Photo-Me benefits from digital boost

A growing trend for people to print out photographs from their camera phones helped Photo-Me International post profits ahead of hopes today.

The group, which has rolled out 3,000 digital kiosks in places like railway stations and supermarkets, said more people were printing off their photos as the quality of phones improved.

It also said home printing was fast losing market share due to its higher cost and poorer quality.

Photo-Me said pre-tax profits increased by 56% in the year to April 30 to £33m (€49.6m), beating its expectations. Turnover was 7.3% higher at £236m (€355m).

The firm was confident of further progress in the new financial year, saying: “Photo-Me believes that it enjoys a strong position in a substantial and fast-growing market which is developing to its advantage.”

Photo-Me’s vending division also has 20,000 photo booths in 20 countries, including 5,600 in the UK and Ireland.

It has also manufactured 3,000 digital media kiosks – which allow people to print from digital cameras and picture phones – since it started rolling them out in May last year. A further 5,000 are expected to be made by December.

Many of Photo-Me’s machines are sold on to other operators, providing the company with the bulk of its profits from its manufacturing division.