Photo-Me still seeing growth in photo kiosk revenues

European kiosk maker Photo-Me International PLC reported, for the year ending April 30, lower sales due to uncertainty in the U.K. market and a now-completed restructuring of its business.

“Our operations in Continental Europe and Asia continued to perform in line with our expectations,” the company said in a press release. “As previously announced, overall trading in the UK became more challenging than expected as consumer activity slowed, owing to uncertainty around the UK’s exit from the European Union. This resulted in lower revenues from business-to-business and machine sales activity due to delays in order decisions, albeit we expect part of these revenue delays to be recovered during the 2020 financial year.”

The company’s revenue was reduced by 0.7% to £228.1 million and by 0.8% at constant currency, Photo-Me reported. “Adjusted revenue increased by 2.1%, excluding a £6.3 million revenue contribution from Photo-Me Retail in the prior year. Overall revenue from kiosks declined by 19.1%, following the restructuring of Photo-Me Retail, which happened in fiscal 2018 and resulted in a lower number of kiosk units in the field. 

 Photo-Me competes in several self-service markets, including photo printing, identification, laundry and, most recently, fresh fruit.

In the digital printing kiosk segment, the company reported an increase in the number of units, while revenue dropped.

“At the period end, the number of kiosks in operation had increased by 1.3%, following the completion of the relocation of kiosks from Photo-Me Retail shops in the UK as part of the 2018 restructuring program,” the company stated. “Upon relocation in France, revenue from these units increased by at least 15.0%. These Speedlab units were transferred to Photomaton in France, were refurbished, and then redeployed across the country to replace previous generation machines.

“The decrease in revenue is due to the removal of 491 kiosks related to the Photo-Me Retail restructuring program in FY2018,” the company added. Kiosk comparable sales revenue has increased by 1.6%. Key geographic markets for photo kiosks are France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.