Visant Corp. Reports Dip in Net Sales and Income

ARMONK, NY—March 7, 2011—Visant Corp. announced results for its fiscal year ended Jan. 1, 2011, including consolidated net sales of $1.241 billion, compared to $1.255 billion for its fiscal year ended Jan. 2, 2010, a decrease of approximately 1 percent. Consolidated net income decreased to $56.2 million from $90.7 million for fiscal year 2009. The drop was primarily due to the impact of the repurchase and redemption of debt and higher interest costs in connection with the company’s refinancing of its capital structure.

Visant also reported consolidated EBITDA (earnings before net interest expense, provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization expense) of $292.7 million for fiscal year 2010, a decrease of 4 percent compared to $304.7 million for fiscal year 2009.

Visant’s consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (defined in the accompanying summary of financial data) was $340.1 million for fiscal year 2010, an increase of 3 percent compared to $330.2 million for the comparable period in 2009.

For the company’s fourth quarter ended Jan. 1, 2011, consolidated net sales were $251.5 million vs. $255.1 million in the previous fourth quarter, a decrease of 1 percent. In addition, it reported a consolidated net loss of $19.9 million for the quarter, compared to net income of $1.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. This decrease was primarily attributable to higher interest costs.

Consolidated EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $37.7 million, a decrease of 12 percent compared to $43.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA was $44.3 million, a decrease of 6 prcent compared to $47.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Fiscal Year 2010 by Segment

For the fiscal year ended Jan. 1, 2011, net sales for the Scholastic segment were $469.7 million, an increase of 2 percent compared to $462.7 million for the 2009 fiscal year. This increase was primarily attributable to the incremental impact from acquisitions completed during 2009 and 2010, as well as higher prices offset slightly by lower overall volumes.

Net sales for the Memory Book segment were $375.9 million, a decrease of 3 percent compared to $386.8 million for the 2009 fiscal year. This decrease was primarily attributable to lower volume.

Net sales for the Marketing and Publishing Services segment decreased $10.7 million, or 3 percent, to $395.3 million during the fiscal year ended Jan. 1, 2011 from $406.0 million for fiscal 2009. This decrease was primarily attributable to lower volume in our publishing services operations offset in part by higher volume in our sampling and direct marketing operations.

The Scholastic segment reported Adjusted EBITDA of $79.4 million, a decrease of $1.8 million compared to $81.2 million for fiscal 2009. This slight decrease was primarily due to the impact of higher precious metal costs year-over-year offset somewhat by higher prices.

The Memory Book segment reported Adjusted EBITDA of $163.4 million, an increase of $8.2 million, or 5 percent, compared to $155.2 million for fiscal 2009. This increase was primarily due to the impact of cost reduction initiatives and efficiencies.

The Marketing and Publishing Services segment reported Adjusted EBITDA of $97.3 million, an increase of $3.5 million, or 4 precent, compared to $93.8 million during the full fiscal year 2009. This increase was primarily due to higher volume in our sampling and direct marketing operations and the impact of cost reduction initiatives, offset in part by lower volume in our publishing services operations.

Fourth Fiscal Quarter 2010 by Segment

Net sales of the Scholastic segment increased slightly to $137.8 million for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 1, 2011, up from $137.7 million for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 2, 2010.

Net sales of the Memory Book segment increased slightly to $17.5 million vs. $17.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Net sales of the Marketing and Publishing Services segment decreased $3.7 million, or 4 percent, to $96.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 from $99.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. This decrease was primarily attributable to lower volume in our publishing services operations offset in part by higher volume in our direct marketing operations.

Adjusted EBITDA for the Scholastic segment decreased $1.5 million, or 6 percent, to $25.9 million from $27.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. This decrease was primarily due to higher precious metal costs year-over-year and lower volume. The decrease was offset somewhat by higher prices.

Adjusted EBITDA for the Memory Book segment improved from a loss of $4.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 to a loss of $2.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. This improvement was primarily due to the impact of cost reduction initiatives and efficiencies.

Adjusted EBITDA for the Marketing and Publishing Services segment decreased $2.9 million, or 12 percent, to $20.8 million vs. $23.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower volume in our publishing services operations offset in part by higher volume in our direct marketing operations and the impact of cost reduction initiatives.

Consolidated Indebtedness

As of Jan. 1, 2011, Visant’s consolidated debt was $2.012 billion, including $15.6 million of capital lease and equipment financing obligations and exclusive of original issue discount related to the term loan under the senior secured credit facilities of $23.7 million. Its cash position as of Jan. 1, 2011 totaled $60.2 million.

About Visant Corp.
Visant Corp. is a leading marketing and publishing services enterprise servicing the school affinity, direct marketing, fragrance and cosmetics, and educational and trade publishing segments.

The company has three reportable segments:

Scholastic—provides services in conjunction with the marketing, sale and production of class rings and an array of graduation products and other scholastic affinity products to students and administrators primarily in high schools, colleges and other post-secondary institutions.

Memory Book—provides services in conjunction with the publication, marketing, sale and production of school yearbooks, memory books and related products that help people tell their stories and chronicle important events.

Marketing and Publishing Services—provides services in conjunction with the development, marketing, sale and production of multi-sensory and interactive advertising sampling systems, primarily for the fragrance, cosmetics and personal care segments, and provides innovative products and related services to the direct marketing sector. The group also produces book components primarily for the educational and trade publishing segments.

Source: Financial release.