Interim Management Statement

27 November 2012 St Ives plc - Interim Management Statement St Ives, the UK's leading marketing services and print group, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement covering the period from 28 July 2012 to date. We have made a good start to the current financial year with revenue for the fourteen week period ended 2 November 2012 broadly flat compared to the equivalent period last year, reflecting the benefit of growth across our Marketing Services businesses, offset by the revenue impact of our decision to exit commoditised print markets. As a result, margins are improved and underlying operating profit is ahead of the equivalent period for the prior year. We continue to make good progress with our strategy to reposition the business and offer an extended range of services and added value customer solutions from across the Group's capabilities. Print Trading conditions remain challenging but despite the anticipated fall in revenue, we have managed to improve margins and therefore maintain underlying operating profit. Within our Direct Response business, the closure of the Leeds facility will complete on schedule and the work will be transferred to our remaining site in Bradford. Our Point of Sale business continues to perform well and we have successfully renegotiated a number of our larger contracts. Service Graphics, our Exhibition and Events business, has performed well in the period and is benefitting from the reputation for the quality and reliability of the services that we provided during the London Olympics. Whilst our Books business continues to be impacted by changing order patterns, our reputation for service and reliability ensures we produce the majority of the bestselling titles. Marketing Services With a contribution from all of the Marketing Services businesses in the period, revenue and underlying operating profit are significantly ahead of the equivalent period for last year. All of the acquisitions have integrated well and we are winning business at an individual business level and through combining our capabilities on specific customer propositions. We will continue to invest in this area of our business, and to seek further selective acquisitions that extend our ability to offer a comprehensive and differentiated proposition to our target markets. Outlook The actions we have taken to reposition the Group have enabled us to make progress in spite of headwinds in the UK economy. The new financial year has started well, the balance sheet remains strong and we remain confident that further progress will be made as we continue to execute our strategy. - Ends - For further information contact: St Ives plc 020 7928 8844 Patrick Martell, Chief Executive Matt Armitage, Chief Financial Officer MHP Communications 020 3128 8100 John Olsen / Ian Payne / Giles Robinson

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