Green Earth Group NV — Earnings Release 2012

Nov 8, 2012

Press!release

Business!update!Q3!2012!!

Introduction

In!the!Netherlands!and!throughout!Western!Europe,!the!graphics!market!remains!under!continuing! pressure.!In!the!first!three!quarters!of!2012, the!volume!of!paper!printed!was!12%!lower!than!the! previous!year,!while!web!offset!volume!was!down!by!6%.!We!can!also!see!the!effects!of!a!slowing! economy!in!those!markets!that!are!relatively!sensitive!to!economic!conditions,!such!as!Marketing! Communications!and!our!sheetfed!offset!plants.!Productions!are!being!downsized!or!even!postponed.

In!Print!Productions!we!are!still!dealing!with!continuing!overcapacity!and!falling!volumes,!which!we! have!been!seeing!for!years.!Our!response!to!this!shift!involves!a!structural!reduction!of!cost!price,! improving!capacity!management!and!shortening!manufacturing!times.!To!this!end,!in!the!summer!we! started!the!improvement!programme!called!'Faster,!Better,!Higher'.!The!programme!projects!have!all! now!started!up!and!we!expect!to!be!able!to!reap!their!harvest!in!the!coming!18!months.

Results Q3!2012!

Compared!to!2011, the!volume!of!paper!printed!by!Roto!Smeets!Group!fell!slightly!less!rapidly!than!the! market!average,!as!indicated!above.!The!volume!shrank!in!both!rotogravure!and!offset!in!the!first! three!quarters!by!9%!and!3%,!respectively.!As!a!result,!the!result!was!lower!than!in!the!corresponding! period!in!2011.!We!were!able!to!compensate!part!of!the!effect!of!the!decreased!volume!thanks!to!the! cost!cuttings!introduced!last!year.!!

Financial!position

Debt!at!the!end!of!Q3!was!at!virtually!the!same!level!as!at!the!end!of!the!half!year.!Debt!dropped!by!9%! compared!to!yearZend 2011.!!Our!cash!flow!position!is!such!that!we!are!able!once!again!to!take!full! advantage!of!any!discounts!on!offers,!particularly!by!the!paper!industry.!

Significant!events,!Q3

Print!Productions

The\$market

Future!prospects!in!this!market!force!us!to!adapt!continuously.!Continuing!overcapacity!exerts! constant!pressure!on!prices,!which!is!now!being!reinforced!as!we!see!major!groups!of!customers,!such! as!publishers,!cutting!volumes!in!the!face!of!declining!results.!The!domestic!scene!is!dominated!by!a! series!of!bankruptcies,!mainly!among!smaller!printing!firms,!but!despite!this,!too!much!capacity! remains!available.!Abroad!we!are!seeing!a!number!of!market!parties!getting!into!increasingly!serious! difficulty.!Capacity!is!disappearing!thanks!to!closures,!but!volumes!are!being!absorbed!by!the! remaining!businesses!in!the!same!printing!group,!so!nothing!is!being!released!to!the!market.!!!

\$'Faster,\$Better,\$Higher'\$status\$report

The!improvement!programme!'Faster,!Better,!Higher'!started!up!in!this!quarter.!The!projects!in!the! programme!are!planned!to!lead!to!substantial!cost!savings!and!improvements!in!productivity,! especially!in!Roto!Smeets.!Shorter!manufacturing!times,!improved!added!value,!and!greater! productivity!will!make!the!business!more!competitive.!

One!of!the!first!projects!to!be!tackled!under!the!programme!is!a!change!to!the!organisational! structure!at!the!Roto!Smeets!plants,!the!objective!being!to!draw!responsibility!further!down!into!the! organisation,!cut!the!number!of!management!layers,!and!reduce!a!number!of!incidental!functions. This! means!that!the!Managing!Directors'!posts!at!the!individual!plants!were!scrapped!as!of!1!October,!to!be! replaced!by!a!central!management team!led!by!a!single!Managing!Director,!which!has!now!been! installed.!This!team!will!give!strategic!leadership!to!the!five!production!plants!in!the!cluster,!while!the! local!plant teams!will!steer!their!own!organisation!tactically!and!operationally.!

The!goal!is!to!have!the!organisation!run!as!efficiently!as!possible,!with!decisive,!rapid!decision!making,! attuned!to!customers'!needs!in!a!rapidly!changing!market.!We!intend!to!make!internal!announcements! of!further!appointments!at!strategic,!tactical!and!operational!level!in November.

A!number!of!working!groups!have!been!started!up!in!the!Production!and!Technology product!group!to! meet!our!productivity!improvement!and!cost!saving!targets.!!!

Technique

Implementation!of!the!new!ERP!(Enterprise!Resource!Planning)!system!in!Technique,!as!announced!in! May,!is!running!exactly!on!schedule.!The!project!involves!the!installation!of!a!management information! system!in!all!of!the!Group's!Print!Productions!plants!to!replace!the!three!systems!governing! management information,!production!control!/!data collection,!and!logistics.!The!various!modules!are! currently!being!installed!in!phases.!It!is!expected!that!the!system!will!be!operational!in!all!areas!of!the! Business!Line!in!midZ2013.

