After a first quarter in line with expectations, the historic manufacturer of franking machines intends to consolidate its growth through investments in buoyant markets. On the occasion of the Portzamparc Conference, its leaders, Geoffrey Godet (Chief Executive Officer) and Laurent du Passage (Chief Financial Officer), stated that they wanted to focus their strategy on two growth levers: cloud software for the digital transition of companies and automatic parcel lockers.
Two activities full of promise
While Quadient’s historic business was in the manufacture of franking machines, a very profitable activity, the gradual decline of the mail market pushed the company to seek new levers for growth. The first driver thus lies in the development of cloud software, which helps companies automate their customer and supplier accounts. The solutions offered make it possible, for example, to optimize the management of invoices (sending and receiving) thanks to digital tools. Electronic invoicing is also expanding rapidly, favored by the evolution of regulations. A finance law has actually been passed in France and will eventually require companies to equip themselves with software capable of processing these electronic invoices. ” A unique opportunity » according to Geoffrey Godet, because SMEs, unlike large companies, are still a minority (25-30%) to be equipped with such software and therefore represent a significant potential customer for Quadient.
The extension of automatic parcel lockers is the second growth driver for the group. In this segment, new opportunities have been created with “ the explosion of e-commerce and urban logistics explains the CEO. The lockers centralize the recovery of packages in one place (store, co-ownership) and allow both merchants and carriers to reduce their costs. The company is already experienced internationally, having installed more than 6,000 lockers in Japan (80% market share) and recently signed a contract providing for the creation of 5,000 lockers on the English network. Quadient does not intend to stop there, since it projects the installation of 25,000 lockers by 2023, while it had already installed 16,300 at the end of the first quarter.
International as a driver of growth
Growth outside European borders was the strongest in the first quarter, as it was less impacted by the drop in the mail market, in which Quadient has historically established itself in Europe with franking machines. In the United States in particular, Quadient mainly develops cloud software and parcel lockers, and managers intend to continue investing in these two buoyant markets.
These investments will contribute in particular to achieving the objective of 2% growth over the financial year. The year 2023 should also reflect a development of the activity, thanks to the recurrence of the revenues committed in 2022. And in spite of an inflation of the costs which weighs on the supply chain in the current context, the managing director remains confident, because Quadient has a ” significant pricing power” allowing it to preserve its margins.