IVE HALF YEAR REVENUE UP BY 31.4%

The country’s biggest print group, marketing services operation IVE, saw its half year revenue surge by almost a third, to top the half a billion dollar mark, in the six months to December.

Revenue reached $502.8m, up by 31.4 per cent from $382.6m for the same period last year. The revenue surge was thanks to nine per cent organic growth, as well as contributions from what were AFI and Active Display Group – both now part of IVE Branded Activations – and Ovato, with the acquisition completing on 13 September.

Geoff Selig, executive chair of IVE told Print21 that the results were ‘meaningful’ in what he said was a ‘significant half year’. He said, “For print there has been some pick-up compared with last year when the effects of Covid were lingering, and we have gained some market share. Premiums and merchandising is growing well, and so is retail display.”

EBITDA was up by 17.7 per cent to $65m, net profit after tax up by 16.5 per cent to $24.3m. Ovato’s estimated first half contribution in the three and a half months was $60.7m to revenue, $4.4m of EBITDA and $1.6m of NPAT.

The company’s net debt rose by $21m to $97.5m, largely due to IVE increasing its inventory of paper; as a buffer against potential supply chain issues, and to be prepared for growth opportunities, and to ensure supply for what were Ovato clients. Cash in hand is $56.2m, down from $67m last year.

The company said the ‘strong’ first half performance was ‘broad based’ and ‘reflective’ of the group’s leading industry vertical positioning, tier-1 clients and diversified revenues.

Matt Aitken, CEO at IVE, said, “The first half result was above expectations, underpinned by a strong performance across the group.

“The first half saw the completion of the final phase of our Victorian site consolidation initiative, the high anticipated launch of our new e-commerce marketplace Lasoo, and the acquisition of major competitor Ovato.” Lasoo made a pre-tax loss of $2.4m, which is expected to rise to $3.9m for the full year, as the company spends big on its initial marketing campaign.

Aitken also pointed to a switch to renewable energy saying, “Given the unpredictable volatility in the domestic energy markets it is pleasing to announce our future partnership with global renewables company Iberdrola.”

Looking ahead to the year as a whole the company says the final result will be ‘well up’ on FY22, although tempered somewhat by a ‘temporary but meaningful’ increase in energy costs.

Full year guidance has underlying EBITDA of around $120m, with underlying net profit after tax of around $41m. Capital expenditure is expected to be around $15m (excluding Ovato). Ovato’s contribution will be an underlying EBITDA of around $11m, and an underlying NPAT of around $4m.

IVE's share price shot up by 3.7 per cent on the half year results, and is now at $2.68, a 36 per cent increase since its launch figure seven years ago, and five times the value since its Covid collapse in March 2020, since when it has been on a non-stop upward march.