COPPELL, Texas--Jan. 18, 2000--TST/Impreso, Inc. (Nasdaq National Market: TSTI), a leading manufacturer and distributor of paper and film hard copy imaging products for commercial and home office applications, today reported operating results for the first quarter of FY2000.
For the three months ended November 30, 1999, the Company reported a 16% increase in net sales, which reached a first quarter record of $16.5 million, compared with $14.3 million in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. Net income declined slightly, to $125,650 ($0.02 per share) in the most recent quarter, versus $136,700 ($0.03 per share) in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
``We were very pleased with the 16% increase in first quarter sales,'' commented Marshall Sorokwasz, president and chief executive officer of TST/Impreso, Inc. ``Our new relationship with Corporate Express is evolving as expected, and a number of the IBM brand product lines are now being distributed by that global supplier of office products.''
``Sales of our branded and specialty products continue to increase, in general, and we have received sizeable initial orders for our new wide format engineering rolls and laser roll paper,'' continued Sorokwasz. ``The modest decline in first quarter earnings resulted from increased raw paper prices which were not fully passed on to our customers, along with higher interest costs. We view the gross margin squeeze as a short-term issue which we are addressing in our product pricing strategy. On a longer-term basis, rising paper prices have always benefited TST/Impreso's earnings, and we see no reason why this should change in the future. Our recently-announced plan to expand our West Virginia plant by 50,000 square feet will allow us to reduce outside inventory storage costs and should also have a beneficial impact upon future margins.
``Our HotSheet.com® and affiliated SHOPsheet.com websites continue to grow their revenues at an impressive rate. Although we do not report Internet revenues separately, I am pleased to report that such revenues, which are currently derived from advertising, click-through fees, and commissions on the sale of products by vendors, have increased approximately 1,000% in the past twelve months.
``We are developing an Internet strategy which will allow HotSheet.com, Inc. to aggressively pursue its corporate agenda as a separate company, once our shareholders approve a proposed holding company structure at our annual meeting in March. If approved by shareholders, TST/Impreso shares will be exchanged for shares in a parent holding company, Impreso.com, Inc., which will own 100% of our paper products business and approximately 90% of HotSheet.com, Inc. We believe that a holding company structure will allow management to most effectively realize the intrinsic value of HotSheet.com, Inc. for our shareholders,'' concluded Sorokwasz.
TST/Impreso, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of paper and film products for commercial and home use in domestic and international markets. The Company's product lines consist of standard continuous computer stock forms; thermal facsimile paper; cut sheet products such as copy paper, ink jet paper, digital photo paper and transparencies; fine business stationery; point-of-sale and cash register machine rolls; high-speed laser roll paper; wide format engineering rolls; wide format ink jet media; and processed laser cut sheets. Customers include business forms dealers, wholesale stationers, office products dealers, paper merchants, consumer electronics stores, mass merchants, computer superstores, office supply superstores, Original Equipment Manufacturers, catalog companies, and co-operative buying groups. Headquartered in Coppell. Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex), TST/Impreso operates three manufacturing plants and distributes its products through 47 warehouse locations.
TST/Impreso, Inc. also owns and manages HotSheet.com, a single-page, online Internet directory with categorized links to premier web destinations.
The Company's website domains are www.hotsheet.com, www.impreso.com , www.shopsheet.com and www.tstimpreso.com.
The common stock of TST/Impreso, Inc. is traded on Nasdaq's National Market System under the symbol ``TSTI''.
This press release may include statements that constitute
``forward-looking'' statements, usually containing the words ``believe'' ,
``estimate'', ``project'', ``expect'' or similar expressions. These
statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences
include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company's
products in the marketplace, competitive factors, new products and
technological changes, paper prices and raw material costs, dependence
upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's
periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no
obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after
the date of this release.
TST/IMPRESO, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Nov. 30,
1999 1998
---- ----
Net Sales $ 16,508,353 $ 14,272,022
Cost of Sales 14,603,992 12,551,715
------------ ------------
GROSS PROFIT 1,904,361 1,720,307
Selling, General and Admin. Expenses 1,481,180 1,296,598
Interest Expense 243,406 181,733
Other Expenses, Net 2,949 19,221
------------ ------------
Income Before Taxes 176,826 222,755
Income Tax Expense 51,176 86,055
------------ ------------
NET INCOME (LOSS) $ 125,650 $ 136,700
============ ============
BASIC AND DILUTED
EARNINGS (LOSS) PER SHARE $ 0.02 $ 0.03
============ ============
Weighted Avg. Shares Outstanding:
Basic and Diluted 5,292,780 5,292,780
TST/Impreso, Inc.
Marshall Sorokwasz
President and CEO
972/462-0100
or
RJ Falkner & Company, Inc.
Investor Relations Counsel
800/377-9893
info@rjfalkner.com