Towards the end of the AIA article (published by the AIA in August 2010) about the July 2010 ABI Index, the author of the article, Jennifer Riskus, Manager of Economic Research, reported the following:
This month’s special questions followed up on last month’s questions about the timing of project design phases. Survey respondents reported that the largest share of their projects (42%) have a design phase (defined as lasting from the awarding of the design contract to the completion of the construction documents) that lasts less than six months, while an additional 24% of projects have a design phase typically lasting between six and nine months. Small firms are much more likely to have shorter design phases than large firms, with 59% of projects at firms with less than $250,000 in annual billings having design phases of less than six months, compared to just 23% of projects at firms with annual billings of $5 million or more. Projects at firms with an institutional specialization also tend to have a slightly longer design phase, with nearly half (47%) of projects at those firms having a design phase lasting between six and 12 months.
Our panelists indicated that the complexity of a project is the most important influence on the length of the design phase, followed by project size (construction value), type of client, and scope of design services offered. The project delivery method (e.g., design-build, design-bid-build, integrated project delivery) was not considered to be a very important factor.
- - - - - - - - - -
Joel's comments: All this does is pretty much confirm what reprographers have been saying for years. Architects begin to recover, revenue-wise, before Reprographers do, by about 6-9 months. For Reprographers, FM (OnSite) revenue should be a leading predictor of production center (off-site) revenue recovery (or, should I say, growth.)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Requesting Input from Reprographers !!! (Downloading files from PlanRooms)
Associates of mine in Europe are interesting in finding out how U.S. reprographers are dealing with the issue of "file downloads".
When the first reprographer-operated Internet PlanRooms began showing up in the U.S., most, if not all, did not permit (or, perhaps better put, did not enable) "file downloads." They offered "file viewing" and "print-ordering." Today, some reprographers, but certainly not all, operate PlanRooms that do enable file downloads in addition to file viewing and print-ordering.
Questions for the reprographer community:
- - What percent of U.S. reprographers do YOU think are now permitting "file downloads" from their Internet PlanRooms?
- - Of the U.S. reprographers who are permitting file downloads, what percent of U.S. reprographers who do so do YOU think are permitting file downloads "for free"? (in other words, for a price of $.00 per file download)
- - Of the U.S. reprographers who are charging for file downloads, what do YOU think is the current range of prices for file downloads? (In other words, from a high of $x.xx per file to a low of $y.yy per file).
Kindly either a) post your response as a comment to this post or b) send me an email at joel.salus@mac.com
Thank you.
When the first reprographer-operated Internet PlanRooms began showing up in the U.S., most, if not all, did not permit (or, perhaps better put, did not enable) "file downloads." They offered "file viewing" and "print-ordering." Today, some reprographers, but certainly not all, operate PlanRooms that do enable file downloads in addition to file viewing and print-ordering.
Questions for the reprographer community:
- - What percent of U.S. reprographers do YOU think are now permitting "file downloads" from their Internet PlanRooms?
- - Of the U.S. reprographers who are permitting file downloads, what percent of U.S. reprographers who do so do YOU think are permitting file downloads "for free"? (in other words, for a price of $.00 per file download)
- - Of the U.S. reprographers who are charging for file downloads, what do YOU think is the current range of prices for file downloads? (In other words, from a high of $x.xx per file to a low of $y.yy per file).
Kindly either a) post your response as a comment to this post or b) send me an email at joel.salus@mac.com
Thank you.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
AIA ABI Index for July 2010 - Very slight increase from last month, but still showing declining demand
COMMENT: Right at this moment, it is 4:12 a.m. east coast USA time and 10:12 am where I am in Europe. I just noticed an article, on Yahoo Asia, about the July 2010 AIA ABI Index ..... so, here it is ..... (Yahoo attributes the article to Reuters.com, but I was unable to find the article on Reuters) ......
U.S. architecture billings index up in July -AIA
Reuters - Wednesday, August 18
* AIA July billings index up 1.9 pts to 47.9
* Project inquiries index drops 4.6 pts to 53.1
* Conditions remain volatile, trade group says
NEW YORK, Aug 18 - A closely watched leading indicator of U.S. nonresidential construction spending rose in July but remained at a level that indicates falling demand for the 30th consecutive month, an architects' trade group said on Wednesday.
The Architecture Billings Index was up 1.9 points last month to 47.9, the American Institute of Architects said. A forward-looking index of project inquiries fell 4.6 points to 53.1.
Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 point to declining demand. Inquiries have stayed above 50 in recent months as builders seek multiple bids for design projects.
Business conditions remain volatile amid tight credit for construction. A weak economy, depressed real estate values and high unemployment have meant less need to put up structures like stores and office buildings.
"We continue to receive a mixed bag of feedback on the condition of the design market, from improving to flat to being paralyzed by uncertainty," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
None of the four geographic regions tracked by the group was above 50, and only the commercial/industrial sector was above that mark in July.
The AIA's billings index is an indicator of construction spending nine to 12 months in the future, so current readings suggest a recovery will not take root until sometime in 2011.
The index is cited by companies that sell into the sector as a reliable gauge of demand. The AIA has forecast a 20 percent drop in spending on nonresidential construction this year, followed by a modest rebound in 2011.
Most diversified industrial companies derive at least some revenue from the nonresidential sector, selling machinery used in construction or the components of a building: elevators, electrical and lighting systems, heating and cooling and security networks, for example.
U.S. architecture billings index up in July -AIA
Reuters - Wednesday, August 18
* AIA July billings index up 1.9 pts to 47.9
* Project inquiries index drops 4.6 pts to 53.1
* Conditions remain volatile, trade group says
NEW YORK, Aug 18 - A closely watched leading indicator of U.S. nonresidential construction spending rose in July but remained at a level that indicates falling demand for the 30th consecutive month, an architects' trade group said on Wednesday.
The Architecture Billings Index was up 1.9 points last month to 47.9, the American Institute of Architects said. A forward-looking index of project inquiries fell 4.6 points to 53.1.
Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 point to declining demand. Inquiries have stayed above 50 in recent months as builders seek multiple bids for design projects.
