Exhibit 99
Printronix Reports Break Even Fourth Quarter and Profitable Fiscal
2004
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2004--Printronix, Inc.,
(NASDAQ:PTNX), the leading manufacturer of integrated enterprise
printing solutions for the supply chain, today announced fourth
quarter revenue of $31.6 million, down 6.9% from the prior quarter and
down 9.3% from the year ago quarter. Revenue for the fiscal year
ending March 26, 2004 was $125.1 million, down 9.5% from $138.2
million for the fiscal year ending March 28, 2003.
The company reported net income for the quarter of $45 thousand,
or $0.01 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.2 million,
or $0.20 per diluted share, in the year ago quarter. Net income for
the fiscal year ending March 26, 2004 was $0.6 million, or $0.11 per
diluted share, compared with net income of $3.0 million, or $0.51 per
diluted share, for the fiscal year ending March 28, 2003.
"As we disclosed in our outlook issued on February 19, 2004, our
results for the fourth quarter were impacted by the closing of fewer
major orders in the Americas region, which resulted in lower revenue,"
said Bob Kleist, president and CEO of Printronix. "Additionally, we
experienced a slowdown in the order rate in the OEM channel,
particularly in the Americas. We have reached an agreement with our
largest OEM customer to address this issue by supplying greater sales
and marketing support. Printronix is also addressing a decrease in
line matrix printing in developed markets with geographic expansion in
emerging markets.
"Printronix began shipments of a 'Smart Label Developers Kit' in
the December quarter to enable pilot programs for RFID label printing
to meet the Wal-Mart / DOD requirements for January 2005 top tier
supplier shipments. This program has continued to gain momentum within
the retail industry, and we expect this to result in added RFID sales
starting in the latter half of calendar year 2004.
"During this difficult business period, we have continued to
carefully manage our resources and continued to build cash during the
fourth quarter. As a result, we entered the new fiscal year with more
than $36 million in cash, compared with less than $30 million at the
end of the prior fiscal year," Mr. Kleist continued.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004, gross margin was
38.0%, up from 36.6% in the same period one year ago due primarily to
a stronger Euro, continuing cost reductions, lower warranty expenses,
and lower provision for excess inventory. For the fiscal year 2004,
the same factors drove a 260 basis point improvement in year to date
gross margin to 37.9% from 35.3% reported for the prior fiscal year.
Operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $12.3 million, up
from $11.5 million in the year ago fiscal period as a result of higher
sales, marketing and engineering expenses primarily related to RFID,
increased costs for geographic expansion of sales offices, and higher
consulting costs for Sarbanes-Oxley requirements and income taxes.
Operating expenses for the fiscal year 2004 were $46.4 million and
increased over the prior year for the reasons cited above.
During the fourth quarter, the company completed its study of
available research and development income tax credits and booked a tax
benefit of $1.3 million. During the quarter, the company did not
provide tax benefits related to domestic losses and increased its
valuation allowance against certain expiring tax deferred tax assets
by $0.6 million, leaving a benefit of $0.7 million. After provision
for foreign taxes, the net benefit was reduced to $0.5 million.
The company ended the fourth quarter with cash of $36.7 million,
up $7.1 million from the same period a year ago and up $1.5 million
from the prior quarter. The company did not repurchase any shares of
its common stock during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004.
Except for historical information, this press release contains
"forward-looking statements" about Printronix, within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Terms such as
"objectives," "believes," "expects," "plans," "intends," "should,"
"estimates," "anticipates," "forecasts," "projections," and variations
of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially, including: adverse business conditions and a
failure to achieve growth in the computer industry and in the economy
in general; the ability of the company to achieve growth in the Asia
Pacific market; adverse political and economic events in the company's
markets; a worsening of the global economy due to general conditions;
a worsening of the global economy resulting from terrorist attacks or
risk of war; a worsening of the global economy resulting from a
resurgence of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome); the ability of
the company to maintain our production capability in our Singapore
plant or obtain product from our Asia Pacific suppliers should a
resurgence of SARS occur; the ability of the company to hold or
increase market share with respect to line matrix printers; the
ability of the company to successfully compete against entrenched
competition in the thermal printer market; the ability of the company
to adapt to changes in requirements for RFID products by Wal-Mart
and/or the Department of Defense or others; the ability of the company
to attract and to retain key personnel; the ability of the company's
customers to achieve their sales projections, upon which the company
has in part based its sales and marketing plans; the ability of the
company to retain its customer base and channel; the ability of the
company to compete against alternate technologies for applications in
our markets; and the ability of the company to continue to develop and
market new and innovative products superior to those of the
competition and to keep pace with technological change. The company
does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its
forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes show
that the indicated results or events will not be realized.
