Service Point Holmbergs Extends Relationship with Studentlitteratur

Press Release in Spanish (see below for translated version):

Service Point Holmbergs amplía su contrato con Studentlitteratur

- Service Point Holmbergs imprime unos 25.400 libros cada mes o 70 millones de páginas al año, todo en impresión digital y con tirajes reducidos

- El contrato permitirá avanzar en la disminución del almacenaje y del stock de los libros

- Studentlitteratur podrá mantener vivo su catálogo de publicaciones gracias al sistema de impresión por demanda 


4 de Julio de 2012, Barcelona – Service Point Holmbergs anuncia la ampliación de su contrato con Studentlitteratur, una de las editoras suecas más importantes en el sector de la enseñanza, material didáctico, cursos cualificados y literatura especializada. 
Studentlitteratur fue constituida en Lund en 1963. Su volumen de negocio alcanzó en 2011 los 264 millones SEK, su ejercicio récord de facturación. La compañía ha editado más de 25.000 títulos escritos por 15.000 autores. Distribuye 25.000 libros de media a la semana. El nuevo modelo de negocio reducirá muy sensiblemente la cantidad de libros en stock y acelerará la impresión por demanda. 
El contrato de Service Point Holmbergs contempla, además de la impresión por demanda, servicios de impresión y edición de tiradas cortas e incluso de un solo ejemplar. Esta manera de gestionar e imprimir está siendo utilizada cada vez más por empresas editoras, pues favorece la reducción de costes de almacenamiento y el control de stocks, al tiempo de ofrece periodos de entrega más cortos. 
“La ampliación del contrato con Studentlitteratur nos brinda la oportunidad de proseguir con nuestras inversiones con el objetivo de ser el partner líder en “libro uno a uno“sin stock”, afirma Mâns Öland, director de grandes cuentas de Service Point Holmbergs. “La colaboración con Studentlitteratur, una editorial de gran tamaño, es vital para impulsar este modelo de negocio”. 
Ambas empresas vienen colaborando conjuntamente desde hace varios años. Ya en 2008 Service Point Holmbergs recibió el Premio AGI a la Innovación Gráfica por su edición de un único ejemplar.

Press Release in English (using Google Translation):

Service Point Holmbergs Extends Relationship with Studentlitteratur

 Service Point Holmbergs prints about 25,400 books each month or 70 million pages per year, all in digital printing and small runs

 The contract will allow progress in reducing the storage and stock books

 Studentlitteratur can keep alive his catalog of publications thanks to print on demand

July 4, 2012, Barcelona - Service Point Holmbergs today expanded its contract with Studentlitteratur, one of the most important Swedish publishers in the education sector, teaching materials, qualified and specialized literature courses.

Studentlitteratur was established in Lund in 1963. Its turnover in 2011 reached SEK 264 million, its record year of sales. The company has published over 25,000 titles written by 15,000 authors. 25,000 books distributed half a week. The new business model very significantly reduce the number of books in stock and print on demand will accelerate.

The Service Point Holmbergs contract provides, in addition to printing on demand, printing and editing of short runs and even a single copy. This way to manage and print is being used increasingly by publishers, it helps reduce storage costs and stock control at the time of offering shorter delivery times.

"The contract extension with Studentlitteratur gives us the opportunity to continue with our investments with the goal of being the leading partner" book one to one "free stock" says Måns Oland, director of major accounts Holmbergs Service Point. "The collaboration with Studentlitteratur, a publisher of great size, is vital to promote this business model."

Both companies have been working together for several years. As early as 2008 Service Point Holmbergs AGI received the Innovation Graph by editing a single copy.

About Service Point

Service Point Solutions (www.servicepoint.net) provides a comprehensive solution for customers who wish to have all information processed, communicated or managed by a partner. Its 2,140 professionals in 10 countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, USA,

France, Holland, Hong Kong, Norway, UK, and Sweden) provide products and services through a network of 130 service points and 800 management programs. Service Point Solutions is headquartered in Spain and listed on the Madrid and Barcelona (ticker: SPS.MC).