Business conditions remain volatile amid tight credit for construction. A weak economy, depressed real estate values and high unemployment have meant less need to put up structures like stores and office buildings.
"We continue to receive a mixed bag of feedback on the condition of the design market, from improving to flat to being paralyzed by uncertainty," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
None of the four geographic regions tracked by the group was above 50, and only the commercial/industrial sector was above that mark in July.
The AIA's billings index is an indicator of construction spending nine to 12 months in the future, so current readings suggest a recovery will not take root until sometime in 2011.
The index is cited by companies that sell into the sector as a reliable gauge of demand. The AIA has forecast a 20 percent drop in spending on nonresidential construction this year, followed by a modest rebound in 2011.
Most diversified industrial companies derive at least some revenue from the nonresidential sector, selling machinery used in construction or the components of a building: elevators, electrical and lighting systems, heating and cooling and security networks, for example.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Commercial (Non-Res) Construction outlook "bleak" for rest of 2010; uptick "expected" in 2011
I found this article on www.costar.com
Costar Group is the # 1 Commercial Real Estate Information Company (Yes, that's what they say on their website.)
AIA Forecast: Private Commercial Construction To Fall Nearly 30% in 2010
Overall Nonresidential Development On Track for Deeper Decline This Year; Modest Uptick Predicted for 2011
By Randyl Drummer
July 20, 2010
Spending on commercial and other nonresidential construction is likely to fall more than 20% this year -- significantly more than forecasters predicted six months ago -- with hotel and office construction down by more than 43% and 29%, respectively, according to the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) midyear look at construction.
Even with a modest U.S. economic recovery under way, overall nonresidential spending is expected to drop 20.3% for 2010 -- and nearly 30% for private commercial development -- before edging up 3.1% in 2011, according to the AIA’s semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters. Manufacturing facilities will see a 20% spending decline. Even dollars allocated to new government and other institutional buildings, previously a pillar of strength for builders, will likely fall 12%.
Meanwhile, another bit of breaking news from the AIA this week, the monthly Architect Billings Index (ABI), seems to confirm that construction weakness will most likely continue deep into next year.
Most significant commercial structures are designed by architects or other design professionals, making it instructive to examine how busy those designers are right now making blueprints and drawings that will ultimately lead to grading or a ceremonial construction ground breaking, nine months to a year in the future. According to the latest ABI, the architects association’s monthly survey of client billings, recovery may not be imminent.
Although the ABI report of June released Wednesday showed a slight slowing in the rate of decline in new building design activity, the index remains at 46 -- well below the threshold of 50 denoting positive growth in architect invoices.
Historically, actual hard construction activity doesn’t begin to recover until 9 to 12 months after billings from design firms begin to grow again and projects move off the drawing board and into the development pipeline.
The AIA’s consensus forecast panel was downbeat at the beginning of the year, projecting a 13.4% decline in construction spending for nonresidential projects. But at midyear, their outlook is still bleaker.
"Our construction forecast panel expects the weakness in the construction sector to continue well into 2011," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
Most nonresidential construction building categories are weighed down by some degree of oversupply, combined with weak demand, declines in commercial property values, difficulty getting project financing and macroeconomic uncertainty. Those factors have contributed to "one of the steepest construction downturns in generations," Baker said.
"We have businesses nervous about expanding their facilities, a fragile financial sector, excess commercial space, and general unease in the international economy," Baker said.
Despite the glum assessment, there are still tendrils of optimism among economists and construction executives that conditions will get better next year.
Despite the projected decline of nearly 30% in commercial construction for 2010, architect billings for commercial projects was the only sector of the ABI to record positive gains in June. That points to a slight recovery next year, which correlates with the Baker's projection of 3.1% growth in total nonresidential construction in 2011.
Public and institutional construction, which held its own during the recession, is now feeling the bite of canceled municipal projects, diminishing stimulus money and budget shortfalls. Frank Martinez, executive vice president for Laguna Beach, CA-based Griffin Structures, said the competition for the small pool of contracts is fierce.
[Joel's comment: the above comment by Frank Martinez is 'good news' for reprographers, for the fiercer the competition in project bidding, the more sets of plans and specs that will be ordered.]
Martinez said a typical contract put out by one Los Angeles-area school district, which typically would have drawn eight or 10 bidders a couple years ago, now easily draws 50 to 100. Much of that new competition is from single-family home builders displaced by the downturn and seeking to infill their businesses with commercial and public work, he said.
That said, longtime pessimism among builders is slowly giving way to guarded optimism, according to Martinez.
"We're actually starting to see more RFPs [requests for proposals] coming out," said the executive for Griffin, which has done $1.5 billion in construction projects, the bulk of them buildings for county and municipal agencies.
Government deficits and spending cuts to make up budget shortfalls have had a major impact on public sector construction, Martinez said.
"With the state of California taking $2 billion from municipalities and poised to take more to staunch its red ink, it's forcing cities to be more creative with less, including fewer staff. In turn, we have to be more creative."
That often means developing projects in stages and helping clients find alternative financing solutions, Martinez said. Lower staffing levels mean agencies may not be equipped to hit the ground running as fast when economic growth picks up speed, he said.
The U.S. economy is improving, but demand for space and ultimately new commercial construction typically lags recovery in job markets and the broader economy by several quarters.
Although commercial property values have fallen more than 40% from their mid-2007 highs through the first quarter of this year, the declines have slowed significantly since the middle of last year. The risk of commercial mortgage and construction loan defaults remains a serious concern until values recover, however.
Tight lending standards continue to create problems for new nonresidential projects, the AIA's Baker noted. The Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices still points to restrictive lending conditions for commercial real estate loans. The April 2010 survey indicated that most banks kept their lending standards unchanged in the first quarter, and a few even tightened terms on business loans.
Costar Group is the # 1 Commercial Real Estate Information Company (Yes, that's what they say on their website.)
AIA Forecast: Private Commercial Construction To Fall Nearly 30% in 2010
Overall Nonresidential Development On Track for Deeper Decline This Year; Modest Uptick Predicted for 2011
By Randyl Drummer
July 20, 2010
Spending on commercial and other nonresidential construction is likely to fall more than 20% this year -- significantly more than forecasters predicted six months ago -- with hotel and office construction down by more than 43% and 29%, respectively, according to the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) midyear look at construction.
