AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of
Directors of A. Schulman, Inc. (Nasdaq-GS: SHLM) today announced
that Chairman Joseph M. Gingo has
been named chief executive officer and president, effective
immediately. Gingo (71) had previously served in this capacity from
2008 through 2014. The Board and Bernard
Rzepka (56), president and chief executive officer, have
mutually agreed that he will relinquish his officer role and his
directorship role.
"Joe led this Company through a remarkable seven-year
renaissance as its chief executive officer and the Board is
confident that he will restore A.
Schulman's operational and financial performance to the high
level our shareholders expect," said David
Birney, lead independent director. "We thank Bernard for his
dedicated service to A. Schulman during the last 24 years. His many
contributions throughout his career with the Company should not be
overlooked or minimized in light of this transition."
According to Gingo, the Company will undertake a comprehensive
review of its business plan, as well as near- and longer-term
global end market trends. The Company intends to retain a leading
advisory firm to assist in this review process.
"Like our fellow shareholders, the Board is not satisfied with
the Company's less-than-optimal performance throughout fiscal
2016," said Gingo. "In light of last week's earnings guidance
revision, the time has come to conduct a comprehensive review of
our business plan and strategic execution."
Gingo continued to say that he is committed to conducting a
deliberate and unvarnished assessment as promptly as practical.
"Our intent is to provide additional information on our review as
appropriate, when appropriate," he said. "We will not, however,
speculate on any potential outcomes from this assessment or the
timetable for it. The goal is to verify our market intelligence,
refine our vision and improve our execution."
The Company expects to release fiscal 2016 fourth-quarter and
full-year results, as well as fiscal 2017 earnings guidance, after
the market closes on Wednesday, October
26, 2016. The Company will hold its fiscal 2016
fourth-quarter and full-year earnings conference call
on Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 10 a.m. Eastern
time.
About A. Schulman, Inc.
A. Schulman,
Inc. is a leading international supplier of high-performance
plastic compounds and resins headquartered
in Akron, Ohio. Since 1928, the Company has been
providing innovative solutions to meet its customers' demanding
requirements. The Company's customers span a wide range of markets
such as packaging, mobility, building & construction,
electronics & electrical, agriculture, personal care &
hygiene, sports, leisure & home, custom services and others.
The Company employs approximately 4,900 people and has 57
manufacturing facilities globally. A. Schulman reported
net sales of approximately $2.4 billion for the fiscal
year ended August 31, 2015. Additional information
about A. Schulman can be found at www.aschulman.com.
Cautionary Statements
A number of the matters discussed in this document that are not
historical or current facts deal with potential future
circumstances and developments and constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by
the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current
facts and relate to future events and expectations. Forward-looking
statements contain 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 operating or financial performance. Forward-looking
statements are based on management's current expectations and
include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors,
many of which management is unable to predict or control, that
could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements. 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 or countries where the
Company has operations;
- the effectiveness of the Company's efforts to improve operating
margins through sales growth, price increases, productivity gains,
and improved purchasing techniques;
- competitive factors, including intense price competition;
- fluctuations in the value of currencies in areas where the
Company operates;
- volatility of prices and availability of the supply of energy
and raw materials that are critical to the manufacture of the
Company's products, particularly plastic resins derived from oil
and natural gas;
- changes in customer demand and requirements;
- effectiveness of the Company to achieve the level of cost
savings, productivity improvements, growth and other benefits
anticipated from acquisitions, joint ventures and restructuring
initiatives;
- escalation in the cost of providing employee health care;
- uncertainties and unanticipated developments regarding
contingencies, such as pending and future litigation and other
claims, including developments that would require increases in our
costs and/or reserves for such contingencies;
- the performance of the global automotive and oil and gas
markets as well as other markets served;
- further adverse changes in economic or industry conditions,
including global supply and demand conditions and prices for
products;
- operating problems with our information systems as a result of
system security failures such as viruses, cyber-attacks or other
causes;
- our current debt position could adversely affect our financial
health and prevent us from fulfilling our financial
obligations;
- integration of acquisitions, including most
recently Citadel, with our existing business, including the
risk that the integration will be more costly or more time
consuming and complex or simply less effective than
anticipated;
- our ability to achieve the anticipated synergies, cost savings
and other benefits from the Citadel acquisition;
- substantial time devoted by management to the integration of
the Citadel acquisition; and
- failure of counterparties to perform under the terms and
conditions of contractual arrangements, including suppliers,
customers, buyers and sellers of a business and other third parties
with which the Company contracts.
The risks and uncertainties identified above are not the only
risks the Company faces. Additional risk factors that could affect
the Company's performance are set forth in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015.
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. We undertake no obligation to publicly update
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. You should consult any further
disclosures which are made on related subjects in our reports on
Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K that we provide to the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
SHLM_ALL
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SOURCE A. Schulman, Inc.