In 2011 sales amounted to 218.6 M €, 6.4% from fiscal 2010.

For more press information: Miguel Ramos mramos@newsline.es

Service Point Solutions’ Dutch Subsidiary digitizes 300,000 patient records; expands into the healthcare records business sector

Yesterday, Service Point Solutions (SPS) issued a Press Release to announce its Dutch subsidiary’s expansion into the healthcare records business sector.

For those of you who read Spanish, here’s a link to the Spanish-language version of the Press Release (feliz lectura!)…..

http://tinyurl.com/7estn4p

For those of you who do not read Spanish, I used Google-Translate to create an English-language version of the press release. Note that Google-Translate does not do a perfect job.

Okay, here’s the English-language version of the press release:

Service Point lands in the hospital sector in the Netherlands

• Sales in the hospital segment increased 30% in 2011 and expects similar growth in 2012

• Service Point Netherlands 300,000 digitized records of patients Leids University Medical Center (LUMC), one of the largest hospitals in the country

Barcelona, March 2, 2012 - The Dutch subsidiary of Service Point has expanded its mail services, printing and document management segment of hospitals and health centers. During the last six months, the Dutch subsidiary of Service Point has added six new clients in this sector, which provides mail services and reprographics and scanning the new service in situ.

The segment of hospitals and health centers is one that has better growth prospects for Service Point. The year 2011 closed with a specific sales growth for this sector of 30% and projections suggest that 2012 will end with a similar pattern.

The potential scanning in situ

The Leids University Medical Center (LUMC), one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands, with an archive of 3.7 million medical records of patients-has been one of the last hospitals to hire the services of Service Point. The LUMC is in the process of implementing a new system for information management which is counting on support from Service Point is digitizing 300,000 medical records center in the hospital's central file. Service Point first prepared the documents and removes all the redundant information to later scan scanners deliver high capacity and medical specialists electronically for approval.

"Service Point offered us flexibility and many options for the digitization of our archive," explains Stephen Helder, head of administration in the LUMC. "We were particularly pleased with the possibility offered to make this work in our facilities. Due to the high confidentiality of the records and the need for the medical staff have this information, this requirement was a priority for us and has been resolved with scanning in situ. The hospital's daily activity is not affected and Service Point has demonstrated the ability to take large volumes even in periods of heavy load of work. "

Service Point Solutions releases English-language version of 2010 Full-year results

On March 1st, we did a post about Service Point Solutions results for the full-year 2010. At that time, Service Point Solutions had just released its full-year results, but, unfortunately, the only documents we found were in Spanish.

This morning, I found that Service Point Solutions has, by now, posted an English-language version of its full-year 2010 results.

You can find the English-language version at this link (give it some time to load up!):

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B81al4kFAU9JZGUzZjQ0ODAtN2MxOC00NmZlLWFlZjItMzExOGQxNjY4Yjc4&hl=en&authkey=COjGj_EI

ARC’s U.S. Sales were off 14.55%, 2010 vs. 2009

On March 2, 2011, we posted an article that delved into Service Point Solutions’ (SPS) then recently announced results for 2010. In that same article, we looked at comparisons between SPS’ numbers and ARC’s numbers.

We pointed out that, on an overall total Sales basis, SPS’s total Sales declined 5.16%, 2010 vs. 2009, whereas ARC’s total Sales declined 11.94%, 2010 vs. 2009.

And, we also pointed out that SPS’s Sales “in the U.S.A.” declined 14.44%.

