Jun. 23 at 10:13 AM
$EBF Ennis reports Q1 EPS 38c vs. 41c last year
Reports Q1 revenue
$97.2M vs.
$103.1M last year. Keith Walters, CEOcommented, "Our performance for the quarter met our expectations. Although there was a year-over-year decline in sales, our gross profit margin increased to 31.1% for the quarter compared to 30% for the same quarter last year and 29.5% for the fourth quarter. Our EBITDA increased to
$17.7M or 18.2% of sales for the current quarter compared to the preceding quarter of
$16.5M or 17.8% of sales and declined slightly compared to the same quarter last year from
$19M or 18.4% of sales.
Our ability to maintain or improve our profit margins amidst decreased market demand highlights the success of our cost management and pricing discipline. Our recent acquisitions generated approximately
$5.5M in revenues during the quarter and positively impacted diluted earnings per share by
$0.035. Midway through the quarter, we acquired Northeastern Envelope located in Old Forge, PA. NEC is a large commercial manufacturer of envelopes and offers next day shipment of hundreds of double window and special single window envelopes.
Printing Technologies acquired during the second quarter of the prior year has been fully integrated in the Ennis ERP systems and is performing well. Recently, the sole mill in the United States that produces carbonless paper announced that it would be closing this calendar year. In preparation for that supply disruption, we invested in and are continuing to purchase additional inventory as a buffer as we pivot to other sources of carbonless paper. The additional investment in inventory, our purchase of NEC and our share repurchases this quarter have reduced our cash balances, such that our interest income for the quarter declined to
$0.6M compared to
$1.4M for the same quarter last year.
We continue to maintain a strong financial position with
$32M in cash and no debt. We repurchased 260,560 shares of our common stock in the open market at an average price of
$19.00 per share. Our profitability and strong financial condition will allow us to fund our operations and routine acquisitions without incurring debt. Given those strengths, we also anticipate timely access to credit should larger acquisition opportunities materialize. We continue to focus on returning value to shareholders by delivering profitability and through our quarterly dividends."
