Atlanta Spotlight | Mary Laschinger

By Staff Writer Atlanta Trend

• Jun 01, 2015

"Veritiv is off to a strong start for 2015," said Mary Laschinger , Chairman and CEO of Veritiv Corporation. "Coming off a successful 2014, our first quarter results today continue to give us confidence in our plans for Veritiv to succeed as a leading distribution solutions company focused on driving operational excellence and delivering superior customer service."

Veritiv Corporation (NYSE: VRTV), a North American leader in business-to-business distribution solutions, announced financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015.

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, compared to the three months ended March 31, 2014 (on a pro forma basis):

• Net sales were $2.1 billion, a decrease of 4.5% from the prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $28.4 million, an increase of 18.8% from the prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales was 1.3%, an increase of 26 basis points from the prior year.

The net loss, as reported, for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $2.2 million, which includes $13.4 million of integration expenses and restructuring charges.

In the first quarter of 2015, net sales per shipping day decreased 2.9% from the prior year. Net sales per shipping day was impacted by the calendar structure for the first quarter of 2015 having one less shipping day compared to the same period in the prior year.

"Our solid first quarter financial results were driven by cost reductions as we continue to execute our robust integration plan and make progress in delivering net synergies in the range of $150 million to $225 million," said Stephen Smith , Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Veritiv Corporation.

The company continues to expect Adjusted EBITDA for 2015 in the range of $165 million to $175 million, which is in line with its long term guidance to improve Adjusted EBITDA by an incremental $100 million over its first few years post merger.

Veritiv Corporation will host a live conference call and webcast today, May 13, 2015, at 10 a.m. (ET) to discuss its first quarter 2015 financial results. All interested parties are invited to listen online at ir.veritivcorp.com. A replay of the call and webcast will be available online at ir.veritivcorp.com shortly after the live webcast is completed.

Important information regarding GAAP and pro forma operating results and related reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the schedules and related footnotes to this press release, which should be thoroughly reviewed.

When reviewing the reconciliations included in the non-GAAP measures, please note that certain information is on a pro forma basis. The pro forma information includes historical Unisource Worldwide, Inc. ("Unisource") results, other purchase accounting adjustments and adjustments for one-time costs as if the merger of the legacy xpedx business and UWW Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Unisource, had occurred on January 1, 2013.