Even with a modest U.S. economic recovery under way, overall nonresidential spending is expected to drop 20.3% for 2010 -- and nearly 30% for private commercial development -- before edging up 3.1% in 2011, according to the AIA’s semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters. Manufacturing facilities will see a 20% spending decline. Even dollars allocated to new government and other institutional buildings, previously a pillar of strength for builders, will likely fall 12%.
Meanwhile, another bit of breaking news from the AIA this week, the monthly Architect Billings Index (ABI), seems to confirm that construction weakness will most likely continue deep into next year.
Most significant commercial structures are designed by architects or other design professionals, making it instructive to examine how busy those designers are right now making blueprints and drawings that will ultimately lead to grading or a ceremonial construction ground breaking, nine months to a year in the future. According to the latest ABI, the architects association’s monthly survey of client billings, recovery may not be imminent.
Although the ABI report of June released Wednesday showed a slight slowing in the rate of decline in new building design activity, the index remains at 46 -- well below the threshold of 50 denoting positive growth in architect invoices.
Historically, actual hard construction activity doesn’t begin to recover until 9 to 12 months after billings from design firms begin to grow again and projects move off the drawing board and into the development pipeline.
The AIA’s consensus forecast panel was downbeat at the beginning of the year, projecting a 13.4% decline in construction spending for nonresidential projects. But at midyear, their outlook is still bleaker.
"Our construction forecast panel expects the weakness in the construction sector to continue well into 2011," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
Most nonresidential construction building categories are weighed down by some degree of oversupply, combined with weak demand, declines in commercial property values, difficulty getting project financing and macroeconomic uncertainty. Those factors have contributed to "one of the steepest construction downturns in generations," Baker said.
"We have businesses nervous about expanding their facilities, a fragile financial sector, excess commercial space, and general unease in the international economy," Baker said.
Despite the glum assessment, there are still tendrils of optimism among economists and construction executives that conditions will get better next year.
Despite the projected decline of nearly 30% in commercial construction for 2010, architect billings for commercial projects was the only sector of the ABI to record positive gains in June. That points to a slight recovery next year, which correlates with the Baker's projection of 3.1% growth in total nonresidential construction in 2011.
Public and institutional construction, which held its own during the recession, is now feeling the bite of canceled municipal projects, diminishing stimulus money and budget shortfalls. Frank Martinez, executive vice president for Laguna Beach, CA-based Griffin Structures, said the competition for the small pool of contracts is fierce.
[Joel's comment: the above comment by Frank Martinez is 'good news' for reprographers, for the fiercer the competition in project bidding, the more sets of plans and specs that will be ordered.]
Martinez said a typical contract put out by one Los Angeles-area school district, which typically would have drawn eight or 10 bidders a couple years ago, now easily draws 50 to 100. Much of that new competition is from single-family home builders displaced by the downturn and seeking to infill their businesses with commercial and public work, he said.
That said, longtime pessimism among builders is slowly giving way to guarded optimism, according to Martinez.
"We're actually starting to see more RFPs [requests for proposals] coming out," said the executive for Griffin, which has done $1.5 billion in construction projects, the bulk of them buildings for county and municipal agencies.
Government deficits and spending cuts to make up budget shortfalls have had a major impact on public sector construction, Martinez said.
"With the state of California taking $2 billion from municipalities and poised to take more to staunch its red ink, it's forcing cities to be more creative with less, including fewer staff. In turn, we have to be more creative."
That often means developing projects in stages and helping clients find alternative financing solutions, Martinez said. Lower staffing levels mean agencies may not be equipped to hit the ground running as fast when economic growth picks up speed, he said.
The U.S. economy is improving, but demand for space and ultimately new commercial construction typically lags recovery in job markets and the broader economy by several quarters.
Although commercial property values have fallen more than 40% from their mid-2007 highs through the first quarter of this year, the declines have slowed significantly since the middle of last year. The risk of commercial mortgage and construction loan defaults remains a serious concern until values recover, however.
Tight lending standards continue to create problems for new nonresidential projects, the AIA's Baker noted. The Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices still points to restrictive lending conditions for commercial real estate loans. The April 2010 survey indicated that most banks kept their lending standards unchanged in the first quarter, and a few even tightened terms on business loans.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
C2 Repro opens new LA area location
Found on www.wide-formatimaging.com .....
Updated: August 9th, 2010 09:16 AM EDT
C2 Reprographics Opens Its Sixth Southern California Location
At a time when many construction-related firms are scaling back, C2 Reprographics has announced the opening of a sixth location that will serve Los Angeles' South Bay area. The new C2 location in Torrance at 2221 West 190th Street, Unit A, at Van Ness Avenue, opened on August 2, the company's second Los Angeles location. C2 has three locations in Orange County and one in San Diego.
Johnny Williams, a 16-year reprographics industry veteran, will lead the Torrance shop as manager to oversee operations and staff. Jack Willis, a South Bay native from Palos Verdes Estates with more than 20 years of sales experience and currently C2's downtown Los Angeles representative, will move to the South Bay location to serve the area.
"We are pleased to be opening our new location in the South Bay. We will bring C2's premier customer service to an area which has been underserved by our industry," said Gary Crisp, president and CEO, C2 Repro.
Updated: August 9th, 2010 09:16 AM EDT
C2 Reprographics Opens Its Sixth Southern California Location
At a time when many construction-related firms are scaling back, C2 Reprographics has announced the opening of a sixth location that will serve Los Angeles' South Bay area. The new C2 location in Torrance at 2221 West 190th Street, Unit A, at Van Ness Avenue, opened on August 2, the company's second Los Angeles location. C2 has three locations in Orange County and one in San Diego.
Johnny Williams, a 16-year reprographics industry veteran, will lead the Torrance shop as manager to oversee operations and staff. Jack Willis, a South Bay native from Palos Verdes Estates with more than 20 years of sales experience and currently C2's downtown Los Angeles representative, will move to the South Bay location to serve the area.
"We are pleased to be opening our new location in the South Bay. We will bring C2's premier customer service to an area which has been underserved by our industry," said Gary Crisp, president and CEO, C2 Repro.
