Communisis takes on Procter & Gamble PM

Communisis has signed up worldwide FMCG firm Procter & Gamble (P&G) as a new customer in a deal described by chief executive Steve Vaughan as print management as youve never seen it before.

Under the service, revealed this week as Communisis announced healthy first-half results, P&G will order print from its own roster of printers through the Leeds-based firm’s Instant Quote (IQ) software.

P&G is the second customer to use IQ after Barclays signed up to it earlier in the year. However, unlike Barclays, P&G will use the system to order print from its print suppliers without intervention from the print management firm.

Steve Vaughan refused to give financial details of the deal, but confirmed P&G was a new customer.

He said: “P&G is an interesting customer. We are selling them consultancy but not actually buying the print.”

Vaughan also revealed that HSBC has signed a single-supplier deal with Communisis for all its direct mail requirements, while RBS has selected the firm as one of two DM providers.

The first-half results came as Vaughan completed phase one of his three-stage revamping of Communisis since joining the firm a year ago.

The City responded well to the results, with the firm’s shares trading at around 78p as PrintWeek went to press on Tuesday, up from 70p before the announcement.

COMMUNISIS H1 RESULTS
Turnover £145.9m (2006: £134.3m)
Operating profit after restructuring costs £4.0m (£2.8m)
Pre-tax profit £2.6m (£14.4m, includes profit from sale of properties)
Net debt £31.9m (£44.9m)