Lexmark’s earnings report after China deal shows loss

Lexmark’s first quarterly earnings report after it announced that it is being sold to a Chinese consortium showed the company continuing to struggle with the same forces that have bedeviled it in recent years.

Its performance reflected the drag of its exit from the inkjet printer market as the company struggled to reinvent itself as a diversified information solutions company.

Revenue growth in managed print services and enterprise software was offset by a strong U.S. dollar and a decline in non-managed print services revenue, the report states.

The Lexington-based company reported a loss of $39.4 million after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On April 19, Lexmark announced it is being bought by a Chinese consortium of companies for $3.6 billion, or $40.50 a share. After the sale, the company will cease being listed on the NYSE.

Chairman and CEO Paul Rooke said then that Lexmark’s corporate headquarters would stay in Lexington and that he would continue to lead the company.

Lexmark did not hold its usual conference call with analysts after the earnings release Tuesday morning, and Rooke was not available to discuss the results.

Revenue of $806 million in the first quarter of 2016 was down from $852 million for the same period in 2015. The gross profit margin of 38 percent was down from 38.7 percent in the same period last year.

Operating income margin was down 4.8 percent. The company said it would pay its 18th consecutive quarterly divided of 36 cents a share.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Lexmark’s earnings report after China deal shows loss."