Pompey (France) -- GLOBAL GRAPHICS SA, experts in developing electronic document and printing software, announces financial results for the first quarter of 2009.

Comparisons for the first quarter of 2009 with the first quarter of the previous year include:

- Sales of Euro 2.7 million this quarter (Euro 2.4 million at Q108 exchange rates) compared with Euro 3.0 million in Q1 2008;
- Operating loss of Euro 0.1 million in Q1 2009, compared with a profit of Euro 0.1 million in Q1 2008;
- Adjusted operating loss of Euro 0.2 million this quarter compared with a profit of Euro 0.2 million in Q1 2008;
- Adjusted pre-tax loss of Euro 0.2 million this quarter (or a loss of Euro 0.02 per share) compared with a profit of Euro 0.4 million in Q1 2008 (or a profit of Euro 0.04 per share)
- Net loss of Euro 0.1 million this quarter (or a loss of Euro 0.01 per share) compared with a net profit of Euro 0.2 million in Q1 2008 (or a profit of Euro 0.02 per share); and
- Adjusted net loss of Euro 0.2 million this quarter (or a loss of Euro 0.02 per share) compared with an adjusted net profit of Euro 0.3 million in Q1 2008 (or a profit of Euro 0.03 per share).

Gary Fry, Chief Executive Officer, comments: “Our performance for the first quarter of 2009 is in line with our plan in terms of revenue, expenses and cash flow. We have been busy developing the sales and marketing side of the business in readiness for the launch of our new product, gDoc Fusion, which will bring improved efficiency to the office worker, before the end of the current quarter. This has incurred additional planned expenses in staff, marketing and market research.

“Market conditions are difficult for our traditional business as capital expenditure projects are being delayed, but we have been able to keep things moving by working with our partners to provide upgrade offers and additional options to allow them to continue to support their customers. We were also successful in signing two new agreements for our production printing software. . Both contracts are multiple-year distribution agreements for our Harlequin RIP software and have already generated some revenue in the first quarter of 2009.

“In the last quarter of 2008, we announced that we now support full PCL in our embedded print platform: this has generated some great interest and is now being formally evaluated by three major printer manufacturers.”

First quarter 2009 performance
Sales for the quarter amounted to Euro 2.7 million, compared with Euro 3.0 million in the first quarter 2008, or a decrease of 11.1 % at current exchange rates over Q1 2008.

Total operating expenses amounted to Euro 2.7 million in Q1 2009, compared with Euro 2.8 million in the same period of 2008 (including a non-recurring charge of Euro 0.2 million), and Euro 2.7 million in Q4 2008.

The Company reported an operating loss of Euro 0.1 million this quarter (or -4.8 % of quarterly sales), compared with an operating profit of Euro 0.1 million in Q1 2008 (or 4.6% of quarterly sales).

The Company reported an adjusted operating loss (or EBITA, as defined in the accompanying table) of Euro 0.2 million for this quarter, compared with an adjusted operating profit of Euro 0.2 million in Q1 2008. Accordingly, EBITA margin amounted to -9.3% of sales this quarter compared with 6.5% of sales in Q1 2008.

The Company reported an adjusted pre-tax loss (as defined in the accompanying table) of Euro 0.2 million for this quarter, compared with an adjusted pre-tax profit of Euro 0.4 million in Q1 2008. Accordingly adjusted pre-tax EPS was a loss of Euro 0.02 this quarter compared with a profit of Euro 0.04 in Q1 2008.

The Company reported a net loss of Euro 0.1 million this quarter (or a loss of Euro 0.01 per share), compared with a net profit of Euro 0.2 million in Q1 2008 (or a profit of Euro 0.02 per share).

The Company reported an adjusted net loss (as defined in the accompanying table) of Euro 0.2 million for this quarter compared with an adjusted net profit of Euro 0.3 million for the same period of 2008. Accordingly, adjusted EPS was a loss of Euro 0.02 this quarter, compared with a profit of Euro 0.03 in Q1 2008.

2009 outlook
Gary Fry continued: “2009 represents a difficult trading year for most companies; however with the launch of gDoc Fusion, the interest around our eDocument Library solutions, the continued acquisition of new customers in our production printing area, and the new opportunity that office printing represents, I am confident that we are well positioned to counter the downturn we expect to see from many of our print customers in 2009 and also to build upon this in 2010 and beyond.”