By Ann Levine November 3, 2003 – Bowne & Co., (NYSE: BNE) today announced a net loss of $1.2 million for the third quarter of 2003 or a loss of $0.04 earnings per share. This compares to a reported net income of $4.6 million or $0.13 earnings per share for the same period last year. Third quarter revenues were $250 million up over 2002 third quarter revenues of $214 million. Bowne reported $4.1 million in restructuring costs during the third quarter. Of that, $1.7 million of the charges were for severance and $2.5 million in cost reductions and integration costs associated with Berlitz GlobalNet. Topics of this summary: * Segment Performance * Guidance * Q & A Segment Performance Financial Print – Bowne is beginning to see movement in financial transactional print as third quarter revenues have been higher than they have since the second quarter of 2002. Transactional print revenues in the third quarter rose 21% over the same period last year. Financial print segment profit increased by $6 million. There were 20 IPO filings in August, which was the greatest since May of last year. As previously stated in last quarter's conference call, BES is targeting its marketing efforts in three sectors: retirement services, asset services and brokers/dealers. It has named Al Presutti as Senior VP of Business Development to oversee these efforts. Bowne Global Solutions – BGS achieved profit improvement in the third quarter with revenues up $26 million. Organic growth was down for the quarter. The company is seeing demand in Life Sciences, Product marketing and Training. This sector makes up 12% of total revenue. The Marketing and Transportation segment is experiencing a consolidation of spending by global clients seeking to control costs and improve service and this sector with sales approaching 8% and growing. The Government segment remains strong with the Department of Justice contract and the Irish Department of Justice contract. This sector makes up 10% of total revenues. IT and telecommunications now makes up less than 50% of total revenues. Bowne is not satisfied with margins and continues to examine costs and infrastructure. BGS has reduced their headcount of 267 people with a one-time cost of $10.7 million. It has closed 14 offices with a one-time cost of $4 million and $3 million in savings. The company announced there would be additional restructuring charges in the fourth quarter from staff reductions and closings. Bowne Business Solutions - BBS reported increased revenues of $4.2 million a 7.2% increase to $62.1 million up from $57.9 million. BBS announced 15 new outsourcing contracts, 13 in the legal industry and 2 in investment banking. The contracts will create an additional $20 million in annualized revenue. Guidance Expectations are for fourth quarter improvement with revenues in the range of $245-260 million. Diluted earnings per share are expected at ($0.06) to $0.04, inclusive of $7 million in restructuring and integration charges. Excluding restructuring, diluted earnings per share of $0.08 to $0.18 are expected. For the year, revenues are expected to be $1.06 billion and earnings per share at a net loss of ($0.21) to ($0.11) with $26 million in restructuring costs. No guidance has been offered for 2004 during today's call. Q & A 1. Bowne is not focused on the company's use of cash at this point as the focus has been on making sure the company is right-sized. Potential uses of cash include the maintenance of capital expenditure needs and paying down the revolver in the second half of 2004. 2. Consolidation in Globalization, Outsourcing and the expansion of digital print are all areas that present opportunities for mergers and additional leveraging. 3. When BGS reaches the point where it is producing at both the profit and growth level that is attainable in that business, Bowne will evaluate whether is should continue to be a part of the overall portfolio. Indications are that the company is beginning to see the valuation of BGS in the Bowne share price. 4. The company believes that DSO will reverse, at the end of the third period; it was at 82 days, which is higher than what the company would like to see because of the activity in the period was weighted toward the end of the period. DSO should improve in October and November to a more acceptable level. DSO will most likely not see DSO levels as low as last year. 5. In response to an analyst's question on how long it takes the company to get paid Bowne responded with two scenarios; 1) part of the problem is that it takes the company a while to get invoices out the door due to the customization of work and, 2) payment varies from a matter of days to other cases of 60-75 days. 6. Although Globalization was soft organically in the quarter, it was a matter of timing as the second quarter showed strong results. Bowne forecasted major IT projects for third quarter completion that were delivered in the second quarter. Performance is not a signal of a decline. 7. Restructuring charges through the third quarter include: * Q1 $5 million * Q2 $9 million * Q3 $4 million Expected Cost Savings include: * Q1 $10 million * Q2 $20 million * Q3 $5 million * Total $35 million The latest cuts are yielding significantly less savings results. 8. Restructuring in Bowne's Global Solutions should result in $2.7 to $3 million in savings. Additional staff reductions and closings will cost approximately $4 million and is expected to result in $3.5 million in savings. Annualized saving in BGS is expected at $17 million.