Photo products to online print giant Cewe says it is on course to achieve sales between €710 million to €770 million in 2021, the broad range of the target being reflective of the continued uncertainty due to the impact of Covid.
In the first half of the year, sales came in at €262.6 million, lower than the €277.0 million achieved in the first half of 2020 when the early stages of lockdown gave consumers time to create photobooks and other products. The easing of restrictions means that consumers have less time to work on memory products. Instead they are creating new memories.
“The development has not surprised us, we expected this to happen. Many people used the time they had during lockdown to order photo products online; now they are sooner enjoying the liberties they have regained for activities outside their own four walls. We are quite confident that this will have resulted in many attractive motifs and pictures for coming Cewe photo products in the second half of the year, including photo gift articles for Christmas,” says Dr Christian Friege, chairman of the Cewe foundation.
There is also a notable trend to higher quality photo products.
If photo products dipped slightly compared to last year, commercial print delivered through Saxoprint produced an earnings improvement to €2.6 million, with a 25% increase in turnover compared to the lockdown hit second quarter a year ago. This was not enough to lift the sales in the first six months of 2021 above the same period of 2020. The operating loss was reduced from €3.4 million to €0.8 million. “The figures for the second quarter allow one to conclude that the business segment has possibly overcome the worst of the coronavirus impact, with chances of a sound income if demand continues to rise,” says Friege.
The company has noted an increase in demand for advertising material, with hopes of a return to normal business activity over the rest of the year when Cewe expects to receive the bulk of its revenue for the year.
