Berlin, 29 March 2018 - Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG (FP), the expert in secure mail business and secure digital communication processes, presented its annual report for 2017 today. In it, the company confirms the provisional figures for fiscal year 2017 published at the beginning of March 2018. Revenue rose to EUR 206.3 million, EBITDA amounted to EUR 26.3 million, and adjusted free cash flow came to EUR 9.9 million.
Adjusted for currency effects, the FP Group’s revenue climbed by 2.7% to EUR 208.4 million in fiscal year 2017 and EBITDA by 1.1% to EUR 27.5 million. The company thus met its forecasts for revenue and EBITDA and actually exceeded the forecast for adjusted free cash flow. At the Annual General Meeting on 29 May 2018, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose the payment of a tax-free dividend of 12 cents per share. In connection with the ongoing expenses for the ACT growth strategy, the company is thus showing consistency in its dividend policy.
Growth in the core business
16 months ago, the Management Board launched the ACT growth strategy to shape the FP Group into a dynamic growth company. The company is on the attack in the traditional business with franking systems in particular. Last year, FP increased revenue from product sales by 7.1% and its global market share to around 11% in this segment, against the market trend.
Rüdiger Andreas Günther, CEO of the FP Group, explains: “As expected, the franking machine business is offering FP good opportunities for further high-margin growth. We are gaining market share. At the same time, we are ushering our customers from the analogue into the digital age. Data security is and will remain a major issue here. With our experience in cryptography, sensor and actuator technology, and connectivity, we are in an ideal position to unlock the additional potential of our technology in this area.”
Fiscal year 2017 was all about the implementation of the ACT growth strategy. Among other things, the international market presence was expanded and eleven additional national variants of the PostBase product family were certified. Marketing began for pioneering digital products and offerings such as FP Sign, a solution for the legally binding digital signing of documents, and discoverFP, the customer portal.
FP becomes faster and more agile
As previously announced, FP will make one-time investments of between EUR 6 million and EUR 8 million for the project that has now been launched to improve the structure and organisation (JUMP project) as part of the ACT growth strategy in fiscal year 2018. The first positive effects are expected in 2019. Annual savings of EUR 6 million are anticipated from the following year. The company still has a clear focus on its medium- and long-term goals. FP will become faster and more agile in order to implement the accelerated growth trajectory as planned and achieve the profitability increases announced as part of ACT in a reliable and sustainable manner.
For fiscal year 2018, the FP Group expects revenue to increase slightly year on year. Adjusted for the expenses of the JUMP project, the FP Group also expects a slight year-on-year increase in EBITDA. Owing to growing investment in new products and further ACT measures, the company expects free cash flow for 2018 to be positive but well below the previous year when adjusted for M&A and investments in finance lease assets, and before payments in connection with the JUMP project. The anticipated development of financial performance indicators for fiscal year 2018 is based on the assumption of constant exchange rates.
Sustainable growth
The FP Group has published its first sustainability report today. It demonstrates the company’s responsible behaviour to its customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders and illustrates the ecological, economic and social dimension of its sustainable growth.
The 2017 annual report published today also documents the company’s transformation. It already embodies a culture of innovation, speed and teamwork, which is a prerequisite for the transformation and an important element of the ACT growth strategy. The new, distinctive image of the FP brand is intended to further raise awareness on the market and thus contribute to the achievement of the medium- and long-term targets. The new FP is on its way to becoming the leading service provider for secure mail business and secure digital communication processes.
FP CEO Günther explains: “2017 and 2018 are phases of new beginning and of implementation, with which we will make FP successful in the long term. In 2019, we will have a faster, more flexible and more efficient organization. The outcome of our work is increased profitability. FP is undergoing a radical change. We are reshaping a company with 95 years of successful technology tradition into a smart, forward-looking enterprise. We want to increase revenue to EUR 250 million by as early as 2020. For 2023, FP’s 100th anniversary, we are targeting the EUR 400 mark and an EBITDA margin of 20%. By building on our initial success and stepping up the measures already taken, we will use 2018 to prepare for our dynamic and sustainable growth.”
Key figures at a glance:
LinkedIn