Reprographics 101

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  • And, the U.S. economy is in a recovery mode ???

    Standard Register Reports 1Q Revenue
    of $157.6 Million

    Monday, April 23, 2012
    Press release from the issuing
    company
    Standard Register today announced
    its financial results for the first quarter 2012. The Company reported revenue
    of $157.6 million and a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.18 per share. The
    results compare to prior year revenue of $164.9 million and net income of $0.4
    million, or $0.01 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income, adjusted for pension
    loss amortization, pension settlement, restructuring, and deferred tax
    valuation allowances was $1.9 million, or $0.06 per share, for the first
    quarter of 2012 as compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.1 million, or $0.14
    per diluted share for the same period in 2011.
    “We saw significant positive
    activity in the first quarter of 2012 as Healthcare, Financial Services and
    Commercial Markets business units grew Core solutions during the period.
    Combined with the on-schedule implementation of our restructuring plan, this
    gives us good momentum. While revenue was down overall from the year-ago
    quarter, we have a strong current ratio of 1.9, adequate liquidity for
    operations and expect to end 2012 with positive cash flow of at least $5
    million,” said Joseph P. Morgan, Jr., president and chief executive
    officer.
    Morgan continued, “We continue
    to make the necessary investments to transform Standard Register into a
    provider of solutions that enable our customers to align their brand
    communications with their corporate priorities and standards. We are seeing our
    portfolio evolve and winning new business that demonstrates good
    progress.”
    Results
    Total revenues declined 4 percent to
    $157.6 million in the first quarter versus $164.9 million in the prior year.
    Core priority growth solutions revenues grew 3 percent during the quarter
    whereas Legacy products, such as business forms and transactional labels,
    across all business units declined by 9 percent.
    Healthcare revenue declined 6
    percent to $57.0 million in the first quarter compared to $60.7 million in the
    prior year. Core solutions grew by 5 percent driven by the acquisition of 100
    percent of the ownership interests in iMedConsent, LLC (dba Dialog Medical),
    which the Company completed in the third quarter 2011, as well as new business
    and organic growth in patient communications and patient identification and
    safety solutions. Healthcare technology solutions sales grew 15 percent in the
    quarter. Legacy products, primarily clinical documents and administrative forms
    sales declined 12 percent as customers advanced implementation of Electronic
    Medical Records (EMR) initiatives.
    Financial Services revenue showed
    slight growth at $43.5 million in the first quarter compared to $43.3 million
    in the prior year. The Company began recognizing revenue from a new Core
    solutions customer and saw growth in existing smaller customers. These sales
    served to offset the loss of Legacy and Core solutions from a customer that is
    expected to impact revenues in this segment by $18 – $20 million this year.
    The Commercial Markets business unit
    experienced a 7 percent decline to $37.6 million for the quarter from $40.3
    million in the prior year driven primarily by losses in Legacy products, which
    represent a disproportionate amount of sales in the business unit. Momentum in
    Core marketing solutions is expected to grow during the remainder of 2012.
    The Industrial business unit
    generated $19.5 million in revenue or a decline of 5 percent for the quarter as
    compared to $20.6 million a year ago, driven by pricing pressure and weak
    demand from HVAC customers, and a 49% decrease from the year-ago quarter for
    in-mold labeling sales related to timing.
    Gross margin as a percent of revenue
    decreased to 30.6 percent for the current year quarter from 32.4 percent in the
    prior year quarter. Pricing pressures, particularly in Legacy transactional
    forms and labels, declines in volume and material cost increases all
    contributed to the change. Selling, general and administrative expenses,
    excluding pension and restructuring, declined $1.8 million to $44.4 million, or
    28.2 percent of revenue, relative to $46.2 million and 28.0 percent for the
    prior year quarter.
    For the first quarter 2012, capital
    expenditures were $0.7 million, pension funding contributions were $7.0 million
    and Non-GAAP cash flow on a net debt basis was $3.4 million. For 2012, the
    Company is planning to spend $9 – 11 million in capital expenditures to further
    support its Core growth solutions offering and to contribute at least the minimum
    requirement of $27.0 million for Pension funding.
    Conference Call
    Standard Register’s President and Chief Executive
    Officer Joe Morgan and Chief Financial Officer Bob Ginnan will host a
    conference call at 10:00 a.m. EDT on April 20, 2012, to review the first
    quarter results. The call can be accessed via an audio web cast accessible
    at: http://www.standardregister.com/investorcenter.

