Courier Corp. swings to $12.4 million loss
Courier Corp., a leading book manufacturer and specialty publisher, said it lost $12.4 million in its fiscal third quarter, due to a noncash impairment charge of $23.9 million on poor performance at a subsidiary that publishes home and garden titles.
News of the loss sent Courier's shares tumbling today. They set a 52-week low of $18.02 and were down nearly 19 percent, or $4.20, to $18.21 in midday trading. The shares have traded as high as $41.48 in the last 52 weeks.
Courier said it lost $1 per share, though revenue remained unchanged from last year at $73.4 million. Last year in the same quarter, Courier earned nearly $6.7 million, or 53 cents a share.
Excluding the impairment charge, income for the latest quarter was $3.1 million, or 25 cents per share, compared with income of $6.7 million or 53 cents per share, in last year's third quarter.
The impairment charge at Creative Homeowner comes after that business saw slow sales and higher-than-anticipated returns from retailers due to declining store traffic at home improvement centers and other retail chains. Including the allowance for returns, Creative Homeowner's sales slid 45 percent in the quarter ended June 28, compared with the prior year period. That resulted in a pretax loss of $3.6 million, or 18 cents a share in the quarter, and a pretax impairment charge of $23.8 million, or $1.25 a share, with an after-tax effect of $15.5 million.
The company warned it would fall short of its previous guidance for the year due to current weak sales. Chairman and Chief Executive James F. Conway III predicted a loss of between $1 million and $1.7 million at Creative Homeowner in the fourth quarter, though he said the company expected the publishing segment would return to profitability in the quarter. The division focuses on the education, religion, and specialty trade markets.
Courier expects fourth-quarter sales of between $78 million and $83 million, compared with last year's fourth-quarter sales of $81 million. Earnings in the fourth quarter are expected to decline to between 57 and 67 cents a share, before impairment charges, down from 74 cents in the fourth quarter last year.
For the full year, Courier expects total sales to fall to a range of $282 million to $287 million from $295 million last year, with earnings per share between $1.20 and $1.30, excluding the impairment charge, down from $2.03 last year. (AP)
