Solid Start for Courier

An improvement in Courier Corp.'s book manufacturing segment helped to offset a sales decline in its Dover Publications subsidiary, resulting in a 7% increase in total revenue, to $48.8 million, for the first quarter ended December 28, 2002. Net income rose 73%, to $4.5 million, a figure that includes a $828,000 gain from the sale of Courier's custom publishing division.

Courier executives attributed the 2% decline in Dover revenue, to $8.4 million, to a "significant" decline in sales through bookstore chains; direct-to-consumer sales were up 14% in the quarter, sales to non-bookstore outlets had a slight gain in the period and international sales rose 3%. Courier chief financial officer Bob Storey said the company is not expecting chain sales to slump throughout 2003 at the same "magnitude" as the first quarter's dip, and Courier remains bullish on the prospects for Dover. Dover's list will grow by 20% this year, including the release of 46 CD-ROMs. Dover has also launched an e-greeting card service on its Web site that sold 4,000 cards in its first week in operation.

In the book manufacturing segment, revenue rose 9%, to $41.8 million, with all three manufacturing categories posting gains over what was a generally soft period last year. Sales to the education market increased 13%, with higher demand in both the elhi and college markets. Sales to the trade market were up 7%, spurred by orders for computer game books. Sales to the religion market increased 17%. Courier chairman Jim Conway said he expects the company to benefit from the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in June. Although Courier will not take on any Potter work, he expects the capacity crunch felt by Potter's printers to result in extra business for Courier.