CGX said revenue for the quarter was $250.6m, off 2.9% from the same period a year earlier as sales growth related to acquisitions and a rise in election-related printing could not overcome a 4.8% drop in same store sales.

Adjusted profits for the quarter were $6m, compared with $17.7m for the same period in 2011, but the net result - which included $11.5m in charges related to withdrawing from multi-employer pension plans - was a $5.9m loss.

In a conference call with analysts, CGX chairman and chief executive Joe Davis laid most of the blame for the quarter on March, adding: "The March results were a complete surprise to me. Something happened in the March quarter and we think the economy had something to do with that."

But Davis also suggested the industry transition to digital is having an impact on total print volume — at least over the short term.  "Digital is growing, partially at the expense of traditional offset printing. This shift reduces the total amount of revenue being generated. As customers transition from offset to digital, many customers are buying less, especially those that have traditionally bought offset print materials."

Davis told the analysts he expected the industry transition to digital will benefit CGX in the longer term. "These market dynamics are hurting smaller locally-owned printing companies, I believe, much more than us," he said.

"The weaker demand levels are also reducing the selling prices and that’s impacting their bottom lines. For that reason—and many others—I believe that many of our competitors will go out of business. This should enable Consolidated Graphics to capture market share."  Davis said he also expected CGX’s acquisitions to accelerate in the near future.

The disappointing results took a bit of the luster off the purchase agreement with HP, announced in Dusseldorf, where HP is showing the HP Indigo 10000 model - its first B2-format sheetfed press.

CGX said in a press release it will begin installing the presses at locations throughout its 70-company network when the HP Indigo 10000 becomes commercially available in early 2013 and will use the equipment both for direct marketing as well as folding carton production.

"The HP deal with CGX is huge and will enable us to expand our leadership position in digital printing," Ric Davis, CGX executive VP, Purchasing and Operations told PrintWeek. "The larger format size and increased throughput will be great additions to our world-leading digital network."

Davis added there were other technologies, including new finishing innovations, showcased at drupa that will help CGX get personalized work completed more efficiently. He also noted, "The concepts around nano technology and nano ink introduced by Benny Landa, who is the inventor of the Indigo press, really got people thinking that an even larger change is on the way. But there is little consensus on when this technology will start impacting print."

Davis suggested that the fact that drupa has to serve both established and emerging print markets made it seem like there were two different shows going on at once.  "Printers in the high growth areas of Asia, South America and Russia were buying or showing interest in equipment supporting the traditional offset business," he said.

"Nearly all the show deals concerning sheet-fed, web offset or computer-to-plate technology were for printers in these high growth markets. For the mature print markets of North America or Europe, most of the focus and deals were around digital with a heavy emphasis on inkjet. We counted inkjet presses in 18 different booths at drupa this year."

But he quickly cautioned, "I saw many companies talk about inkjet but very few had anything detailed to say. Many companies did not hand out inkjet samples or handed out samples that were only on uncoated paper with low ink coverage - that’s not where most of the commercial printers in the US make their money."