46|Printing World|March 11 2002

finance

By Alex GrantManufacturing orders are up forthe first time in a year, accordingto the latest figures. But the BPIFsays any improvement has yet tofilter through to print.

Although prices are down,what may be called the purchas-ing manager’s index from theChartered Institute of Purchase& Supply, and widely regarded asa barometer for manufacturingindustry, now stands at 50.1, upfrom 46.5 last month.

Anything above 50 shows thatmanufacturing is growing. Thefigures show that consumergoods, many of them made out ofink on paper, are leading the waywith their output index up from52.4 to 53.5 between January andFebruary.

“Although 50.1 is positive, it is arelatively small improvement

and very recent,” says the BPIF’shead of external affairs CicelyBrown. “Printing is still waitingfor a spark to set it alight.”

The federation is currentlypreparing the latest issue of itsDirections survey, due out at theend of March, and few printersare reporting increased sales.

The last survey, issued in Janu-ary, showed that pessimistsoutnumbered optimists by a

margin of 42%. With interestrates already low and consumerspending high, that spark couldbe restocking, says Ms Brown.

Having overestimated saleslast year and built up hugeinventory levels, manufacturersof IT and telecoms goods inparticular stopped productionalmost entirely and are only nowresuming.

The equivalent index in theUS, prepared by the Institute ofSupply Management, has goneup from 49.9 in January to 54.7 inFebruary, showing that the USseems to be recovering furtherand faster than Europe for themoment at least. agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief� Manufacturing orders up� Print still awaiting revival� Directions survey coming soon

Manufacturing’sglimmer of hope

Cicely Brown: ‘Small improvement’

Newspapers and magazineadvertising could be seeing thebeginnings of a recovery, at leastin the US.

News Corporation presidentPeter Chemin last week pre-dicted that ad revenues should beup by between 3-4% in the firstquarter of 2002, albeit from a lowbase some 10% below the norm.

But he admitted that there waslittle sign of recovery in NewsCorp publications in Europesuch as The Sun, The Times orSunday Times.

And talk of economic recovery

in 2002 has not convinced theEuropean Rotogravure Associa-tion, which has warned thatcontinued overcapacity and lowadvertising levels in magazinesmean that 2002 should be aslower year than 2001, despitelower paper prices.

Although more magazinesgoing to smaller print runs andoffset production, gravure print-ers are “investing in modernpresses with wide web widthsand high printing speeds” tocompete, says ERA secretary gen-eral James Siever.

“But the optimism in the US isonly a prediction. As far as we seeit, there is no recovery in Europeyet.”

Paper company Holmen,meanwhile, reports that deliver-ies of coated magazine paper inWestern Europe fell by more than6% in 2001.

Standard newsprint deliverieswere down by 3%. agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief� US recovery talked up� News Corp UK pessimism� ERA warns of overcapacity

News Corp’s heavy weather

British Polythene Industries saysrestructuring has paid off, withpretax profits up 24% to £16.2m,despite sales having fallen from£377m to £360m. BPI has alsobeen helped by the drop in rawmaterial prices.

BPI has closed two factories,shed staff and sold its retail plas-

tic bag business to Bunzl inrecent months. Further rationali-sation is being mooted for 2002.

Investigations by the Euro-pean Commission into allegedprice fixing are “still at a very earlystage” and likely to take up to sixyears, the company says.

In the meantime, lawyers have

been drafted in to ensure thatprocesses comply with competi-tion law and that the charges arenot repeated.agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief� BPI profits up,but sales down� Sells factories and sheds staff� Long term price fixing case

BPI claims restructuring is paying off

UBM loses£568mUnited Business Media,owner of Printing Worldpublisher CMPInformation, is notexpecting any recovery inhigh-tech advertising inthe US in 2002.Preliminary results for2001 show a loss of£568m because of thecosts of 1,400 job cuts,and operating profitbefore exceptionals of£81m,down from £161min 2000.Profits fromCMP Media,UBM’s high-tech publisher in the US,were 90% down in 2001.However,now that costshave been cut by £110m,UBM says that it is well-placed to benefit fromany upturn.

Ups anddownRegional newspapersales are still dropping –by 3.9% for dailies and4.9% for Sundays in thelast six months of 2001,although somenewspapers are doingmuch better than others.The Newspaper Societysays that 48% of all titles(and 55% of weeklies)saw circulation rise in thelast six months of 2001,despite the cut in bulksales by most publishers.Some 98% ofnewspapers now sold areactively purchased,and96% are sold at full price.

US dealsealed Crown Cork & Seal,Philadelphia, is to sell itspharmaceuticalpackaging business toRisdon Pharma,a printerand manufacturer ofplastic pharmaceuticalcomponents.Risdon hasmanufacturing facilitiesin France and Germanyand is backed in the dealby HSBC Private Equity.The transaction issubject to consultationwith workers’representatives,as wellas regulatory approval.

