LIVONIA, Mich. - Valassis today announced financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013. Third-quarter 2013 revenues were $489.4 million, a decrease of 6.6% from $523.8 million in the prior year quarter. This decrease was due primarily to an anticipated decline in revenues in the Neighborhood Targeted segment resulting from the change in certain client contracts to a fee-based media placement model, as well as the discontinuance of the sampling and solo direct mail products. Without the effect of these changes, third-quarter 2013 adjusted revenues* increased 4.3%.

Third-quarter 2013 net earnings were $27.7 million, which included $0.6 million of restructuring costs, net of tax, a decrease of 24.5% from $36.7 million in the prior year quarter, which included a favorable income tax adjustment of $5.0 million resulting from the expiration of certain tax reserves. Excluding these restructuring costs and favorable tax adjustment, third-quarter 2013 adjusted net earnings* were $28.3 million and third-quarter 2012 adjusted net earnings* were $31.7 million.

Third-quarter 2013 diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $0.70, which included the negative impact of the aforementioned restructuring costs of $0.02, a decrease of 22.2% from $0.90 in the prior year quarter, which included the positive impact of the aforementioned income tax adjustment of $0.12. Excluding these adjustments, third-quarter 2013 adjusted diluted EPS* was $0.72 and third-quarter 2012 adjusted diluted EPS* was $0.78. Third quarter adjusted EBITDA* was $65.3 million, a decrease of 13.2% from $75.2 million in the prior year quarter.

"Given our year-to-date results, I recognize a clear need for change. We are executing our plan to strategically refocus, restructure and right-size our company," said Rob Mason, Valassis President and Chief Executive Officer. "We project this plan will deliver approximately $28 million in annualized cost savings, putting our company in a better position to jumpstart and accelerate growth moving forward."

Some additional highlights include:

• Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Costs: Third-quarter 2013 SG&A costs were $74.6 million (including $0.7 million in restructuring costs), compared to the prior year quarter SG&A costs of $73.4 million.
• Capital Expenditures: Capital expenditures for third-quarter 2013 were $4.3 million.
• Return of Capital: During third-quarter 2013, we returned approximately $18.6 million to shareholders through a combination of stock repurchases and the payment of a cash dividend. Under our stock repurchase program, we repurchased $6.9 million or 242,712 shares of our common stock, at an average price of $28.49 per share. We paid a cash dividend of $0.31 per share of common stock, for a total of approximately $11.7 million.

Liquidity:

• We reduced total debt by $28.6 million during third-quarter 2013 (including voluntary payments/repurchases of $21.1 million), and we ended the quarter with net debt (total debt less cash) of $461.4 million.
• At Sept. 30, 2013, we had $75.0 million in cash.

Outlook

Based on our current performance and outlook, we are revising our full-year 2013 guidance as follows:

• diluted earnings per share (EPS) of between $2.74 and $2.84 (previously between $3.05 and $3.20),
• adjusted EBITDA* of between $270.0 million and $275.0 million (previously between $290.0 million and $300.0 million), and
• capital expenditures of approximately $20 million (previously approximately $25 million).

2013 Planned Uses of Cash:

Stock repurchase program: We assume the use of approximately 35-40% of free cash flow* for stock repurchases during 2013. Our stock repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any particular amount of shares of common stock, and may be modified or suspended at any time at our discretion.
Quarterly dividend: Pursuant to our cash dividend policy, we intend to pay a quarterly cash dividend to holders of our common stock. The dividend for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013 was $0.31 per share of common stock.

Business Segment Discussion

Shared Mail: Revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $342.5 million, an increase of 3.3% compared to the prior year quarter, driven by increases in packages, postage, the variable data postcard and distribution alliances. Segment profit for the quarter was $47.5 million, a decrease of 9.2% compared to the prior year quarter. The decline in segment profit was driven primarily by changes in volume mix and continued softness in wrap revenues, which offset gains from the variable data postcard and distribution alliances.

Free-standing Inserts (FSI): Revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $75.5 million, an increase of 4.6% compared to the prior year quarter, primarily driven by an increase in page volume. Segment profit for the quarter was $7.7 million, an increase of 1.3% compared to the prior year quarter, primarily driven by an increase in volume, offset by client mix and price.

Neighborhood Targeted: Revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $23.7 million, a decrease of 68.7% compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to the change in certain client contracts to a fee-based media placement model. Segment loss for the quarter was $2.1 million compared to segment loss in the prior year quarter of $1.1 million, due primarily to continued margin pressure.

International, Digital Media & Services (IDMS): Revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $47.7 million, an increase of 7.4% compared to the prior year quarter, driven by increased coupon clearing volumes and growth in our in-store business. Segment loss for the quarter was $2.4 million, compared to segment profit of $0.1 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to losses associated with our in-store and digital businesses.