SOLID RESULT FOR IVE AS HALF YEARLIES RISE

Revenue and EBITDA at marketing services group IVE were up in the half year to 31 December on the prior corresponding period, which itself was a record.

The first six months of the financial year saw the Ovato integration completed and the company’s entry into folding carton through the acquisition of JacPak. IVE booked a loss of $5.6m on Warwick Farm.

The company says that normalised for the Warwick Farm loss its net profit after tax was $26.6m, up by 9.4 per cent on the same period last year.

Revenue was $506m, up by 0.6 per cent from $502.8m, its EBITDA of $65.8m was up by 1.3 per cent, while its NPAT of $22.7m was down from $24.3m.

IVE’s net debt increased to $165.4m from $124.2m, reflecting the funds necessary to acquire JacPak. Cash in hand at IVE is $41.7m. The company spent $5.7m on capex in the half year, most of it related to Ovato and maintenance. It plans to invest some $13m over the second half.

Matt Aitken, CEO of IVE, said, “Given the more uncertain economic landscape, I am pleased with the first half result, which was up relative to a record prior period. We completed the Ovato integration six months ahead of the original timetable, and entered the Australian fibre-based packaging sector through the acquisition of JacPak.”

IVE acquired JacPak on 31 October, paying $35m for the $45m a year business. IVE says in the two months it owned the business it performed in line with expectations. It says JackPak has around $15m worth of extra capacity that the company is aiming to fill.

IVE is now looking to build on its packaging capability by investing in new finishing equipment for its Silverwater facility, and says this will provide some $60m worth of packaging capacity, with the company looking to create a $150m a year packaging business.