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Finally returning to the ring after a near financial knockout, Anacomp Inc. came out of its corner last week with both fists flying.
The first half of the one-two punch: The company said it will acquire Datagraphix, a San Diego-based computer-equipment manufacturer that is twice Anacomp's size.
And second: The company announced first-quarter earnings of $2.8 million, dwarfing last year's first-quarter profits of $301,000 and nearly matching the $4 million it made for all of fiscal '86.
The two-fisted dispatch was positive news for observers of Anacomp and for its shareholders, who have been thirsting for evidence that the company's apparent turnaround can be sustained.
Trading in Anacomp shares on the New York Stock Exchange suggested that the thirst was being quenched. In heavy volume, Anacomp stock closed at $6 on Feb. 4, up from $5-1/4 on Feb. 2 and up from $4-3/8 a week earlier.
Though the significant earnings improvement was a pleasant surprise, the acquisition of Datagraphix, a company that Anacomp Chairman and CEO Louis P. Ferrero headed 10 years ago, was the real blockbuster.
"It really took people by surprise," says Gene Collins, an...