R.R. Donnelley Q3 Profit Surges, Tightens 2014 Revenue Outlook

(RTTNews) - Print and related services provider R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) on Wednesday reported a more than four-fold increase in profit for the third quarter from last year, reflecting higher revenues on the back of acquisitions and on fewer charges. Looking ahead, the company tightened its revenue outlook for fiscal 2014.

Thomas Quinlan III, president and chief executive officer of R.R. Donnelley said, "Our third-quarter results reflect the continuing success we are having in the marketplace, highlighted by the positive trend in revenue. Despite a challenging comparable related to the timing shift of a significant customer project into the fourth quarter this year, we achieved organic revenue growth of 0.8% in the third quarter."

For the third quarter, net earnings attributable to shareholders were $62.2 million or $0.31 per share, up from $14.7 million or $0.08 per share in the previous-year quarter.

The share count in the latest quarter increased by 17.1 million shares from last year, primarily related to shares issued in connection with the acquisitions of Consolidated Graphics and the North American operations of Esselte.

Net earnings attributable to shareholders included pre-tax charges of $22.6 million and $85.5 million in 2014 and 2013, respectively. Excluding pre-tax charges and other adjustments, adjusted net earnings attributable to shareholders were $0.39 per share, compared to $0.38 per share in the year-ago period.

Net sales for the quarter grew 13 percent to $2.96 billion from $2.61 billion in the same period last year, reflecting mainly the acquisitions of Consolidated Graphics and the North American operations of Esselte.

After adjusting for the positive impact of acquisitions and dispositions, organic sales increased 0.8 percent, as increases in the Strategic Services and Variable Print segments were partially offset by declines in the Publishing and Retail Services as well as International segments.

For fiscal 2014, R.R. Donnelly now forecasts net sales in a range $11.6 billion to $11.7 billion, compared to the prior range of $11.5 billion to $11.8 billion. Analysts expect revenues of $11.61 billion for the year.

RRD closed Tuesday's trading at $17.43, down $0.27 or 1.53 percent on a volume of 1.22 million shares.