IRgA - relevancy - development of additional new standards
At the last IRgA Convention, one of the officers of the IRgA talked about the "declining membership" situation. Due to industry consolidation (primarily ARC) and the growth of affinity groups (PEiR Group, ReproMAX and RSA), the number of IRgA memberships has been on a downward spiral, for at least the past three or four years.
As I've said in several previous posts, my former companies were IRgA members, and, there is no question in my mind that both of my former companies derived benefits from being IRgA members. (One of my former companies was a member of MiniMAX and ReproCAD and the other one was a member of ReproMAX and The PEiR Group. And, at the same time, we were also IRgA members.)
It's now been three months since the last IRgA Convention, and, a couple of weeks ago, one of my industry friends (who is in a high position with a large reprographics enterprise) posed several questions about the IRgA .... these questions, basically, are restated and summarized by the following bullet points .....
1) If the IRgA had a full-time CEO, would the IRgA be better operated .... like any other business where the CEO is full-time dedicated to the mission of the business?
2) Why are the affinity groups (PG, RM, RSA) succeeding, gaining members, whereas the IRgA's membership is in decline? Is the lack of a full-time IRgA CEO - a person who would be solely focused on driving the goals of the group and thinking about benefits for the members - one of the reasons for that?
3) Would IRgA members benefit from the development of additional, industry-sponsored "standards?" (An example of an industry standard is the "square foot chart" that the IRgA came up with many years ago; in my opinion, any reprographer who adopted that standard derived great benefits.) Could the development of additional new standards include matters like "standards for charging for digital services", "standards for billing seat licenses", and matters similar to those?
The biggest question in my mind is "how does the IRgA remain relevant?" If it cannot remain relevant, then the IRgA will probably not be around several years from now, especially if its membership roll continues to decline.
While I am a proponent of the development of industry-sponsored standards - for all reprographers stand to benefit financially from those - I have no real interest in using my blog-site to lobby IRgA Officers and Board Members to "get with the program" of developing standards; that's something that YOU should be doing, if, of course, you believe that the IRgA should be doing that.
The financial challenge that the IRgA faces can only be solved by two things happening. #1 - consolidators must require their operating companies to be dues-paying members of the IRgA, #2 - affinity groups must require their member companies to be dues-paying members of the IRgA, and #3 - all non-member reprographers should continued to be encouraged to join the IRgA. Without that, there may not be an IRgA several years from now.
As I've said in several previous posts, my former companies were IRgA members, and, there is no question in my mind that both of my former companies derived benefits from being IRgA members. (One of my former companies was a member of MiniMAX and ReproCAD and the other one was a member of ReproMAX and The PEiR Group. And, at the same time, we were also IRgA members.)
It's now been three months since the last IRgA Convention, and, a couple of weeks ago, one of my industry friends (who is in a high position with a large reprographics enterprise) posed several questions about the IRgA .... these questions, basically, are restated and summarized by the following bullet points .....
1) If the IRgA had a full-time CEO, would the IRgA be better operated .... like any other business where the CEO is full-time dedicated to the mission of the business?
2) Why are the affinity groups (PG, RM, RSA) succeeding, gaining members, whereas the IRgA's membership is in decline? Is the lack of a full-time IRgA CEO - a person who would be solely focused on driving the goals of the group and thinking about benefits for the members - one of the reasons for that?
3) Would IRgA members benefit from the development of additional, industry-sponsored "standards?" (An example of an industry standard is the "square foot chart" that the IRgA came up with many years ago; in my opinion, any reprographer who adopted that standard derived great benefits.) Could the development of additional new standards include matters like "standards for charging for digital services", "standards for billing seat licenses", and matters similar to those?
The biggest question in my mind is "how does the IRgA remain relevant?" If it cannot remain relevant, then the IRgA will probably not be around several years from now, especially if its membership roll continues to decline.
While I am a proponent of the development of industry-sponsored standards - for all reprographers stand to benefit financially from those - I have no real interest in using my blog-site to lobby IRgA Officers and Board Members to "get with the program" of developing standards; that's something that YOU should be doing, if, of course, you believe that the IRgA should be doing that.
The financial challenge that the IRgA faces can only be solved by two things happening. #1 - consolidators must require their operating companies to be dues-paying members of the IRgA, #2 - affinity groups must require their member companies to be dues-paying members of the IRgA, and #3 - all non-member reprographers should continued to be encouraged to join the IRgA. Without that, there may not be an IRgA several years from now.
American Reprographics vs. Service Point Solutions - current stock prices and current analyst recommendations
ARC (NYSE: ARP)
SHARES CLOSED AT $8.25 USD, yesterday, August 10, 2010
52 Week high – $11.31 USD
52 Week low - $5.11 USD
SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS (SPSL.MC) [BOLSA (Spain) Stock Exchange]
SHARES CLOSED AT .56 EURO, yesterday, August 10, 2010
52 Week high – 1.23 EURO
52 Week low - .53 EURO
CURRENT ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS (as of August 10, 2010, per Reuters.com)
AMERICAN REPROGRAPHICS vs. SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS:
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS – for AMERICAN REPROGRAPHICS
Number of Analysts with current "Buy" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Outperform" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Hold" recommendation - 4
Number of Analysts with current "Underperform" recommendation -0
Number of Analysts with current "Sell" recommendation - 0
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS – for SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS
Number of Analysts with current "Buy" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Outperform" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Hold" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Underperform" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Sell" recommendation - 2
SHARES CLOSED AT $8.25 USD, yesterday, August 10, 2010
52 Week high – $11.31 USD
52 Week low - $5.11 USD
SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS (SPSL.MC) [BOLSA (Spain) Stock Exchange]
SHARES CLOSED AT .56 EURO, yesterday, August 10, 2010
52 Week high – 1.23 EURO
52 Week low - .53 EURO
CURRENT ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS (as of August 10, 2010, per Reuters.com)
AMERICAN REPROGRAPHICS vs. SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS:
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS – for AMERICAN REPROGRAPHICS
Number of Analysts with current "Buy" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Outperform" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Hold" recommendation - 4
Number of Analysts with current "Underperform" recommendation -0
Number of Analysts with current "Sell" recommendation - 0
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS – for SERVICE POINT SOLUTIONS
Number of Analysts with current "Buy" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Outperform" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Hold" recommendation - 0
Number of Analysts with current "Underperform" recommendation -1
Number of Analysts with current "Sell" recommendation - 2
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Mimeo.com strikes strategic alliance with the printing franchise companies owned by Franchise Services, Inc.
