Power Corporation of Canada - Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

Readers are referred to the section entitled "Forward-looking Statements" at the end of this release.

MONTREAL, April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Power Corporation of Canada (TSX: POW) announced today that Mr. Philip K. Ryan will be stepping down as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation. Mr. Ryan will be pursuing other interests in the United States, including board related work and teaching.

During his four years with the Power group of companies, he has made a significant contribution to Power Corporation and its subsidiaries. The Board of Directors expresses its appreciation to Mr. Ryan and wishes him the very best in his future endeavours.

The Corporation is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Mr. Gregory D. Tretiak as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Tretiak has been with IGM Financial Inc. (a subsidiary of the Corporation) for 24 years and is currently the Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since 1999. The Board of Directors is of the view that the experience of Mr. Tretiak and his knowledge of the Power group make him ideally suited for his new role with the Corporation.

Mr. Tretiak will also join Power Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of the Corporation, as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer.

These changes are expected to take place after the respective Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Corporation and Power Financial in May of 2012.

Power Corporation of Canada is a diversified international management and holding company with interests in companies in the financial services, communications and other business sectors in North America, Europe and Asia.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this News Release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements based on certain assumptions and reflect the Corporation's current expectations, or with respect to disclosure regarding the Corporation's public subsidiaries, reflects such subsidiaries' disclosed current expectations. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding the Corporation's financial performance, financial position and cash flows as at and for the periods ended on certain dates and to present information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of the Corporation and its subsidiaries, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "seeks", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could".

By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond the Corporation's and its subsidiaries' control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Corporation and its subsidiaries and their businesses, and could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations of estimated or anticipated events or results. These factors include, but are not limited to: the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, management of market liquidity and funding risks, changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates), the effect of applying future accounting changes, business competition, operational and reputational risks, technological change, changes in government regulation and legislation, changes in tax laws, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, catastrophic events, the Corporation's and its subsidiaries' ability to complete strategic transactions, integrate acquisitions and implement other growth strategies, and the Corporation's and its subsidiaries' success in anticipating and managing the foregoing factors. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances, including that the foregoing list of factors, collectively, are not expected to have a material impact on the Corporation and its subsidiaries. While the Corporation considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, they may prove to be incorrect.

Other than as specifically required by applicable Canadian law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise.

Additional information about the risks and uncertainties of the Corporation's business and material factors or assumptions on which information contained in forward-looking statements is based is provided in its disclosure materials, including its most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis and its Annual Information Form filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE POWER CORPORATION OF CANADA