By Mary Ellen Podmolik | ACCO Brands Corp., which late last year began restoring employee pay cuts,
reported a small fourth-quarter profit and improved annual results.

The Lincolnshire-based office products company, whose products include
Day Timer planners and Swingline staplers, said it earned $1 million,
or 2 cents a share, in the year’s fourth quarter, compared with a
year-ago fourth quarter loss of $258 million, or $4.76 a share.

For the year, the company said it lost $126.1 million, or $2.32 a share, compared with a loss in 2008 of $339.2 million, or $6.26 a share.

It was the second consecutive quarterly profit for the company, which in December 2008 drew headlines for imposing dramatic pay cuts on its employees. Two months ago, after reporting its first profitable quarter in two years, it began paying back employees.

Despite reporting flat fourth-quarter sales and a 19 percent decrease in annual sales, Acco chairman and chief executive Robert Keller said the company should return to profitable growth in 2010.