Quad/Graphics Has Growing Pains

Quad, which listed its shares in July 2010 as part of its acquisition of Canadian rival World Color, has seen its stock plunge from its post-merger peak of $48.80 in September 2010. It has lost three quarters of its value and recently has hovered near its all-time low of $12.14.

While Quad said it is on target to use the merger to create new efficiencies and lower production costs...the saving has been eaten up by unanticipated costs, said Scott Cuthbertson, an analyst who tracks media industries at the Toronto Dominion Bank Group in Toronto.

Quad calls them “frictional” costs: transferring publication