Pearsonbattles onPearson, owner of the FinancialTimes and Penguin Books, hassuffered a 12% fall in pretax prof-its in 2001 after five years ofconsistent double digit profitsgrowth. However, the resultswere not as bad as feared and a“significant recovery” is forecastin 2002. Pearson shares rose10% to 843p as a result.

Although Penguin’s books sawsales growth of 3% and a 6% risein profits, the FT Group suffereda 7% fall in profits because the30% drop in ad bookings out-stripped a small rise in sales.

Although the advertising out-look “remains uncertain”,overheads for the Financial Timeshave been reduced. The newspa-per’s UK edition switched achunk of its run from West Ferryto Newsfax last year.

The overall fall in profits wasalso partly due to Pearson writingoff the value of its FT Knowledgebusiness, whose offices at theWorld Trade Centre weredestroyed onSeptember 11.agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief� Pearson sees profits fall� FT and Penguin suffer�Ads outlook is uncertain

Chinese likeLinx inkjetsLinx Printing Technologies, themaker of inkjet systems for pack-aging and batch coding, sawdemand in the US and Europe fallby between 3% and 5% last yearbut benefited from a 30% rise inChina and Hong Kong.

Sales were up 1% to £24.2m inthe last six months of 2001,although profits fell 11% to£2.3m.

Linx, which took over Xymark,a laser manufacturer in 2000,has recently launched two newproducts, the Linx 6800 inkjetand the Xymark VectorWriter.

Following poor Xymark sales inthe US last year, separate teams forsales and distribution of inkjet andlaser products have been created. agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief� China gives Linx a big boost� US and Europe fall back� Rejigs sales operation

46-47 Finance 6/3/02 4:39 pm Page 46

legal notices

AD

VIC

EBusiness

GROW-HOWBusiness

From Paul Holohan & the team at

Richmond Capital Partners Limited

Tel: 0207 636 5491

Facsimile: 0207 436 8954

Email: info@richmondcapitalpartners.com

Web: www.richmondcapitalpartners.com

I believe that one way of surviving (andhopefully prospering) in the printing industryis to offer exceptional customer service. And Imean a REAL difference to our rivals. Why isit proving so difficult to do?

Ultimately great customer service is like beauty;it is in the eye of the beholder. Customers placea value on us and our ‘brand’; that is as much apart of expectation as the service they actuallyreceive. But reality needs to be like perception.

Recently we saw that Arriva trains were asked towithdraw their promotional activity whichpromised top quality service because they werenot delivering it! The company claimed that itwas "aspirational"!

These days we are more likely to be comparedwith a bank, travel agent or high street shop - ora packet of cereal. Recent research shows thatthe Kelloggs brand has more consumer trust thaneven the church!

Start with these questions:-How do we add value to our customers?Why do they buy from us?What do they value about us?

If your people do not ‘align’ or value the samethings as your customers then there is mis-matchproblem. Your people need to understand yourcustomers better and this starts with asking them!This can be undertaken in several ways and youwill be amazed by the feedback.

At Richmond we have carried out this type ofanalysis for several clients with great results - eventhough listening to criticism can be quite painful!

The first contact made by your client, and all thecontacts thereafter, need to reflect the valuessought by your clients. You will need to coachyour people and develop a ‘similarity of spirit’both within the firm and between your staff andcustomers. If your staff and customers were in apub talking to each other you would want themto describe your organisation in similar terms.Do you think that they would?

Only then can you really start creating a servicewhich is hard to copy; one that customers feelthey own as much as the staff do.

I have learnt through bitter experience that "nohands is better than any hands" and to stick toyour guns and hire people with the right outlookon delivering service excellence. Whilst somecan be trained, some will not ‘come along’.

Start with recruitment, induction, training,internal communication and building realrelationships with your clients at ALL levels.Meeting face to face is still the best way toachieve this.

You are right to see this as an opportunity todifferentiate yourself. Your people may wellthink that the only reason that your clients useyou is price. In reality, this is extremely rare.

Good luck!

The author accepts no legal responsibility for the advice given.Comments and advice given in this column do not necessarilyrepresent the views of Printing World.

