TIDMPHTM
RNS Number : 9620E
Photo-Me International PLC
24 October 2018
24 October 2018
Photo-Me International plc
("Photo-Me" or "the Group")
AGM Trading Update
Photo-Me International plc (PHTM.L), the instant-service
equipment group, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 2:00 p.m.
today. Ahead of the meeting, the Group announces the following
trading update covering the first five months of its financial
year.
Trading in the period has been in line with expectations. The
Group has continued to make good strategic and operational progress
across its principal business areas and action has been taken to
restructure its Japanese subsidiary.
Identification
Deployment of the Group's encrypted photo ID upload technology
has continued to progress well. In the UK, a total of 2,700
photobooths are now enabled for UK Passport renewals, and the Group
is targeting the deployment of 4,000 enabled photobooths by the end
of December 2018.
In France, more than 80% of the Group's photobooths in the
country have been upgraded with secure photo ID transfer technology
for driving licence renewals, and this technology is expected to be
deployed in all photobooths by the end of December 2018.
Discussions are continuing within the French government to extend
this technology to include photo ID for new passports and
identification cards.
The Group is also in advanced discussions with the Dutch
government to deploy this technology in photobooths in the
Netherlands for use in driving licences, and a further update will
be provided as appropriate.
Restructuring of Japanese subsidiary
In Japan, the Group has taken decisive action and implemented
its plan to restructure its Japanese subsidiary and re-align
activities with current market conditions. In line with the
announcements about the restructuring plan on 30 May 2018 and 10
July 2018, a management reorganisation has been completed,
administrative functions have been streamlined, low revenue
machines have been relocated and unprofitable units have been
removed. In addition, new units deployed will have a significantly
lower production cost than the units deployed previously and will
offer a 35% faster return on investment.
Whilst the photo-identification market in Japan remains highly
competitive, the benefits of Photo-Me's initiatives are becoming
evident earlier than initially expected. The Board is confident
that its Japanese subsidiary will return to growth in FY 2019.
Laundry
The expansion of Laundry operations, both organically and by
acquisition, remained a key focus in the period, with the Group
still on track to deploy its target of 6,000 units (owned and sold)
by 2020.
For the first time, the Group expanded its Laundry services
presence beyond the UK in May 2018, with the acquisition of La Wash
Group, a leader in the Spanish laundry franchise market. The Group
expects to benefit from a GBP0.7 million contribution from La Wash
in FY2019.
Expansion of Revolution laundry operations has continued
strongly, particularly in Portugal, Ireland and France, and there
has been good expansion the UK. The Group is investigating
deployment of Laundry operations into Germany where it has existing
presence, and Italy.
Kiosks
The kiosk market is stable and has continued to perform as
expected. In line with plan, the Board expects Photo-Me Retail to
be profitable in FY 2019 as the benefits from the actions taken
last year come through.
The Group will continue to opportunistically expand its kiosk
presence and will present innovative products based on direct
connectivity with smartphones.
Innovation
Investment in new technologies and products is ongoing. The
first banking booth, which will provide front-end retail banking
services to customers, will be piloted in Paris before the end of
October in collaboration with Anytime, a Belgium Fintech
company.
Looking forward
The Group remains focused on driving profitability across its
existing estate and using the steady cash flows generated to invest
in future growth, through the expansion of both its geographical
footprint and developing new and complementary products
The Board has swiftly addressed the issues in Japan to
recalibrate the Group's operations to the more challenging market
conditions in the country. The Board is confident this business
will return to growth in FY 2019.
The Board maintains its guidance for the full-year results.
Results for H1 2019 will be in line with those for the
corresponding period in the prior year, excluding an exchange gain
and a favourable commercial litigation outcome in H1 2018.
Enquiries:
Photo-Me International plc +44 (0) 1372 453 399
Serge Crasnianski, CEO ir@photo-me.co.uk
Stéphane Gibon, CFO
Hudson Sandler +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
Wendy Baker/ Emily Dillon/ Nick photo-me@hudsonsandler.com
Moore
NOTES TO EDITORS
Photo-Me International plc (LSE: PHTM) operates, sells and
services a wide range of instant-service vending equipment,
primarily aimed at the consumer market.
The Group operates approximately 47,000 vending units across 18
countries and its technological innovation is focused on three
principal areas:
-- Identification: photobooths and integrated biometric identification solutions
-- Laundry: unattended laundry services, launderettes, B2B services
-- Kiosks: high-quality digital printing
In addition, the Group operates vending equipment such as
children's rides, amusement machines and business service
equipment.
Whilst the Group both sells and services this equipment, the
vast majority of units are operated and maintained by Photo-Me.
Photo-Me pays the site owner a commission based on turnover, which
varies depending on the country and location of the machine.
The Group has built long-term relationships with major site
owners and its equipment is generally sited in prime locations in
areas of high footfall such as supermarkets, shopping malls
(indoors and outdoors) and public transport venues. The equipment
is maintained and serviced by an established network of 700 field
engineers.
The Company's shares have been listed on the London Stock
Exchange since 1962.
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END
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