Berlin, 18 May 2017. Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, an expert in secure and efficient communication, saw further growth in the first quarter of 2017. Revenues climbed by 8.1% to €55.5 million. At the same time, the company intensified the implementation of the ACT strategy and FP Fit programme. Despite the associated expenses of €0.6 million, the FP Group increased EBITDA by 1.7% to €8.3 million; the EBITDA margin was 15%. In the first three months, the company achieved strong free cash flow, improving by 17% to €1.9 million as against the previous year. Adjusted for investments in finance lease receivables and M&A, the FP Group increased free cash flow by 83% to €4.3 million.
Franking machine business on course for growth
A key element of ACT is the attack on the core market of franking systems. This strategy continued to have a positive impact in the first quarter of 2017. Revenues in the franking machine business increased by 5.1% to €33.8 million. The FP Group saw growth, especially in the key foreign markets US and France. In addition, the business including the collection, franking and delivery of business mail with postage discounts made a significant contribution to the Group’s dynamic growth. In the period under review, Mail Services revenues climbed by 16.9% to €17.8 million year-on-year. At €3.8 million, software revenues remained slightly below the previous year’s level. FP is expanding its service range in this business area and presented its new cloud solution, FP-Sign, in the first quarter. This solution has already been awarded an innovation prize Initiative Mittelstand.
As announced, success in the franking machine business goes hand in hand with a rise in amortisation and depreciation. As a result, EBIT amounted to €3.4 million in the first quarter of 2017 after €4.0 million in the previous year. Consolidated net income amounted to €2.2 million compared with €2.5 million in the first quarter of 2016. Earnings per share (EPS) almost remained at the level of the previous year despite higher expenses for the implementation of the strategy and reached 14 cents as against 15 cents in the previous year. Without taking ACT expenses into account, net income and EPSwere above the previous year’s level.
Confirmation of the guidance for 2017 as a whole
As announced at the beginning of March 2017, the current year will be shaped by the continued implementation of ACT. The FP Group confirms its guidance after a good start to the year. Based on the assumption of constant exchange rates, it expects a slight increase in revenues and EBITDA for 2017 as a whole. Due to high investments in the modernisation of the product portfolio, software investments and the acquisition of customer lists, the FP Group expects amortisation and depreciation to rise in 2017. Despite higher expenses and investments for ACT, the company expects adjusted free cash flow to be on a par with the previous year in 2017.
FP continues successful course with ACT
FP CEO Rüdiger Andreas Günther explains: “Our company had a good start to the new fiscal year. We have only started to unleash the growth forces that have long lain dormant. With ACT, we are continuing our successful course. In doing so, we are also making FP fit for the future. With these measures, we want to increase the power and profitability of our company.” This requires investments in the short term that will, however, make a significant contribution to anticipated growth rates in the medium term. Günther added: “By 2020, we want to increase revenues by more than 20% to €250 million with an EBITDA margin of 17%. We are also seeking to achieve earnings per share of at least €1 for the period after 2020. Our aim is to double revenues to €400 million and achieve an EBITDA margin of 20% by 2023.”
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