Domino 1H revenues rise, but costs peg back profits

Domino Printing Sciences saw revenues rise 7 per cent in the first half of the fiscal year as a robust growth in the US, Asia and Germany offset a difficult operating environment in the rest of Europe.

The coding and marking products supplier posted revenues of £162m ($251m) but slid to a loss of nearly £4m in the six months as operating expenses climbed 7 per cent and R&D costs rose by a quarter. In the same period of last year Domino posted a underlying pretax profit of nearly £25m.

One of the main drivers for the revenue growth in the period was the extension of its digital label press range with the launch of the N600i full-colour press (pictured) in October 2012, designed to handle shorter average print run lengths and greater individualisation of data with improved print quality.

"By the half year we had secured our targeted full-year order intake" for the new press, said Domino chairman Peter Byrom in a statement.

The new product complemented Domino's monochrome k600i digital label press, which has also been growing well on the back of increased demand for serialised coding capabilities. Both machines were added to Domino's line-up on the back of its relationship with Graph-Tech, a company it acquired complete ownership of last June.

The company said it has invested in additional sales and service resources in the US and in Asia where demand for its products has been strong, but said that aside from Germany "there continues to be uncertainty in Europe and we remain cautious about markets in this region".

Domino makes around 41 per cent of its turnover in Europe, with 24 per cent from the Americas and 35 per cent from Asia and Africa.

"Our performance in America and Asia coupled with strong sales of digital press products provides confidence that we will maintain current growth levels for the year as a whole," said Byrom.