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Photo-Me develops losses

Created:
14 July 2008
Written by:
Malar Velaigam

It's been a challenging year for photo-booth operator Photo-Me. Difficult trading conditions led to a management overhaul early in the year, and the new team implemented a strategic and operational review that led to a major restructuring of the group.

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Reported losses ballooned as a result of one-off charges of £14.8m - including redundancy costs of £3.2m and £4.3m spent on 'professional' costs associated with the review process itself - and the accelerated depreciation of some booths, which cost it a further £5m.

Perhaps the most important result of the review, though, was the decision to halt the disposal of Photo-Me's core vending business, which grew revenues by 4 per cent over the year. New chief executive Thierry Barel warned that the trend towards the centralisation of biometric data and digital images may constrain demand for passport photography, but management is looking to incoporate other digital media such as music and mobile office services into kiosks alongside traditional photo printing.

Broker Hardman & Co are yet to release any update on its 2009 EPS forecast of 0.9p.

PHOTO-ME (PHTM)

ORD PRICE: 12p MARKET VALUE: £42m
TOUCH: 11.75-12p 12-MONTH HIGH: 81p LOW: 10p
DIVIDEND YIELD: na PE RATIO: na
NET ASSET VALUE: 21p NET DEBT: 59%

Year to 30 April Turnover (£m) Pre-tax profit (£m) Earnings per share (p) Dividend per share (p)
2005 237 33.9 6.18 2.00
2006 225 28.0 5.53 2.40
2007 213 15.7 2.78 2.40
2008 210 -21.7 -5.32 0.00
% change -1 -238 -291 -100

Ex-div: na

Payment: na

*Includes intangible assets of £30.5m, or 8p per share

Click here for a guide to the terms used in IC results tables.


TIP UPDATE

Sell

Photo-me is in a difficult place. The growth of digital photography means its main business is in long-term decline, and shares have already fallen by 25 per cent since our sell advice (Sell, 16p, 3 April, 2008), which we stand by. Sell.


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