Berlin, August 20, 2021 - Due to the unexpectedly good business development in the first half of 2021, the business now expected for the second half of 2021 and the measures already implemented as part of FUTURE@FP, Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG (ISIN DE000FPH9000) today raised its forecast for the current fiscal year ("FY 2021").
For FY 2021, the Management Board now expects sales in a range between EUR 192 million and EUR 200 million. Previously, sales of between EUR 185 million and EUR 196 million had been forecast. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to range between EUR 12 million and EUR 16 million (EBITDA margin of 6% to 8%). The previous forecast was between EUR 6 million and EUR 12 million. Accordingly, the company expects an increase in revenue and an improved result compared to the previous year. In fiscal year 2020, FP Group revenue reached EUR 195.9 million and EBITDA reached EUR 8.0 million.
According to preliminary calculations, revenue in the first half of 2021 was almost on previous year level at EUR 99.5 million and thus better than expected at the beginning of the year (previous year: EUR 99.8 million).
According to first analysis, the Mail Services and Software & BPA/IoT business units made a positive contribution to revenue. The franking machine business performed better than expected in some foreign markets, but overall revenue is still below the previous year's level. Despite the effects of the Corona pandemic and the continuing challenging market environment in the business units, FP showed robust business development in the first six months of 2021, so the EBITDA amounted to EUR 8.8 million. In addition to the good performance, the first effects of the transformation program FUTURE@FP, which the Management Board presented in April 2021, are becoming visible earlier than expected. The goal is to transform the company into a sustainably profitable, international technology group in the long term.
FP CEO Carsten Lind states: "We are doing better in terms of revenue than originally expected, especially in view of the Corona pandemic. We delivered a good second quarter 2021 in the business units Franking & Office Solutions and Mail Services. The expansion of our product portfolio in the business unit Franking & Office Solutions contributed to this. The business unit Software & BPA / IoT also recorded a positive year-on-year increase in revenue in the first half of 2021. In addition, we significantly improved our cost structures as part of our program FUTURE@FP. These are the first important steps for FP and future development. This is why we have increased our guidance for revenue and EBITDA.”
The cornerstones of the FUTURE@FP transformation program are a simultaneous alignment of the cost base with revenue, the introduction of a new unified ERP/CRM system, focused customer-centric market development through the creation of clearly defined business areas, and a realignment of FP's digital offerings.
CFO Martin Geisel says: "We are satisfied with FP's development to date. In addition to our day-to-day operations, we are vigorously implementing our transformation program. We want to increase our effectiveness, efficiency and, above all, profitability."
On August 31, 2021, FP will provide detailed information on its performance in the first half of the year and its expected business performance for FY 2021 with the publication of its 2021 half-year report and in a conference call.
Disclaimer
Statements in this release relating to future development and the Group's forecasts are based on our careful assessment of future events - based on economic forecasts and that the global economy will continue to recover. Any additional negative economic developments beyond this, such as a further lockdown of entire or specific economic sectors, may lead to actual results for fiscal year 2021 deviating from the forecast figures.
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