Matthews International Corporation announced consolidated unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended December 31, 2012. For the quarter, the company reported sales of $225,609,000 compared with $217,213,000 for the same period a year ago. Consolidated operating profit for the fiscal 2013 first quarter was $16.5 million compared to $18.9 million a year ago. Unusual charges were a significant factor in the decrease from last year. Excluding unusual charges from both periods, consolidated operating profit for the current quarter was only slightly below last year. Income before income taxes was $12,380,000 compared with $17,454,000 for the same period a year ago. Net income attributable to Matthews was $8,255,000 or $0.30 per diluted share compared with $11,285,000 or $0.40 per diluted share for the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share was $0.47 compared with $0.42 for the same period a year ago. The increase in consolidated sales for the fiscal 2013 first quarter primarily reflected sales growth in each of the company's Memorialization businesses, higher sales for the Merchandising Solutions segment and the benefit of recent acquisitions. These increases were partially offset by lower sales in the Company's Graphics Imaging segment, which were impacted by continued weakness in the European market. Earnings for the fiscal 2013 first quarter were impacted by acquisition-related expenses, costs resulting from the implementation of a new ERP system for the Cemetery Products segment and charges related to cost reduction initiatives.

In November 2012, the company provided guidance that, excluding unusual costs, adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings per share were projected to be in the range of $2.45 to $2.55 for fiscal 2013. Based on the fiscal 2013 first quarter operating results and it current forecasts, the company is maintaining its projections at this time. The company announced that capital expenditure estimate right now is about $30 million for the fiscal year.

The board of directors declared a dividend of $0.10 per share on the company's common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2012. The dividend is payable February 11, 2013 to stockholders of record January 28, 2013.