Takeover Costs Weigh Down Harland

ATLANTA – John H. Harland Co. said yesterday that expenses related to its pending takeover by M&F Worldwide pushed down fourth quarter profits by 35% to $13.6 million, or 52 cents a share, while revenues for the period also declined by 1% to $263.8 million, compared to the fourth quarter last year. The pre-tax costs for the pending merger amounted to $12.6 million. Fourth quarter results also included an impairment charge of $3.5 million resulting from the company’s decision to sell its printed products operations in Mexico, which are now reported as discontinued operations. For the full year profits declined 10% to $68.1 million, or $2.55 a share, all related to the merger and Mexico operations costs. Fiscal year revenues rose by 8% to $1.05 billion. M&F, which is controlled by corporate raider Ron Perelman, has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for Harland, and plans to combine its Clarke American check printing operations with that of Harland’s to create the largest check printer in the U.S.