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CPAC, Inc.'s Annual Meeting Speech

August 9, 2001, at 11:00 a.m. EDT

Thomas N. Hendrickson, President and CEO


This document contains edited transcripts of the presentations made by executives of CPAC, Inc. at its Annual Meeting held Thursday, August 9th in Mt. Morris, NY. An edited transcript of the question and answer session that took place at the meeting is included here also. For further information, please contact Karen McCulley, CPAC's Corporate Communications Manager, at 716-382-3223 or kmcculley@cpac.com.

 

Thomas N. Hendrickson, President and Chief Executive Officer

"The euphoria I felt at this time last year has been replaced with cautious optimism.

"The slowdown in the U.S. economy that started last year in the manufacturing sector hit CPAC's U.S. operations just after last year's Annual Meeting. The troubles we have experienced domestically have now spread to the world economy as Japan, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, and Argentina are all in, or approaching, recessions. The strong U.S. dollar has only compounded the problem. On one hand, U.S. companies are seeing reduced exports. On the other, currency translations are causing significant financial reporting issues for U.S. companies, like CPAC, with foreign operations.

"I could make a very strong case for just how bad things are. Let me simply quote from the August 13, 2001 issue of Business Week.

"There's blood in the water as the economic downturn continues to gnaw through corporate earnings. Even with an 8% gain in sales the 900 companies on Business Week's Corporate Scoreboard saw second-quarter profits plummet 52% from a year earlier, while margins fell to 3.2% from 7.2%. That's the largest decline ever recorded in the quarterly scoreboard -- nearly twice the 27% year-to-year drop in the fourth quarter of 1991. And the current profit plunge follows a 25% decline in the first quarter. This 'near recession' as some economists dub the current slump, is breaking new ground in corporate misery."

"As outlined in Tom Weldgen's presentation, sales and earnings in both segments of CPAC business are down … much of which is attributable to the global economy. We do not have crystal balls, but our business indicators tell us not to expect much improvement in sales throughout this fiscal year. Our short-term philosophy is that "cash is King" and our cost containment programs reinforce that position. We have controlled all hiring, capital expenditures, salary adjustments, and administrative expenses with tight fisted management. We have not announced layoffs, because we are already lean in most areas and strongly believe that we must remain able to deliver on customer services once our top-line growth initiatives start to beat out sales shortfalls brought on by economic conditions. That is not a stated policy, but rather our commitment to our sales and marketing executives worldwide. If they cannot deliver on their targets, we will obviously need to reconsider our employment levels.

"One cause for optimism in Fuller Brands is the successful addition of Read McNamara as president of that segment, which includes Fuller Brush, Stanley Home Products, and Cleaning Technologies Group. Read has over 25 years of experience in global business development for Fortune 500 companies. He has a record of leading double-digit sales growth for major consumer products companies including Pillsbury, Gillette, Revlon, and Bausch & Lomb. Some products under his management included Right Guard, PaperMate, Green Giant, Haagen Dazs, Healthy Choice, and Ray Ban. Read will outline his direction for Fuller Brands in a few minutes. The remainder of my time will be devoted to a discussion of Imaging.

"Our 1994 'Vision 2000' plan to prepare this company for the impact of digital imaging by the year 2000 was well conceived. An acquisition strategy was successfully executed to create what now is Fuller Brands. Our early pessimism about the future conventional photography, however, has proven wrong. Yes, digital photography is growing and will continue to grow. However, there is still much money to be made in the silver halide arena, and we aim to get a larger share. In international markets, sales of photographic chemistry are not mirroring the U.S. situation. Instead, sales are flat, to up significantly, in local currencies. Even with weak economic conditions in the countries we serve, the outlook for growth remains strong. Sales could easily double at CPAC Asia by the end of this fiscal year, as we continue to penetrate new markets. In Italy, we are moving to new, larger facilities by March 2002 to accommodate expected increases in export sales.

"The U.S. photographic market, however, has been brutal. A reduction in sales and profits has been experienced and reported by virtually every company operating in that sector. Trebla has been hard hit with sales off 20% last year, and nearing 24% so far this fiscal year. The Trebla team is on a short leash, but conveys optimism that its customer base will show signs of recovery before the end of this calendar year; and we have faith that their instincts are correct.

"Our other U.S. Imaging operations, CPAC Equipment Division and Allied Diagnostic Imaging Resources, Inc., are both off in sales this year but are anticipating new contracts to reverse this trend. A new three-year contract for medical chemistry with Premier, Inc. gives us access to over 1,800 U.S. hospitals. Another new three-year contract with Radiology Partners, Inc. for both chemistry and equipment enables contact with more than 1,500 clinics and physician practices in the U.S.

"The Imaging cash cow is not dry! And we are in a financial position to take advantage of some unique opportunities in this market. CPAC Japan was recently created in Osaka, Japan, to better serve our growing customer base in Japan. And we are only now actively looking at acquisitions in the imaging sector that will allow us to leverage our existing resources to gain market share in this maturing, low-growth segment."

Thomas J. Weldgen, Chief Financial Officer

"Our results for the first quarter were still weak, with total sales of $24.3 million versus $27.6 million last year - down 12%. We reported income per share of 13 cents.

