MONTREAL—  Transcontinental says it earned $18.4 million in the first quarter, down from $27.7 million a year earlier. Revenues for the first quarter  ending  Jan. 30 was $690.6 million, up 10.9 per cent from $622.7 million in the prior year, due to higher resin prices and acquisitions. Chief executive Peter Brues says the financial results didn’t meet its expectations. “The spread of the Omicron variant caused significant operational disruptions that hampered our ability to efficiently manage our business and, combined with inflationary pressures, had an adverse impact on our profitability."Brues  said the printing sector produced strong organic growth in revenues and solid profitability despite the pandemic challenges, while the media sector’s revenues and profitability was improved.