Champion Reports Net Loss for Quarter, Fiscal Year

HUNTINGTON, WV—Jan. 30, 2012—Champion Industries announced a net loss of $4 million for the year ended Oct. 31, 2011, compared to net income of $0.5 million for the year ended Oct. 31, 2010. The company reported a net loss of $5.4 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31, 2011, compared to net income of $0.9 million for the same quarter of 2010.

On a core net income basis, Champion reported net income of $1.0 million for the years ended Oct. 31, 2011 and 2010. Core net income is defined as net loss income as reported, adjusted for restructuring and other charges, non-cash impairment charges, gain on early extinguishment of debt from a related party and interest rate swap.

The results for 2011 over 2010 reflected a substantial decrease in earnings, primarily as a result of non-cash impairment related charges associated with goodwill, trade name and masthead in the amount of $8.7 million or $5.4 million net of tax on a basic and diluted basis. The impairments are a result of the acquisition of The Herald-Dispatch daily newspaper in 2007.

Champion also incurred restructuring related charges of $0.6 million or $0.3 million net of tax and other asset impairment charges of $0.1 million or $0.1 million net of tax. These charges were partially offset by a gain on early extinguishment of debt to a related party of $1.3 million, or $0.8 million net of tax. The 2010 results were impacted by restructuring related charges of $1.8 million or $1.1 million net of tax and by other income associated with an interest rate swap agreement of $1.0 million or $0.6 million net of tax.

Marshall T. Reynolds, chairman and CEO of Champion, said, “2011 is the year we believe we stabilized the top line of our revenue components. Our sales only decreased slightly over the prior year and our fourth quarter 2011 sales increased 5 percent over 2010 fourth quarter levels. We believe this was a key hurdle to pave the way to future improvements in core profitability.

“We have identified certain emphasis areas to improve gross margins and have actively begun to implement these initiatives as we move into 2012. In addition, we are evaluating our overall operations to strive for more improvements and to continue to rationalize our current cost structure in light of the continued impact of the global economic crisis on our business.”

The company experienced a decrease in sales for the year of $1.4 million, or 1.1 percent, from $129.9 million in 2010 to $128.5 million in 2011.

• The printing segment of the business reflected a sales decrease of $1.9 million, or 2.3 percent.
• The office products and office furniture segment showed an overall sales increase of $1.1 million, or 3.3 percent.
• The newspaper segment reported sales of $14.9 million in 2011 compared to $15.5 million in 2010, a decrease of $0.6 million or 4.1 percent.

The sales compression experienced by the company was primarily attributable to the overall global economic crisis and the related impact on the core business segments in which the Company operates, and is reflective of a continued difficult operating environment as well as macro industry dynamics within the newspaper segment.

At Oct. 31, 2011, Champion had approximately $48.8 million of interest bearing debt of which $47.6 million is syndicated. The syndicated debt has been reduced by approximately $37.9 million since inception of the debt, which resulted primarily from the acquisition of The Herald-Dispatch in September 2007. This represents a reduction of over 44.3 percent in a period slightly over four years.

This debt was paid down during a significant economic downturn and severe secular decline within our printing and newspaper segments. The company has achieved this debt reduction through a combination of earnings, cash flow, equity additions and working capital management.

Reynolds concluded, “I am confident that with our sales stabilized we can renew our efforts to grow in certain strategic areas that have been identified by our management team. We continue to operate under the premise that the economy may not provide a substantial lift to our Company or our industry segments. Nevertheless, we believe there are opportunities for improvement and we are working diligently to identify, evaluate and implement these opportunities.”

About Champion
Champion Industries is a commercial printer, business forms manufacturer and office products and office furniture supplier in regional markets east of the Mississippi. Champion also publishes The Herald-Dispatch daily newspaper in Huntington, WV with a total daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 24,000 and 30,000, respectively. Champion serves its customers through the following companies/divisions: Chapman Printing West Virginia and Kentucky; Stationers, Champion Clarksburg, Capitol Business Interiors, Garrison Brewer, Carolina Cut Sheets, U.S. Tag and Champion Morgantown West Virginia; Champion Output Solutions West Virginia; The Merten Company Ohio; Smith & Butterfield Indiana and Kentucky; Champion Graphic Communications Louisiana; Consolidated Graphic Communications Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey; Donihe Graphics Tennessee; Blue Ridge Printing North Carolina and Champion Publishing West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

Source: Champion.