  • Condominium Construction to be on the rebound in Florida (TG!)

    Reprographers in Florida, rejoice! I wouldn’t worry too much about the risk of another bust, I’d worry more about a halt to what’s going to happen.

    South Florida’s New Condo Boom Risks Another Bust

    04/02/2012

    South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    By Paul Owers, Staff writer

    If you’re in the market to buy or sell in a high-rise, be careful. Some experts see another condo collapse on the horizon.

    More than two dozen condominium projects, including five in Broward and Palm Beach counties, are being added to the South Florida skyline in the next few years, according to CondoVultures.com, a consulting firm.

    By the end of 2012, as many as 10,000 units could be in the planning stages, the firm said. That’s nearly a quarter of all the existing condos that sold in South Florida last year, according to the Florida Realtors.

    Developers insist the market will be improved, with demand for luxury units strong by the time they’re finished building.

    But when most of these condos are ready for occupancy in 2014 or later, they’ll be competing with the leftover supply from the housing boom, creating a glut that threatens to send the recovering market into another tailspin, analysts say.

    “The music is starting again,” said Peter Zalewski, principal at CondoVultures. “We think there’s going to be disappointment.”

    Consumers would be better off buying existing condos rather than waiting for the new wave of construction and the uncertainty it brings, Zalewski said.

    Livia Periu, a New York resident looking to buy in South Florida, said another housing bubble is possible, but she’s not overly worried.

    “You’d think the builders would have studied the market so we don’t fall into the same situation that we had before,” she said.

    From 2003 to 2011, developers built roughly 49,000 condos in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties east of Interstate 95, CondoVultures said. By the end of last year, less than 10 percent of those units were still in developer hands, according to the firm.

    But all those buyers aren’t living in the condos. Many were sold at deep discounts to foreign investors paying cash. They’re renting the units with plans to sell when prices pick up.

    Leading the new development charge is Miami’s Jorge Perez, who rose to prominence during the boom before struggling when South Florida condo prices cratered by more than 60 percent. Trump Hollywood was among several projects he handed back to lenders.

    Undaunted, Perez’s company, The Related Group of Miami, now is proposing a handful of developments in the three counties, with a half dozen additional condo projects under consideration.

    Related is targeting wealthy Latin American investors willing to pay cash upfront, said Carlos Rosso, head of the company’s condo division. He said the buildings proposed now won’t lead to another downturn.

    “It’s a slower pace and a lot less volume,” he said. “It’s a good way to come back.”

    Still wary from losses during the housing meltdown, many lenders aren’t offering construction financing. So Related and other developers are requiring buyers to pay up to 80 percent of the cost of the condos before closing. That means a buyer would pay $640,000 up front on an $800,000 condo.

    During the boom, buyers typically put only 20 percent down.

    With the buyers’ money in hand, developers don’t need loans to finance construction of the projects.

    Related has nearly sold out at Apogee Beach, a 49-unit condo in Hollywood where prices start at $1.8 million, Rosso said. At one of its Miami projects, My Brickell, 85 percent of the 192 units are under contract, Related said.

    While response has been good so far, interest in luxury units is bound to weaken, analysts say.

    The investors who scooped up bargains from the bust will be ready to sell during the next couple of years — right around the time the new wave of construction hits the market.

    That could soften rental rates, prompting nervous investor-owners to unload the units.

    “Is the market as deep as (developers) believe it to be?” said Lewis Goodkin, a longtime Miami-based housing consultant. “I think the answer is: No, it isn’t.”

    But Silvia Coltrane, who hopes to tear down the Howard Johnson’s on Fort Lauderdale beach and build 170 condos, said Fort Lauderdale is not overbuilt because city officials were careful not to allow that.

    “I’m bullish on the market,” she said. “There’s a certain stability to it.”

    Overbuilding won’t happen now because there’s virtually no construction financing, developers say, adding that not all of the planned projects will go forward.

    Still, at The Related Group, Rosso admits some apprehension about the number of builders getting back into condo construction.

