Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, manufacturer of franking machines and solutions provider for Digital Mailroom, increased its revenue and earnings for the first half of 2015. Revenue during the first six months of the current financial year reached EUR 95.2 million compared with EUR 84.6 million a year earlier. This growth can be primarily attributed to increased leasing business, as well as higher revenue from mail services and software. The company also benefited from the weak state of the euro and resulting positive exchange rate effect, which amounted to EUR 5.1 million for the first half of 2015.
Key foreign markets such as the US and UK continued to develop positively. The FP Group stepped up sales of its franking machines on the US leasing market. Demand for the PostBase franking system on leasing markets such as Italy and France was also very high. Revenue from international activities increased to EUR 42.6 million overall, compared with EUR 36.0 million in the first half of 2014. On the German domestic market, half-year revenues climbed from EUR 47.0 million in the first six months of the previous year to EUR 50.4 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved to EUR 14.3 million for the first half of 2015, compared with EUR 11.8 million a year earlier. This figure includes a currency effect of EUR 2.1 million. The EBITDA margin rose to 15 percent. Despite the sustained high level of depreciation due to exchange business in leased machines in the US, the EBIT figure, at EUR 6.1 million, was up on the previous year's EUR 5.7 million.
The year-on-year increase in consolidated net income to EUR 4.0 million (EUR 2.9 million) was essentially due to the improvement in other financial income. Positive exchange rate effects on the revaluation of balance sheet items on the reporting date helped boost other financial income for the first six months, up from EUR 0.0 million to EUR 0.6 million. Meanwhile, the financial result for the second quarter was negative with a contrary exchange rate effect and one-off expenses in relation to the abandonment of the Singapore subsidiary's business operations. On balance, the consolidated net income for the second quarter was EUR 0.5 million. Earnings per share improved to EUR 0.24 during the first six months compared with EUR 0.18 in the first half of 2014.
Free cash flow - the balance of cash inflows from operating activities and cash outflows from investing activities - amounted to EUR -0.6 million in the first six months of 2015 compared with the previous year's figure of EUR -1.1 million. The negative cash flow stems from high levels of planned investment and the increase in inventories and trade receivables.
FP Group confirms forecast for 2015
In light of the positive overall performance, the FP Group is confirming its forecast for 2015 as a whole. The FP Group expects an increase in revenue to between EUR 173 million and EUR 177 million as well as an increase in EBITDA to between EUR 24 million and EUR 25 million. The EBIT is expected to be down on the previous year as a consequence of the increased depreciation due to higher investment. The Group also anticipates an significantly improved and positive free cash flow. This forecast does not yet include any one-time expenses for the realignment of customer service in Germany.
"The FP Group is developing well and we are gradually and consistently improving our company's financial strength and profitability," explained FP CEO and CFO Hans Szymanski. Successes in international leasing markets, as well as in software and mail services business, demonstrate the effectiveness of the FP strategy. "We have laid a good foundation from which to achieve our goals for the coming years," declared Szymanski.
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