Which prompted one of our blog-visitors to post this comment under the article we posted on March 2^nd:

By Anonymous on Comments/thoughts about Service Point Solutions’ R... on 3/2/11

The relevant number when comparing sales is using SPS US sales decline of 14.4% to ARC's 11.9%......ARC derives over 90% sales from US...matching up those 2 numbers, it appears that SPS not only had negative bottom line, but also their sales have deteriorated faster in US in comparison to ARC's.

avid reader of repro101

On the surface, I had to agree with that comment. However, last night I read through the “10-K” Report ARC filed with the S.E.C., yesterday (March 9, 2011). A “10-K” report is an “annual report”. 10-K reports general include information well beyond what 10-Q (“quarterly”) reports include.

In ARC’s 10-K report, ARC provides a breakdown of its 2010 Sales, “U.S. vs. Foreign Countries.” As most of you know, ARC conducts operations in the U.S. and in China, India and the U.K. Here’s the “geographic breakdown” of ARC’s 2010, 2009 and 2008 Sales:

	American Reprographics Co (ARC)
	Geographic Breakdown of Sales (U.S. vs. Non-U.S.)
	Revenues from External Customers	Sales in U.S.	Sales in Foreign Countries	Total Sales
	year 2008	$676,742,000	$24,245,000	$700,987,000
	year 2009	$473,414,000	$28,135,000	$501,549,000
	year 2010	$404,513,000	$37,126,000	$441,639,000
	2009 vs. 2008 (Y/O/Y)	-30.05%	16.04%	-28.45%
	2010 vs. 2009 (Y/O/Y)	-14.55%	31.96%	-11.94%
	2010 vs. 2008	-40.23%	53.13%	-37.00%

So, as to my blog-visitor’s comments, he was not correct. ARC’s U.S. Sales, 2010 vs. 2009, declined 14.55% - compared to SPS’ U.S. Sales decline of 14.44%. In other words, the U.S. Sales of both companies were off nearly the same percentage.

Since I mentioned ARC’s 10-K report, I’d like to make one further comment about 10-K reports, in general. If you’ve not read 10-K reports, you should, in my opinion, devote some time to doing that. To me, they make for an interesting read, and you can learn a lot about a company from the information that’s provided in a 10-K report. If you are in the reprographics business and do not read ARC’s 10-Q and 10-K reports, shame on you! For doing so gives one great insight into how your competitor is doing.

Comments/thoughts about Service Point Solutions’ Results and a few comparisons with ARC’s Results

First, let’s take a look at SPS’ Sales for 2010 vs. 2009, country-by-country:

				Using EUR/USD exch
Service Point Solutions				rate on Jan 1 (1.34)
Sales by Country	2010	2009	% change	2010	2009
Spain	12.291	14.057	-12.56%	16.470	18.836
United States	16.428	19.201	-14.44%	22.014	25.729
United Kingdom	54.113	54.538	-0.78%	72.511	73.081
Netherlands	62.841	67.927	-7.49%	84.207	91.022
France	12.744	14.336	-11.10%	17.077	19.210
Germany	10.763	12.712	-15.33%	14.422	17.034
Norway	33.566	31.017	8.22%	44.978	41.563
	202.746	213.788	-5.16%	271.680	286.476
	MIL Euros	MIL Euros		MIL USD	MIL USD

On February 28, 2011, Service Point Solutions, apparently, issued “guidance” for 2011. If my interpretation (translation) of the Spanish language document (that put forth these projections) was accurate, then here’s what SPS evidently said about 2011:

· Service Point projected Sales between € 216m and € 220m (Euros)

· EBITDA between € 18m and € 20m (Euros)

In that same document, Service Point said that the acquisition of Holmbergs (Sweden) is expected to, in 2011, contribute (I guess approximately) € 15m (Euros) to SP’s overall Sales and will contribute (I guess, approximately) € 2m (Euros) to SP’s overall EBITDA.

