Corn Products International Expects 2007 Earnings Per Share Growth of 13 to 23 Percent, or $1.84 to $2.01, Versus EPS of $1.63 i
January 30 2007 - 5:31AM
PR Newswire (US)
WESTCHESTER, Ill., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Corn Products
International, Inc. (NYSE:CPO), a leading global provider of
agriculturally derived ingredients for diversified markets, today
announced that it expects 2007 diluted earnings per share to
increase in a range of 13 to 23 percent, or $1.84 to $2.01,
compared with record diluted earnings per share of $1.63 in 2006
reported by the Company today. "This increase would mean another
record performance and keep us on track to meet our stated goal of
low double-digit EPS growth during the five-year period of
2003-2008," said Sam Scott, chairman, president and chief executive
officer of Corn Products International. "Just as important, we also
expect to reach our return on capital employed target." Scott said
expectations for another strong performance from the North America
region should be the major driver for the Company's 2007 outlook.
He added that all three geographic regions are expected to
contribute to the improvement. "Our US and Canadian businesses have
again achieved significantly higher contract pricing in 2007 across
their starch and sweeteners book of business," said Scott. "This
represents a high-teens percentage increase for our entire US and
Canadian businesses. Our firm-price and fee-based book of business
in both the US and Canada is appropriately hedged, consistent with
our stated policy. Open risks relate to co-product values and the
corn basis." South America should deliver improved results in 2007
primarily from a continuing recovery in Brazil, the region's
largest country market, which began in the second half of 2006. The
acquisition of Peruvian corn refiner DEMSA and the pending purchase
of the remaining 50 percent of the Getec Brazilian joint venture
should help the region's performance. Asia/Africa's 2007
performance also is expected to show growth from a continuation of
strong results in Pakistan and improvement in Thailand and China.
"With respect to the corn risk in our international operations,"
Scott said, "we believe our business model should enable us to pass
through increasing corn prices as the year progresses. "We see
continuing progress on our Company's five-step Pathway Strategy in
2007, the fourth year of our global growth and value creation
initiative," Scott said, "as we pursue our mission to be the
premier regional provider of refined, agriculturally based products
and ingredients worldwide." He added that planned capital
expenditures of approximately $145 million in 2007 reflect the
attractive opportunities the Company has to invest in its
businesses around the world. Scott also pointed to the Company's
recent announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire the food
business of SPI Polyols, which includes the remaining 50 percent
share of the Getec Brazilian joint venture. The combined annual
sales from this transaction should be nearly $100 million. The
acquisition, which is expected to be accretive to earnings per
share in the first year, should strengthen the Company's sweeteners
platform and reinforce elements of the Pathway Strategy to expand
the value-added ingredients portfolio in growth markets. "We see
2007 as a year with much promise as well as a number of key
challenges, including the management of global corn price risks and
the integration of acquisitions," Scott concluded. "All in all, we
are optimistic about our prospects for further growth and expansion
in the year ahead." Conference Call and Webcast Corn Products
International will conduct a conference call today at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern Time (7:30 a.m. Central Time) to be hosted by Sam Scott,
chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Cheryl Beebe,
vice president and chief financial officer. The call will be
broadcast in a real-time webcast. The broadcast will consist of the
call and a visual presentation accessible through the Corn Products
International web site at http://www.cornproducts.com/. The
"listen-and-view-only" presentation will be available to download
approximately 60 minutes prior to the start of the call. A replay
of the webcast will be available at http://www.cornproducts.com/.
Individuals without Internet access may listen to the live
conference call by dialing 719.457.2626. A replay of the audio call
will be available through Friday, February 9 by calling
719.457.0820 and using passcode 7992482. About the Company Corn
Products International is one of the world's largest corn refiners
and a major supplier of high-quality food ingredients and
industrial products derived from the wet milling and processing of
corn and other starch-based materials. The Company, headquartered
in Westchester, Ill., is the number-one worldwide producer of
dextrose and a leading regional producer of starch, high fructose
corn syrup and glucose. In 2006, Corn Products International
reported net sales of $2.62 billion with operations in 15 countries
at 33 plants, including wholly owned businesses, affiliates and
alliances. For more information, visit
http://www.cornproducts.com/. Forward-Looking Statement This news
release contains or may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1933
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company
intends these forward looking statements to be covered by the safe
harbor provisions for such statements. These statements include,
among other things, any predictions regarding the Company's future
financial condition, earnings, revenues, expenses or other
financial items, any statements concerning the Company's prospects
or future operation, including management's plans or strategies and
objectives therefore and any assumptions underlying the foregoing.
These statements can sometimes be identified by the use of forward
looking words such as "may," "will," "should," "anticipate,"
"believe," "plan," "project," "estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"continue," "pro forma," "forecast" or other similar expressions or
the negative thereof. All statements other than statements of
historical facts in this release or referred to in this release are
"forward-looking statements." These statements are subject to
certain inherent risks and uncertainties. Although we believe our
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, stockholders are cautioned that no
assurance can be given that our expectations will prove correct.
Actual results and developments may differ materially from the
expectations conveyed in these statements, based on various
factors, including fluctuations in worldwide markets for corn and
other commodities, and the associated risks of hedging against such
fluctuations; fluctuations in aggregate industry supply and market
demand; general political, economic, business, market and weather
conditions in the various geographic regions and countries in which
we manufacture and/or sell our products; fluctuations in the value
of local currencies, energy costs and availability, freight and
shipping costs, and changes in regulatory controls regarding
quotas, tariffs, duties, taxes and income tax rates; operating
difficulties; boiler reliability; our ability to effectively
integrate acquired businesses; labor disputes; genetic and
biotechnology issues; changing consumption preferences and trends;
increased competitive and/or customer pressure in the corn-refining
industry; the outbreak or continuation of serious communicable
disease or hostilities including acts of terrorism; stock market
fluctuation and volatility; and our ability to maintain sales
levels of HFCS in Mexico. Our forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date on which they are made and we do not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect
events or circumstances after the date of the statement. If we do
update or correct one or more of these statements, investors and
others should not conclude that we will make additional updates or
corrections. For a further description of these risks, see Risk
Factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2005 and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q or
8-K. This news release also may contain references to the Company's
long term objectives and goals or targets with respect to certain
metrics. These objectives, goals and targets are used as a
motivational and management tool and are indicative of the
Company's long term aspirations only, and they are not intended to
constitute, nor should they be interpreted as, an estimate,
projection, forecast or prediction of the Company's future
performance. DATASOURCE: Corn Products International, Inc. CONTACT:
Investor, Dave Prichard, +1-708-551-2592, or Media, Mark Lindley,
+1-708-551-2602, for Corn Products International, Inc. Web site:
http://www.cornproducts.com/
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