Q3 Loss for Courier

-- Graphic Arts Online, 7/18/2008 11:16:00 AM

Courier Corp. reported it lost $12.4 million in Q3, due to a noncash impairment charge of $23.9 million on poor performance at a subsidiary that publishes home and garden titles. The Chelmsford, MA book printer, third largest in North America, and publisher posted revenues of $73.4 million, unchanged from last year's Q3.

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% in the quarter, compared with the prior year period.

Performance in Courier's book manufacturing segment was mixed, with sales up 8%, but pretax income down 19% against last year's exceptionally strong Q3 in the education market. Religious and specialty trade sales were up strongly, but textbook sales were slower than expected.

"It was a challenging quarter for book publishers and retailers everywhere, and we felt it across the board," says Courier chairman and CEO James Conway III.

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