Ferro Corporation (NYSE: FOE) today announced corporate
appointments and management changes to facilitate the Company’s
ongoing growth.
Benjamin Schlater, who has served as Ferro’s Vice President,
Corporate Development and Strategy since September 2015, has been
named Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, succeeding
Jeffrey Rutherford, who stepped down from the position on September
1. James Barna, Ferro’s Corporate Controller, has been appointed to
the additional role of Chief Accounting Officer of the Company.
Lori Saviers, who was Ferro’s Chief Procurement Officer, has been
named Vice President, Sourcing and Global Supply Chain. In
addition, Sandy Frydryk has been named Director, Corporate
Development and Integration.
Mr. Rutherford is expected to remain with the Company as an
advisor to Mr. Schlater through the end of 2016 to ensure a smooth
transition of responsibilities.
“The management changes announced today reflect the progress we
have made executing our value creation strategy and our intensified
focus in the current phase on growth,” said Mr. Thomas. “Ben has
the right combination of financial, strategic and acquisitions
experience to accelerate our success. He already has had a
significant impact on the business as our corporate development
lead, and I’m excited to work with him in his new role.”
Mr. Thomas continued, “I want to thank Jeff Rutherford for his
many contributions to Ferro during the business turnaround and
portfolio rationalization phases of our strategy. Jeff was key to
our efforts to aggressively reduce the cost structure of the
Company. We’re grateful to Jeff for his leadership and we look
forward to his continued support as we transition to a new
CFO.”
Mr. Thomas further commented, “Jim Barna has been a highly
effective leader of our global accounting operations. Shifting the
chief accounting officer responsibilities from the CFO to Jim
reflects our recognition of Jim’s skill and experience, and it will
allow Ben to focus more intensely on our growth priorities.” Mr.
Thomas added, “Lori Saviers already has made significant
contributions to our earnings growth by driving efficiencies and
making other improvements in Ferro’s procurement function. We
expect she will drive additional efficiencies as we combine our
procurement and supply chain operations under her leadership.
“We are focused, now more than ever, on growth. Along with the
changes we announced today, our operating vice presidents –
Matthias Bell, Dieter Binder, Julio Garcia, and Barry Misquitta –
together with our external advisors, have been charged with
identifying and assessing acquisition targets. They and their teams
will work closely with Sandy Frydryk to execute the robust
processes we have established to integrate acquired businesses into
Ferro. In addition, our operating vice presidents have technical
directors and commercial teams driving organic growth through
development of high-value product solutions and new product
applications utilizing our color and glass science, product
formulation and surface application technology expertise.”
“Our priority is growth and leadership as a global functional
coatings and color solutions provider, and we are structuring the
organization to seize the exciting opportunities before us,” Mr.
Thomas said. “Our teams understand and are invested in our value
creation strategy, and we are in an excellent position to achieve
our value creation targets.”
Mr. Schlater joined Ferro in September 2015. He has nearly 20
years of corporate finance experience, with extensive background in
treasury, strategic planning, mergers, acquisitions and
divestitures and implementing strategies and financial objectives
to support growth for multi-billion-dollar global companies. His
experience includes serving as treasurer and head of corporate
development, strategic and financial planning, and risk management
at Veyance Technologies, a $2 billion global manufacturing company
then owned by The Carlyle Group. Prior to Veyance, he was a
managing director at FTI Consulting, focused on financial and
strategic advisory services for large multinational companies.
Prior to that, he was a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in its
corporate finance practice. Mr. Schlater earned his Bachelor of
Business Administration in Accounting and Business Law from Ohio
University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mr. Barna joined the Company in December 2011 as Director,
External Reporting, and has served as Corporate Controller since
June 2012. Prior to joining Ferro, Mr. Barna spent nine years at
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he worked with a number of public and
private companies providing accounting, transaction advisory and
assurance services. He is a CPA and holds an MBA and a Bachelor of
Science degree in Accountancy from John Carroll University.
Ms. Saviers joined Ferro in June 2015 as Chief Procurement
Officer. Prior to joining the Company, she was Global Sourcing
Director for the Performance Chemicals Division at OMNOVA
Solutions. Prior to OMNOVA, she held senior procurement, marketing,
and sales management positions with Associated British Foods, Witco
Corporation, and Engelhard. She holds an MBA from Case Western
Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science in Operations
Management from the University of Akron.
