Valassis Reports Decreases in Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA

LIVONIA, MI—April 26, 2012—Valassis announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. Its revenues were $518.6 million, a decrease of 5.2 percent from $547 million in the prior year quarter. This decrease in revenues was due primarily to reduced spending by consumer packaged goods (CPG) clients across our various business segments and the absence of custom co-op programs within our Free-standing Inserts (FSI) segment.

First-quarter 2012 net earnings were $26.4 million, an increase of 23.4 percent from $21.4 million in the prior-year quarter, which included a loss on extinguishment of debt, net of tax, of $8.2 million. Excluding this charge, first-quarter 2011 adjusted net earnings* were $29.6 million.

Adjusted EBITDA was $67.0 million for the quarter, a decrease of 10.1 percent from $74.5 million in the prior year quarter.

“We continue to face headwinds associated with the pullback in CPG spending,” said Rob Mason, Valassis president and CEO. “While I certainly would have preferred a stronger start to the year, I remain very confident in our ability to execute and ultimately deliver our 2012 guidance.”

Some additional highlights include:

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Costs—First-quarter 2012 SG&A costs were $77.6 million (which included $2.3 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense), down slightly compared to the prior year quarter SG&A costs of $78.4 million (which included $1.9 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense).

Capital Expenditures—Capital expenditures for first-quarter 2012 were $9.3 million.

Stock Repurchases—During first-quarter 2012, we repurchased $1.4 million, or 59,122 shares, of our common stock at an average price of $23.10 per share under our stock repurchase program.

Outlook
Based on the company’s plan, current outlook and the assumptions specified in our Dec. 13, 2011 earnings guidance press release, we reiterate full-year 2012 guidance as follows:

• Diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.07;
• Diluted cash EPS* of $3.97; and
• Capital expenditures of approximately $32 million.

Business Segment Discussion

Shared Mail—Revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $328.1 million, an increase of 1.7 percent compared to the prior year quarter. Segment profit for the quarter was $42.4 million, an increase of 0.7 percent compared to the prior year quarter. The improvement in segment results was driven by an increase in revenue per package and lower SG&A costs; however, segment profit was negatively impacted by reduced wrap revenue and a decrease in insert volume.

Neighborhood Targeted—Revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $72.2 million, a decrease of 19.9 percent compared to the prior year quarter. Segment loss for the quarter was $1.6 million compared to segment profit in the prior year quarter of $1.9 million, due to the aforementioned revenue decline. Segment results were negatively impacted primarily by the reduction in CPG spend across newspaper inserts and sampling.

Free-standing Inserts (FSI)—Revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $76.3 million, a decrease of 14.5 percent compared to the prior year quarter. Segment profit for the quarter was $5.4 million, a decrease of 27.0 percent compared to the prior year quarter. Segment results for the quarter were impacted by the reduced CPG spend and the absence of custom co-op business.

International, Digital Media & Services (IDMS)—Revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $42.0 million, a decrease of 6.9 percent compared to the prior year quarter. Growth in NCH Marketing Services, Inc., our coupon clearing and analytics business, and our digital business was offset by declines in solo direct mail and in-store products. Segment profit for the quarter was $2.7 million, a decrease of 50.0 percent compared to the prior year quarter. The segment profit decline was primarily due to the negative pressure on the in-store business resulting from the reduction in CPG spend.

About Valassis
Valassis is one of the nation’s leading media and marketing services companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000 advertisers. Its RedPlum media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis to over 100 million shoppers across a multimedia platform—in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its digital offering, including redplum.com and save.com, consumers can find compelling national and local deals online. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and eight countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America’s Looking for Its Missing Children program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail, Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC and NCH Marketing Services.

Source: Valassis.