The first half of the year is about to end the printing market mixed

The first half of the year is about to end the printing market mixed

Us: Mergers and acquisitions are picking up

Recently, the United States “Print Impression” magazine released the status report of the United States printing industry mergers and acquisitions. Data show that from January to April this year, the merger and acquisition activity of the printing and packaging industry in the United States continued to decline, and it plummeted in April, reaching the lowest level in nearly a decade. But at the same time, the report also pointed out that market mergers and acquisitions in multiple segments of the US printing and packaging industry are picking up. For example, chocolate boxes for gifts, people’s demand for chocolates increased, so the box will be used more,best chocolate boxes.

Over the past few years, the U.S. commercial printing sector has maintained steady growth, with some commercial printing companies achieving record revenues and profits and regaining the favor of professional investors. The number of commercial printing bankruptcies has declined in the past four years. At the same time, fancy chocolate box,hot chocolate box, best box of chocolates for gifts catch people’s eye.The report also shows another phenomenon that has not been seen for many years: buyers with no experience in the printing industry are acquiring small and medium-sized non-franchised commercial printing companies, and they see the printing industry as a reliable investment area. It can be seen that mergers and acquisitions in the commercial printing field have not collapsed, but are growing.

Judging from the trading volume of the label field in the past few years, the merger and acquisition activity of label printing companies has been hot. The report shows that the consolidation of the labeling business is mainly driven by the strong interest of numerous private equity firms in the labeling market. Similar to the label printing market, private equity firms also see opportunities in the folding carton market, where M&A activity will pick up further. In January, for the first time, the number of acquisitions by companies making packaging boxes surpassed those of label printing companies. The date box,couples date box,date box gift popular with Middle Eastern customers.

Today, with retailers reopening and the market for all kinds of graphic signage booming, the wide-format printing market is on the mend. But buyers are also worried, with recent positive data pointing to an unsustainable surge in pent-up demand caused by the previous pandemic. As a result, they are skeptical of a significant improvement in revenue and profits in the wide-format printing sector. The report predicts that in the future, buyer concerns will be reduced, and the merger and acquisition activity of wide-format printing companies will also increase.

The report believes that the merger and acquisition activity and market in the industrial printing sector will grow. Affected by the US manufacturing backflow policy, the production of goods such as labels will attract the interest of many buyers. In addition to the policy push, the increase in domestic industrial printing in the United States is also influenced by other factors. Previous supply chain disruptions, for example, have changed companies’ reliance on global suppliers.

UK: Cost pressures are easing

The British Printing Industry Federation recently conducted a survey on the printing outlook of 112 printing companies in the United Kingdom, showing that in the first quarter of this year, the British printing and packaging industry is facing challenges. The combination of high costs and weak demand has depressed the UK printing industry, with both production and orders falling in the first quarter.

In the survey, 38 percent of the companies surveyed reported a decline in production in the first quarter. Only 33 per cent of respondents reported an increase in production, with 29 per cent holding output steady. However, after the cost pressure was eased in the first quarter, the outlook for the printing market in the second quarter was more optimistic. Forty-three percent of respondents expect production to increase in the second quarter, 48 percent expect production to remain stable, and only 9 percent expect production to decline.

When asked about the “top industry concern for printing companies,” 68 percent of respondents chose rising energy costs, down from 75 percent in January and 83 percent in October. Since April last year, energy costs have been the biggest concern for printing companies. At the same time, 54% of the companies surveyed in the answer to the question choose the competitor’s pricing, more specifically, some competitors pricing below cost. This is the same proportion as in January this year. Wage pressure was the third concern for printing companies surveyed, with 50% of respondents choosing this option. That’s down slightly from 51 percent in January, but it’s still in the top three. Recent increases in the minimum wage, the knock-on effects of wage structures and pay differentials, as well as continued high levels of inflation, have heightened concerns about wage pressures among printing companies. “Continued, extreme cost pressures, combined with economic and political uncertainty, have eroded the printing companies’ earlier confidence in a market recovery.” Despite the current challenges, companies are still optimistic about the prospects of the printing industry. After that, inflation is expected to fall sharply and energy costs are expected to stabilize further.” Charles Jarrold, chief executive of the Federation of British Printing Industries.

At the same time, for the first time, the survey also included questions related to sustainability, seeking to learn more about the actions print companies are taking to improve sustainability. The survey found that nearly 38 percent of companies surveyed are measuring their carbon emissions.

Japan: Corporate bankruptcies increase

According to the latest survey results of the Tokyo Institute of Commerce and Industry, from April 2022 to February 2023, the number of bankruptcies (debts of 10 million yen or more) in the Japanese printing industry reached 59, an increase of 31.1% over the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The number of bankruptcies related to the outbreak rose to 27, up 50 percent from the same period last fiscal year. In addition to the reasons for the market contraction, the epidemic has led to the reduction of various activities and the decline in tourism and wedding demand, which has caused heavy damage to the operation of the printing industry. Valentines day chocolate box,chocolate box cake mix the usage rate will increase during the festival.

The number of bankruptcies in the Japanese printing industry has been lower than the previous fiscal year for three consecutive years since fiscal 2019. There were 48 bankruptcies in fiscal 2021, the lowest level since fiscal 2003. The reason for the continued decline in bankruptcies is the remarkable effect of financing policy support related to the fight against the epidemic. However, in the case of delayed recovery of printing demand, the number of bankruptcies increased sharply in the fiscal year 2022, and the support effect of financing policies during the epidemic has faded.

In addition, the number of bankruptcies with debts of more than 100 million yen was 28, an increase of 115.3%, accounting for nearly half of the total number of bankruptcies, about 47.4%. Compared with the same period of last fiscal year, the proportion of 28.8% increased by 18.6 percentage points, and the scale of bankruptcy significantly expanded.

In the “Excessive debt questionnaire survey” conducted by Tokyo Institute of Commerce and Industry in December 2022, 46.3% of respondents in printing and related industries answered that they were in debt. 26.0 percent of companies said they have serious debts after the COVID-19 pandemic (roughly after February 2020). With sales falling, not only are past investments becoming a burden, but corporate debt, which relies on cash flow policy support related to the pandemic, is also ballooning fast.

In the early days of the epidemic, Japanese printing companies were supported by financing policies, and corporate bankruptcies were curbed. However, as structural weaknesses weaken the operational strength of enterprises, the effect of epidemic-related policy support has weakened, and corporate financing has become more difficult. In addition, the depreciation of the yen, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine led to the soaring prices of paper and utilities, coupled with the increase in freight costs, the industry is worried that the bankruptcy of the Japanese printing industry will enter a rapidly rising stage.

Business closure and business dissolution of printing enterprises increased by 12.6% year-on-year. In the fiscal year 2021, 260 printing companies were shut down or dissolved, a year-on-year decrease of 16.3%, and a decrease for two consecutive years. However, in the nine-month period from April to December of fiscal year 2022, there were as many as 222 closures, an increase of 12.6% over the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Since fiscal 2003, the number of Japanese printing companies closed down and dissolved has increased from 81 in fiscal 2003 to 390 in fiscal 2019. Since then, with the support of epideia-related policies, it has been significantly reduced from fiscal 2020 to 260 in fiscal 2021. However, according to the current trend, the number of shutdowns and disbanded printing companies is increasingly likely to exceed the 2021 fiscal year.