Promotional products maker 4imprint (FOUR) tried to reassure investors that in spite of the various challenges facing the business, it was confident its full year results would meet expectations.
In its latest trading update the firm said orders in the second half of the year so far were up 2% on 2019 levels (the most recent ‘normal’ year, as it put it). While that may not sound much, it represents a slight improvement on the first half when orders were running just about flat on 2019 levels.
However, it acknowledged sales in the key US market were impacted by the Delta variant, while supply chain issues continued to cause ‘inventory availability challenges, increased production times and product cost inflation’ in the second half.
Where possible the firm has resorted to sourcing alternative products for customers while using ‘price adjustments and other creative strategies to help mitigate cost pressure’.
Forecasts for 2021 (to December) are currently pitched at earnings of $6.73 per share on $776.8 million sales.
NEW CUSTOMERS FLOWING
On the plus side, customer acquisition remains healthy with new customer orders so far in the second half up 8% on the same period of 2019 and the firm said it was ‘very confident’ in its strategy, business model and competitive position.
Analyst Guy Hewett at FinnCap kept his buy recommendation and £32.83 price target, which he called ‘more than deserved given the strong finances, highly attractive cash characteristics and proven growth model though numerous economic cycles. 4imprint shares were trading 1% lower at £30.15 at 11am.
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