Presstek, Inc., a leading supplier of digital offset printing solutions to the printing and communications industries, today announced $11.2 million in annualized profit improvement actions and expects to return to positive adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2012. The Company also reported financial and operating results for the third quarter ended October 1, 2011. (See "Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures")

Profit Improvement Actions The Company announced today that a major profit improvement initiative, launched in the third quarter of 2011, is expected to provide $11.2M in 2012 savings. Although second half 2011 earnings will see some improvement from these actions, the majority of the benefits will be realized beginning in the first quarter of 2012.

"We started taking major cost reduction actions during the third quarter of this year to right-size our business to current economic conditions, and this work has continued into the fourth quarter," said Presstek Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Jacobson. "Our goal is to return Presstek to positive adjusted EBITDA beginning in the first quarter of 2012. In total, we expect to reduce our annualized expenses by $11.2 million. The vast majority of these actions will be completed by year-end 2011, and are expected to provide the Company with significantly improved fiscal performance in 2012. While we are making significant cuts in spending in order to put the company on more stable footing going forward, we are not sacrificing our strategic focus on growing our CtP plate and DI portfolio offerings in larger commercial, in-plant, packaging and digital printing operations."

Third Quarter 2011 financial results In the quarter, the Company reported total revenue of $26.9 million, a decline of 14.4% from the third quarter of 2010 which was impacted, as expected, by general global economic weakness. Including a $1.4 million reserve against European accounts receivable and $0.4 million in special charges, the Company had an operating loss of $4.7 million in the third quarter of 2011 compared to an operating loss of $1.3 million reported in the 2010 third quarter. Excluding these two items, the operating loss would have been $2.9 million. The decrease from the prior year quarter was driven by lower gross margins resulting from the impact of lower factory production volume and an unfavorable mix in both equipment and consumables revenue. During the third quarter of 2011, the Company incurred a net loss from continuing operations of $5.4 million, or $0.15 per share including $0.4 million of foreign exchange losses. This compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $1.5 million, or $0.04 per share, in the third quarter of 2010.

"As expected, our third quarter revenue was negatively impacted by global economic conditions. Smaller printers were hit especially hard by these issues, and they are a large portion of our customer base," said Presstek Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Jacobson. "We continue to be encouraged by a strong pipeline of new opportunities, but customers of all sizes are delaying important investment decisions and conserving cash. During the quarter we recorded our third 75DI sale, the first one in our Asia Pacific Region, and expect to complete installations on two additional units in the fourth quarter. In addition, I am excited to see our open platform CtP plate sales gain traction, as evidenced by a sales increase of 51% in the quarter versus the prior year quarter."

Total revenue in the third quarter of 2011 was $26.9 million, down $4.5 million from the third quarter of 2010.

-- Equipment revenue was $3.4 million in the third quarter of 2011, a decrease of $1.4 million compared with the same period last year. The decrease was driven by lower volumes of both DI and CtP unit sales.

-- Consumables revenue totaled $18.2 million in the third quarter of 2011, compared with $20.6 million for the same period last year. The decrease, primarily in the U.S., was driven by lower customer consumption due to economic conditions. However, sales of open platform CtP plates increased 51% on a year over year basis.

-- Service revenue was $5.3 million in the third quarter of 2011, a decline of $0.8 million compared to the year-ago quarter. This decline was primarily due to the continued erosion of the analog service base and a general trend by customers to delay service calls and maintenance to save money in a difficult economy.

Gross margin percent for the third quarter of 2011 was 27.1 % compared to 32.8% in the third quarter of 2010. The reduction versus the third quarter of 2010 was due primarily to unfavorable product mix in equipment and consumables, lower factory volumes, the impact of a strengthening yen on DI press purchases, and general inflation on raw materials and freight cost.

Operating expenses were $12.0 million in the third quarter, and include the impact of a $1.4 million increase to European distributor receivable reserves. Excluding these reserve increases, adjusted operating expenses declined by $1.1 million, or 9.4% from the third quarter of 2010. The decline in adjusted operating expenses was primarily related to lower equity-based compensation, lower commission expenses and the initial benefits of cost reduction actions. (See "Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures")

Debt net of cash increased $0.7 million during the third quarter of 2011 compared with the second quarter of 2011, ending at $9.8 million. "Strong cash management continues to be our focus across the Company and despite the lower earnings, debt net of cash was better than expected," said Presstek Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Cook. (See "Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures")

Outlook The Company expects fourth quarter 2011 revenue and gross margin dollars to remain relatively stable on a sequential basis, as a seasonal drop in consumables along with the impact on margins of continued low factory volume levels is expected to be offset by higher equipment revenue at improved margins. In addition, the Company expects to report special charges in the fourth quarter in the range of $1.0 million to $1.3 million primarily for employee severance costs associated with the profit improvement actions. Debt net of cash is expected to increase sequentially by approximately $1.0 million to $2.0 million. (See "Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures")

Estimated Form 10-Q filing The Company is currently completing its analysis of critical accounting estimates related to long-lived assets. As a result, the Company will be filing a Notice of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 with respect to the Quarterly Financial Report on Form 10-Q. The Company currently anticipates filing the Form 10-Q within the five-day period afforded by the Rule.

Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the Company provides non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA; debt net of cash; and other GAAP measures adjusted for certain charges, which the Company believes are useful to help investors better understand its past financial performance and prospects for the future. A full reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is provided in the financial tables below. Supplemental financial information has been provided with this release to provide additional details on the Company's performance.

Conference Call and Webcast Information Management will discuss Presstek's third quarter 2011 results in a conference call on Monday, November 14, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Conference call information is below:

Conference Call Access: Domestic Dial In: (866) 700-6979

International Dial In: (617) 213-8836 Passcode: 19751350

In addition, for those unable to participate at the time of the call, a rebroadcast will be available following the call from Monday, November 14, 2011 at 1:30 PM Eastern Time until Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Rebroadcast Access: Domestic Dial In: (888) 286-8010 International Dial In: (617) 801-6888 Passcode: 84089838

An archived webcast of this conference call will also be available on the "Investor Events Calendar" page of the Company's web site, www.presstek.com.