SAN ANTONIO Harland Clarke Holdings Corp., the world’s biggest check printer, reported it broke into the black for its first quarter, even as its core checks business continues to decline in the face of electronic transactions.
The company, which was taken private last year by financier Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes, reported net income of $13.7 million for the first quarter, compared to a loss of $22.9 million for the same quarter last year when it fell into the red due to costs related to the going-private transaction. Perelman has combined check printers Clarke American and John H. Harland Co., into Harland Clarke to create the world’s biggest check printer, even as the checks business continues its decade-long decline.
Deluxe Corp., the other major surviving check printer, has reported a similar decline in its checks business, with a growing portion of its revenues coming from other sources, primarily due to volume declines. Still, the company reported a 53% surge in revenue to $76.9 million from its Harland Financial Solutions, which provides core processing and other services to credit union. It also reported a slight decline in revenues from its Scantron, school testing unit, to $29.9 million.
Total revenue for the company, which also include the recently acquire Fanueil subsidiary, rose 4% in the first quarter to $429.5 million. Harland Clarke Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of M & F Worldwide, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of MacAndrews. MacAndrews is wholly owned by Ronald Perelman.
