American Greetings profits nearly double

American Greetings Corp. said Thursday that its first quarter profit nearly doubled from a year ago on strong sales of greeting cards.

The company made $30 million, or 54 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 25 compared with earnings of $15.4 million, or 24 cents per share, a year ago. Sales rose to $418 million in the quarter from $404.2 million a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for the company to post earnings of 34 cents per share for the most recent quarter.

The company reaffirmed its full-year estimate of earnings per share from continuing operations to between $1.35 and $1.55 per share. Analysts expect $1.35 per share.

The company, which has about 20,000 employees, sells cards and other products under brand names American Greetings, Carlton Cards and Gibson. It owns and operates about 600 card and gift shops throughout North America and sells cards through retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. [via]