SINGAPORE - Printing company Xpress Holdings today announced a 51.6 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit to $214,000 in the three months ended Jan 3.

Total revenue also dropped 14.1 per cent to $4.1 million in the same period, due partly to a 2.4 per cent decline in its printing revenue.

"The board is cautiously assessing the current challenges facing the print industry and will leverage on the group's strength in delivering speed, reliability and quality as a competitive advantage over competitors," Xpress said in its results announcement.

But the management noted that Xpress continued to face cash flow problems. The company was hit by a net decrease in cash and cash equivalents of $57,000 in the quarter - a significant drop from the net increase of $5.3 million a year ago.

To address the issue, Xpress announced in February that it is working on a proposed shares and warrants issues to an investor to raise capital of up to $23 million.

"Based on the assurance from the investor and taking into account the progress of the transaction to date and consequently the prospect of infusion of new capital as targeted, the board believes that the company is able to meet its short-term obligations as and when they fall due," Xpress said.

For the quarter, Xpress' earnings per share dropped 60 per cent to 0.008 cent, while net asset value stood at 0.067 cent as at Jan 31.