    “It’s very strange to see how fast the market can heat up,” he said.

    powers@tribune.com, 561-243-6529 or Twitter @paulowers

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  • Florida Contracts Pick Up the Pace in February

    04/02/2012

    By Scott Judy (Southeast Construction News, McGraw-Hill publication)

    The value of new Florida construction contracts improved by 25% in February, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The company estimated the value of new contracts at nearly $1.7 billion; last February, Florida registered roughly $1.3 billion in new projects.

    All three broad construction categories experienced increases during February. Residential contracts jumped the highest on a percentage basis, increasing by 36% to total more than $868.8 million for the month. The nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure projects, improved by 29% for a $409.3 million total. And the nonresidential category recorded $408.1 million in new contracts, or 6% better than the same period of a year ago.

    Two months into 2012, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates that all three building categories to be positive on a year-to-date basis.

    The nonbuilding sector has surged the most, improving by 66% compared to the start of 2011 for a nearly $891.6 million total. The company estimates the year-to-date total for new nonresidential contracts at nearly $1.1 billion, or 32% ahead of 2011’s early pace. Residential contracts totaled nearly $1.6 billion through February, or 23% better than a year ago.

    Overall, through February, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates Florida’s new contracts at $3.5 billion, or 35% better than a year ago.

  • RSA announces two new members

    Cansel and Brickwall Printing and Graphics are the newest members of the RSA. They both joined in March and are looking forward to attending the upcoming RSA meeting as shareholders.

    Cansel with 13 locations across Canada offer wide variety of
products and services that are aligned with the offerings across the
other RSA members. These offerings include reprographics, surveying
equipment and supplies, printing equipment and are a Major
Autodesk dealer. Cansel is interested in the knowledge exchange available from the RSA members and expands the RSA presence in Canada.

    Brickwall Printing and Graphics has locations in Chantilly and Fairfax Virginia. They offer traditional reprographics and color graphics. They have plans to take advantage of the cooperative buying power the RSA brings and leveraging that to expand their services into some new areas and markets.

    The RSA and all the shareholders welcome Cansel and Brickwall and look forward to working with them as well as to the contributions they will make to the RSA.

    The announcement above appeared in the April 2012 RSA Newsletter; here’s a link to the RSA Newsletter:

    https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B81al4kFAU9JaXBZZlFWTU1TQnM

  • FedEx Office Print & Go with Google Cloud Print

    Thursday, April 19, 2012

    Press release from the issuing company

    FedEx Office is proud to be the first national retailer to offer small businesses, mobile professionals and on-the-go consumers the ability to transform digital files into hard copies by sending documents through Google Cloud Print to more than 1,800 FedEx Office stores nationwide. Combining FedEx Office Print & Go and Google Cloud Print, customers can now access and print documents anytime, anywhere.

    FedEx Office is leading the industry with innovative on-demand, mobile printing solutions. “Today more than 40 percent of our print business comes in over the web. We will continue our commitment to invest in serving the growing needs of our customers, whether it’s business presentations, brochures or posters,” said Anthony Norris, vice president, Product and E-commerce Marketing for FedEx Office.

    With the award-winning FedEx Office Print & Go solution and Google Cloud Print, users can submit print documents from Gmail and Google Docs on their mobile device, or from the Chrome web browser for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome devices. Customers can access these documents at any U.S. FedEx Office location by entering a unique retrieval code into the FedEx Office Print & Go self-service digital screens to select, preview and print. Or, customers can choose to have their print jobs produced by professionally trained team members at the full-service counter.

    Launched in January 2011, FedEx Office Print & Go also allows customers to access and print documents directly from a variety of mobile devices and USB flash drives. Last year, the easy-to-use technology received the “Most Innovative New Tech-Enabled Product” award by InformationWeek.

    To learn more about FedEx Office Print & Go and discover how to get started, go to www.fedex.com/printandgo.

  • Photobooks: Fantastic Experience with MyPublisher.com

    THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT!

    We recently climbed on the photobooks wagon and ordered our first two photobooks. Although the initial experience wasn’t astounding, the overall experience was fantastic.

