Printing company St Ives plc (SIV.L) Tuesday reported a sharp rise in profit before tax for the first-half ended January 29, 2010, despite lower revenues, helped by labour cost reduction actions and lower energy costs. The company's shares gained over 9% in morning trade.
Profit before tax for the six-month period was GBP 8.31 million compared to GBP 4.41 million in the same period last year. Underlying pre-tax profit was GBP 8.4 million compared with GBP 6.2 million in the prior-year period.
Net profit for the period was GBP 6.67 million or 6.47 pence per share compared to a net loss of GBP 6.71 million or 6.51 pence per share in the year-ago period. Last year's first-half results included a loss of GBP 9.77 million from discontinued operations.
Underlying earnings rose to GBP 5.76 million or 5.59 pence per share from GBP 4.28 milion or 4.15 pence per share in the year-earlier period.
First-half revenues decreased to GBP 187.08 million from GBP 207.97 million in the same period previous year, hurt mainly by reduced volumes and price pressure.
The company noted that underlying gross margins improved by approximately 2%, reflecting reduced labour costs as well as lower energy costs.
Segment-wise, revenues from Media Products were GBP 77.79 million compared with 83.92 million in the previous-year period. Commercial Product revenues were GBP 109.59 million compared to GBP 124.05 million in the prior-year period.
The board has declared an interim dividend of 1.75 pence per share payable on April 1, 2010 to shareholders on register at March 19, 2010.
Patrick Martell, Chief Executive, said, "Our focus across the group is to cross sell where we have existing relationships and further develop our added value offering to new and existing customers. In addition, throughout the group we are focused on driving more volume through the businesses but with particular regard to seasonality and optimising work mix."
SIV.L shares are currently trading at 54.00 pence, up 4.50 pence or 9.09% on a volume of 1,371,144 shares on the London Stock Exchange.
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