Artwork Systems, the Belgian prepress group currently undergoing a strategic review, posted a significant drop in sales and profits for the second quarter.
Revenues for the three months to March 31 fell 17% to €10.3m from €12.6m during the same period in 2006. Pre-tax profits dropped 34% to €2.8m from €4.4m. First half revenues were down of 12.5% and net income dropped 25.32%, compared with a year before.
Chairman Guido Van der Schueren says: “We had expected the second quarter results to be in line with those of the first quarter. This was, however, not the case and Q2 turned out to be weaker than expected on the revenue side in the US, the UK and in France. In general, there was a delay in decision-making.”
He adds: “However, the picture looks bleaker than it actually is. Order intake in the second quarter clearly indicated that we are on track to achieve the targets we set for the financial year 2007. In the second half of this fiscal year we can expect a much improved business on the Enfocus side given that they have the biggest product launch in their history.”
The firm appointed ING Corporate Finance to advise on options in a strategic review, which included a possible sale.
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