OEM RIP and workflow software developer Global Graphics has reported a strong first half of 2020, with both revenue and profits for the six months ending 30 June growing strongly.
According to the Cambridge-based company’s condensed consolidated interim statement for the period, revenue for the first half grew by over 24% compared to the same period in 2019, reaching €11.9 million, while profit soared by 287% from the year-ago half to reach €2.08 million. The company also sold its URW Type Foundry business to Monotype for a gross gain of €5.36 million.
‘Although the Covid-19 pandemic has been a tremendous challenge for Global Graphics and our customers, we’ve seen very strong demand for our industrial inkjet solutions in the Asia Pacific region, as well as software sales that continue to exceed expectations. We remain optimistic that the global economy will recover quickly and reaffirm our commitment to supplying innovative hardware and software solutions for digital printing and industrial inkjet applications,’ said CEO Mike Rottenborn.
Regarding the sales of the URW business, he added, ‘For more than four years, URW has been a key part of the Global Graphics group of companies, so the decision to sell URW to Monotype was not something we took lightly. However, the core business of Global Graphics has moved closer to digital press manufacturers, while fonts are primarily marketed to designers and major brands. Monotype is the world leader in fonts and was already an important sales channel for URW’s type library, so their offer to acquire URW assures continuity for URW’s customers as well as an excellent value for the shareholders of Global Graphics.’
Contributing to the software sales results was the licensing of Global Graphics’ Mako SDK (software development kit) to Racami, developer of the Alchem-e customer communications management platform. The Mako software converts incoming documents into PDF and optimises them for use with multiple delivery channels that include email, web viewing, bill payment and printing. This is said to speed subsequent document processing, reduce files sizes and thereby storage and transmission requirements, as well as producing high quality output.