Ms. Frydryk joined Ferro in 1997. She has held positions of
increasing responsibility in manufacturing, EHS, project
management, and international business management, including
working for Ferro in China. She served as Regional Commercial
Director in North America for the Pigments, Powders and Oxides and
the Performance Colors and Glass businesses and Global Strategy
Director for the Pigments, Powders and Oxide portfolio before
taking the role of Director, Business Development, in the Company’s
Corporate Development group in 2015. Ms. Frydryk holds an MBA from
Kent State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology
from Mount Union College.
About Ferro Corporation
Ferro Corporation (http://www.ferro.com) is a leading global
functional coatings and color solutions company that supplies
technology-based performance materials, including glass-based
coatings, pigments and colors, and polishing materials. Ferro
products are sold into the building and construction, automotive,
appliances, electronics, household furnishings, and industrial
products markets. Headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, the
Company has approximately 4,880 employees globally and reported
2015 sales of $1.1 billion.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Federal
securities laws. These statements are subject to a variety of
uncertainties, unknown risks, and other factors concerning the
Company’s operations and business environment. 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
the following:
- Ferro’s ability to successfully
implement and/or administer its cost-saving initiatives, including
its restructuring programs, and to produce the desired
results;
- demand in the industries into which
Ferro sells its products may be unpredictable, cyclical, or heavily
influenced by consumer spending;
- the effectiveness of the Company’s
efforts to improve operating margins through sales growth, price
increases, productivity gains, and improved purchasing
techniques;
- currency conversion rates and economic,
social, political, and regulatory conditions around the world;
- Ferro’s ability to successfully
introduce new products or enter into new growth markets;
- Ferro’s ability to complete
acquisitions, effectively integrate the businesses and achieve the
expected synergies (including the Pinturas Benicarló, Ferer, Al
Salomi, Nubiola and Vetriceramici transactions), as well as the
acquisitions being accretive and Ferro achieving the expected
returns on invested capital;
- the impact of interruption, damage to,
failure, or compromise of the Company’s information systems;
- restrictive covenants in the Company’s
credit facilities could affect its strategic initiatives and
liquidity;
- Ferro’s ability to access capital
markets, borrowings, or financial transactions;
- the availability of reliable sources of
energy and raw materials at a reasonable cost;
- increasingly aggressive domestic and
foreign governmental regulations on hazardous materials and
regulations affecting health, safety and the environment;
- sale of products into highly regulated
industries;
- limited or no redundancy for certain of
the Company’s manufacturing facilities and possible interruption of
operations at those facilities;
- competitive factors, including intense
price competition;
- Ferro’s ability to protect its
intellectual property or to successfully resolve claims of
infringement brought against it;
- the impact of operating hazards and
investments made in order to meet stringent environmental, health
and safety regulations;
- management of Ferro’s general and
administrative expenses;
- Ferro’s multi-jurisdictional tax
structure and its ability to reduce its effective tax rate,
including the impact of the Company’s performance on its ability to
utilize significant deferred tax assets;
- the effectiveness of strategies to
increase Ferro’s return on invested capital, and the short-term
impact that acquisitions may have on return on invested
capital;
- stringent labor and employment laws and
relationships with the Company’s employees;
- the impact of requirements to fund
employee benefit costs, especially post-retirement costs;
- implementation of new business
processes and information systems, including the outsourcing of
functions to third parties;
- risks associated with the manufacture
and sale of material into industries making products for sensitive
applications;
- exposure to lawsuits in the normal
course of business;
- risks and uncertainties associated with
intangible assets;
- Ferro’s borrowing costs could be
affected adversely by interest rate increases;
- liens on the Company’s assets by its
lenders affect its ability to dispose of property and
businesses;
- Ferro may not pay dividends on its
common stock in the foreseeable future;
- amount and timing of any repurchase of
Ferro’s common stock; and
- other factors affecting the Company’s
business that are beyond its control, including disasters,
accidents and governmental actions.
The risks and uncertainties identified above are not the only
risks the Company faces. Additional risks and uncertainties not
presently known to the Company or that it currently believes to be
immaterial also may adversely affect the Company. Should any known
or unknown risks and uncertainties develop into actual events,
these developments could have material adverse effects on our
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. The
Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events,
information, or circumstances that arise after the date of this
release. Additional information regarding these risks can be found
in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31,
2015.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160902005124/en/
Ferro CorporationInvestors:John Bingle, 216-875-5411Treasurer
and Director of Investor Relationsjohn.bingle@ferro.comorMedia:Mary
Abood, 216-875-5401Director, Corporate
Communicationsmary.abood@ferro.com
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