American Greetings posts 4Q loss

American Greetings posts 4Q loss

	Published : Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:56 By : Agencies Print this Story

CLEVELAND (AP) - American Greetings Corp., which has been trimming down to be more focused on its core greeting cards business, said Tuesday it swung to a fourth-quarter loss, due to charges related to the sale of a business and store closings.

The nation's second-largest maker of greeting cards, behind privately held Hallmark Cards Inc., lost $12.2 million, of 22 cents per share, on sales of $472.8 million, in the quarter completed Feb. 28.

The results included a $16 million dollar pretax loss from the sale of its candle product line and a $6.5 million loss due to exit costs connected with the closure of 60 retail stores, the company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial on average expected American Greetings to report a profit of 16 cents per share.

In the year-ago quarter, earnings were $41.8 million, or 58 cents per share, which included a loss of 12 cents per share from the sale of a South African business. Sales were $507.4 million.

Full-year net income declined 49.8 percent to $42.4 million, or $0.71 per share, on sales of $1.74 billion.

The previous fiscal year produced earnings of $84.4 million, or $1.16 per share, on sales of $1.88 billion.

American Greetings, which has 20,000 employees, sells cards and other products under brand names American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Gibson. It owns and operates about 500 card and gift shops throughout North America, and sells cards through retailers.

The company receives royalties for licensing of characters such as Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobby. Its Internet and wireless business unit, AG Interactive, is a leading provider of electronic greetings, ring tones for cellular telephones and other content for the digital markets.

Shares of American Greetings were up 55 cents, or 2.2 percent, in early trading Tuesday at $24.81