American Greetings Announces Second Quarter Earnings

CLEVELAND, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) today announced its results for the second fiscal quarter ended August 26, 2011.

Second Quarter Results

For the second quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company reported total revenue of $368.8 million, pre-tax income of $25.0 million, and net income of $14.5 million or 35 cents per share (all per-share amounts assume dilution).  Compared to the prior year, revenue increased approximately $26 million.  Included within these results was a pre-tax benefit from the sale of certain minor characters in our intellectual property portfolio of $4.5 million (after-tax of approximately $2.8 million) or approximately 7 cents per share.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2011, the Company reported total revenue of $342.8 million, pre-tax income of $17.0 million, and net income of $8.5 million or 21 cents per share.  During the quarter, the Company incurred pre-tax costs associated with the integrations of Papyrus and Recycled Paper Greetings of $5.2 million (after-tax of approximately $3.2 million) or approximately 8 cents per share.

Management Comments and Outlook

Chief Executive Officer Zev Weiss said, “I am very pleased with our innovative new products and revenue growth this quarter, which resulted in market share gains both domestically and internationally.  As we look at the balance of this year, we are certainly more cautious than we were at the beginning of the year about the global economy and the effect it is having on the consumer.  However, while this could create earnings volatility during the second half of the year, we remain steadfast in our investments to continue our product leadership and remain focused on our longer term goals.”

Financing Activities

Under the Company’s $75 million share repurchase program, during the second fiscal quarter the Company purchased approximately 0.5 million shares of its common stock for about $11.1 million.  The share repurchases this second fiscal quarter are a continuation of a multi-year effort where the Company has reduced its diluted share count by about 50 percent over the past six-and-a-half years.

Conference Call on the Web

American Greetings will broadcast its conference call live on the Internet at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time today.  The conference call will be accessible through the Investors section of the American Greetings Web site at http://investors.americangreetings.com.  A replay of the call will be available on the site.

About American Greetings Corporation

For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) has been a creator and manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships to create happiness, laughter and love.  The Company's major greeting card lines are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods and American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards.  American Greetings also has one of the largest collections of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc. (the Company's online division).  In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group.  Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.6 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets worldwide.   For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

Certain after-tax and earnings per share amounts included in this earnings release may be considered non-GAAP measures under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation G.  The after-tax amounts were calculated based on the Company's statutory tax rate of approximately 38.9%.  The earnings per share amounts were calculated based on the average number of common shares outstanding assuming dilution for the period presented.  Management believes that after-tax and earnings per share information is useful in analyzing the Company's results.

Factors That May Affect Future Results

Certain statements in this release, including those under Management Comments and Outlook, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws.  These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts.  They use such words as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance.  These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, but are subject to a variety of uncertainties, unknown risks and other factors concerning the Company's operations and business environment, which are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of the Company.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements, and that could adversely affect the Company's future financial performance, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• a weak retail environment and general economic conditions;
• competitive terms of sale offered to customers;
• retail consolidations, acquisitions and bankruptcies, including the possibility of resulting adverse changes to retail contract terms;
• the timing and impact of expenses incurred and investments made to support new retail or product strategies as well as new product introductions and achieving the desired benefits from those investments;
• the timing of investments in, together with the ability to successfully implement or achieve the desired benefits associated with, any information systems refresh the Company may implement;
• the timing and impact of converting customers to a scan-based trading model;
• the ability to achieve the desired benefits associated with the Company’s cost reduction efforts;
• Schurman Fine Papers’ ability to successfully operate its retail operations and satisfy its obligations to the Company;
• consumer acceptance of products as priced and marketed;
• the impact of technology, including social media, on core product sales;
• escalation in the cost of providing employee health care;
• the Company’s ability to achieve the desired accretive effect from any share repurchase programs;
• the Company's ability to comply with its debt covenants;
• fluctuations in the value of currencies in major areas where the Company operates, including the U.S. Dollar, Euro, U.K. Pound Sterling, and Canadian Dollar; and
• the outcome of any legal claims known or unknown.

Risks pertaining specifically to AG Interactive include the viability of online advertising, subscriptions as revenue generators, and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing social media and the digital photo sharing space.

In addition, this release contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis as of the date of this release.  American Greetings does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.  Further information concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related to forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” section of the Company's Fiscal 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE American Greetings Corporation