Ennis Inc. Reports Results for the Three and Nine Months Ending Nov. 30

Ennis Inc. released its latest financial results that include its third quarter, which ended Nov. 30, and the combined statistics for the period that includes the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Highlights include:

• Consolidated gross profit margin increased 400 basis points for the quarter and 430 basis points for the period.
• Apparel gross profit margin increased 650 basis points for the quarter and 970 basis points for the period.
• Print gross profit margin increased 210 basis points for the quarter and 110 basis points for the period.
• Diluted EPS increased 50 percent to $0.36 per share for the quarter and 55.9 percent to $1.06 per share for the period.

“Overall we are pleased with our results for the quarter," Keith Walters, Chairman, CEO and President of Ennis said. "Our apparel results continued to improve as lower input costs of manufacturing and raw materials continues to favorably impact comparable operational results. Although we continue to make cost-side improvements, the apparel market continues to be extremely challenging, both from a volume and pricing perspective.

"During the third quarter, we faced increased pricing pressures due to competitors' discounting. Whether this discounted pricing, which we believe is driven by a desire to maintain certain production volumes, will continue into the next calendar year or not is unknown."

The company’s consolidated net sales for the quarter were $136.6 million compared to $129 million for the same quarter last year. Print sales were up 10.1 percent on a comparable quarter basis, from $81.5 million to $89.7 million. Apparel sales decreased 1.1 percent for the comparable quarter, from $47.4 million to $46.9 million. Although apparel unit sales were up 5.5 percent for the quarter, average selling price was down 6.6 percent.

Consolidated gross profit margin (“margin”) during the quarter increased 400 basis points over last year’s comparable quarter from 23.7 percent to 27.7 percent. On a quarter comparison basis, print margin increased 210 basis points, from 28.7 percent percent to 30.8 percent, while apparel margin increased 650 basis points, from 15.2 percent to 21.7 percent. Apparel margin continued to improve on a comparable basis due to lower input costs and higher production levels.