    Admittedly, we’ve only used one company that produces photobooks: MyPublisher.com, but, given MyPublisher’s follow-through, we have no reason to try another photobook company.

    The first book we ordered was titled, “A Month’s Sojourn, France & Spain” and included photos we took while visiting several different cities and villages in France and Spain. Paris was one of the cities we visited. (And, Paris has to be one of the most photogenic cities in the world!)

    MyPublisher’s software (which you download to your computer) is very easy to use – and that’s an understatement, because it was my wife – who is barely computer literate – who downloaded the software, uploaded the photos, arranged, sized and edited the photos, and ordered the book. She had no problem using MyPublisher’s software, and the quality of the photobook we received was fantastic, with the exception of the binding. The binding was too small for the number of pages in the book, and MyPublisher re-did the book to my wife’s satisfaction (and she is not easy to please, so that’s saying something; let’s just say that she is a very discriminating consumer.)

    So, after we were delighted with the first book, my wife submitted another order for a photobook – this one a “wedding” photobook of my daughter’s wedding. We ordered this one in the largest size MyPublisher offers and, when you order the “largest” page size, they automatically use heavyweight paper. When I arrived home the day the photobook arrived at our house, my wife was ‘beaming’ – the photobook of my daughter’s wedding was unbelievably awesome! (My wife did a fantastic job with photo-selection, organizing, sizing, etc. We paid less than $100 for this book, and it is worth its weight in gold.

    My note to reprographers and printers who are doing business with customers over the Internet [and this note is for those who offer “anything” (any type of print job) over the Internet, not just photobooks)]:

    1) The key term is “user-friendly”. If your software is easy to understand, easy to use, customers who use your services will be delighted and will repeat over and over. Think “addictive” (in a positive sense.)

    2) Quality and follow-through is essential. If you make mistakes (and, who, after all, is perfect) and quickly fix them, your customers will be very satisfied and will repeat over and over.

    3) “Cost” is not the major issue. Think “reasonable” and “competitive”, but don’t obsess over being the low-cost provider.

  • DATA SNAP: US Mar Housing Starts Down 5.8%; Permits Up 4.5%

    Article by Eric Morath and Alan Zibel of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

    04-17-12

    WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. home building declined in March but new permits reached their highest level since September 2008, showing the sector is struggling even as builders anticipate future demand.

    Home construction decreased 5.8% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. It was the second straight monthly decline.

    The reading was far below expectations. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast housing starts would rise by 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 703,000.

    Construction of single-family homes, which made up 71% of housing starts last month, fell by 0.2%. Meanwhile, multifamily homes with at least two units, a volatile part of the market, posted a 16.9% loss.

    February’s figures were revised to a rate of 694,000 starts from a previously reported 698,000. The newly stated data reflects a 2.8% decline from January.

    This year’s numbers, while up from a low of 478,000 in April 2009, are well below the historical average. Builders have started construction on about 1.5 million new homes per year since 1959.

    The number of new housing permits, an indication of future construction, rose by 4.5% in March to annualized level of 747,000. Economists had forecast permits to drop by 0.3% to an annual rate of 713,000.

    The uneven recovery of the housing market, including new home construction, has weighed on the overall economic rebound.

    “This unusually weak recovery can be at least partly explained by the large drop in house prices and severe slump in housing activity,” Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin said in a speech last week.

    Showing how difficult it is for the sector to climb out its five-year-long slump, the National Association of Home Builders’ confidence reading, released Monday, slipped for the first time in seven months in April, indicating that potential home buyers have been hesitant.

    The slowing of job growth in March, after a strong start to the year, may only make buyers more reluctant. The shoppers also have ample choice of existing homes, including a glut of foreclosures, which tend to be more affordable than new construction.

    The Commerce data showed that housing starts were mixed across four U.S. regions. New building declined 15.9% in the South and was unchanged in the West, from the prior month. The Northeast posted a 32.8% improvement in March and the Midwest recorded a 1.0% gain.

    Actual housing starts, calculated without seasonal adjustments, increased to 54,500 in March from a downwardly revised 47,900 in February. Lumber and commodities markets watch those numbers closely to gauge demand.

    The Commerce report can be found at http://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst.pdf

    -By Eric Morath and Alan Zibel, Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9279; eric.morath@dowjones.com – Kristina Peterson contributed to this article.

