John A. Blanchard, chairman and chief executive of Deluxe Corp., told analysts in New York last week that his company's restructuring is on schedule and yielding the expected results.
"We set out to lower our cost structure by reducing duplication, streamlining operations and decision-making, and eliminating money-losing operations, and we're on target to deliver the indicated $150 million in annual savings by 1998," said Mr. Blanchard.
One of the most sweeping changes is the consolidation of check-printing plants, which produce more than half the nation's personal checks.
Deluxe, based in St. Paul, once operated more than 60 check-printing centers, but it has scaled back to 18 and expects to settle at around 15 next year.
The company is also installing DeluxeNet, a $20 million system that will automate the receiving and processing of banks' check orders.
Eventually, the system should handle a wide variety of traffic, including the billing information for Deluxe's financial services area, which accounts for close to two-thirds of the $1.8 billion in annual revenues.
Mr. Blanchard said Deluxe Data Services, which specializes in electronic funds transfer services and software, will play an increasingly important role in the corporation.
In addition, a joint venture with HCL Corp. of New Delhi should yield significant revenues in the coming years, beginning with a planned set of payment system services in India.
