Communisis PLC Regulatory News (CMS)

6 November 2013

Communisis plc

("Communisis" or the "Group")

Interim Management Statement

Trading in line with expectations

Leading provider of personalised customer communication services, Communisis plc (LSE: CMS), issues its Interim Management Statement for the third quarter ended 30 September 2013. Trading has remained in line with our expectations and the Board's view of the results for the full year is unchanged.

Third Quarter Highlights

A number of important developments have been reported during the quarter, each one of which represents good strategic progress for the Group.

A ten-year outsourcing contract for transactional communications for Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), announced on 11 July 2013, was subsequently ratified by the LBG Board. The contract went live successfully on 1 October 2013 and is operating as intended.

The first of two new HP T400 high-speed colour digital platforms that will be commissioned to service the LBG contract has been installed at the Group's new Copley site with the second due to be installed in March 2014. A further HP T300 machine will be installed at this site in December 2013 and the three lines will then replicate the HP T series technology platform at Communisis' transactional centre of excellence in Liverpool. These installations will underpin the Group's ability to deliver the personalised communications increasingly being demanded by clients, enhance the Group's competitive advantage as the largest transactional operator in Europe of this HP technology and confirm its position as the clear market leader in outsourced transactional communications in the UK.

The Group's bank debt was refinanced in July with an increased £55m revolving credit facility committed until March 2018 and £5m of overdraft, renewable annually, as announced on 1 August 2013.

The acquisition of Editions Financial, the UK's leading content marketing agency in the financial services sector, marked a further step in the development of capabilities in the Design segment and in the broadening of services offered to a sector that is strategically important for the Group. The acquisition was announced on 5 September 2013 since when the early integration has progressed as planned.

Communisis operates in fast-changing markets with current trends including an increasing erosion of volumes in certain legacy product areas, such as cheques, and the growth in outsourcing that is creating new business opportunities. Managing these trends effectively, continuing to win substantial, multi-year contracts and generating additional revenues from expanded service offerings are essential parts of our long-term growth strategy.

Andy Blundell, Chief Executive, commented;

"Communisis continues to deliver successfully on its strategy for profitable growth and is increasingly viewed as a trusted outsourcing partner by leading consumer-facing brands."

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About Communisis

Communisis is a UK leading provider of personalised customer communication services that specialises in helping clients communicate with their customers more effectively and more profitably in fast-changing markets.

Communisis has a reputation for production excellence and innovation and is trusted by many leading, consumer-facing brands to design, produce and deploy multi-channel personalised customer communications accurately, securely, reliably and at scale.