Business News
Gerber Scientific, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Results
Thursday 28. August 2008 - Gerber Scientific, Inc. (NYSE:GRB) today reported net income for the quarter ended July 31, 2008 of $0.7 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, on revenue of $158.9 million, compared with net income of $2.8 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, on revenue of $153.7 million for the quarter ended July 31, 2007.
A net decline in the exchange rates of the U.S. dollar to other currencies had the effect of increasing revenue by approximately $11.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009 as compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Net income for the prior year first quarter ended July 31, 2007 included a non-operating pre- tax gain of $1.0 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, related to the sale of a product line within the Ophthalmic Lens Processing segment.
Gerber Scientific President and Chief Executive Officer, Marc T. Giles, commented, “We reported an overall increase in revenue of 3.4 percent from the comparable quarter of the prior year; however, excluding the top-line benefits provided by favorable foreign currency exchange rates, our revenue declined 3.9 percent. Revenue from key new products, most notably our Sign Making and Specialty Graphics segment’s wide-format UV inkjet printer, the Solara ion(TM), and continued strong sales performance from our Spandex distribution operations helped to mitigate the negative effects of significant market softness in our other primary businesses. In comparison to the same quarter of the prior year, our gross margin was impacted by lower production volumes and an unfavorable product mix. The product mix in the first quarter reflected a significant drop in high margin software sales and a higher percentage of lower margin distribution sales due to the strong revenue growth of our Spandex business, which continues to outpace the growth of our higher margin manufacturing businesses. Combined these factors accounted for the 3.1 percentage point reduction in gross profit margin and lower net income compared with the first quarter of the prior year.”
Mr. Giles continued, “This was a challenging quarter for the Company. We decided to act quickly and aggressively in response to the current market softness and as a result have already taken actions, including the previously announced workforce reductions in early August 2008, in order to position us to continuously improve our operating margins. Although the current global economic outlook continues to be uncertain, we anticipate that the success of new products and the cost reduction initiatives taken will allow us to deliver sustainable earnings growth in fiscal year 2009.”