RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 30 - Cadmus Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: CDMS) today announced results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2001. Financial highlights for the three months ended September 30, 2000, were as follows: Net sales totaled $115.7 million, up from $113.3 million last year, adjusted for divested and closed operations; STM journal services and special interest magazines sales rose 5% and 6%, respectively, offsetting continued softness in specialty packaging sales; Operating margins, excluding restructuring and other charges, expanded to 8.4% of sales; EBITDA rose to $16.4 million compared with $15.5 million last year; and, Debt, before securitization, was reduced by $9.9 million, to $236.1 million. "These results were in line with our business plan and our expectations for the quarter," commented Bruce V. Thomas, president and chief executive officer. "Our STM journal services business closed last year with a strong performance, and that momentum has continued into fiscal 2001. In addition, we experienced higher net sales from our special interest magazines and book and directory businesses. Our specialty packaging operations were adversely affected in July and August by the continued softness in their markets, but rebounded strongly as the quarter ended. Significant new orders have built the sales backlog in this business, and we expect improved performance in sales and operating income throughout the second fiscal quarter. " Continuing, Thomas said, "Each of our businesses is responding positively to our market-focused approach and renewed emphasis on growth. Following the integration of Mack and the completion of our restructuring activities, we now have four strong, market-focused operating units. The cornerstone of our plan remains to leverage this market-focus by developing innovative, distinctive, and even proprietary, products and services that will differentiate Cadmus from our competitors and drive sustained top-line growth and consistent margin improvement. We are pleased with the early results of this new approach, especially the initial success of several of the new products we have recently introduced. In particular, customer interest has been excellent for Rapid Review, our web-based peer review system for the STM journal services market. This early success is generating significant interest in the remaining components of our integrated electronic publishing system, which are under development." David E. Bosher, senior vice president and chief financial officer, added, "We are optimistic that results in the second fiscal quarter will reflect a positive year-to-year comparison to the $.34 per share we earned last year, adjusted for the impact of closed operations. However, we continue to face significant industry competition and pricing pressure from a consolidating base of customers. Our focus remains on sustaining revenue growth, managing that growth as efficiently as possible, and controlling our cost structure. We believe these actions will continue to help offset those competitive pressures." Mr. Bosher noted further, "A key advantage of Cadmus is our ability to generate strong and predictable cash flows, not only to provide the funding for investments in new technology, but also to strengthen our financial position through the reduction of our debt. In fact, we lowered debt by another $9.9 million during the first quarter and are on plan to achieve our full year debt reduction goal of $25 million."