GRA.L Regulatory News (GRA)

3 Aug 2005 11:00

Printing.com plc03 August 2005 FOR RELEASE 11.00AM 3 August 2005 PRINTING.COM PLC ("Printing.com" or "the Company") Specialist retail chain with 139 Outlets (open or pending) across the UK AGM Statement George Hardie, the Chairman of Printing.com, will make the following comments oncurrent trading at the Annual General Meeting to be held at 11.00am inManchester today: Network Update The table below sets out the recent growth in Printing.com's estate. 3 August 1 June 31 March 2005 2005 2005 Company owned Stores * 9 9 9 Franchised Stores** 37 36 33Open and pending under option Bolt-on Franchises*** 93 82 77 Total 139 127 119 * Bristol Store currently under Option **Includes Territory Franchises and Boutique Franchises ***Includes Guerrilla Franchises When we last updated the market, on 1 June, we reported, inter alia, that wewere currently opening an outlet every fifth working day and expressed ouroptimism that the rate of estate development would accelerate. The table aboveclearly indicates that indeed this has happened, with the network now standingat 139 outlets open or pending as our expansion continues to gather pace. We are pleased to report that the Territory Franchises in Coventry and Guildfordcommenced trading in July. In addition, Options (each involving the payment of anon-refundable deposit of £6,000) have been taken out covering the SouthamptonTerritory and the presently Company owned Store in Bristol. Of the 9 TerritoryFranchise Options that currently exist, we anticipate that 5 of these outletswill be trading by the close of the first half of the current financial year.The first of our Boutique Franchises has also commenced trading. An additional 12 Bolt-on franchise Agreements have been completed since the lastmarket update, 4 of which are centred on our new Guerrilla format. One agreementhas terminated. Current Trading Certain market sub-segments, essentially retail and leisure have proved morechallenging over recent months: however, the Company did not experience theoverall very soft trading in June / July that occurred last year. Accordinglysales volumes so far this year are broadly in line with budget. Outlook Clearly momentum continues to build and the Directors remain confident about theprospects for the Company. For further information: Printing.com plcTony Rafferty (Chief Executive) 07966 517 336Alan Roberts (Finance Director) 0161 848 5713 Beattie FinancialBrian Coleman-Smith / Jo Clewlow / Tim Pilgrim 020 7053 6400 Background note: Printing.com Printing.com offers a broad product range including leaflets, postcards,promotional cards, invitations, letterheads and business cards to consumers andsmall and medium sized companies. Unlike its competitors, Printing.com Stores donot have any printing equipment on location. The Company's printing andancillary equipment is based at the centralised Production Hub with the headoffice in Manchester. All work is produced in full four colour rather than twocolour. Delivery to the customer is usually within three days. The printingsector has traditionally been served by smaller printing companies or other OnDemand Printers and is estimated to be worth some GBP1 billion. Printing.com has three routes to market: Franchise Stores, Bolt-on Franchisesand Company owned Stores. Printing.com Outlets Outlet Region Town Post Code Red Hot Media East Lowestoft NR32 1EBGoldengate East Suffolk IP30 9QSDublin Store Ireland Dublin Dublin 2North Dublin Store Ireland Dublin Dublin 7Central London Store London Baker Street NW1 6UYHampstead Store London Hampstead NW3 5HSWatford Store London Watford WD17 1RAHarrow Store London Harrow HA7 2QJReading Store London Reading RG1 4QAEaling Store London Ealing W13 8SBOrpington Store London Orpington BR6 0JYLuton Store London Luton LU1 2PLGuildford Store London Guildford GU1 3HYExpocentric - Wardour London Soho W1V 3AUExpocentric - Dover London Mayfair W1X 3PHFull Colour Store London Clapham SW17 9SHPrint Express London Colindale NW9 5DL0800 Promote London Finchley N3 1TRPrinter Net Services London Wimbledon SW19 8TYLondon Print Compamy London Shaftesbury Avenue WC2H 8EBPrinthouse London Nottinghill