MEDIA SCIENCE COLOR TONER SALES UP 41 %

[Anonymous]

Media Sciences Doubles Income for Second Consecutive Quarter
Company Reports Color Toner Cartridge Sales Increase of 41%
OAKLAND,
N.J., Feb.06– Media Sciences International, Inc. a leading independent
manufacturer of generic supplies for office color printers, today
announced its second quarter earnings for the period ended December 31, 2005.
Consolidated
net sales for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, increased
approximately ten percent to $5.1 million from $4.7 million for the
same period in the prior year. In the Company’s second quarter, color
toner cartridge sales increased by 41 percent and solid ink sales
increased by three percent. Consolidated net sales for the six-month
period ended December 31, 2005 increased to $9.9 million from $9.1
million for the same period in the prior year.
Consolidated gross
profit for the three months ended December 31, 2005 was $2.9 million or
approximately 57% of sales as compared to $2.3 million or approximately
49% of sales for the period ended December 31, 2004. Consolidated gross
profit for the six months ended December 31, 2005 was $5.6 million or
approximately 56% of sales as compared to $4.4 million or approximately
49% of sales for the period ending December 31, 2004. Media Sciences
has benefited from margin expansion due to increased efficiencies in
solid ink manufacturing and the mix of products comprising its toner
sales. Margins for the remainder of the fiscal year are expected to
remain fairly consistent with current results.
For the three months
ended December 31, 2005, income from continuing operations was $0.45
million or $0.04 per share basic and diluted, versus $0.24 million or
$0.02 per share basic and diluted in the prior year. For the six months
ended December 31, 2005, income from continuing operations was $0.88
million or $0.08 per share basic and diluted, versus $0.42 million or
$0.04 per share basic and diluted in the prior year.
In May 2005,
the Company ceased all electronic pre-press system sales and service
operations, which represented a majority of the operations of the
Company’s Cadapult subsidiary. The results of operations for that line
of business are classified as discontinued operations. Sales and
service revenues from discontinued operations for the quarter ended
December 31, 2004 were $0.45 million. Income from discontinued
operations for the three months ended December 31, 2004 was $0.033
million. Sales and service revenues from discontinued operations for
the six months ended December 31, 2004 were $0.89 million. Income from
discontinued operations for the six months ended December 31, 2004 was
$0.066 million.
Media Sciences expects overall revenue growth in the
second half of fiscal year 2006 to outpace revenue growth in the first
half. As a result of new products and current sales trends of existing
products, the Company anticipates growth in sales of color toner
cartridges to outpace growth in sales of solid ink products in fiscal
2006.
Expansion of Development and Sales Teams and Product Line
In
December 2005, Lawrence L. Anderson was promoted to Chief Operating
Officer, with responsibility for the Company’s research and
development. Also in December the Company hired Robert Catena, formerly
of Sun Chemical, to the new position of Director of Solid Ink
Development.
Further, the Company expanded its sales force with the
addition of two regional sales directors in the past 90 days. These
senior-level professionals bring to Media Sciences a combined 35 years
of experience in selling aftermarket supplies.
New product shipments
that began in December included solid ink sticks for use in the Xerox®
Phaser® 8500 and 8550 printers and color toner cartridges for use in
the Ricoh® AP3800C and related printer engines. The Company anticipates
two new product introductions before the end of its third quarter.
Exceptional Rating in Corporate Governance
The
strengths, deficiencies and risks of the Company’s corporate governance
practices and board of directors were recently reviewed by
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). As a result of recent changes
to its corporate governance practices, Media Sciences’ Corporate
Governance Quotient (CGQ®) as of February 1, 2006 was upgraded to the
98.7 percentile of CGQ Universe companies. The CGQ corporate governance
rating system is provided by ISS on over 8,000 companies worldwide.
On
the exceptional CGQ rating, Michael W. Levin, President and Chairman of
Media Sciences International, Inc., commented, “Media Sciences embraces
strong corporate governance practices and strives for consistent and
transparent communications. We are pleased to see our standards of
excellence in this area reflected so positively in the Corporate
Governance Quotient on GFX provided by ISS.”
Office Color Opportunity
“Color
printers with faster print speeds and higher quality are available at
ever lower prices, making the migration of business printing from
monochrome to color inevitable,” remarked Mr. Levin. On the unique
position held by Media Sciences, he continued, “At Media Sciences, we
are continually and strategically expanding our product line and our
team so that more and more businesses using Oki®, Konica-Minolta®,
Xerox®, and numerous other brands of office color printers will have
the opportunity to save up to 30 percent when they select the Media
Sciences® brand of newly manufactured supplies. Our knowledge and
experience, our all newly manufactured and quality-tested products, and
our proven warranty protection are empowering a growing base of
customers to choose the Media Sciences alternative with tremendous
confidence.”

[Author]

February 14, 2006 at 9:51 AM