Courier Q2 Revenues Flat Due to Failure of Book Distribution Customer, Slow FastPencil Sales

The book manufacturing segment focuses on three markets: education, religion, and specialty trade. Sales to the education market were $21 million in the second quarter, up 5 percent from a year earlier, driven by increased sales of elementary and high school textbooks; for the year to date, education sales were $49 million, up 10 percent from fiscal 2013. Sales to the religious market were down 8 percent to $17 million in the quarter, with sales to Courier’s largest religious customer down 11 percent, but down only 2 percent on a year-to-date basis. Overall, religious sales for the first six months of the fiscal year were up 3 percent over last year. Sales to the specialty trade market were $15 million, comparable to last year’s second quarter, while year-to-date sales were $32 million, up 6 percent from last year, reflecting an increase in four-color work as well as sales of digital print.