By Ann Levine October 29, 2003 – Standard Register (NYSE: SR) reported third quarter revenues of $222.1 million down 12% from $252.7 million for the same period last year. Earnings per share in the third quarter were at a net loss of $0.05 per share and an overall net loss of $1.6 million. For the nine-month period ending September 30th, 2003, Standard Register posted a net loss of $14.7 million or $0.52 per share. Topics of the summary: * Overall Performance * Health Care Business * HighlightsGuidance * Q & A Overall Performance The third quarter showed the results of a weak demand for products. Officials believe several things affected company performance including a weak economy, a delay in capital spending, pricing pressure and increased use of technology. The fourth quarter looks promising and there are signs of a strengthening economy such as the number of backlogs are up, incoming orders are strong, and recent sales wins will all impact revenues in the fourth quarter. Additional consolidations, restructuring activities, Six Sigma efforts and corresponding gains in production should begin to show results in the fourth quarter. Recent actions taken to accelerate revenue are the creation of an inside sales group to generate leads to improve productivity, new business development focused on account acquisition, the launch of new marketing programs in targeted industry segments and the addition of a strategic account organization focused on a select number of customers. Health Care Business Highlights Standard Register announced an agreement with Broadlane that went into affect on August 1st 2003 that resulted in $18 million in new contracts in the first 60 days. SR announced a 5-year contract to Phoenix-based Banner Health for document management, copy center, and document production solutions using the SMARTworks platform. The new digital pen and paper technology allows users the opportunity to convert handwriting into digital information and is being used in the pharmaceutical industry. A recent alliance with HP has resulted in the ExpeData E- forms that will be installed in PCs allowing access to medical information, medical office forms and prescription data. With the recent contracts and alliances the company is taking market share in the traditional business and transforming it using technology solutions. Guidance Standard Register officials stated the third quarter showed lower results than expected, but the fourth quarter will exceed third quarter revenues. The expectation is for an improvement in earnings in the fourth quarter. The company expects a modest level of restructuring in the fourth quarter. Q & A 1. The average cost to a hospital for the new Microsoft product, ExpeData, is $75K-$100K for one application. The digital pen and paper solution through Standard Register is a bundled product. 2. Contract wins for the company include Broadlane and Banner Health Care. The Broadlane contract has generated $18 million alone. Overall contract wins were up over last quarter. Contract wins come from industries outside of heath care. 3. Six Sigma impacts include operational efficiencies and using the Six Sigma methodologies as part of large implementations. 4. Standard Register has paid off $45 million in debt for the quarter and funded its pension program by $10 million in the third quarter. Additional pension funding is not anticipated in the fourth quarter. In 2004, expectations for pension payments were not released on the call but will be less than what was funded this year. 5. The company plans to use part of its cash flow to pay down debt. Other priorities for the use of cash were not specified. The company continues to consider acquisitions and its overall objective of adding talent and technology.