Related to Service Point Solutions 1st Half 2011 Financial Results Report – comments about Service Point’s business in the U.S.

The numbers in the first two tables come from Service Point Solutions' recently released first half 2011 Financial Results Report (that I posted about yesterday.)

1st Half 2011	Sales
Region	Region translated	Amts in Euros	% of Total
EEUU	United States	€ 8,649.00	7.82%
Escandinavia	Scandanavia	€ 20,602.00	18.64%
Reino Unido	United Kingdom	€ 28,315.00	25.61%
Europa Central	Continental Europe	€ 52,989.00	47.93%
	Total	€ 110,555.00	100.00%
1st Half 2011	Sales vs. 2010
Region	Region translated	Change from 2010
EEUU	United States	0.0%
Escandinavia	Scandanavia	15.6%
Reino Unido	United Kingdom	3.9%
Europa Central	Continental Europe	2.0%

Comment about SPS’ Sales in the United States:

Several years ago, when Mark DiPasquale was President of Service Point’s U.S. Division, it was my understanding that SP’s U.S. annual sales were approximately $44 million (USD.)

If I do some simple math (and, yes, I am simple, get over it) and multiply SP’s U.S. Sales (for the first half of 2011) x 2, then do an exchange rate conversion (from Euros to USDs) using 1.36 as the exchange rate, the result comes to approximately $23.5 million in estimated projected sales for SP’s U.S. division for 2011. (This assumes that SP U.S.’s sales for the 2^nd half of 2011 are on par with sales achieved in the 1^st half of 2011. (Seasonally, that’s difficult to do.))

Anyway, doing this simple math shows a sales decline of approximately 47% since Mark DiPasquale left SP. Certainly, the Great Recession (and continuing problems in the A/E/C sector in the U.S.) took a heavy toll on SP’s U.S. sales. But, did Mark’s leaving SP not have an effect on SP’s U.S. sales? We can only wonder about the answer to that question.

As to Service Point’s head-dude in the U.S., Service Point, back in October 2011, issued a press release to announce that Kevin Eyers was selected to head-up SP’s U.S. division. He replaced Bill Sullivan, a long time veteran of SP’s U.S. division (who had taken over SP USA management after Mark DiPasquale resigned.)

Here’s a copy of that prior press release: (and, my final comment for this blog-post is after the press release):

Kevin Eyers to head up Service Point’s US business

Kevin is currently at the helm of SPS’ fastest-growing subsidiary this year, YTD +13% His main remit at SP US will be to fortify targeted core sectors such as finance and education The plan is to open a new production centre in New York to enhance service standards across the entire financial segment and to cater print on-demand services

October 20th 2010. - Service Point Solutions, S.A (ticker: SPS.MC) has appointed Kevis Eyers to run its US business. The US subsidiary accounts for roughly 9% of the group’s topline, with revenue last year of €20 million. (Euros)

Until recently, Kevin Eyers was the head of CFI, Service Point’s business specialised in the provision of reprographics services to the financial sector, a position he held for 15 years. This segment has been the company’s fastest-growing this year and last.

Mr. Eyers will take up his new role over the coming months. His priority near-term target is business development at the US operation in the education and financial sectors, those growing the fastest across the entire group. Building on his extensive track record, Mr. Eyers will launch multiple initiatives in the heart of the US financial system, New York, including a new digital production and offset centre to enable the company to meet the anticipated growth in this segment over the coming years.

Service Point will base its tailored services targeted at the healthcare and education sectors in Boston, while the Washington DC production centre will prioritise the public sector.

SPS expects the combination of its proactive marketing strategy, organisational transformation and strategic focus on the fastest-growing segments to bear fruit in terms of growth rates near term.

According to Joan Carles Peiro, COO of Service Point Solutions, “With this appointment, Service Point is vouching strongly for its US subsidiary. Kevin has a tremendous track record in the world of document management within the financial arena. Judging by his successes in the past, he is bound to build SPS US into a benchmark player in the American market”.

Joel’s final comment for this blog-post:

SP’s U.S. sales for the first half of 2011 came in at 8.649 mil Euros. At the current run-rate, SP USA is likely to end up with 17 mil Euros (or thereabouts) for all of 2011. That’s a good bit less than what SP USA’s sales (reportedly) were (at 20 million Euro’s) when Kevin Eyers took over management of SP USA. Doesn’t look like Kevin has yet been able to make the kind of progress that Joan Carles Peiro, COO of Service Point Solutions, was hoping for, if not expecting. But, in all fairness to Kevin, it does take time for “changes” to trickle in and around a division as large as SP USA is.