2009 results of Spector Group

Spector‘s imaging group, which comprises the company‘s photofinishing and photo service activities, recorded sales of Euro 74.82 million (US-$ 101.7 million) in 2009, a decline by 2.2. percent. Without the influence of discontinued operations and unfavorable exchange rates, sales would have shown an increase of 1.8 percent, according to Spector. The operational result was minus Euro 1.98 million (US-$ 2.69 million) after a loss of Euro 2.13 million (US-$ 2.9 million) a year ago.

Spector‘s retail group, comprising Photo Hall in Belgium and HiFi International in Luxembourg, recorded sales of Euro 169.92 million (US-$ 230.96 million), a decline of 10.8 percent, with an operational result (EBIT) of Euro 3.13 million (US-$ 4.25 million), a drop by 59 percent. According to a press release, Spector‘s retail activities suffered from the weak economic conditions, which resulted in a decline in the number of sales transactions by approximately 4 percent, with falling prices being the reason for the remainder of the drop in revenue. Mobile phones and SLRs were the only product categories showing increases in turnover last year, Spector said.

For the current year, Spector‘s management expects continued pressure on the retail group due to low consumer confidence and the limited prospects for improvement, but anticipates growth in revenue for the imaging group due to the continued increase in demand for new value-added picture products.