Marketing!Communications

MediaPartners!Group!has!had!an!eventful!year,!dominated!by!a!major!takeover!and!uncertainty!about! the!future!among!the!clients.

Early!in!the!summer,!after!intense!negotiations!with!IPG,!vdbj_!was!added!to!the!MediaPartners! Group.!The!takeover!gained!a!great!deal!of!attention!in!the!media.!MediaPartners!Group!and!vdbj_!are! the!founders!of!the!customer!media!industry!in!the!Netherlands!and!have!been!competitors!right!from! the!start.!The!Bloemendaal!bureau!has!an!impressive!portfolio,!including!such!clients!as!Esprit,!Mediq,! Rabobank,!Randstad!and!UWV.

With!the!proviso!of!works!council!approval,!management!has!resolved!that!vdbj_!will!be!integrated! into!the!MediaPartners!Group.!Both!brands!will!be!actively!marketed!in!the!future.!As!from!midZ December,!the!combined!business!will!be!located!in!Amstelveen.

vdbj_!is!performing!as!expected.!This!also!holds!for!the!synergy predicted!when!the!takeover!was! being!contemplated.!It!is!satisfying!to!see!that!ad!hoc!teams!are!currently!sealing!the!deal!after!their! first!pitches.

At!the!end!of!2011!MediaPartners!Group!in!Amstelveen!lost!a!number!of!clients!and!orders!as!the!result! of!major!cost!cutting!exercises.!MediaPartners!Belgium!started!2012!in!a!stable!position,!but!they!were! affected!by!a!pitch!for!the!largest!client,!Unilever,!which!they!failed!to!win.!The!added!value!realised!by! MediaPartners!in!2012!will!be!virtually!the!same!as!that!of!2011,!which!was!a!record!year,!mainly!thanks! to!expansion!among!existing!clients!and,!to!a!lesser!degree,!work!for!new!ones.

The!steep!increase!in!the!amount!of!work!in!2011!caused!a!structural!rise!in!staffing!costs!in!2012.!We! now!know!that!savings!will!once!again!have!to!be!made!among!our!major!clients,!including!KPN!and! PostNL.!This!will!require!some!adjustment,!the!effects!of!which!will!only!become!apparent!after!some! delay.!The!business!result!will!be!below!that!of!2011!for!that!reason.

Miscellaneous

The!wellZattended!annual!shareholders'!visit!this!year!was!to!XZMedia!Solutions!in!Doetinchem.!XZ Media!Solutions!is!a!Senefelder!Misset business!unit.!As!a!magazine!printer!with!more!than!135!years'! experience!in!the!printed!presentation!of!content,!it!was!a!logical!step!to!offer!publishers!support!with! the!careful!release!of!their!content!with!crossZmedia!techniques,!which!is!why!the!XZMedia!Solutions! business!unit!was!set!up!in!2010.

Roto!Smeets!Group!N.V.!scored!164!points!in!the!Transparency!Benchmark!2012.!This!is!26!points!more! than!last!year!(2011:!143).!As!things!stand,!a!score!of!169!would!put!Roto!Smeets!Group!N.V.!36th!on the!Transparency!Ladder.!The!final!score!on!the!Transparency!Benchmark!2012!will!be!announced!on! 22!November.

The!Transparency!Benchmark!is!a!scheme!run!by!the!Ministry!of!Economic!Affairs,!Agriculture!and! Innovation!to!promote!transparency!in!the!reporting!of! corporate!social!affairs!in!the!Netherlands.! Part!of!the!scheme!involves!an!annual!test!of!Holland's!500!biggest!companies,!as!well!as!listed! businesses,!universities,!state!organizations,!and!voluntary!!participants.

Prospects

The!market!conditions!described!above!will!not!improve!materially!in!Q4.!!Roto!Smeets!Group! therefore!expects!that!the!2012!result!will!be!sharply!lower!than!the!2011!figure.!

Financial calendar!2012:

Annual!accounts!2012!published 21!March!2013 Annual!report!2012 3!April!2013 General!Shareholders'!Meeting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!! 15!May!2013 Business!update!Q1!2013 !!!!! 15!May!2013 HalfZyear!figures!2013!published !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!22!August!2013 Business!update!Q3!2013 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! !!!7!November!2013

Roto!Smeets!Group!NV! Management!Board

Deventer,!8!November!2012!

For\$further\$information\$please\$contact: Drs!J.A.!de!Haas!MBA,!CEO L.M.!van!Gelder,!Director!Financial!Affairs

Tel.! +31!570Z69!49!05

This\$is\$an\$interim\$announcement\$as\$provided\$under\$Article\$5:25e\$of\$the\$Financial\$Supervision\$Act\$[Wet\$op\$ het\$Financieel\$Toezicht].

Profile

Roto!Smeets!Group!NV!is!listed!on!NYSE!Euronext,!Amsterdam!and!is!one!of!the!leading!graphics! businesses!in!western!Europe.!Roto!Smeets!Group!is!composed!of!two!business!lines:!Print! Productions!– for!the!efficient!provision!of!a!complete!range!of!graphics!and!related!services;!and! Marketing!Communications!– for!the!production!of!contentZrich!media!in!the!implementation!of!a!solid! communications!strategy.

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