Courier’s Sales Off Overall, but Digital Business Up Sharply

The book manufacturing segment focuses on three publishing markets: education, religion, and specialty trade. Sales to the education market were up 4 percent in the quarter due to increased sales of four-color textbooks for colleges and universities, though one-color sales were down in keeping with the industry’s continuing shift from one- to four-color production. Sales to the religious market were down 22 percent from last year’s first quarter, reflecting both the timing of orders from the company’s largest religious customer and the prior-year comparison with one of the strongest quarters in the history of its religious business. Sales to the specialty trade market were up 4 percent from a year ago.