Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Merrill Corporation Announces Record Operating Results
Merrill Corporation announces record quarterly revenue for its fiscal second quarter ending July 31, 2005, and record revenue and net income for the six months ending July 31, 2005.

St. Paul, Minn. - Merrill Corporation (www.merrillcorp.com ), a global, diversified communications and document services provider, today announced record quarterly revenue for its fiscal second quarter ending July 31, 2005, and record revenue and net income for the six months ending July 31, 2005.

Revenue increased $30.4 million, or 16.9 percent, to $209.9 million for the fiscal second quarter ending July 31, 2005, from $179.5 million for the same period one year ago. Net income was $8.2 million for the second fiscal quarter compared to $4.1 million for the second fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2004. Approximately $7.1 million of the fiscal second quarter revenue increase was attributed to three recent acquisitions.

Revenue increased $47.7 million, or 12.9 percent, to $416.6 million for the six months ending July 31, 2005, from $368.9 million for the same period one year ago. Net income, including a $18.6 million gain on cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle related to redeemable preferred stock (SFAS 150), was $35.5 million for the six months ending July 31, 2005, compared to $15.4 million for the six months ending July 31, 2004.

Approximately $15.1 million of the six month revenue increase was attributed to three recent acquisitions.

"We are very pleased with our strong second quarter and year-to-date performance despite volatile capital markets during the past six months," said John Castro, CEO of Merrill Corporation. "Our diversification strategy continues to yield positive results as demand for new products and services such as Merrill DataSite and our Strategic Communication Services' fulfillment offerings posted strong growth. Although our traditional financial transaction business was strong, revenue and profit generated from our other businesses, particularly Document Management Services, fueled these record operating results."

About Merrill Corporation
Founded in 1968, Merrill Corporation (www.merrillcorp.com) is a leading global provider of technology-enabled service solutions for the financial, legal, real estate and other corporate markets. Merrill combines deep industry expertise with superior service and infrastructure to deliver world-class document, brand marketing, print, fulfillment, language and e-business solutions. With more than 4,700 people in more than 60 locations, Merrill empowers the communications of the world's leading companies.

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Forward-Looking Statements
Merrill Corporation cautions investors that certain statements contained in this press release that state management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements.Management wishes to caution the reader these forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are only estimates or predictions. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the competitive environment in our business, demand for our product and service offerings, projections of future sales, changes in technology, our ability to retain employees and other risks. Forward-looking statements can be identified through the use of words such as "may," "will," "intend," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "estimate," "contemplate," "potential," "continue," "possible" and "proposed."

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