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires

    04-17-12

    08:46 ET

    Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

  • Vistaprint Revisited: New Acquisitions

    Interesting article by Stacey Skotzko about Vistaprint.

    Here’s an intro to the article, followed by a link to the complete article:

    Commentary & Analysis

    Vistaprint Revisited: New Acquisitions

    By Stacey Skotzko
Published: April 17, 2012

    Vistaprint’s CEO said his customers are other companies’ worst nightmares.

    At a presentation in February at a Goldman Sachs technology conference, Robert Keane explained that Vistaprint, the global company that reported second quarter 2012 revenue of $299.9 million, looks to the small guys. It’s the under 10-person businesses, the home offices, the $100-a-year clients that he wants to capture.

    “It is a very hard demographic to get right, but when you get it right, they are very appreciative because they have not been well served before,” he said. Vistaprint seems to be getting it right — and is still growing. In comparison to 2010 figures, the company reported a 28 percent increase in revenue for the second fiscal quarter in December. For the full fiscal 2012, Vistaprint expects revenue of $997 million to $1,049 million.

    But this didn’t come without a price. Only about two months apart, Vistaprint completed the acquisition of two companies, hoping to expand services and customer personalization: Albumprinter, a privately held Dutch photo book and photo product company, and Webs, Inc., a website development and hosting platform.

    Here’s a link to the complete article on whattheythink.com:

    http://whattheythink.com/articles/57299-vistaprint-revisited-new-acquisitions/

  • InnerWorkings Signs Print Management Agreement with PNC

    Friday, April 13, 2012

    Press release from the issuing company

    InnerWorkings, Inc., a leading global provider of managed print and promotional solutions, today announced a comprehensive print management agreement with The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., one of the nation’s largest financial services organizations. The multi-year agreement is intended to achieve meaningful cost savings for PNC and foster innovation across the company’s marketing supply chain.

    InnerWorkings will provide a full range of print management services for PNC, including direct mail, retail point-of-sale materials, new account welcome kits, envelopes, window displays and other marketing collateral. The agreement also is expected to create new opportunities for PNC’s local suppliers to support other InnerWorkings’ clients.

    “We look forward to delivering best-in-class print management services to PNC. As one of the top brands in the country, PNC will benefit from our commitment to quality and efficiency throughout their print supply chain,” said Eric D. Belcher, Chief Executive Officer of InnerWorkings.

  • Quarterly Index of A/E/C reprographer sales revenues from "plans printed on paper" (Q1 2012 update)

    And a revision to the Q4 2011 index.

    This is the 1st Quarter 2012 update to the index of the U.S.A. A/E/C reprographics industry’s sales revenues of “plans-printed-on-paper”. And, we’ve made a one-time revision to the Q4 2011 Index.

    The A/E/C Repro PPoP Index …..

    This index does not attempt to track “total sales” of A/E/C reprographers. It attempts to track only sales of “plans printed on paper,” which, traditionally and even nowadays, is the core (main) revenue generator for all A/E/C reprographers.

    And, by “plans printed on paper”, I mean A/E/C “plans”, large-format, b/w and color, unbound or bound, full-size, half-size, whatever large-format size.

    There will be a recovery in the A/E/C industry and thereby in the A/E/C reprographics industry. However, some are saying that even though there will be a recovery in the A/E/C industry, the recovery of sales revenues from “plans printed on paper” may not mirror the A/E/C industry’s recovery, since some are expecting (I guess I should say, some are saying) that revenues from printing plans on paper are being negatively impacted by customers distributing CD’s (or files) instead of distributing “hard copy” plans.

    For this index, Q1 2006 is the ground-zero (base) point.

    YR– 2006—–2007——2008——2009——2010——-2011……2012

    Q1– 1.00——-1.09——-1.10——0.65——0.55—–0.65…….0.71

    Q2– 1.06——-1.18——-0.98——0.65——0.60…….0.61

    Q3– 1.08——-0.97——-0.85——0.57——0.60…….0.62

    Q4– 0.89——-0.93——-0.64——0.49——0.58…….0.54

    (This index is based on A/E/C Repro Vendor sales to A/E/C Reprographers)