So, if we take into consideration what Service Point said about the incremental sales that the acquisition of Holmbergs will generate for SPS in 2011, it looks like SPS, where it projected that total SPS sales for 2011 will range from € 216m to € 220m, is projecting that its 2011 total sales, without taking Holmsberg into account, will range from a decline of 1.746m Euro (a decline of less than 1%) to an increase of 2.254m Euro (an increase of slightly more than 1%). So, continuing this wordy paragraph, SPS is, apparently, projecting that its 2011 Sales, without considering Sales added by the Holmsberg acquisition, will be pretty much flat, when compared to its 2010 Sales.

Apparently (and I say ‘apparently’ only because it is not easy to translate the Spanish to English), SPS incurred a “Net Loss” in 2010 of € 14.151m (Euros). For 2009, SPS incurred a “Net Loss” of € 8.429m (Euros).

So, comparing SPS’s results for 2010 compared to 2009, SPS’ Sales declined € 11.042m (Euros), only a 5.2% decline, but SPS’ Net Loss increased € 5.722m (Euros).

In SPS’s Income Statement, SPS does point out that certain expenses incurred in 2010 are “non-recurring” expenses. SP also said that about certain of its expenses in 2009. All I have to say about that is that ‘whatever the case’, those expenses cost SPS money, whether or not they were non-recurring or not.

Okay, let’s take just a minute to compare ARC’s results, 2010 vs. 2009 with SPS’ results, 2010 vs. 2009.

	in $USD	In $USD
	ARC	SPS
Sales -2010	441.639	271.680
Net Income (Loss) - 2010	(27.502)	(14.151)
Sales - 2009	501.549	286.476
Net Income (Loss) - 2009	(14.885)	(8.429)
Change in Sales, Y-O-Y	-11.94%	-5.16%
Change in Earnings (Loss)	$12.617	$5.722
adjusting for only
"Goodwill Impairment"
- Net Income (Loss) - 2010	($27.502)	($14.151)
Add: Goodwill Impairment	$38.263	$0.000	Note
Approx Net Income, adjusted*	$10.761	($14.151)
- Net Income (Loss) - 2009	($14.885)	($8.429)
Add: Goodwill Impairment	$37.382	$0.000	Note
Approx Net Income, adjusted*	$22.497	($8.429)
*Not giving effect to income
tax changes

Note – I did not see any “Goodwill Impairment” charges on SPS’ Income Statement, but that does not mean that SPS financial results were not impacted by “goodwill impairment” charges; it just means that I could not find any goodwill impairment charges on SPS’ Income Statement. If someone can correct me on this, I will update this post to reflect SPS’ goodwill impairment charges.

Without the substantial “Goodwill Impairment” charges ARC took in both 2010 and 2009, it looks like ARC would have earned a bottom-line (“net income”) profit in both 2010 and 2009. That does not appear to be the case for SPS. SPS, evidently, incurred a bottom-line (“net loss”) in both 2010 and 2009.

As to the Sales numbers and changes – ARC’s Sales are more reliant on reprographics services revenues from A/E/C customers. SPS is not as reliant on A/E/C business as ARC is. SPS’ operating companies’ customer bases are more diverse than is the case with ARC’s operating companies’ customer bases. This difference likely accounts for most of the reason why ARC’s Sales declined 11.94%, whereas SPS’ Sales declined only 5.16%.

However, in spite of the fact that ARC’s Sales decline (%age-wise) was more than double the Sales decline that SPS experienced, ARC, excluding the impact of the “Goodwill Impairment” charges, would have reported a bottom-line (net) profit for 2010, whereas SPS reported a fairly substantial bottom-line (net) loss for 2010. This must have something to do with operating margin differences and changes, and, considering the fact that both companies implemented “right-sizing” changes to reduce costs, the only thing I can reasonably conclude is that SPS has been more aggressive on pricing than has been the case with ARC.

It is certainly possible that I’ve made a few errors in copying and compiling the numbers I saw in both companies’ financial statements. Admittedly, it was not easy for me to understand SPS’ financial statements, since I only had Spanish-language versions to work with. Anyway, for the “real” numbers, please refer to the financial statements that both companies issued.