Wednesday, ACCO Brands Corp. (ABD), reported a swing to profit in third quarter from last year as operating expenses decreased 33%, notwithstanding a 21% a decline in sales.
ACCO's net profit for the third quarter was $1.3 million or $0.02 per share, compared with a net loss of $32.7 million or $0.60 per share in the year-ago period.
Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $1.7 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a loss of $15.0 million, or $0.28 per share in the prior-year quarter. Results for the third quarter includes $2.8 million of restructuring and other charges.
Excluding charges, adjusted income from continuing operations was to $8.7 million or $0.15 per share, down from $12.6 million or $0.23 per share in the year-ago period. On average, 3 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.19 per share for the quarter.
Results also include a net loss on the early extinguishment of debt associated with the company's recent refinancing of $4.2 million, compared to a gain associated with the repurchase of senior subordinated notes of $0.6 million in the prior-year quarter.
Excluding the effect of the refinancing, adjusted earnings per share in the quarter would have been $0.23, compared to$0.22 per share in the prior-year quarter. Foreign exchange translation adversely impacted results by $1.6 million.
Net sales for the quarter decreased 21% to $322.5 million from $410.8 million in the comparable quarter last year. Excluding the effect of currency translation, sales declined 18%. Analysts expected revenue of $328.06 million for the quarter.
Segment-wise, net sales in America decreased to $175.5 million, a 21% decline from the year ago period, as volume declined in all markets driven by continued weakness in consumer and business demand. Sales declined 19% excluding the effect of currency translation.
Net sales in international segment declined 21% to $104.4 million from the prior-year quarter, reflecting continued volume declines in Europe and improving results in Australia, partially offset by price increases. Excluding the effect of currency translation, sales declined 15%.
Computer Products net sales for the quarter decreased 24% to $42.6 million from last year. Adjusted for the effects of currency translation, comparable sales declined 21%. The decline was due to lower sales volumes, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom. The loss of U.S. sales to Circuit City due to its bankruptcy accounted for 7% of the segment decline.
Operating income for the quarter increased to $27.5 million from $18.2 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted operating income was $30.3 million, down from $34.7 million in the year-ago period.
Total operating costs and expenses for the quarter decreased 33% to $72.4 million from $107.6 million in the year ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, total operating costs and expenses was $70.4 million, a 24% decrease from $92.9 million recorded in the prior year quarter.
For the nine-months ended September30, net loss was $127.1 million, compared with $81.2 million last year. Loss from continuing operations widened to $118.7 million from $22.9 million last year, Net sales declined to $919.7 million from $1,224.8 million in the prior-year.
Looking ahead, ACCO expects full-year sales to be flat or show a modest growth, driven by market share gains and favorable foreign exchange translation.
ACCO said, "We currently expect the rate of the year-over-year sales decline will be lower in the second half of 2009, with sales down in the low teens, versus a year-over-year decline of 27% in the first half of 2009."
ABD is currently trading at $6.26, down $0.22 or 3.40% on a volume of 0.42 million shares on the NYSE.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.