Lexmark International Group Inc, the Lexington, Kentucky-based printer manufacturer, has reported first-quarter net income up 37% at $67.8m on revenue up 17% at $787m. Earnings per share rose 39.1% to $0.96 for the quarter, beating the First Call consensus estimate of $0.88. Gross margins were 36.2%, down slightly from 36.7% in the year-ago quarter due to a mix shift between products. Operating expenses, meanwhile, were 23.1% of revenue, an improvement of 2.0 percentage points from last year, resulting mainly from lower selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales. The strong bottom line was a reflection of the increased revenues and higher operating margins, the company said, while lower income tax rates and fewer shares outstanding due to repurchases also contributed about $0.02 to EPS.
