Avery Dennison CFO provides business update at Wachovia Conference
11 Sep '07
3 min read
Avery Dennison Corporation provided an update on its long-term business plans and near-term financial outlook in remarks to securities analysts and institutional investors at the Wachovia Global Transportation and Packaging Conference today.
Addressing near-term business conditions, Daniel R. O'Bryant, executive vice president, finance, and chief financial officer, advised that sales in July and August were well below expectations. The shortfall was attributed to weak market conditions for the roll materials business in the U.S. and Western Europe, combined with more aggressive competitive activity in those markets, as well as a soft retail environment impacting sales for the office products and retail information services segments.
He indicated that a continuation of current trends would result in 2007 earnings below the low end of the Company's previous guidance for the year, perhaps by as much as 15 cents per share. Avery Dennison had announced in July that it expected earnings for 2007, before restructuring charges and integration costs, to be in the range of $3.90 to $4.10 per share.
"Customer sentiment and external indicators have us feeling cautious about near-term demand," said O'Bryant. "We are taking actions to reduce costs in light of the weaker sales environment, but we will not be able to fully offset the sales shortfall."
O'Bryant expressed optimism about the Company's ability to drive value over the medium-to-longer term, citing as catalysts the integration of recently acquired Paxar, as well as improvement in the Company's radio-frequency identification (RFID) business.
marketing@alchempro.com
