DGAP-News: Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG: Francotyp-Postalia Sees Growth Opportunities in Liberalised Mail Markets

| Source: EQS Group AG EQS Group AG 

Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG / Final Results/Final Results

24.04.2008 

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Francotyp-Postalia Sees Growth Opportunities in Liberalised Mail Markets
despite a very difficult year in 2007

  - Presentation of Annual Report 2007

  - Proposed dividend of €0.15 per share for 2007

  - Revenues and EBITDA forecast confirmed for 2008

  - Mailstream services expected to boost value added

Birkenwerder, April 24, 2008. Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, a worldwide
service provider for the outgoing mail market, presents its annual report
2007 today. The report contains no significant changes to the provisional
figures released on February 26, 2008.

Despite difficult operating conditions, Francotyp-Postalia increased
revenues during the fiscal year 2007 by 1.5% to €145.1 million, compared to
€142.9 million in the previous year. The Company achieved this growth
mainly due to the growth of its services segments such as consolidation and
outsourcing of outgoing mail. In its Mailstream segment, revenues increased
by 39.3% to €8.5 million compared to €6.1 million in financial 2006.
Revenues of franking and inserting machines fell slightly to €136.6 million
in 2007 compared to the previous year. This decline was mainly due to the
slowing down of the US economy and a weaker dollar.

These effects, combined with the planned start-up losses in the Mailstream
segment overweighted the positive performance from the UK and The
Netherlands, which led to a decrease in earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to €26.3 million, compared to €32.0
million for the previous year. Based on these figures, the FP Group
achieved an EBITDA margin of 18.1%, in the mailroom business, however, the
EBITDA margin remained above 20%. Net income came to -€2.8 million,
compared to -€0.3 million for financial 2006. Consolidated net income
excluding amortisation of acquisition expenses came to €10.3 million.
Nevertheless, the Supervisory Board and the Management Board - the latter
under the chairmanship of Dr. Heinz-Dieter Sluma since January 1, 2008 -
will propose a dividend of €0.15 per share to the General Meeting to be
held on June 18, 2008.  That is a dividend yield on the share trading price
on April 23, 2008 of 4.6%

FP Groups Tunes its Strategy to the Future 

In his first 100 days, Dr. Sluma carried out an extensive review of the FP
Group and outlined the key milestones of its future strategy. The core
business of the company remains the mailroom business. From 2008 onwards
however, the Company will concentrate more strongly on the synergies
resulting from the combination of its Mailroom and Mailstream offerings,
thus enhancing its role as a service provider for the outgoing mail market.
While the Mailroom business represents a business with stable cash flows
and margins, with its Mailstream services the FP Group is profiting from
the growing interest among businesses to hand over their outgoing mail
operations to professional service providers now that the German post
market has been liberalised. The market for consolidation of outgoing mail
is currently growing at around 50% per year.

The FP Group already has the necessary competences: With around 265,000
franking machines installed in over 80 countries, the Company has a 9%
share worldwide in this core value added segment of the outgoing mail
market. In Germany, the Company is the clear market leader, with a share of
around 45%. Additionally, the Company operates 9 consolidation centres
processing outgoing mail which dealt with some 41 million letters in the
first quarter of 2008 alone. This is all backed up by the FP Group's highly
innovative solutions for outsourcing and hybrid mail.  'We are bundling our
competences in 2008 so that we can provide every company with its own
specially tailored solution for outgoing mail,' explained Dr. Sluma.

Comprehensive Programme to Improve Efficiency

In his first 100 days in office, the new Chairman of the Management Board
also introduced a comprehensive programme to improve efficiency, especially
in the Mailroom business. Initial measures include optimising processes in
research and development, improvements to the supply chain management and
tighter administration. Due to the non-recurring charges that these
restructuring measures will involve, the Company is expecting no positive
effect in 2008. However, from 2009 onwards the Company predicts annual
savings between €3 to €5 million as a result of this program. 'With the
introduction of these measures, we will benefit from the expected growth
over the coming years and will experience a sustained increase in
profitability,' explained Dr. Sluma.

This new strategy will first take full effect from 2009 onwards. Therefore
the Company purposely issued a conservative forecast for financial 2008
when presenting its provisional figures. In its forecast, the Company
expects revenues between €150 to €160 million and EBITDA between €22 and
€26 million.

Detailed comments are available at our website:

http://www.francotyp.com

Contact:

Francotyp Postalia Holding AG

Investor Relations

Sabina Prüser

Tel:  +49 (0)3303 525 410
Fax:  +49 (0)3303 53707 410 
E-mail:  s.prueser@francotyp.com 

About the FP Group

With its products and services, Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG covers the
whole value added chain in the outgoing mail market. Its products and
services range from franking and inserting machines, the collection,
sorting and consolidation of outgoing mail to electronic hybrid mail
solutions providing 21st century mail processing.  With its headquarters in
Birkenwerder near Berlin, the FP Group offers business customers of all
sizes individually tailored Mailstream solutions. Today, the Group has its
own branches in many industrialised countries and a worldwide market share
of more than 9% for franking machines. With a history stretching back 80
years, today the FP Group is profiting in all its markets from the
increasing liberalisation of mail markets and the growing interest among
businesses to hand over their outgoing mail operations to professional
service providers. In financial 2007, the Company employed around 1,100
people and achieved revenues of €145.1 million and an EBITDA of €26.3
million.



Contact:
Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG
Media Relations 
Telefon:  +49 (0)3303 525 777
Telefax:  +49 (0)3303 53 70 77 77 
E-Mail:  pr@francotyp.com 


DGAP 24.04.2008 
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Language:     English
Issuer:       Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG
              Triftweg 21-26
              16547 Birkenwerder
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)3303 525 777
Fax:          +49 (0)3303 53 70 77 77
E-mail:       ir@francotyp.com
Internet:     www.francotyp.com
ISIN:         DE000FPH9000
WKN:          FPH900
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
              in Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Düsseldorf
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
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