W11 3HT0800 Promote London North Finchley N12 9QGToppers London Stevenage SG1 3HRHarrow Life London Harrow HA1 2EABirmingham Store Midlands Birmingham B5 4JLOxford Store Midlands Oxford OX2 7HTLeicester Store Midlands Leicester LE1 1LBWolverhampton Store Midlands Wolverhampton WV1 4BLNottingham Store Midlands Nottingham NG1 6DQCoventry Store Midlands Coventry CV2 4BEKaleidoscope Midlands Leamington Spa CV31 1BZAlbry Printing Company Midlands Wallingford OX10 9DAFinal Imaging Midlands Sawtry PE28 5SBDove Signs Midlands Nuneaton CV11 6GXCustard Creative Midlands Northampton NN3 6WLCre8ive Design Midlands Kenilworth CV8 1JDFor Colour Midlands Newark, Nottingham NG24 1LESign It Midlands Beeston, Nottingham NG9 2AYOzmedia Print Midlands Barrow Upon Soar LE12 8JHPewter Design Midlands Market Harborough LE16 7DSSt Ives Quickprint Midlands St Ives PE27 3WSArtichoke Design Midlands Birmingham B18 6NNThe Ideas Room Midlands Leicester LE3 0DLIdeas Taking Shape Midlands Rugby CV21 2SDGraphic Results Midlands Belper DE56 1AYThe Studio Midlands Walsall WS1 1JQHussellworks Midlands Halesowen B63 3HRFirst Image Midlands Coventry CV5 7FWHull Store North East Hull HU1 2AGNewcastle Store North East Newcastle NE1 5EELeeds Store North East Leeds LS1 3DLMiddlesbrough Store North East Middlesbrough TS1 1LYSheffield Store North East Sheffield S1 4GFColour Box Design North East York YO24 1ARMultiprint North East Normanton WF6 2AFPrint House Direct North East Bishop Auckland DL14 0LZThe Factory North East Leeds LS12 2DSMaskerade Design North East Sunderland SR2 7PRPro-Actif Communications North East Darlington DL3 7TDGOWEB North East Wakefield WF2 9BLCreative Web design UK North East Alnwick NE71 6EABluprint North East Rotheram S60 8LZColour Box Design North East York YO23 1NAWeb Rocket Design North East Durham DH1 1RFBlah D Blah North Wales Bangor LL57 1NYManchester Store North West Manchester M3 4BQThe Hub North West Trafford Park M17 1FGLiverpool Store North West Liverpool L2 2HFLancaster Store North West Lancaster LA1 1XNWarrington Store North West Warrington WA1 1EPGranthams - Preston North West Preston PR1 2UQGranthams - Blackpool North West Blackpool FY1 4PEPrint Design Warehouse North West Marple SK6 7ADRAS Limited North West Chester CH3 5AGSilverback North West Isle of Man IM1 2LAMailboxes North West Stockport SK1 1LEPrintel North West Widnes WA3 8LGER Design & Print North West Alsager CW2 5PRImpact Advertising North West Timperley WA15 7SPMasterprint North West St Helens WA10 1DHCopycat North West Maghull L31 2HBUtopia North West Birkenhead CH41 7ABAlert 2 Media North West Manchester M1 1DZPrint Hub Design North West Bolton BL1 3QJWild Thang North West Bootle L31 2HBSoda North West Golbourne WA3 3BUScissorsPaperStone North West Eccles M30 8GHBrightspark North West Carlisle CA2 5BBOpenhouse North West Manchester M1 6DEFluid Media North West Bury BB5 2LBBradbury Graphics Northern Ireland Belfast BT7 1BSXpress Creative Northern Ireland Newtonabbey BT36 4PUMooney Media Northern Ireland County Down BT32 4QDEdinburgh Store Scotland Edinburgh EH3 6QYEdinburgh Store Scotland Edinburgh EH3 9LYGlasgow Store Scotland Glasgow G3 8LZSouth Glasgow Store Scotland South Glasgow G5 9RRColor Co. - Edinburgh Scotland Edinburgh EH2 2PAGlasgow Print Scotland North Glasgow G64 1RXHamilton (662c) Scotland Hamilton ML3 7ARBrighton Store South Brighton BN2 8AAAshford Store South East Ashford TN24 8UUTRS Graphics South East Croydon CR2 6EBFelix Communications South East Rochester ME2 4HZStudio Direct South East Chelmsford CM2 6HELussh Creative South East Chesterfield S40 2BYInprint South East Colchester CO1 1PBJelly Bean Graphics South East Croydon CR9 6YJHaus of Print South West Andover SP11 6RUBristol Store South West Bristol BS1 3LZPlymouth Store South West Plymouth PL4 0AUBournemouth Store South West Bournemouth DT1 1HSAnneset South West Weston-Super-Mare BS23 3DEPresto Print South West Christchurch BH23 1QDMalthouse South West Taunton TA1 3EPWessex Direct South West Minehead TA24 5UBPrint Creative South West Bath BA1 2JBPrinting South West South West Totnes TQ9 5DWAustralian Welsh Wales Cardiff CF14 3JP This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange