The Chicago-based company also announced the expansion of its proprietary ProteusJet Multiweb platform, which has been installed in two of the company's direct response production facilities and which will now leverage piezoelectric four-color inkjet technology to enable direct marketers to better target consumers for improved ROI.
During a conference call with analysts to discuss the first quarter results, President/CEO Thomas Quinlan suggested that after cutting back in the latter part of 2011, customers are now beginning to boost their marketing promotions. He was also encouraged by an uptick in IPO pricing during Q1 which benefits R.R. Donnelley as it wins a very sizable share of the print work associated with public offerings.
"Based on the first quarter results and what we are seeing in terms of customer wins that will further ramp up this year, we are comfortable in our expectation that revenue for the full year will be flat to slightly up," Quinlan said.
Quinlan touted an 11.2% increase in its logistics business, which is dominated by global print management services. But that growth wasn’t enough to offset volume declines in books, directories, variable print, and financial print, which along with continued price pressure in the north american commercial printing segment led to a 3.1% decline in net sales to $1.9bn for R.R Donnelly’s U.S. Print and Related Services segment. International sales were flat.
During the analysts call, Quinlan touted the ProteusJet, noting that while in the past they had been used for statement printing in transpromo and print-on-demand books, the new multi-web configurations will be used for enhanced direct mail applications.
The platform incorporates two- and three-web in-line assembly configurations to deliver superior high speed variable imaging quality in full color, while the platform's image area allows designers to take full advantage of the ability to personalize four-color content anywhere across the web and also extends the same high quality, four-color imaging to the in-line envelope. The ProteusJet also allows for a hybrid in-line print solution that enables offset to be integrated into the Multiweb imaging line.
"What we're doing is creating an entirely new way of printing and personalizing direct response communications," Quinlan said. "The word piezoelectronic inkjet may not mean a lot to you, but to our customers, they mean more ink coverage than ever before and at high speeds. We can start at one end of an RR Donnelley press with a blank roll of paper and deliver on the other a fully finished, highly personalized piece that is already inside a highly personalized envelope without the very difficult and time consuming kinds of press setup that other manufacturers have to include in their processes and costs. "
Quinlan’s confidence in the new configuration comes from the growth in impressions resulting from its initial ProteusJet installations. "Customers' adoption of the ProteusJet solution drove up the number of impression from the units by 134% during 2011," he noted. "We're onto something great, and with the multi-web configuration, we're scaling to take advantage of all growth opportunities."
During a Q&A session, Quinlan suggested the company would continue to focus on capturing market share from competitors, especially in the US, noting, "This is still a huge marketplace. Just in the United States alone, the estimates are, at the end of 2011, it was $149bn marketplace. If you exclude newspapers, it's $119bn. We don't have 10% of that in the United States. So I mean, I think, there is a lot of opportunity for us there."
R. R. Donnelley Boosts Q1 Profit, Unveils ProteusJet Multiweb Digital Print Platform for Direct Marketers
R.R. Donnelly & Sons managed to boost its Q1 profit by 10% over the same period in 2011 to $37.4 million, despite a more than 2% decline in revenues to $2.52 billion as cost cutting helped offset declines in its US Print and Related Services business.
The Chicago-based company also announced the expansion of its proprietary ProteusJet Multiweb platform, which has been installed in two of the company's direct response production facilities and which will now leverage piezoelectric 4-color inkjet technology to enable direct marketers to better target consumers for improved ROI.
During a conference call with analysts to discuss the first quarter results, President/CEO Thomas Quinlan suggested that after cutting back in the latter part of 2011, customers are now beginning to boost their marketing promotions. He was also encouraged by an uptick in IPO pricing during Q1 which benefits R.R. Donnelley as it wins a very sizable share of the print work associated with public offerings.
"Based on the first quarter results and what we are seeing in terms of customer wins that will further ramp up this year, we are comfortable in our expectation that revenue for the full year will be flat to slightly up," Quinlan said.
Quinlan touted an 11.2% increase in its Logistics business, which is dominated by global print management services. But that growth wasn’t enough to offset volume declines in books, directories, variable print, and financial print, which along it continued price pressure in the North American commercial printing segment led to a 3.1% decline in net sales to $1.9 billion for R.R Donnelly’s U.S. Print and Related Services segment. International sales were flat.
During the analysts call, Quinlan also touted the ProteusJet, noting that while in the past they had been used for statement printing in TransPromo and print-on-demand books, the new multi-web configurations will be used for enhanced direct mail applications.
The platform incorporates 2- and 3-web in-line assembly configurations to deliver superior high speed variable imaging quality in full color, while the platform's image area allows designers to take full advantage of the ability to personalize 4-color content anywhere across the web and also extends the same high quality, 4-color imaging to the in-line envelope. The ProteusJet also allows for a hybrid in-line print solution that enables offset to be integrated into the Multiweb imaging line.
"What we're doing is creating an entirely new way of printing and personalizing direct response communications," Quinlan said. "The word piezoelectronic inkjet may not mean a lot to you, but to our customers, they mean more ink coverage than ever before and at high speeds. We can start at one end of an RR Donnelley press with a blank roll of paper and deliver on the other a fully finished, highly personalized piece that is already inside a highly personalized envelope without the very difficult and time consuming kinds of press setup that other manufacturers have to include in their processes and costs. "
Quinlan’s confidence in the new configuration comes from the growth in impressions resulting from its initial ProteusJet installations. "Customers' adoption of the ProteusJet solution drove up the number of impression from the units by 134% during 2011," he noted. "We're onto something great, and with the multi-web configuration, we're scaling to take advantage of all growth opportunities."
During a Q&A session, Quinlan suggested the company would continue to focus on capturing market share from competitors, especially in the US, noting, "This is still a huge marketplace. Just in the United States alone, the estimates are, at the end of 2011, it was $149 billion marketplace. If you exclude newspapers, it's $119 billion. We don't have 10% of that in the United States. So I mean, I think, there is a lot of opportunity for us there."
