Green Earth Group NV — Earnings Release 2010

Nov 10, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Business update: Third quarter 2010

• ‐ Offer document submitted to financial authorities
• ‐ Refinancing put into effect
• ‐ Graphics industry still in disequilibrium
• ‐ No statement on expected 2010 result

Public tender preparations: Current status

The joint press statement released on 5 October by Print Holding B.V. and Roto Smeets Group on progress in the preparations for a public offer for all ordinary shares in the Roto Smeets Group stated that the bidding party expected to submit a request for approval of the offer document to the Financial Market Authority (Autoriteit Financiële Markten: AFM) before the end of October 2010.

The offer document was submitted to the Authority on 18 October 2010, but supplementary questions from the AFM
made it impossible to release the document to the public before the end of October. Since the document will now be published more than four months after the first half‐year has ended, the Resolution on Public Offers (Besluit openbare biedingen) requires that an accountant's review must accompany the financial details for the current accounting year.

We are currently working with the bidding party to answer the AFM's additional questions. We shall issue a further statement as soon as another point in time is in view for the AFM's formal approval.

Financial position

Even though there has been a slight increase in the volume of paper processed in Europe in comparison with Q3 2009, no price recovery is in sight as yet. Added value has dropped below the 2009 figure, partly as a result of the capacity reduction at Roto Smeets Etten and the closure of Roto Smeets Utrecht, accompanied by continuing pressure on prices.

Thanks to the reorganisation, cumulative labour costs have declined up to and including Q3 by more than 14% in comparison with the same period in 2009. Other costs declined by more than 17% in the same period.

As has already been stated, the effects of the measures taken and the associated savings will only make a full contribution to the recovery of our business result from 2011 onwards.

Financing

Partly as a result of payment of the last tranche of our social liabilities, interest bearing debt increased in Q3 2010 over the half‐year (2010) figure by EUR 3.8 million to EUR 82.5 million (EUR 78.7 million at half‐year end 2010). A financial lease has been agreed with Amstellease to finance the 72‐page press at Roto Smeets Weert, which has now been installed.

The refinancing agreed with the banks has now been put into effect. The factoring contract with Fortis Commercial Finance and the credit agreement with ABN Amro and ING Bank
have now been finalised.

Market developments

The Print Productions business line focuses on three principal areas: magazines, catalogues and door‐ to‐door print.

In the public magazine area the publishers are focusing quite emphatically on the rapid development of magazine applications for the recently introduced tablets, like the Apple iPad, accompanied by a decline in the introduction of new titles. In objective terms, print continues to retain by far the largest share in this area.

The market for door‐to‐door printing remains stable, even as fierce competition rages for the client's favour, both nationally and internationally. Once again, research shows that frequent (weekly) door‐ to‐door printed advertising by retailers draws substantially more traffic into their stores.

The catalogue market is still seeking to strike a balance between print and on‐line: it seems they are tending to reinforce each other, rather than print being driven out.

The Marketing Communications market is developing well. Once again in Q3, MediaPartners Group has attracted new clients and is performing well.

Bankruptcies in the graphics industry are following each other with increasing rapidity, even though none contributes to a genuine recovery in the branch. This is in contrast to other areas of business, where the economy appears to be recovering, with positive results.

The graphics industry remains turbulent. Despite the collapse of several fellow businesses, competition remains as fierce as ever. It would appear, too, that price rises for raw materials and services (freight, power, ink, paper) are inescapable. It is against this background that we continue to follow our strategy of full machine occupancy.

Major events

In the period just past we have been able to tell the public of the signature of a number of major contracts.

For example, Northern & Shell, one of the UK's biggest newspaper publishers, signed a contract worth millions with Roto Smeets Group to produce four weekly colour supplements for a period of five years. Starting in January 2011, four colour supplements will be produced every week
in the printing plants at Roto Smeets Deventer, Roto Smeets Etten and Roto Smeets Weert. The supplements, with their commercial inserts, will be placed in the Express Newspapers titles. The contract is a significant addition to the weekly magazine portfolio that Roto Smeets Group produces for publishers throughout North‐western Europe.

Roto Smeets Group and Veronica Uitgeverij B.V. have extended the printing contract for Veronica Magazine, Holland's biggest public magazine, until the end of 2013. The contract is for printing and finishing, which involves the rotogravure printing of the inside matter, producing the cover by web‐ offset, and then finishing the entire magazine. Roto Smeets also readies the magazine for distribution to subscribers and single copy sales. Veronica Magazine is mainly produced at the Roto Smeets Deventer rotogravure plant.

Now the restructuring has been completed at Roto Smeets Etten, one of the two Roto Smeets Rotogravure plants, it has been decided that as of 1 November the present Managing Director, Gerald Petersen, is to be transferred to Roto Smeets Weert, where he follows Diederik
Fetter as Managing Director. Diederik
Fetter has stated that, for personal reasons, he wishes to pursue his career outside the Group.

The management of Roto Smeets Etten has been taken over by Peter Bruijn, Production Department Head, who is to be appointed Plant Manager. He will report to the Managing Director Rotogravure, Henning Pluym, whose office is at Roto Smeets Deventer.

Prospects

As long as the graphics industry remains in a state of disequilibrium it remains virtually impossible for the Roto Smeets Group to make any statements about the result to be expected for 2010. Roto Smeets Group is convinced that the industry as a whole must come to the inevitable conclusion that it is unsustainable to continue to offer its products and services at low or no margin, or even below cost price. The graphics industry can only reduce the erosion of its margins by taking capacity out of production and increasing prices to restore profitability to its business operations.

Financial diary 2010:

Annual result 2010 published	17 March 2011
Annual Report 2010 published	29 March 2011
Annual General Shareholders' Meeting	11 May 2011
Business update Q1 2011	11 May 2011
2011 half‐year accounts	25 August 2011
Business update Q3 2011	10 November 2011

Roto Smeets Group NV Management Board

Deventer, 10 November 2010

For further information please contact: J.P. Caris, CEO Tel. +31 570‐ 69 49 05

This is an interim statement in the context of Article 5:25e of the Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het Financieel Toezicht).

Profile

Roto Smeets Group is the graphics industry's market leader in the Netherlands and occupies a leading position in Europe. Roto Smeets Group
inspires with its innovative solutions for printed and digital media. The Group's right to existence is beyond dispute; as an organisation it is trustworthy and ambitious, continuously concerned to expand its services and modernise its production facilities. Roto Smeets Group devotes great care to the health and safety of its employees,seeking always to invest in and optimise their craftsmanship
and expertise. Roto Smeets Group's business practices are consistent with the Group's concern for society as a whole.

Hunneperkade 4, 7418 BT Deventer, The Netherlands.+31 570 69 49 00, info@rotosmeetsgroup.com, www.rotosmeetsgroup.com