Dec. 19, 2002--Ennis Business Forms today reported operating results for its third quarter ended November 30, 2002. "The overall economic conditions continue to present challenges to our Company," Keith Walters, Chairman, CEO and President of Ennis Business Forms, Inc. stated. "In spite of that our continued focus on controlling costs has served us well. Even though the impact was minimal in the third quarter, the acquisition of Calibrated Forms Co., Inc. on November 14, 2002, positions us well for profitable growth in the future." For the third quarter ended November 30, 2002, net sales amounted to $59,151,000 compared to $59,458,000 for the same period last year, a decrease of .5%. Net earnings for the quarter amounted to $3,675,000 or $.22 per diluted share, compared to $3,870,000, or $.24 per diluted share for the corresponding period last year, a decrease of 5%. Per share earnings computations were based on 16,500,182 shares for the quarter compared to 16,309,567 shares for the prior period. For the nine months ended November 30, 2002, net sales amounted to $173,540,000 compared to $177,976,000 for the same period last year, a decrease of 2.5%. Net earnings for the nine months amounted to $10,792,000 or $.65 per diluted share, compared to $11,325,000 or $.69 per diluted share for the corresponding period last year, a decrease of 4.7%. Per share earnings computations were based on 16,496,182 shares for the nine months compared to 16,308,459 shares for the prior period. In the current fiscal year, effective March 1, 2002, the Company adopted the provisions of Statements of Financial Accounting Standard No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" (SFAS No. 142). As a result of the adoption, which discontinued the amortization of goodwill, third quarter diluted earnings per share would have been $0.25 in the prior year and nine month diluted earnings per share would have been $0.74 in the prior year. Specifically, the .5% decrease in net sales in the third quarter ended November 30, 2002 as compared to the same period last year was primarily attributable to the reduction in sales in the Promotional Solutions Group due to weak economic conditions. The 2.5% decrease in net sales in the nine months ended November 30, 2002, was primarily attributable to the reduction in sales in the Forms Solutions Group as a result of the economic environment. The decrease in operating results for the third quarter and nine months ended November 30, 2002 as compared to the same period last year is attributable to fixed cost under absorption issues in the Forms Solutions Group due to the decline in revenue noted above.