Smartphoto Group reports full-year 2021 revenues up but profits tighten

GaryPageau

Belgium-based Smartphoto Group reported in 2021 an increase in revenue to 63.1 million euro compared to 61.4 million euro in 2020. This growth in revenue is the combination of the organic evolution and the one-month contribution of Nayan. The strict lockdown measures in 2020 resulted in exceptionally strong sales of books and prints in the spring and of gifts in the fall, the company said. Due to the loosening of the measures around the Covid-19 virus, the demand for these products fell back to normal levels in the year 2021.

Compared to 2019, as a reference without the influence of COVID-19, the group’s revenue increased from 51.5 million euro to 63.1 million euro, an increase of 22.5%.

In the first half-year of 2021, the traditionally lower volumes over the first 6 months, combined with higher fixed costs due to the opening of the new factory and the expansion of the teams to support growth, put pressure on profitability, the company said. In the second half-year, improvements in production and the partial recharge of increasing labor and material costs ensured better profitability. The REBITDA for the second half of 2021, including Nayan’s activities for the month of December 2021, evolved positively by 0.4 million euro compared to the second half of 2020.

The continued focus on an extensive product range of personalised products and gifts, with photo and/or text, led to further growth in revenue and profitability. The expansion of the number of products with superfast delivery, ‘Ordered today, delivered tomorrow’, also contributed to this. With the start-up of the new factory in the third quarter of 2020, it was possible to realise efficiency improvements

The financial result evolved positively from -0.5 million euro in 2020 to -0.2 million euro in 2021. This positive evolution is mainly due to the positive impact of the exchange rate gains/losses (-) by 0.3 million euro.

As of Dec. 31, 2021, the net profit amounted to 5.5 million euro compared to a net profit of 8.4 million euro on December 31, 2020. The company said this decrease in profit of 2.9 million euro for the period 2021 is mainly due to:

  • a decrease in the profit from operating activities, before non-recurring items of 0.9 million euro;
  • the non-recurring costs related to the acquisition of Nayan of 0.3 million euro;
  • a positive change in the financial result of 0.3 million euro; and
  • a negative impact of income taxes expense (-)/ income of 2.0 million euro.