Most reprographers, by now, know who mimeo.com is. If you don't, they are the digital copying/printing company (based) in Memphis (TN) that, years ago, developed some very cool proprietary software that enabled customers to submit documents in virtually any file format and be able to get immediately on-line proofs. Mimeo.com convinces customers, wherever they are, to submit their print jobs, over the Internet, to Mimeo's large production hub in Memphis, where jobs are printed (often overnight) and then overnight-shipped via Fedex to anywhere in the U.S. PlansExpress was also in that business in Memphis (may still be, for all I know), but whereas Mimeo.com specialized in "small-format", PlansExpress specialized in "AEC large-format." The "nice thing" about shipping from Memphis - you only have to pay Fedex "one-way", since Fedex's main distribution hub is in Memphis.
Anyway, I just noticed that Mimeo.com entered into some sort of "strategic alliance" with the three U.S.-based quick-copy/digital printing franchisors owned by FSI. Here's the press release:
Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics Launch Strategic Alliance with Mimeo.com
NEW ALLIANCE PROMISES TO TRANSFORM THE IMAGING AND PRINTING ENVIRONMENT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES 0 7/29/2010
MISSION VIEJO, Calif., July 29, 2010 – Franchise Services, Inc., (FSI) parent company of Sir Speedy, PIP Printing and Marketing Services and Signal Graphics, and Mimeo.com, a print technology solutions company, today announced a new production print solution that enables business customers to have anywhere, anytime access to printing. Under the terms of a new strategic alliance between the two companies, Mimeo’s print technology platform will support the Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics brands so that their customers will have remote access to a scalable online solution that includes virtual proofing, an unlimited document library, document management and online ordering and tracking tools. The program is designed to enable Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics franchise brands to capture a larger share of the $108 billion dollar global digital print market, with a focus on the 65% of all print expenditures that fall to printing and marketing services providers.
“Our goal with this program is to help our franchisees capture those customers who prefer to order their printed documents online, customers we have not easily had access to in the past,” said Richard Lowe, President and Chief Operating Officer of Franchise Services. “Now a business customer will be able to place an order by 10 p.m. EST and receive it by 8:00 the next morning.” “We are pleased to support FSI’s franchisees with the Software as a Service (SaaS) applications and expanded digital production print capabilities sought by their customers,” said Adam Slutsky, Mimeo.com CEO. “This complementary alliance combines the best of what we both have to offer, world class solutions that can help businesses of any size optimize the way they print and distribute documents through 24/7 access to a virtual library and online ordering portal.”
About Franchise Services Franchise Services, Inc., (FSI) is a franchise management company that owns the franchise brands, Sir Speedy, PIP Printing and Marketing Services, Signal Graphics, MultiCopy, TeamLogic IT and Copies Now. Franchise Services has a 40-year history managing award-winning brands that support the small- to medium-sized business market. The company’s brands and worldwide affiliates encompass more than 600 locations in 13 countries. FSI’s brands have received numerous awards and recognition including; the Franchise Times Top 200, Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, Quick Printing Top 100, Printing Impressions 400, Franchise Times Fast 55, Franchise 50 and the International Franchise Association’s Franchisee of the Year Award.
About Mimeo.com Mimeo.com is the innovator of online, on-demand cloud printing services. Over 60% of the Fortune 100 rely on Mimeo’s award winning document management tools and print on demand solutions to lower document related costs while improving employee productivity. The privately held company was founded in 1998. Investors include Hewlett Packard (HP), Goldman Sachs (GS), Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Harbourvest, and DFJ Gotham.
Anyway, I just noticed that Mimeo.com entered into some sort of "strategic alliance" with the three U.S.-based quick-copy/digital printing franchisors owned by FSI. Here's the press release:
Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics Launch Strategic Alliance with Mimeo.com
NEW ALLIANCE PROMISES TO TRANSFORM THE IMAGING AND PRINTING ENVIRONMENT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES 0 7/29/2010
MISSION VIEJO, Calif., July 29, 2010 – Franchise Services, Inc., (FSI) parent company of Sir Speedy, PIP Printing and Marketing Services and Signal Graphics, and Mimeo.com, a print technology solutions company, today announced a new production print solution that enables business customers to have anywhere, anytime access to printing. Under the terms of a new strategic alliance between the two companies, Mimeo’s print technology platform will support the Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics brands so that their customers will have remote access to a scalable online solution that includes virtual proofing, an unlimited document library, document management and online ordering and tracking tools. The program is designed to enable Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics franchise brands to capture a larger share of the $108 billion dollar global digital print market, with a focus on the 65% of all print expenditures that fall to printing and marketing services providers.
“Our goal with this program is to help our franchisees capture those customers who prefer to order their printed documents online, customers we have not easily had access to in the past,” said Richard Lowe, President and Chief Operating Officer of Franchise Services. “Now a business customer will be able to place an order by 10 p.m. EST and receive it by 8:00 the next morning.” “We are pleased to support FSI’s franchisees with the Software as a Service (SaaS) applications and expanded digital production print capabilities sought by their customers,” said Adam Slutsky, Mimeo.com CEO. “This complementary alliance combines the best of what we both have to offer, world class solutions that can help businesses of any size optimize the way they print and distribute documents through 24/7 access to a virtual library and online ordering portal.”
About Franchise Services Franchise Services, Inc., (FSI) is a franchise management company that owns the franchise brands, Sir Speedy, PIP Printing and Marketing Services, Signal Graphics, MultiCopy, TeamLogic IT and Copies Now. Franchise Services has a 40-year history managing award-winning brands that support the small- to medium-sized business market. The company’s brands and worldwide affiliates encompass more than 600 locations in 13 countries. FSI’s brands have received numerous awards and recognition including; the Franchise Times Top 200, Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, Quick Printing Top 100, Printing Impressions 400, Franchise Times Fast 55, Franchise 50 and the International Franchise Association’s Franchisee of the Year Award.
