HOUSTON, Oct. 31 -- Consolidated Graphics, Inc. today announced financial results for its second quarter ended September 30, 2007.
Revenue for the September quarter was $259.7 million, up 11% compared to $234.2 million for the same period a year ago. Net income for the September quarter was $13.3 million, down 3% compared to net income of $13.7 million for the same period a year ago, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $.98 which remained constant compared to the same period a year ago.
For the six months ended September 30, 2007 revenue was $518.3 million, up 10% compared to $472.7 million for the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share for the first six months of this year were $1.94 compared to $1.96 in the same period a year ago.
On October 29, 2007, the Board of Directors authorized a new common share repurchase program for the purchase of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares up to an aggregate of $50 million. The new share repurchase program will expire on October 31, 2008 and allows the Company to repurchase shares of its common stock in open-market purchases as well as privately negotiated transactions, pursuant to applicable securities regulations.
Commenting on the results for the quarter, Joe R. Davis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Graphics stated, "The results for the September quarter were in line with revised expectations announced earlier this month. As we said previously, we believe softness in the U.S. economy had a negative impact on demand from many of our customers during the quarter. In addition, both our sales and income were negatively impacted by on-going labor negotiations at certain of our facilities."
Mr. Davis continued, "While we remain very confident in our long-term strategy for growing sales and income, we are making some short-term cost adjustments to enhance profitability. With our strong balance sheet and cash flows, we expect continued growth through investments in new technology that further differentiates our customer offerings. We will continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities as well as strategic share repurchases as we seek to maximize our return to shareholders."
Mr. Davis concluded, "We expect sales to grow sequentially in the third quarter due primarily to the effects of seasonality in some of the sectors we service. Confirming our guidance announced earlier this month, for the December quarter, we are projecting quarterly revenues of between $285 and $295 million and diluted earnings per share of between $1.22 and $1.32. We expect earnings improvement in our December quarter due primarily to higher expected sales volume and a lower effective tax rate. While we are optimistic that some of our additional cost adjustment measures will have a positive impact on operating margins in the near future, we are currently projecting our operating margin in the December quarter to be comparable to the September quarter."