Ennis Reports 6.2 Percent Increased Revenue
Keith Walters, chairman, chief executive officer and president, commented, "We are pleased with the operational results for the year, especially considering all the challenges and the start-up of our new manufacturing facility located in Agua Prieta, Mexico. Operationally, both sectors showed positive margins improvements for the year. Our Print margins were up 70 bps, while Apparel margins were up 350 bps for the year. The Apparel sector continued to show strong sales growth, with an increase of 17.9 percent for the quarter. While we have been successful to date in managing the increases in our raw material costs, we continue to be concerned with the potential impact of cotton pricing on our operational results for fiscal year 2012. Our ability to continue to manage this potential cost increase will be dependent upon many factors, a number of which are outside our control. Examples are: the continued recent positive development in employment numbers, the availability of cotton, the impact of current gasoline prices on consumers discretionary spending and lastly, the pricing policies of our competitors. The construction of our new apparel manufacturing facility in Agua Prieta, Mexico continues to progress and nears completion. We continue to test processes, calibrate equipment and train employees, but expect to be producing greater than 1.0 million pounds of fabric out of this facility during the upcoming quarter. We continue to anticipate potential cost savings to be realized once this facility reaches its full production capacity. Many challenges will present themselves for fiscal year 2012; however, we feel confident in being able to meet them. We will continue to be vigilant to deliver the planned results."