LIVING UP TOEXPECTATIONS

M E R G E R S • A C Q U I S I T I O N S • D I S P O S A L S • J O I N T V E N T U R E S

Printing World|March 11 2002|47

Compulsorywinding upThe following case is due to beheard at the Royal Courts ofJustice, Strand, London WC2A2LL�Waterlock Press Ltd6 Albermarle Street, LondonW1X on March 13 at 10.30am.Petition by Ice Paper

Appointment ofliquidators� Graf X Ltd Graphic designer.Liquidator: RG Butcher, MooreStephens Booth White, BeaufortHouse, 94-96 Newhall Street,Birmingham B3 1PB� Sea Horse Press Ltd Printer.Liquidator: J Kelmanson, TheKelmanson Partnership, AvcoHouse, 6 Albert Road, Barnet,Hertfordshire EN4 9SH� Graphic Partners (Manchester)Ltd Graphic designer.Liquidators: N Henry and M Simister, Lines Henry, 27 TheDowns, Altrincham, CheshireWA14 2QD� Uniskill LtdPrinter/reprographics.Liquidators: R Keyes and F Wessely, Chantrey Vellacott, 81 Station Road, Marlow,Buckinghamshire SL7 1SX� Swan Innovations Ltd Previouscompany name: Swan PackagingLtd Manufacturer of printedcartons and wallets. Liquidators:

NR Hood and RH Toone,Begbies Traynor, 1 & 2 RaymondBuildings, Gray’s Inn, LondonWC1R 5NR� Management Graphics LtdPrinter. Liquidators: R Keyes andF Wessely, Chantrey Vellacott,81 Station Road, Marlow,Buckinghamshire SL7 1SX� Global Power Press Ltd Previouscompany name: Global IndustrialServices & Supplies Power pressservice and repairers. Liquidator:AG Haden, Haden Insolvency,Haden House, 485 BirminghamRoad, Bromsgrove,Worcestershire

Appointment ofreceivers� Colourflow Ltd Photographicdeveloping and printing.Receivers: S Allport and DKDuggins, Andersen, PO Box 55,180 Strand, London WC2R 2NT� MI Print Ltd Photographicdeveloping and printing.Receivers: S Allport and DKDuggins, Andersen, PO Box 55,180 Strand, London WC2R 2NT

Meetings ofcreditors�The Hallamshire Press Ltd at 93 Queen Street, Sheffield S11WF on March 13 at 11am� EJW Colour Print Ltd at 42 George Street, Reading RG17NT on March 14 at 10.30am

� Express Publications (NorthEast) Ltd at 8 High Street, Yarm,Stockton on Tees on March 7� Grgprint.com, Grgprint.com llp atPark House, Park Square West,Leeds LS1 2PS on March 8� Five Star Stationers & PrintersLtd at 35 Ballards Lane, London N3 1XW on March 14 at noon� Dorincourt Lion Litho Ltd at TheGeorge Hotel, High Street,Crawley, West Sussex on March13 at 11.30am

Notices tocreditors� Maltsprint Ltd Creditors to sendclaims to SG Paterson, MooreStephens, Corporate Recovery,Victory House, Admiralty Place,Chatham Maritime, Kent ME44QU by April 30� Red Winklepicker Press LtdCreditors to send claims to SMDraine, 3-5 RickmansworthRoad, Watford, HertfordshireWD18 0GX by April 3� Partners Press Ltd Creditors tosend claims to JNR Pitts ofWilson Pitts, Devonshire House,38 York Place, Leeds LS1 2ED byMarch 28

Final meetings� Kells Print Ltd at SalisburyHouse, Station Road, CambridgeCB1 2LA on March 25 at 10am formembers and at 10.15am forcreditors

Access down 4%By Alex GrantAccess Plus, the print manage-ment group that floated on theAlternative Investment Market in1996, suffered a 4% fall in profitsin 2001, partly because of a 27%drop in direct mail contracts. Incontrast, general print manage-ment revenue rose by 27% lastyear.

After years of breakneck, dou-ble-digit growth, UK direct mailvolumes grew by only 6% lastyear. Media, financial and retaildirect mail saw a “sharp decline”,although insurance mailings roseby 13.6%. The cut in marketingbudgets was not due to September11, says Access Plus finance direc-tor Peter Houston. “The worstdecline in direct mail spend was in

the second quarter of 2001, notthe third,” says Mr Houston.“September 11 is being used as anexcuse by many people.”

However, customers are alsospending less on their mailingsthan before, with a 14% fall in unitproduction costs in the secondquarter of 2001.

As a result, Access Plus hasdiversified more into print man-agement, which now accounts for62% of all volumes. “Direct mailvolume may still be there, but notthe growth we had been used to,”says Mr Houston. agrant@cmpinformation.comIn brief�Access Plus on a seesaw� Does not blame September 11� Diversification into management

Tough for CCLin 2001CCL Industries, the new owner offour former Jarvis Porter factories,had a tough 2001 but says that allbut one of its labels sites are nowprofitable, in sharp contrast toJarvis Porter’s performance overthe past few years.

CCL saw pretax profits fall from$38.4m to $36.3m in the fourthquarter of 2001, partly because of“disruption to order patterns andlogistics” caused by September 11.

It bought Jarvis Porter’sremaining businesses – its health-care label businesses in Lewes,headquarters in Leeds and worksin Holland and France – for £7mon February 1. These had sales of£23.3m in 2000-1 but made a lossof £2.9m.

46-47 Finance 6/3/02 4:39 pm Page 47