Specialist printer group Domino Printing (DNO) saw underlying pre-tax profit fall 10 per cent at the full-year stage to £35.3m - reflecting reduced customer spending in Europe and China. Equipment sales, which generate 43 per cent of group turnover, fell 1 per cent and management says that sales cycles have slowed, with fewer larger orders coming through.
Managing director Nigel Bond reckons lacklustre sales makes the need to invest in new products even more urgent - although that could mean lower profit margins in the near-term. "In recent years we've managed to boost the adjusted operating margin from 13 per cent to 19 per cent, but investment in new products, and flat sales, means it's down 7.2 per cent," he says. "It may fall further next year."