A. Schulman Inc. Expects Fourth Quarter Results to Meet or Exceed Analysts' Estimates; Italian Acquisition Announced.AKRON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1998--A. Schulman Inc. (Nasdaq:SHLM) today announced that it expects financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended August 31, 1998, which will be released on October 20, will meet or exceed the analysts' estimates of $.40 per share. Current analysts' fourth quarter earnings estimates average $0.40 per share, with a range of $0.39 to $0.42 per share. The Company earned $0.42 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997. "Currently, our order backlog in Europe is good," said Terry L. Haines, president and chief executive officer. "In addition, stabilization Stabilization The action undertakes a country when it buys and sells its own currency to protect its exchange value. Actions registered competitive traders undertake by on the NYSE to meet the exchange requirement that 75% of their traded be stabilizing, meaning that sell orders of the U.S. dollar compared to European currencies where we operate should mitigate mit·i·gate v. To moderate in force or intensity. mit  i·ga tion n. the adverse currency
translation effects of the past year."
In North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , current order levels have improved after a decline resulting from the effects of the General Motors strike. "We have been aggressive buyers of our shares under the 6 million share repurchase Share Repurchase A program by which a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This is usually an indication that the company's management thinks the shares are undervalued. authorization The right or permission to use a system resource; the process of granting access. See access control. approved by our Board on August 21, 1998," Haines said. "Since the approval of this authorization, we have already repurchased 990,000 shares. We believe our shares represent an extremely attractive investment at current market prices." On September 18, 1998, A. Schulman purchased the assets of Isopolymer, Inc. of Milan, Italy, a distributor of Schulman products and a merchant of plastic resins resins, n.pl complex, insoluble, sticky substances secreted by plants. Used as astringents, antimicrobials, and antiinflammatories, and are burned as incense. Can cause oral ulcers and epidermal irritations. and compounds to the Italian market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Annual sales of this unit are expected to be approximately $30 million. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year, although the effect on consolidated earnings will not be material. "Isopolymer is a strategic acquisition that will offer A. Schulman a valuable outlet for the sale of products into the Italian market, currently the second largest thermoplastic A polymer material that turns to liquid when heated and becomes solid when cooled. There are more than 40 types of thermoplastics, including acrylic, polypropylene, polycarbonate and polyethylene. market in Europe," Haines commented. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio Akron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County.GR6 The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles (96 km) west of , 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 2,200 people and has 13 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenues for the fiscal year ended August 31, 1997 were approximately $1 billion. Additional information about A. Schulman can be found on the World Wide Web at www.aschulman.com. Statements in this release which are not historical facts are forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties and actual events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in this release. These "forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. " are based on currently available information. They are also inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that events could turn out to be significantly different from what we had expected. Examples of such uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: -0- -- Worldwide and regional economic, business and political conditions -- Fluctuations in the value of currencies within the European Monetary System, as well as the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Mexican peso and Indonesian rupiah -- Fluctuations in the prices of plastic resins and other raw materials -- Changes in customer demand and requirements |
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