fairly consistent” over the next 12 months, and that clients will continue to seek business solutions that drive revenue and enhance competitive advantage.