About Mimeo.com Mimeo.com is the innovator of online, on-demand cloud printing services. Over 60% of the Fortune 100 rely on Mimeo’s award winning document management tools and print on demand solutions to lower document related costs while improving employee productivity. The privately held company was founded in 1998. Investors include Hewlett Packard (HP), Goldman Sachs (GS), Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Harbourvest, and DFJ Gotham.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Service Point's 51%-owned French subsidiary (Reprotechnique) to restructure
At the end of the Press Release Service Point issued to announce its 1st Half 2010 Financial Results, Service Point's Press Release said this:
Reprotechnique’s restructuring plan
The shareholders of Reprotechnique, a French company where Service Point holds a 51% stake acquired in June 2008, have formally applied for a “Redressement Judiciaire”, a process aimed at redressing the company’s economic trend and undertaking a plan to make the said subsidiary viable whilst not entailing an additional financial burden on shareholders’ funds.
Joel's comments:
My french-language skills are not very good (disclaimer; I took 2 years of French in high-school, but that was over 45 years ago!), so I was not familiar with the french words, "redressement judiciaire". I copied those two words into the translation window on Google Translate and Google Translate came up with this translation: "receivership".
After doing some further Googling on the words, "Redressement judiciaire," I came up with a web-site at http://www.connexionfrance.com/ (France's English-language newspaper), on which I found an article about "bankruptcy" in France. I don't think that "Redressement judiciaire" means or is the same thing as "bankruptcy", and I'm only mentioning the article I found because it does mention "Redressement judiciaire" and, if you care to read more about that term and what it means (or might mean), have at it .....
"What to know about bankruptcy"
Connexion edition: October 2009
BY THE end of the year 70,000 businesses will have failed in France, according to a recent study by credit insurers Euler Hermes SFAC - a rate not seen since 1990 and 20% more than 2008.
In France bankruptcy procedures involve several stages aimed at trying to keep a business afloat.
Bankruptcy may be translated as faire faillite, though this is no longer used officially. In everyday language people also call it déposer son bilan. The modern procedure usually involves three stages - cessation de paiements, then redressement judiciaire and liquidation judiciare.
If your business is in serious difficulty with payments a procédure de sauvegarde may stave off bankruptcy. This involves formal negotiations with creditors under judicial supervision to help you reorganise. This is done on application to a tribunal de commerce.
Two other options with a similar aim involve nomination by the court of intermediaries between the firm and creditors called a mandataire ad hoc or a conciliateur (the latter is available even after cessation de paiements, for 45 days).
A business is said to be in cessation de paiements once it is unable to pay its due debts. The owner is obliged to declare it to the tribunal de commerce within 45 days unless conciliation is under way (it is the tribunal de grande instance for professions libérales, sociétés civiles and associations). The court will call the owner for a private hearing within 15 days. It then either opens redressement judiciaire or goes straight to liquidation judiciaire if it is impossible for it to be saved.
Redressement (literally “setting something back on its feet”) allows for the business to continue, maintain employment and start paying debts.
The court designates a juge-commissaire (a judge to oversee correct procedure), a mandataire judiciare who acts in the interest of creditors. An administrateur judiciaire (administrator) may also be appointed (obligatory for large firms only). A firm may also be called into redressement following a writ from a creditor or a request from the government or a court (for example if conciliation has failed).
There is an observation period of up to 18 months, during which the administrator may help the business owner or run the business themselves. Third parties interested in buying the firm to maintain activity are invited to make offers.
During the observation period the firm may be closed on debts being paid off or the court may decide to liquidate it. Otherwise, a recovery plan (for up to 10 years), is worked out if there is a chance it can be saved. This includes an agreement on how to pay debts, accounting for agreed delays and discounts, and may involve stopping certain activities. The administrator agrees on whether contracts for ongoing work should be fulfilled and limits on payment of new debts are set.
The redressement is noted (if appropriate) in the registre du commerce et des sociétés or répertoire des métiers and is inserted in BODACC (an official civil and commercial announcements bulletin) and a legal announcements journal.
If redressement is impossible, liquidation judiciare follows on order of the court.
An employment law expert for Dordogne Chamber of Commerce, Philippe Berlouin, said the impact on owners varied.
“If they are a sole trader and have not protected themselves with a déclaration d'insaisissabilité [drawn up with a notaire] they may have to sell some of their own assets to pay debts. The owner of a limited company is protected unless they are deemed to have acted improperly.”
• On www.infogreffe.fr you can consult information on firms, including, for €1.55, details of procédures de sauvegarde or orders of redressement or liquidation. You can also set a notification alert for changes.
Effects on staff
YOU may face redundancy during the redressement period if it is decided your job has to be sacrificed to keep the firm going. If your firm is liquidated you will also be made redundant. Staff must be paid any compensation they are entitled to under contracts (eg. for the redundancy and untaken holidays), if necessary using a national insurance scheme funded by employers’ contributions (la garantie des salaires) - this scheme can also be used to ensure staff are paid during redressement.
There is usually an administrative delay of about a month before unemployment pay can be established following redundancy, but the compensation helps tide them over, according to employment law expert Philippe Berlouin.
“Some times there can be extra delays, for example if the employees were not properly informed of their right to either take ordinary redundancy or to a follow a conversion plan.”
The CRP plan gives benefits and priority for job training - see Redundancy: the start not the end
If there are disputes over compensation or the employee feels correct procedure was not followed, an application to the conseil des prud'hommes may be made.
“For example, they might not have been asked to a preliminary interview before being made redundant within the correct period - there are very formal rules.” This application is free and usually no lawyer is required, though it may be advisable, in which case possible legal aid will be means-tested. Sometimes people may have a legal assistance component to an insurance policy.
Creditors
If a company is undergoing redressement this will include establishing committees of major creditors who will be consulted.
Creditors should lodge details of what they are owed with the mandataire judiciaire.
In liquidation, a liquidator is appointed to pay creditors with remaining assets based on a set order of precedence, with legal costs, salaries, taxes and charges top priority, then banks, suppliers and finally customers.
