Counselor Top 40 distributor Cimpress (asi/162149) increased sales 6% on an annual basis to $804.97 million during the first quarter but experienced a loss of about $12.55 million during the three-month stretch, which concluded Sept. 30.

In an Oct. 30 announcement, the publicly traded company shared its full quarterly financial results, which showed that its VistaPrint, National Pen, Print Brothers and The Print Group divisions all engineered sales gains.

Robert Keane, Cimpress (asi/162149)

The companywide bottom-line decrease, which translated to losses of $0.50 per basic share, was a result of factors that included increases to advertising spending and product mix shifts that reduced gross margin in the Vista division, as well as higher volume-related operating costs, among other factors.

During the previous fiscal year’s first quarter, Cimpress generated net income of about $4.5 million, or $0.17 per basic share.

Despite the earnings retreat, CEO Robert Keane described Cimpress’ first quarter results as “solid,” pointing to the sales rise, lower net leverage and “improvements in customer value and new product introduction.”

“Our team,” said Keane, “remains focused and incentivized on delivering for customers and continuing the progress in our financial performance for the benefit of our long-term investors.”

Cimpress’ top-line performance outpaced the industry. Released this week, the ASI Distributor Quarterly Sales Survey showed that, on average, distributors increased sales by 4.2% in the third quarter of 2024. The calendar year Q3 corresponds to Cimpress’ fiscal year Q1.

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Cimpress’ performance by division was thus:

Vista: This business segment, which includes the firm’s flagship e-commerce-driven provider of print and promo products, VistaPrint, increased sales 8% year over year to about $429.5 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined by $1.7 million to $76.8 million, a 2% drop on an annual basis.

National Pen: Before being acquired by Cimpress, National Pen was a Counselor Top 40 promo products distributor in its own right. In Cimpress’ fiscal Q1, National Pen increased revenue by almost 8% to $93.4 million. Still, the segment sustained a loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $4.76 million.

Print Brothers: The division grew revenue year over year by about 5% to nearly $160.42 million. EBITDA was down 0.3% to $20.15 million.

The Print Group: The segment engineered an annual basis sales gain of 6% to $84 million. EBITDA was up $5.4 million to $17.9 million thanks to sales growth, gross margin expansion and lower costs that included “variable long-term incentive compensation,” the company said.

Cimpress’ 2024 fiscal year concluded June 30. Over the 12-month span, the firm increased sales 7% on an annual basis to about $3.29 billion and tallied net income of $173.68 million, or $6.64 in basic earnings per share.

Based on estimated 2023 North American promotional products sales of $310 million, Cimpress ranked 10^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.