Ennis Inc. Reports Q1 Results

Ennis Inc., Midlothian, Texas, has reported financial results for the first quarter ended May 31, 2018. Highlights include:

• Revenues increased $6.3 million, or 7.3 percent, on a sequential quarter basis, but were down slightly on a comparative quarter basis.
• Gross profit margin increased from 31.7 percent to 32.3 percent on a comparative quarter basis.
• Diluted earnings per share increased from $0.31 to $0.36 on a comparative quarter basis.

Financial Overview

The company’s revenues for the first quarter ended May 31, 2018 were $93.4 million compared to $94.6 million for the same quarter last year, a decrease of 1.3 percent. Gross profit margin was $30.2 million for the quarter, or 32.3 percent, as compared to $30.0 million, or 31.7 percent for the first quarter last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $9.2 million, or $0.36 per diluted share compared to $7.8 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, for the first quarter last year.

Keith Walters, chairman, CEO and president of Ennis, released the following statement:

We are pleased with our first quarter performance. We continue to build on the momentum of last year. We recently completed the integration of our ERP system at our Independent operation and believe we can further optimize its performance. We also recently completed the acquisition of a tag company based in Caledonia, N.Y., and look forward to it contributing to our bottom line in the months to come. We continue to explore strategic opportunities in the acquisition arena as a way to profitably utilize our cash.

Given our strong balance sheet and continued strong performance, our board approved a 12.5 percent increase in our quarterly dividend, effective with our upcoming regularly scheduled August dividend payment. This is the third increase in our quarterly dividends in the last six years, and the second in the last two years. We also purchased approximately 38,000 shares of our common stock in the first quarter, under our stock repurchase program, at an average price of $17.92 per share. In accordance with our repurchase program, we will continue to repurchase our shares when we believe the market price is undervalued. The industry continues to be challenged by paper price increases, trucking shortages and allocations of certain paper grades. The printing industry hasn’t experienced paper allocations for several decades, and we believe our long-term relationship with our paper supplier will allow the company to avoid any material disruption in our supply chain. While we don’t see any of these challenges changing in the short-term, we are encouraged by our performance so far this year and feel positive about the remainder of the year. We continue to strengthen one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and our cash position remains significant, which allows us many opportunities.

View the complete report here.