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IVE Group delivers $36.7m profit following Coles’ decision to cease catalogue delivery

IVE Group, the parent company of printing and distribution brands including Blue Star and Salmat, now rebranded under the IVE umbrella, has delivered a $36.7m profit for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020 (FY20).

IVE Group executive chairman Geoff Selig said the result, a 6.3% drop on the previous year, proved the business responded as well as possible to the COVID-19 pandemic.

IVE Group will take a hit of up to $40m as Coles ends its catalogue delivery to homes, but retains the magazine and instore catalogue account

 

“Notwithstanding the extent and speed with which the COVID-19 crisis impacted their personal and professional lives, our entire workforce of 1700 staff responded together as one. They committed to do whatever was required to maintain a safe workplace, and ensure we continued delivering high levels of service to our clients,” he said.

“Under the circumstances, I don’t believe we could have responded any better to the impacts of COVID-19, and I thank our leadership team and all of our staff for their efforts and commitment during the year, particularly the last 6 months. I am very pleased with the performance of the business over the last year and the underlying strength of our financial position.”

IVE Group took a blow earlier in the month when Coles decided it would cease printing and delivering catalogues to consumer’s homes, but the supermarket is still a client of IVE Group and continues to produce its magazine and in-store catalogues through the business. IVE Group reports the change will impact revenue by $30 – $40m.

IVE’s revenue by category [click to enlarge]

The Group also delivered $691.5m in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $76.6m. Net debt has been reduced to $137.1m and the business reports to have $51.6m in cash.

IVE is focused on diversifying its business and investing in the future with confidence it will be flexible enough to handle the changing market conditions. It received $16.8m gross as part of the government’s Jobkeeper program, with CEO Matt Aitken saying the business was in a good place when the pandemic hit.

“IVE entered the COVID-19 crisis in a position of strength, with the Company responding very well on all fronts to the unprecedented and volatile operating environment. The Company remains well capitalised, highly liquid, and confident that we are ideally placed to maintain our strong market position as we emerge from this period of uncertainty and disruption.”

IVE is reporting guidance in line with FY20 and expects margins to remain stable over the next year. It plans to continue reducing its debt and capex and resume dividend payments in H1 FY21.

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