School Specialty posted net income of $29.6 million for the second quarter, a decrease from $30.4 million in the prior year.
The institutional supplies direct marketer reported revenue of $346.1 million for the quarter ended Oct. 24, an 11.3% decrease from $390.3 million last year.
Management attributed these results primarily to reductions in spending by many school districts, and an expected $10 million decline in science adoption revenue compared to the same period last year.
"Our previously announced $20 million cost-reduction program has grown to $25 million, and that additional success at controlling costs was seen in our operating margin improvement,” said CEO David Vander Zanden, in a statement. “Schools continue to struggle with their budget challenges. While volume in consumable and curriculum products, excluding adoptions, has been only modestly below the prior year, sales of furniture and equipment have been significantly lower because those purchases are more easily delayed.”
