Book Printing--Mixed Results, Mixed Future

Donnelley witnessed an increase of roughly 5 percent to 7 percent in the consumer segment, far and above the 1 percent to 4 percent that had been forecasted, particularly closer to the low end of the range. Allen doesn't foresee the trend continuing, however, but does see good news ahead for the education segment, which also surprised the company in 1999 and should take off for the next two years, due to state funding and major adoption cycles. And while the religious segment was up a whopping 20 percent, the professional, university and reference markets—small niches for Donnelley—were all flat.