Here’s a link to the
Spanish-language-version of the Press Release, now posted in my GoogleDocs
library:
And, for those of you who cannot read
Spanish, here’s an English-language version of the Press Release, courtesy of
GoogleTranslate (as
I’ve mentioned several times before, Google Translate does not create perfect
translations.)
Service
Point sales of € 55m in the first quarter of 2012
•
Refinance its debt, strengthen its balance sheet and significantly reducing its
financial cost
•
Highlight the good performance of the Scandinavian markets with significant
growth in sales and EBITDA compared to 2011
May 11, 2012. - Service Point closed
the first quarter of 2012 with net sales of € 54.8 m, in line with those obtained in the same quarter of 2011 in a very
difficult international economic environment. It was a quarter in which
additional measures are taken, especially in the British and Dutch subsidiary,
to recover an acceptable level of profitability in the future. In countries
that have shown growth, such as Norway, Sweden, Germany and Belgium have
introduced new market specialized services focused on demand printing and
online channel, which will soon be transferred to other countries in the group.
The results of this period have been affected by the reduction of financial
transactions in the banking sector, which has affected the sales volume
printing services related to IPOs in the British subsidiary, and the process of
restructuring that is taking place in the Dutch subsidiary. In the first
quarter in all geographies, has focused on enhancing future business
opportunities and new contracts, to show a positive trend in the second
quarter. The company has continued to
increase its market share, achieving an increase in the number of its
customers. These initiatives have helped maintain the net loss of EUR 1.7 million. The semi-annual evolution of our
income has the following developments during the period 2008 - 2012:
Gross margin has been placed online to
our objectives with the exception of business in the Netherlands where the
weight of the activity of the lowest postage and printing activity of our
clients have worsened slightly in order to gross margin of the subsidiary.
Gross margin was 64.1% compared to 63.9% obtained in the first quarter of 2011
(excluding postage line in the Netherlands the gross margin in the first
quarter of 2012 would be 69.5% compared to 69.4% over the same period of 2011).
Business
Initiatives
During the last six months, the company
strengthened its management structure to focus the direction of business in strategic
areas and creation of value.
In the last quarter of 2011, there were
four geographical directions to better handle the dynamics of markets in the
countries where Service Point (Scandinavia, Continental Europe, UK and USA).
In geographical terms this structure
has begun to focus and strengthen the synergies and efficiencies both
operationally and in terms of international clients.
The group has continued to enhance
on-line initiatives and opportunities offered by the dynamism of the business
of photo albums.
At levels of costs, reduced staff costs, having eliminated 50
positions in the British market at the end of the quarter and have designed a
further reduction plan for the Netherlands, among other measures. These
initiatives will reduce the fixed cost base by about 5 million per year, with a
positive impact on results mainly from the second half of 2012.
Debt
Refinancing
In late April 2012 Service Point has
reached an agreement with 100% of the banks that make up its syndicated loan to
improve the terms and structure of its debt. The refinancing includes the
following features:
Extension of the maturity to December
2015, with the possibility of an additional year under the fulfillment of
reasonable financial terms.
Debt restructuring in two instruments:
EUR 70 million as long-term debt payable at maturity 95% and 25 million in
convertible debt (interest).
Cancellation of the tranche of funding
(20 million) more expensive debt of the company.
It allows access to an additional
funding amounting to EUR 3 million. After the refinancing, expected to conclude
after approval by the Board of the company during the month of June, the group
can obtain a significant improvement in its balance sheet ratios and in
generating financial resources. The new refinancing agreement allows the
company to develop the strategic plan. It also implies a significant
improvement both in terms of costs, given the significant reduction of interest
expense (3 million per year). All these improvements will be visible from the
second quarter.
Blog Publisher’s comment:
If I’m recalling this correctly, SPS acquired a large Swedish reprographer
(Holmbergs) back around the beginning of Q2 2011. I don’t think (but am not sure) that SPS’
sales for Q1 2011 included the Q1 2011 sales of that company. But, I do know that sales generated by that acquired
business are included in the sales SPS reported for Q1 2012. And, if I’m right about this, then, without
the effect of those sales, SPS would have reported lower Sales for Q1 2012 than
SPS achieved in Q1 2011. Difficult
conditions appear to persist …. and, here
in the U.S., we’ve heard many economists says that several countries in Europe
are back in recession. 2012 may well prove
to be a very challenging year for SPS.
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