HUNTINGTON -- Champion Industries Wednesday announced record net income for both the third quarter and the first nine months of its 2008 fiscal year.

Net income was $1,067,000 or 11 cents per share for the three months ending July 31, up from $1,031,000 or 10 cents per share in the third quarter of 2007.

Net income for the nine months ended July 31 represented record earnings of $3,740,000 or 37 cents per share on a diluted basis, up from $3,689,000 or 36 cents per share for the same period in 2007. The company's balance sheet reflected working capital of $21.1 million, book value per share of $5.04 and total shareholders equity of $50.3 million at July 31, 2008.

Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of 6 cents per share to be paid Sept. 19 to shareholders of record on Sept. 2.

"Our fiscal third quarter was our best third quarter in company history," said Marshall T. Reynolds, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. "Our sales growth for the third quarter of 2008 represented top line increases of approximately 11.6 percent with the growth coming as a result of our acquisition of The Herald-Dispatch. Our gross margins were encouraging for the quarter with improvement in gross margin percent for both the printing and office products and office furniture segment."

Reynolds said that the company's integration of The Herald-Dispatch commercial printing operations into the Huntington Chapman Printing commercial printing plant should "add increased production and operational efficiencies while expanding production capabilities and reducing operating costs."

Revenues for the quarter were $39.7 million, compared with $35.6 million in the same period in 2007, representing an 11.6 percent increase. Revenues for the nine months increased to $119.3 million from $104.3 million in 2007, an increase of 14.3 percent.

The printing segment experienced a sales increase of $949,000, or 1.3 percent, while the office products and office furniture segment experienced a decrease of $206,000, or 0.7 percent on a year-to-date basis. The company reported newspaper revenues of $14.2 million for the nine months ended July 31, 2008.

"Our sales growth for the first nine months was attributable to our acquisition of The Herald-Dispatch, which comprised our newspaper revenues and contributed to our commercial print revenue segment," said Toney K. Adkins, president and chief operating officer. "We will continue to focus our efforts on implementing integration opportunities with The Herald-Dispatch, as well as cost containment and revenue related initiatives company-wide."

Champion is a commercial printer, business forms manufacturer and office products and office furniture supplier in regional markets east of the Mississippi. Champion also publishes The Herald-Dispatch daily newspaper in Huntington.