Quadient achieves financial rebound

Quadient improved its financial results in July-September 2020 as sales recovered from a slump this spring, including a double-digit rise in parcel locker revenues.

The stock exchange-listed CEP industry supplier reported a 3% organic drop in sales to €258 million, with a 1.8% decline in its core businesses that was a clear improvement on 12% decline in the second quarter. Among the different businesses, Q3 revenues from mail-related solutions declined by 6.3% to €159 million but parcel locker sales rose by 29% to €21 million.

CEO Geoffrey Godet stated: “We are very pleased with the strong rebound in revenue trend recorded in the third quarter of 2020 in all our solutions and in every geography. As the economy has been recovering from the impact of the lockdowns, Quadient has taken full advantage of its truly unified organization and benefitted from multiple synergies across the board, from commercial cross-selling to back-office efficiencies and from mutualized R&D to more integrated supply chains and logistics.”

Addressing the company’s main business trends, he said: “The success of our newly-launched software solutions provides strong evidence of the valuable synergies generated by our combined R&D platform to offer our clients critical multi-channel communications tools supporting small and medium-sized companies in their efforts to digitize their internal processes and larger entities, such as government services, utilities or financial services, in their ability to personalize their communication flows and improve customer experience.

“The value brought by our software solutions enabled us to record strong double-digit growth in Business Process Automation, including an impressive growth in YayPay, our newly acquired US fintech. In the meantime, our Customer Experience Management software solutions have continued to benefit from new client gains.

Double-digit growth in parcel lockers

Godet continued: “In our smart hardware businesses, we recorded strong double-digit growth in Parcel Lockers Solutions, demonstrating the relevance of our smart lockers for retailers, carriers and property managers in the context of further e-commerce booming, while our Mail Related Solutions also recorded a much better performance thanks to a substantial rebound in equipment sales and supplies.”

In October, a record number of 4.5 million parcels transited through the company’s smart lockers installed worldwide, according to the Q3 presentation. This included a double-digit rise in France and strong traction in the UK. The company is now starting to roll out its Lite lockers in Japan as part of the contract with Yamato.  

Looking ahead, the CEO said: “Against the backdrop of this strong rebound, we are upgrading our guidance for full-year 2020. Our sales performance will continue to be supported by strong growth in both Business Process Automation and Parcel Locker Solutions. We also continue to successfully adapt our operating expenses to best optimize our profitability. We keep on prioritizing our growth investments without giving up on new product launches. And we maintain a very healthy balance sheet as well as a strong liquidity position.”

For 2020 as a whole, Quadient expects an organic sales decline of around 9% and operating profits in the range of €140 million to €145 million.