Group revenue accumulated to September (approx. Euro 724 million) has remained below the amount reached in the same period last year (- 8.5%) even though there has been a positive performance in the Traditional business (TOS) which increased by + 3% and the growth of value-added services offered to customers and vendors that have increased by 18%. Those figures, however, did not compensate the decline in revenues due to a weaker than expected sales of the electronic office supplies (EOS), mainly caused by weak European market, especially in Spain.
However, we must emphasize the good behavior of the gross margin in relative terms (improvement of 1%) due to the increased weight of traditional business (TOS), the improvement of the relative profitability in the electronic office supplies (EOS); and continuous improvements in operating costs, particularly employment costs (- 4%) and other operating expenses (-1%).
The Group has managed to reduce its net financial debt by 13%, closing the period in Euro 130 million, implying an improvement of Euro 19 million if compared to the Euro 149 million of September 2013. Net financial expenses saw a 18.6% reduction, benefiting from the reduction in working capital and lower cost of debt.
In addition to this, ROACE (Return on Average Capital Employed) continued improving and reached 13.8% from the 10.6% of September 2013.
Adveo is the European leader in the wholesale distribution of office products, services and solutions.
