Lexmark International Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday on strong sales of printers and ink supplies, and as improved demand for services helped beef up margins.
Shares of Lexmark, whose larger rivals include Hewlett-Packard and Xerox, rose more than 9 percent after the company also gave an optimistic forecast for the current quarter.
Lexmark, which in recent years reacted to shrinking profits by boosting development spending and moving away from sales of low-end printers in favor of advanced models for high-volume customers, posted its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth.
Second-quarter net income rose to $85.1 million, or $1.07 a share, from $17 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding costs for restructuring and acquisitions, the profit was $1.23 a share, beating the analysts’ average estimate of 93 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 14 percent to $1.03 billion, outpacing the analysts’ view of $968.6 million. The company said revenue from hardware sales rose 26 percent, while supplies revenue — which is more profitable — rose 10 percent.
The results came the same day rival Canon Inc reported a 31.3 percent rise in office-equipment sales for the quarter. But the Japanese company said it faced a tough second half of 2010 as Europe’s economic woes and the strong yen tempered its optimism on growth in developing markets.
Analyst Shannon Cross warned that Lexmark’s momentum might slow if competitors wage a price war in the laser printer market.
“Lexmark reported a solid second quarter, but the question is sustainability since their largest competitor, HP, will be more aggressive in coming quarters now that Canon has resolved its supply issue,” she said, noting that Canon makes laser printers for HP.
On a conference call with analysts, Lexmark Chief Executive Paul Curlander refuted the notion that Lexmark’s gains had come because its rivals were on the sidelines, particularly with business customers, who do not easily switch printing partners.
“Enterprise sales are not transactional sales,” he said. “It is not a case where we’re trying to buy an HP product today, and if HP doesn’t have it they buy from somebody else. We’re winning because we have won enterprise three-to-five year contractual deals and management services deals in the first half of 2010 and over the last several years that are still growing out.
Lexmark forecast a third-quarter profit of 90 cents to $1 a share, excluding special items, with revenue up in the mid- to high-single-digit percentage range.
Analysts had on average expected a profit of 81 cents a share on revenue of $987.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company added that its expectations for full-year revenue and earnings have increased and that it now expects high-single-digit revenue growth versus 2009 results.
The company’s shares rose 10.5 percent to $38.45 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where it was one the top percentage gainers.
Secure on-demand printing solutions specialist Troy Group announced a security toner that uses a patent pending, solvent-reactive toner technology developed by the company’s research scientists, which is to be employed on select Hewlett-Packard printers. The technology consists of a high-adhesion toner with a hidden red dye; when a solvent is used to attempt alteration on a document protected with the company’s Security Toner, the dye is released, creating a “highly visible and permanent red stain” on the paper.
The company said the toner can also be used on existing security papers and pre-printed forms to provide an even higher level of fraud protection, allowing a wide range of businesses, government agencies, schools and other industries to add a new layer of security to their sensitive documents. Applications for the use of the company’s Security Toner include educational transcripts and grade reports, certificates of ownership, vital records, legal documents, medical prescriptions, checks, titles and other types of documents containing sensitive information, a Troy release noted.
The security toner is currently offered in printer cartridges compatible with many HP’s LaserJet printers and Troy Security printers, the company said, noting the security toner can only be obtained from a select group of authorized Troy resellers. The company also offers Magnetic Ink Character Recognitio (MICR), a technology that uses magnetically chargeable ink or toner to print the numbers and special characters on the bottom of checks or other financial transaction documents.
Troy’s vice president of marketing, John Hodgson, said the growing financial losses and other business risks associated with fraud makes document security more important than ever. “Financial institutions particularly like the way it allows them to easily add security to cashiers checks, foreign drafts, money orders and other negotiable documents,” he said. “We believe that Troy Security Toner will become an important new layer of security used at banks and other printing operations.”
Hodgson said throughout the world, fraudulent alteration continues to be a significant threat to documents that contain sensitive information. He said while many businesses and organizations use specialty papers with special coatings and solvent reactive properties to help protect these documents, many important documents continue to be printed on standard printing paper. “When criminals attempt to alter an important printed document with a chemical, the dye in the toner is released, ruining the document, which prevents criminals from using it for their benefit,” he explained.
Digital office equipment and document management solutions specialist Ricoh Americas announced the release of two color laser printers, the Aficio SP C430DN and SP C431DN—network printer systems that offer a broad range of media support. The SP C430DN and SP C431DN offer two printer engine options, allowing users to choose the print speed that works best, and they turn out full-color and monochrome prints at 37 pages per minute. The SP C431DN addresses busier workgroups with a color and black-and-white output speed of 42 pages per minute.
Users can install up to three optional 550-sheet paper feed units for a maximum 2,300-sheet capacity that supports up to 120 lb. index. For increased versatility, the system also accepts up to 140 lb. index through its 100-sheet bypass tray, which is capable of handling special media such as static cling, waterproof and coated papers. The SP C430DN has suggested price of $1,499, while the SP C431DN is priced higher, at $1,999.
As users look to minimize expenses, Ricoh has driven down the cost per page by employing three color cartridges that yield 21,000 prints each and one black cartridge that yields 24,000 prints. Additionally, Ricoh’s Economy Color modeis designed to help businesses save on consumables by reducing the amount of toner used while still producing legible documents.
Businesses demanding reliable document security can look to the device access and data protection options the SP C430DN and SP C431DN offer. The SP C430DN provides network data encryption and user authentication. For increased security, the SP C431DN comes standard with additional features, including an 80GB hard drive and 768MB of RAM for increased document storage and queuing, Enhanced Locked Print-NX (ELP-NX) for password-protected print release on any ELP-NX-enabled networked device, and Card Authentication Package (CAP) for device access via user identification card swipes. These features on the SP C431DN are also available optionally on the SP C430DN at an additional cost.
“Speed, versatility and reliability are important business requirements when looking for printers to maintain a productive office environment,” said Shun Sato, senior vice president of marketing for Ricoh Americas. “Whether you are a small business in need of a secure and dependable network printer, or a larger enterprise looking to enhance the productivity of individual workgroups, the Aficio SP C430DN and SP C431DN color laser printers are designed to fit into any setting and produce high-quality output while realizing savings for our customers.”
Eco Factor: Printer uses recycled paper for packaging.
Instant Cartridge Printer makes printing as simple as ABC. The recycling printer concept by designer Yuexun Chen is based on the idea that ‘package is part of the product’ and hence tries to simplify the process of recycling printer. The printer’s packaging is made from recycled paper and is tough enough to protect the printer inkjet inside the package.
The size of the printer varies according to the size of the paper while the numbering on the package shows the number of pages it could print. The easy to use printer only needs to get connected to a USB to lend out a fresh print. Once done with the requisite prints the printer can be easily disassembled to recycle.
June 16, 2010 – Staffordshire, United Kingdom (June 11, 2010) – Prink, leading UK suppliers of cheap ink cartridges and high quality compatibles for a number of brands, comment on research that suggests changing fonts can save on printer ink.
A study carried out by Printer.com suggests that varying fonts and sizes can use up different amounts of printer ink from printer cartridges. By using Ariel as the standard font, they deduced that switching to Times New Roman saved up to twenty per cent in ink costs whilst Ecofont (which leaves small holes inside the letters can save up to thirty per cent. Century Gothic was one of the most impressive performers saving up to thirty-one per cent of ink as opposed to Ariel.
One of the worst performing fonts however was Franklin, which uses more ink than any other standard font. Prink feel that although it may be wise to adjust fonts to save on inks, they also suggest using compatible ink cartridges for printers as not only do they deliver the same quality as a branded cartridge but are also much more affordable than official ones bought from retail stores.
“The research carried out by Printer.com is a very interesting read. Not many people would have thought that the font they used would have such a large effect on their ink levels,” commented a spokesperson for Prink. “So while it may be worth switching font, it’s also worth stocking up on cheap and affordable compatible ink cartridges so you don’t have to compromise your text. We have a wide range of compatible ink cartridges at Prink and you can view our full selection on our website today.”