Communisis has revealed its interim results today, for the 6 months ended 30th June.
They showed that total revenue had grown to £188.6m (H1 2017 £173.5m), while profit before tax increased to £6.5m (£6.4m year on year) and overseas revenue now accounts for 34% of its total income.
“Communisis traded positively in the first half of 2018 and total sales were up 9%. Outbound statement volume grew with an increasing digital proportion but the volume of marketing communication has seen an initial reduction as an effect of the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May,” explained chief executive, Andy Blundell.
“The Group won two significant contracts; the first with Zurich, a new insurance client, and the second with an existing client in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) for a major expansion of services. Trading saw good free cash flow and net debt materially lowered. There was also a marked reduction in the pension deficit. Overall expectations for FY 2018 are unchanged.”
The introduction of GDPR cost Communisis £0.3m.
The Leeds-based group said it was continuing to place an emphasis on digital, within a multichannel delivery, which is one of the reasons why it won the contract from Zurich Insurance.
During the period, 14% of outbound communications were delivered via digital, compared to 9% the year before.
It was also implementing a cloud-based software platform, Noosh, to support its next phase of digital growth and this would be ready for launch and rollout from September.
Its overseas growth came through a “major expansion” of its relationship with an unnamed global FMCG brand owner over a 3 year period. This will mean adding Italy and Middle East to its services in Poland, Portugal and Spain.
A contract has also been renewed with Bacardi for a further 3 years, which operates out of 9 European countries.
