Gradco Posts Profit for Quarter as Revenue Soars

Citing a strong market for office copier equipment, particularly products for high-quality laser printers, Gradco Systems reported earnings for its third quarter ended Dec. 31 of $1.3 million on sharply higher revenues, contrasted with a year-ago loss of $894,000.

The Irvine-based manufacturer of paper-handling products for copiers and printers said its revenues rose 75% to $24.8 million from $14.2 million in the year-earlier period.

Gradco’s earnings “are right on target,” said Donna M. Hostetler, an analyst for Crowell, Weedon & Co.

Hostetler attributed Gradco’s hefty revenue growth to the firm’s December, 1986, acquisition of Zyad Inc., a New Jersey manufacturer of paper feeders for laser printers.

Gradco Chairman Keith B. Stewart said in a statement that the improved quarterly figures were the result of “strong new orders” for laser printer products and “continued strength and growth in the copier market.”

For the first nine months of its fiscal 1988, Gradco reported earnings of $2.9 million, nearly triple the year-ago earnings of $1.1 million. Revenues of $63.3 million were up 50% compared to the year-earlier $42.2 million.