About Printronix, Inc.
Printronix Inc., (NASDAQ:PTNX) is a global leader enabling
printing technologies for the industrial marketplace and distribution
supply chain. It is the manufacturer of the world's best-selling line
matrix printer and has earned an outstanding reputation for its
high-performance thermal and fanfold laser printers. In addition,
Printronix adapts new technologies to create innovative programs,
including RFID "smart label" and wireless mobile printers.
Printronix's integrated network programs, such as Online Data
Validation (ODV(TM)) and PrintNet(R) Enterprise, improve the printing
of bar codes, labels and forms while verifying accuracy and offering
unparalleled diagnostic technology. Based in Irvine, Calif.,
Printronix has operations worldwide. For more information:
www.printronix.com.
Printronix Inc., and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(Dollars in Thousands, Except Share and Per Share Data)
Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
3/26/04 12/26/03 3/28/03 3/26/04 3/28/03
Revenue $31,564 $33,909 $34,788 $125,070 $138,229
Cost of sales 19,577 20,181 22,070 77,670 89,379
Gross margin 11,987 13,728 12,718 47,400 48,850
Engineering and
development 4,077 4,014 3,868 15,885 15,761
Sales and
marketing 6,086 5,726 5,560 22,269 21,337
General and
administrative 2,180 2,195 2,088 8,249 8,705
Total operating
expenses 12,343 11,935 11,516 46,403 45,803
(Loss) income
from operations (356) 1,793 1,202 997 3,047
Other expense
(income), net 89 110 (3) 313 (461)
(Loss) income
before taxes (445) 1,683 1,205 684 3,508
(Benefit) provision
for taxes (490) 209 10 52 471
Net income $45 $1,474 $1,195 $632 $3,037
Earnings Per Share:
Basic $0.01 $0.25 $0.21 $0.11 $0.52
Diluted $0.01 $0.24 $0.20 $0.11 $0.51
Shares Used in
Earnings Per
Share
Computation:
Basic 5,956,981 5,794,137 5,819,242 5,734,633 5,843,702
Diluted 6,199,913 6,044,303 5,968,645 5,961,035 6,012,367
Gross margin % 38.0% 40.5% 36.6% 37.9% 35.3%
Operating
expenses % 39.1% 35.2% 33.1% 37.1% 33.1%
(Loss) income
from operations % -1.1% 5.3% 3.5% 0.8% 2.2%
Net income % 0.1% 4.3% 3.4% 0.5% 2.2%
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(Dollars in Thousands)
3/26/04 12/26/03 3/28/03
Assets
Cash and
equivalents $36,671 $35,154 $29,617
Accounts
receivable, net 18,408 16,719 18,741
Inventory, net 13,506 13,593 12,678
Other current
assets 6,932 5,666 5,742
Plant and
equipment, net 35,071 35,941 38,781
Other assets 1,221 682 528
Total assets $111,809 $107,755 $106,087
Liabilities and
Stockholders'
Equity
Short-term debt $700 $700 $700
Accounts payable 6,965 6,620 6,520
Other current
liabilities 11,962 11,950 12,888
Other long-term
liabilities 15,989 14,778 14,903
Stockholders'
equity 76,193 73,707 71,076
Total
liabilities
and
stockholders'
equity $111,809 $107,755 $106,087
CONTACT: Printronix, Inc., Irvine
Robert A. Kleist, 714-368-2863
or
George L. Harwood, 714-368-2384
or
EVC Group, LLC
Douglas M. Sherk (Investors), 415-896-6818
dsherk@evcgroup.com
or
Jennifer Beugelmans (Investors), 415-896-6817
jcohn@evcgroup.com
or
WunderMarx, Inc.
Cara Good (Media), 949-860-2434, ext. 312
cgood@wundermarx.com