- Stockholders approve declassification of Board of Directors
AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A. Schulman, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHLM) today held its 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, where Joseph M. Gingo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, reaffirmed that the Company is committed to taking whatever actions are necessary to deliver exceptional shareholder returns in any economic environment.
Gingo, who assumed leadership of A. Schulman in January 2008, noted that, in line with its strategic plan, the Company is realigning resources, controlling costs and improving efficiency to profitably serve key growth markets and strengthen its ability to withstand the global economic slowdown. He said priorities for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2009, include accelerating the Company's growth in the masterbatch business, which primarily serves the film and packaging markets, and focusing on being the number-one niche player in the global engineered plastics business.
"We are progressively driving our strategic focus toward providing higher- value-added products in profitable markets and reducing our dependence on the automotive market," Gingo said. "We are acting quickly and decisively to control the performance factors we can control, while responding nimbly to unparalleled market conditions. As always, we are committed to delivering exceptional shareholder returns relative to our peers." Also at today's meeting, stockholders approved proposals to: -- Declassify the Company's Board of Directors, which will result in annual election of all directors after the expiration of their current terms; -- Elect current directors David G. Birney and John B. Yasinsky to one- year terms expiring at the 2009 Annual Meeting; and -- Ratify the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2009.
All three proposals were approved by holders of more than 75% of the outstanding shares, and more than 90% of the voted shares.
Following the meeting, the Board of Directors met and appointed Yasinsky as Lead Independent Director to succeed Willard R. Holland, who retired from the Board today. Yasinsky is former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OMNOVA Solutions Inc., and has been a director for A. Schulman since 2000.
About A. Schulman, Inc.
Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, A. Schulman is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins. These materials are used in a variety of consumer, industrial, automotive and packaging applications. The Company employs about 2,200 people and has 16 manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe (including Asia). Revenues for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, were $1.98 billion. Additional information about A. Schulman can be found at http://www.aschulman.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts. They use such words as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future or unaudited operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, but are subject to a variety of uncertainties, unknown risks and other factors concerning the Company's operations and business environment, which are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of the Company. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements, and that could adversely affect the Company's future financial performance, include, but are not limited to, the following: -- Worldwide and regional economic, business and political conditions, including continuing economic uncertainties in some or all of the Company's major product markets; -- Fluctuations in the value of currencies in major areas where the Company operates, including the U.S. dollar, euro, U.K. pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, Chinese yuan and Indonesian rupiah; -- Fluctuations in the prices of sources of energy or plastic resins and other raw materials; -- Changes in customer demand and requirements;
-- Escalation in the cost of providing employee health care;
-- The outcome of any legal claims known or unknown;
-- The performance of the North American auto market;
-- The global financial market turbulence; and
-- The global or regional economic slowdown or recession. Additional risk factors that could affect the Company's performance are set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Company or that it believes to be immaterial also may adversely affect the Company. Should any known or unknown risks or uncertainties develop into actual events, or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, these developments could have material adverse effects on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
This release contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis only as of the date of this release. A. Schulman does not undertake an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements to reflect new events, information or circumstances, or otherwise. Further information concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related to forward-looking statements can be found in A. Schulman's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DATASOURCE: A. Schulman, Inc.
CONTACT: Paul DeSantis, CFO and Treasurer of A. Schulman, Inc., +1-330-666-3751 Web site: http://www.aschulman.com/
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