SANTA ANA, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Making it more profitable for Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) channel partners to sell printing solutions, Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) today announced its new Lexmark Toner Advantage Program, which is now available to authorized Ingram Micro solution providers in the U.S. The Lexmark Toner Advantage Program enables channel partners to lock in a recurring revenue stream by extending a three-year price guarantee to their customers on select Lexmark toner supplies.
In addition, participating solution providers earn greater margins on the sale of select Lexmark printers and toner supplies by taking advantage of significant discounts awarded to them as part of the program. These incentives and price guarantees are designed to help channel partners generate greater demand for Lexmark printing solutions while driving down the total cost of printing and creating long-term savings for their end-user customers.
Ingram Micro’s new Lexmark Toner Advantage Program focuses on the Lexmark EG460dn monochrome laser printer, a network-ready compact laser that puts high-speed duplex printing close to users; and the Lexmark TG654n monochrome laser printer, designed with advanced features to help optimize workflow, save money and reduce impacts on the environment.
“Many businesses rely on solution providers to recommend the best IT products and services, as well as present them with insight on how these technologies will drive down costs, boost productivity and ultimately save them money over the short- and long-term,” says Kevin Prewett, vice president, vendor management, Ingram Micro U.S. “A first of its kind, this unique incentive program from Lexmark and Ingram Micro enables our mutual channel partners to deliver greater business value to their customers while maintaining a healthy margin and establishing an ongoing service engagement by locking in the supplies business with Ingram Micro at a guaranteed price for three years.”
“What’s great about Ingram Micro’s new Lexmark Toner Advantage Program is that the value and cost savings extends beyond our business to our customers,” says Harold Baer, general manager, Daisy I.T. Supplies, Sales & Service, a local IT reseller located in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. “We specialize in helping our customers select the right printer, fax or copier for their specific needs, and by tapping into this new program we are able to reduce our customers’ total cost of ownership when it comes to printing, and deliver them exceptional service.”
As part of the new program, authorized Ingram Micro solution providers also gain access to a lucrative product demo program that can be used to illustrate firsthand the performance and advantage of Lexmark monochrome laser printers to end-user customers. Once the equipment is registered, the end-user customer has the choice of purchasing its three-year, fixed priced toner supplies directly from the solution provider or online via the Toner Advantage Ordering Website at www.lextap.com. Upon completion of the online toner order, a rebate check is issued to the Lexmark solution provider who registered the deal.
(RTTNews) – Printing and imaging products maker Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) on Tuesday reported a five-fold increase in profit for the second quarter from last year, driven by strong sales of printers and supplies in addition to improved demand for services. The latest quarter’s results also include fewer charges as compared to the prior-year period.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings per share as well as revenue for the quarter topped analysts’ expectations. The company also provided earnings outlook for the third quarter above analysts’ current estimates.
The Lexington, Kentucky-based company’s net income for the second quarter was $85.1 million or $1.07 per share, up from $17.0 million or $0.22 per share in the year-ago period.
The latest quarter’s results included restructuring-related adjustments of $0.08 per share as well as acquisition-related adjustments of $0.08 per share, while the year-ago quarter’s results include restructuring-related adjustments of $0.33 per share.
Adjusted net earnings for the quarter more than doubled to $98 million or $1.23 per share from $43 million or $0.55 per share a year ago. On average, twelve analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.93 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
While reporting its financial results for the first quarter in late April, Lexmark had forecast earnings for the second quarter in a range of $0.71-$0.81 per share and non-GAAP earnings in a range of $0.85-$0.95 per share.
Revenue for the second quarter increased 14% to $1.03 billion from $904.60 million in the year-ago quarter and beat analysts’ consensus estimate for the quarter of $968.64 million. The company had projected revenue for the quarter to be up in the mid to high-single digit percentage range year-on-year.
The company’s gross profit margin for the quarter was 36.8%, up from 31.0% in the same period last year. Operating income margin was 11.5% compared to 3.1% in the year-ago period.
Paul Curlander, chairman and chief executive officer of Lexmark, said, “Lexmark’s second quarter results were significantly better than expected, driven by double-digit growth in both hardware and supplies revenue, as well as operating income margin expansion. This strong performance is a reflection of our improved product lines, continued growth in managed print services, the shift in our inkjet focus to business customers, and our ongoing strong growth in workgroup lasers and higher end inkjet products.”
The company’s printing solutions and services division, or PSSD, recorded a 20% growth in revenues from the year-ago quarter to $752 million, while the imaging solutions division reported a 2% decline in revenues to $275 million.
During the second quarter, Lexmark completed the acquisition of Perceptive Software, a provider of Enterprise Content Management or ECM software and solutions, for approximately $280 million in cash. The company was also awarded a five-year blanket purchase agreement or BPA for the purchase of monochrome and color laser printers and multifunction products by the Social Security Administration. The estimated value of the BPA is expected to reach $127 million.
For the third quarter, Lexmark expects GAAP earnings in a range of $0.70-$0.80 per share. Excluding restructuring-related and acquisition-related adjustments of $0.20 per share, the company forecasts non-GAAP earnings for the quarter in a range of $0.90- $1.00 per share. GAAP earnings per share in the year-ago quarter were $0.13, or $0.65 excluding $0.52 per share for restructuring-related adjustments. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $0.81 per share for the third quarter.
Lexmark currently expects revenue for the third quarter to be up in the mid to high-single digit percentage range year on year. Analysts expect a 3.1% increase in revenues for the quarter to $987.54 million.
In Tuesday’s regular trading, LXK is trading at $38.31, up $3.50 or 10.05% on a volume of 4.38 million shares.
July 27 (Bloomberg) — Lexmark International Inc., the maker of laser and inkjet printers, rose the most in more than five months after posting revenue and profit that beat analysts’ estimates on improving equipment and services sales.
Second-quarter profit excluding some items was $1.23, the Lexington, Kentucky-based company said today in a statement. That topped the 93-cent average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose to $1.03 billion, also exceeding projections.
Lexmark said it had “double-digit” growth in sales of hardware and supplies. It also won a five-year contract, worth as much as $127 million, to supply the U.S. Social Security Administration with printers and other supplies. The company has sold more services agreements, which can be more profitable than hardware, to companies including BB&T Corp. and Cummins Inc.
Lexmark rose $2.95, or 8.5 percent, to $37.76 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest gain since Feb. 2.
Profit Forecast
Profit excluding some costs will be 90 cents to $1.00 a share this quarter, Lexmark said. That compares with the 82-cent average of analysts’ predictions.
Second-quarter net income increased to $85.1 million, or $1.07 a share, from $17 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier, the company said.
Revenue in the services and solutions division rose 20 percent to $752 million. Analysts had projected total sales of $966.3 million in the period.
Sales of multifunction printers that cost $500 or more help increase profit after they’re sold because customers who buy them tend to print more pages over the machines’ lifetimes than owners of cheaper devices, driving ink sales, Lexmark Chief Financial Officer John Gamble said in an interview.
Gross margin, the percentage of sales left after production costs, rose to 36.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with 31 percent a year earlier.
During the period, Lexmark completed its $280 million all- cash purchase of Perceptive Software, a provider of enterprise content management software.
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.