(Alliance News) - Photo-Me International PLC on Thursday expressed confidence for the future despite double-digit decline in profit in its most recently ended financial year.
In addition, Photo-Me said it appointed Jean-Marc Janailhac as an independent non-executive director from Monday next week.
Janailhac is currently a senior adviser of Macquarie Capital Europe Ltd, which he joined in 2016. In October 2010, he was appointed a non-executive director of Athena Investments AS, a Danish company focused on renewable energy.
"Jean-Marc's appointment brings a wealth of management and entrepreneurial experience from a broad range of companies both public and private, and is part of the board's policy to refresh its membership," said Photo-Me Chair John Lewis.
Turning back to annual results, the photobooths operator reported revenue for the year to the end of April of GBP228.1 million, down 0.7% compared to GBP229.8 million a year earlier, with pretax profit falling by 15% to GBP42.6 million from GBP50.2 million.
"We delivered revenue and profit growth in Continental Europe, and our Japanese business returned to profitability as planned. In the UK, our operations were adversely impacted by macro headwinds and uncertainty," explained Chief Executive Serge Crasnianski.
Excluding the UK, revenue increased by 5.9%, Photo-Me highlighted. The company said overall trading in the UK became more challenging than expected as consumer activity slowed, owing to uncertainty around the UK's exit from the EU.
Photo-Me said its operations in Continental Europe and Asia continued to perform in line with expectations.
The company proposed a final dividend of 4.73 pence a share, unchanged from the year before, taking the total payout to 8.44p, also flat year-on-year.
"Looking ahead, we will continue to drive profitability through our existing estate and new product innovation," added Crasnianski. "We remain confident for the future."
Photo-Me shares were trading 0.1% higher on Thursday in London at 91.10p each.