Reprotechnique’s restructuring plan
The shareholders of Reprotechnique, a French company where Service Point holds a 51% stake acquired in June 2008, have formally applied for a “Redressement Judiciaire”, a process aimed at redressing the company’s economic trend and undertaking a plan to make the said subsidiary viable whilst not entailing an additional financial burden on shareholders’ funds.
Joel's comments:
My french-language skills are not very good (disclaimer; I took 2 years of French in high-school, but that was over 45 years ago!), so I was not familiar with the french words, "redressement judiciaire". I copied those two words into the translation window on Google Translate and Google Translate came up with this translation: "receivership".
After doing some further Googling on the words, "Redressement judiciaire," I came up with a web-site at http://www.connexionfrance.com/ (France's English-language newspaper), on which I found an article about "bankruptcy" in France. I don't think that "Redressement judiciaire" means or is the same thing as "bankruptcy", and I'm only mentioning the article I found because it does mention "Redressement judiciaire" and, if you care to read more about that term and what it means (or might mean), have at it .....
"What to know about bankruptcy"
Connexion edition: October 2009
BY THE end of the year 70,000 businesses will have failed in France, according to a recent study by credit insurers Euler Hermes SFAC - a rate not seen since 1990 and 20% more than 2008.
In France bankruptcy procedures involve several stages aimed at trying to keep a business afloat.
Bankruptcy may be translated as faire faillite, though this is no longer used officially. In everyday language people also call it déposer son bilan. The modern procedure usually involves three stages - cessation de paiements, then redressement judiciaire and liquidation judiciare.
If your business is in serious difficulty with payments a procédure de sauvegarde may stave off bankruptcy. This involves formal negotiations with creditors under judicial supervision to help you reorganise. This is done on application to a tribunal de commerce.
Two other options with a similar aim involve nomination by the court of intermediaries between the firm and creditors called a mandataire ad hoc or a conciliateur (the latter is available even after cessation de paiements, for 45 days).
A business is said to be in cessation de paiements once it is unable to pay its due debts. The owner is obliged to declare it to the tribunal de commerce within 45 days unless conciliation is under way (it is the tribunal de grande instance for professions libérales, sociétés civiles and associations). The court will call the owner for a private hearing within 15 days. It then either opens redressement judiciaire or goes straight to liquidation judiciaire if it is impossible for it to be saved.
Redressement (literally “setting something back on its feet”) allows for the business to continue, maintain employment and start paying debts.
The court designates a juge-commissaire (a judge to oversee correct procedure), a mandataire judiciare who acts in the interest of creditors. An administrateur judiciaire (administrator) may also be appointed (obligatory for large firms only). A firm may also be called into redressement following a writ from a creditor or a request from the government or a court (for example if conciliation has failed).
There is an observation period of up to 18 months, during which the administrator may help the business owner or run the business themselves. Third parties interested in buying the firm to maintain activity are invited to make offers.
During the observation period the firm may be closed on debts being paid off or the court may decide to liquidate it. Otherwise, a recovery plan (for up to 10 years), is worked out if there is a chance it can be saved. This includes an agreement on how to pay debts, accounting for agreed delays and discounts, and may involve stopping certain activities. The administrator agrees on whether contracts for ongoing work should be fulfilled and limits on payment of new debts are set.
The redressement is noted (if appropriate) in the registre du commerce et des sociétés or répertoire des métiers and is inserted in BODACC (an official civil and commercial announcements bulletin) and a legal announcements journal.
If redressement is impossible, liquidation judiciare follows on order of the court.
An employment law expert for Dordogne Chamber of Commerce, Philippe Berlouin, said the impact on owners varied.
“If they are a sole trader and have not protected themselves with a déclaration d'insaisissabilité [drawn up with a notaire] they may have to sell some of their own assets to pay debts. The owner of a limited company is protected unless they are deemed to have acted improperly.”
• On www.infogreffe.fr you can consult information on firms, including, for €1.55, details of procédures de sauvegarde or orders of redressement or liquidation. You can also set a notification alert for changes.
Effects on staff
YOU may face redundancy during the redressement period if it is decided your job has to be sacrificed to keep the firm going. If your firm is liquidated you will also be made redundant. Staff must be paid any compensation they are entitled to under contracts (eg. for the redundancy and untaken holidays), if necessary using a national insurance scheme funded by employers’ contributions (la garantie des salaires) - this scheme can also be used to ensure staff are paid during redressement.
There is usually an administrative delay of about a month before unemployment pay can be established following redundancy, but the compensation helps tide them over, according to employment law expert Philippe Berlouin.
“Some times there can be extra delays, for example if the employees were not properly informed of their right to either take ordinary redundancy or to a follow a conversion plan.”
The CRP plan gives benefits and priority for job training - see Redundancy: the start not the end
If there are disputes over compensation or the employee feels correct procedure was not followed, an application to the conseil des prud'hommes may be made.
“For example, they might not have been asked to a preliminary interview before being made redundant within the correct period - there are very formal rules.” This application is free and usually no lawyer is required, though it may be advisable, in which case possible legal aid will be means-tested. Sometimes people may have a legal assistance component to an insurance policy.
Creditors
If a company is undergoing redressement this will include establishing committees of major creditors who will be consulted.
Creditors should lodge details of what they are owed with the mandataire judiciaire.
In liquidation, a liquidator is appointed to pay creditors with remaining assets based on a set order of precedence, with legal costs, salaries, taxes and charges top priority, then banks, suppliers and finally customers.
Service Point - Financial Results 1H 2010
Service Point just issued its 1H 2010 Report.
Before you look at the detailed SP 1H 2010 report and read SP’s press release, just a quick comparison (of Q2 2010 results) of the only two public companies who have significant interests in the “reprographics” business and industry:
American Reprographics Co……Q2 2010
REVENUES………………. 115.1 MIL USD
EBITDA……………………. 23.1 MIL USD
EBITDA Margin…………… 18.5%
Service Point……………………Q2 2010
REVENUES…………….…... 53.5 MIL EURO
EBITDA…………………….. 3.67 MIL EURO
EBITDA Margin…………….. 6.9%
Service Point’s “Results – 1H 2010” can be found at:
http://www.servicepoint.net/WebFiles/countries/sps/docs/en/Results/Service_Point_Results_1HALF2010_01082010.pdf
If you want to compare SP's 1H 2010 numbers with previous numbers (for several years), Bloomberg publishes that information at this Internet address: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=SPS:SM
And, this is the Press Release Service Point Issued on August 6, 2010:
Service Point attains profits in the second quarter of 2010
The company’s results follow a positive development in line with the forecast of sustained improvement throughout the 2010 financial year and compared to the second half of 2009. EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) for the second quarter exceeds the figure recorded in the same period of last year.
6 August 2010. - Service Point Solutions, S.A. (Stock Exchange symbol: SPS.MC) closed the first half of 2010 with sales of € 105.7 million, 6.3% below those of the preceding year. The various cost-reduction measures continue to have a positive impact on the income statement, showing that, with a lower level of revenues, better comparable results are obtained.
In June 2010, five of the eight countries where Service Point has a presence registered increased sales in spite of the weakness still experienced by the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) segment, which was offset by growth in print by order, education (which is proving to be anti-cyclical with new contracts in Germany and
England) and financial (+28% in June compared to the same period last year).
Standardised EBITDA reached € 8 million, with progress in the reduction of margins with respect to the previous year. All countries where the Group is present, excluding the French subsidiary Reprotechnique, have made a positive contribution to the company’s EBITDA.
EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes or operating profit) for the second quarter exceeds the figure obtained in the same period last year.
Evolution by market
The quarter-on-quarter comparison shows a progressive improvement in the reported period. In addition, all countries – except for France with Reprotechnique, owned by Service Point as to 51% – made a positive contribution to the company’s EBITDA.
Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States have been the main contributors to the Group’s cash flow generation in the first half of 2010. Germany, Spain and Belgium continue increasing their activity. In addition, the Spanish subsidiary increased its revenues by 15% in June with respect to the same month in 2009. Notably, all countries are showing signs of stabilisation and progressive improvement in their overall results.
Growth plan
As announced at the last Annual General Meeting, Service Point intends to recover the path of growth through strategic acquisitions of sound and long-standing companies carried out at attractive valuation multiples.
At present, Service Point is at the stage of the legal and accounting due diligence of an acquisition the results of which are satisfactorily progressing; the target company’s integration, before taking into account economies of scale and synergies of costs and revenues, makes a positive contribution to all metrics of Service Point’s income
statement and balance sheet.
Reprotechnique’s restructuring plan
The shareholders of Reprotechnique, a French company where Service Point holds a 51% stake acquired in June 2008, have formally applied for a “Redressement Judiciaire”, a process aimed at redressing the company’s economic trend and undertaking a plan to make the said subsidiary viable whilst not entailing an additional financial burden on shareholders’ funds.
Before you look at the detailed SP 1H 2010 report and read SP’s press release, just a quick comparison (of Q2 2010 results) of the only two public companies who have significant interests in the “reprographics” business and industry:
American Reprographics Co……Q2 2010
REVENUES………………. 115.1 MIL USD
EBITDA……………………. 23.1 MIL USD
EBITDA Margin…………… 18.5%
Service Point……………………Q2 2010
REVENUES…………….…... 53.5 MIL EURO
EBITDA…………………….. 3.67 MIL EURO
EBITDA Margin…………….. 6.9%
Service Point’s “Results – 1H 2010” can be found at:
http://www.servicepoint.net/WebFiles/countries/sps/docs/en/Results/Service_Point_Results_1HALF2010_01082010.pdf
If you want to compare SP's 1H 2010 numbers with previous numbers (for several years), Bloomberg publishes that information at this Internet address: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=SPS:SM
And, this is the Press Release Service Point Issued on August 6, 2010:
Service Point attains profits in the second quarter of 2010
The company’s results follow a positive development in line with the forecast of sustained improvement throughout the 2010 financial year and compared to the second half of 2009. EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) for the second quarter exceeds the figure recorded in the same period of last year.
6 August 2010. - Service Point Solutions, S.A. (Stock Exchange symbol: SPS.MC) closed the first half of 2010 with sales of € 105.7 million, 6.3% below those of the preceding year. The various cost-reduction measures continue to have a positive impact on the income statement, showing that, with a lower level of revenues, better comparable results are obtained.
In June 2010, five of the eight countries where Service Point has a presence registered increased sales in spite of the weakness still experienced by the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) segment, which was offset by growth in print by order, education (which is proving to be anti-cyclical with new contracts in Germany and
England) and financial (+28% in June compared to the same period last year).
Standardised EBITDA reached € 8 million, with progress in the reduction of margins with respect to the previous year. All countries where the Group is present, excluding the French subsidiary Reprotechnique, have made a positive contribution to the company’s EBITDA.
EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes or operating profit) for the second quarter exceeds the figure obtained in the same period last year.
Evolution by market
The quarter-on-quarter comparison shows a progressive improvement in the reported period. In addition, all countries – except for France with Reprotechnique, owned by Service Point as to 51% – made a positive contribution to the company’s EBITDA.
Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States have been the main contributors to the Group’s cash flow generation in the first half of 2010. Germany, Spain and Belgium continue increasing their activity. In addition, the Spanish subsidiary increased its revenues by 15% in June with respect to the same month in 2009. Notably, all countries are showing signs of stabilisation and progressive improvement in their overall results.
Growth plan
As announced at the last Annual General Meeting, Service Point intends to recover the path of growth through strategic acquisitions of sound and long-standing companies carried out at attractive valuation multiples.
At present, Service Point is at the stage of the legal and accounting due diligence of an acquisition the results of which are satisfactorily progressing; the target company’s integration, before taking into account economies of scale and synergies of costs and revenues, makes a positive contribution to all metrics of Service Point’s income
statement and balance sheet.
Reprotechnique’s restructuring plan
The shareholders of Reprotechnique, a French company where Service Point holds a 51% stake acquired in June 2008, have formally applied for a “Redressement Judiciaire”, a process aimed at redressing the company’s economic trend and undertaking a plan to make the said subsidiary viable whilst not entailing an additional financial burden on shareholders’ funds.
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