NEW YORK – M&F Worldwide, controlled by corporate raider Ronald O. Perelman, said the buyback of $137 million of its debt at a discount enabled it to book a $2.8 million net for the fourth quarter and a $119.7 million net for the year.
The company said revenues for its core Harland Clarke check-printing unit declined by $7 million in the fourth quarter and by $64.4 million for 2009, primarily due to volume declines from check and related products, which the company believes was partially affected by the economic downturn.
Revenues for the Harland Financial Services unit declined by $3.7 million in the fourth quarter and by $14.8 million for the full year, primarily due to volume declines in license, hardware and professional services revenues, as well as in mortgage products.
Revenues for the company’s Scantron unit declined $6.4 million in the fourth quarter and by $3.3 million for the year.
But the company, which was formed by the acquisitions of the Clark American and John H. Harland check printing businesses, booked a $65 million gain by buying back the debt incurred in the two major deals. That allowed M&F to lower its debt service to $31.1 million for the fourth quarter, from $47.9 million for the same period in 2008; and by $139.1 million for the whole of 2009, from $190.9 million for 2008.
Absent the debt service charges, M&F, which also includes Perelman’s licorice business, reported a strong $36.3 million operating net for the fourth quarter and a $266.2 million operating net for the full year.
