(By Balachander) American Greetings Corp. (NYSE:AM) announced a plunge in quarterly earnings due to charges and lower revenue.
Earnings were $7.3 million or $0.20 per share for the first quarter, compared with $32.6 million or $0.78 per share in the year-ago quarter.
During the quarter ended May 25, the Cleveland, Ohio-based company recorded certain charges related to acquisition of the senior secured debt of UK's Clinton Cards Plc.
Revenue fell 2.6 percent to $393 million.
Administrative costs jumped 23 percent.
The company's domestic greeting card brands include American Greetings, Recycled Paper Greetings, Papyrus, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Tender Thoughts, and Just For You, among others.
During the quarter ended May 25, American Greetings acquired roughly 2.8 million shares of its common stock for around $42.6 million.
The stock ended Wednesday's regular trading at $14.26. Over the past year, shares have been trading between $12.47 and $24.84.