Posted on April - 22 - 2010
M2 Digital hails a turnaround year
Office equipment supplier M2 Digital today demonstrated a strong turnaround as it unveiled a surge in annual profits of nearly 160 per cent and said it was looking to buy a UK rival to help achieve its £100m revenue goal.
The firm, based on Chester Road, Manchester, said underlying pre-tax profits for the year to March 31 soared from £1.2m to £3.1m as sales increased from £25.1m to £31m.
The figures came in slightly below earlier hopes but chief executive Peter Quinn said he was delighted with the firm’s performance during a tough trading year.
A string of contract wins with companies including Littlewoods and Warner Brothers contributed to M2’s success during the year, which followed a sales and profits slump in 2008-09 as the recession took its toll on customer spending.
Mr Quinn, who co-founded the business in 1992, said he is targeting revenues of £40m this financial year and earnings of £4.5m.
“We have a strong pipeline and have made a good start to the new financial year,” he said.
He also hopes to complete a maiden acquisition for M2 and said he is in talks with several potential targets.
The firm has backing from private equity investor ECI to pursue an acquisition strategy that would transform the business, he said.
ECI is a major shareholder in M2 alongside management and Mr Quinn’s co-founder Mike Driver, who quit as chief executive at the end of 2008 to pursue other business interests but retains a 20 per cent stake.
During the last year, M2 bolstered its senior team with the arrival of John Taylor as managing director and has now further strengthened its board by recruiting Damien Baker as the company’s operations director.
M2, which has 190 staff across offices in Manchester, London and Glasgow, supplies document management software and machines which copy, scan, print and fax documents.
Last year it introduced a managed print services arm offering a one-stop shop to companies looking to centralise office print functions and reduce their overheads.
Previously, they would buy printers, inks and other equipment on an ad hoc basis.
Mr Quinn said the launch had boosted revenues while M2’s performance was lifted by a focus on costs and a strategy to ‘energise its workforce’.
Similar Posts:
- Matrix gets £10m boost
- Record year for Cardinal Maritime
- Halfords’ move into car servicing pays off
- Acquisitions fuel Chess revenue growth
- Rethink Group profits boost
