Inkjet drives EFI revenue growth

EFI has reported a 16 per cent increase in revenue for the quarter ending 30 June this year, with the company claiming the earnings surge was due to its strong Industrial Inkjet division.

The digital print giant claims a 39 per cent revenue increase in its Industrial Inkjet division, and revenue growth of 33 per cent in its Productivity Software division combined to push its overall revenue up 16 per cent for the second quarter of 2012, compared with the same period for the previous year.

The company’s financials, released this week (20 July), revealed a ‘record’ revenue of US$163.9 million for the quarter, outstripping the previous year’s result of US$141.2 million. In addition, the company reported a 15 per cent growth in its revenue for the half-year ending June, standing at US$324 million, US$42.8 million greater than the previous year’s results.

Guy Gecht (pictured), the California-based company’s CEO, said the increased revenue comes despite the challenging environment within the global printing industry.

“Our team delivered a record revenue quarter with 16% growth in an increasingly challenging operating environment coupled with currency headwinds,” said Gecht. “Strong results in our Industrial Inkjet and Productivity Software business segments led to our tenth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

“While our business isn’t immune to broader economic trends even though EFI targets the growth areas of print, we continue to see growth opportunities in enabling our customers to transform their businesses and optimize their operations, which allows us both to continue to grow even in a tough environment,” he said.

Despite a challenging industry landscape, the revenue growth in EFI’s Productivity Software division comes as no surprise, with the company last year buying up European MIS provider Alphagraph and, locally, the Prism Group, in an attempt to cover all sectors of the market with its software solutions and win a majority market share.

Late last year following EFI’s acquisition of Alphagraph, EFI’s Australia and New Zealand country manager, Anthony Parnemann, said that buying MIS companies such as Prism and Alphagraph was simply the least time-consuming way for the company to build its global market share in the industry.

“The quickest way to reach the market share we’re after is by buying up these companies,” said Parnemann. “[EFI] didn’t have all the contacts with the customers, and the expertise. The acquisition brings in the expertise and their ideas, and adds to the framework of products.”

The company also announced this week it has entered into a real estate asset agreement to sell its Foster City, California, facility to Gilead Sciences for an estimated $180 million, with the transaction expected to close by October this year. However, the company expects to continue occupying the building for up to 12 months after the closing of the deal.

“We are pleased to seize this opportunity to enter a win-win agreement with Gilead Sciences, one of the world’s strongest biopharmaceutical companies,” said Gecht. “The proceeds from this transaction will make EFI an even stronger company for our shareholders, customers and employees. Our plan is to find a new facility in the Bay Area that will foster innovation and creativity while minimizing the impact on our local employees’ commutes.”