"For Fuller Brands, sales for the quarter were down 8.3% at $14.8 million, versus the prior year first quarter, as the economic slowdown, which first hit our operations in the third quarter of last fiscal year, continued its negative impact on our business. However, it is important to note that the sales level is up slightly, if you compare it to the 4th quarter ended March 31, 2001 when sales were $14.6 million. Thus the sales volume seems to have leveled off rather than continuing to fall further.

"Cost of sales for the quarter at $7.3 million, represents 49.4% of sales versus 51.6% last year. This favorable reduction in the cost percentage relationship was largely the result of a better product mix in the quarter, coupled with plant operation and production efficiency projects currently in process as we try to reduce costs further.

"Selling, administrative and engineering expenses were 43% of sales versus 38.2% last year in the quarter and 42.1% in the quarter ended March 31, 2001. The increase in the percentage relationship is a direct function of the decrease in sales. We have continued to expend funds to develop new sales programs and to increase penetration through our internet sites. In addition, although sales are off, we have been reluctant to make reductions in staffing levels or programs that serve our customers. We have chosen to remain focused on finding new customers, strengthen existing relationships, and improve our market presence, to provide solid opportunity for growth when the economy recovers.

"Operating income for the quarter was 6.7% or $995,000 versus $1.5 million, or 9.4% in the prior year, but this shows an increase of over $688,000 since the $307,000 or 2% result that we reported in the quarter ended March 31, 2001.

"In the Imaging segment, sales for the quarter decreased $2 million to $9.5 million, due to the overall economic situation and continued pricing pressures. This sales decline is in line with sales declines for peer companies in the imaging business.

"Cost of sales remained stable in relation to sales. The pricing and product mix in this quarter resulted in gross margins of 37.2% of sales which is the same margin percentage as last year. We expect margins to remain in the 35% to 38% range in this segment for the next quarter.

"Selling, administrative and engineering expenses were 33.4% of sales versus 29.3% last year. Throughout this period, our decision has been to continue our sales programs and levels of sales support, to hold onto our customer base in the belief that sales volumes will begin to return to more normal levels as the economy settles. During this period, we have not lost any significant customers, and we are continuing to work on potential new customer contracts and relationships.

"Operating income represents a 3.5% return on sales versus 7.7% last year and 5.6% for the March 2001 quarter.

"Our foreign sales and operating results were again negatively impacted by the strong US dollar and high translation rates for all of our foreign locations. If sales had been translated at last year's rates, they would have been higher by $272,000 or 3%. Despite the current translation impact, our combined foreign locations have shown good sales in their respective local currencies, and they continue to expand penetration into new foreign markets and distribution arrangements. These translation rates also negatively affected our pretax income line. If translated at the prior year rates, pretax income for the quarter would have been higher by $35,000 or 11%.

"Yesterday, the Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $.07 per share to holders of record as of August 24. This dividend is payable September 21, 2001.

"Our EBITDA was $2.2 million or $0.42 per share for the quarter.

"Depreciation and amortization was approximately $967,000 this quarter, with total capital additions of $234,000. We slowed our capital projects during the third and fourth quarters of our most recent fiscal year, and we have continued this philosophy to conserve cash, based on the current slow sales levels. We have re-evaluated our capital budgets and expect to expend approximately $2.5 million on additions for fiscal 2002, but this will continue to depend on the economic situation. These expenditures could be further restrained if the economic situation persists or deepens. Our plan is to fund all of these expenditures from operating cash flows.

"Our statement of cash flows continued strong in the quarter. Starting with $8.9 million in cash at March 31, we have invested $234,000 in new property and equipment, $858,000 of our stock was repurchased in the marketplace, $492,000 of outstanding debt was paid, and cash dividends of $370,000 were distributed to our shareholders.

"I am pleased to report that at June 30, 2001, there was $8.3 million in available cash, nothing outstanding on the $20 million corporate line of credit, and we have total working capital of $31.5 million. Our balance sheet is very strong, which we believe will allow us to work our way out of the current economic downturn and still leave our company with continued substantial opportunities for expansion and leverage.

Read D. McNamara, President, Fuller Brands

"I am honored to be here before you today. I'm here at CPAC because I'm excited -- I jumped at the chance three months ago to lead the rebirth of some of the great brands in U.S. commercial history -- The Fuller Brush Company and Stanley Home Products. They were, and are, highly respected, widely admired companies with great products and terrific people. I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead them to prominence again as part of the CPAC family of companies. I'm energized by the challenge ahead of me.

"What's happening at Fuller Brands, and what does the future hold? Our businesses have not been spared from the sharp economic downturn that began in the second half of last year. Quarter three and Quarter four of our Fiscal Year 2001 were difficult, and while we definitely see signs of recovery in some of our businesses in Quarter one of Fiscal 2002, we are still mired in a recession -- there is no other word for it. Cautious consumers in Fuller Brush and Stanley Home Products and conservative institutions in Cleaning Technologies Group's customer base, have made the last three quarters a struggle for us.

"I'm happy to say that while we are definitely not out of the woods, the month of July featured all three of our Fuller Brands' companies recording sales above the prior year. It has been quite some time since that has happened. Moreover, one of our operating units, the Fuller Brush Company, finished Quarter one 7% above the prior year. Amidst the negative signs in a difficult economic environment, we are beginning to see some slight improvement in our results. Initiatives that were implemented late last year are beginning to take hold, even in a tough operating environment.

"But, we can't wait for the economy to improve -- we in Fuller Brands have to seize the opportunity ourselves and move ahead aggressively to promote growth. My top priority is to stabilize the downward trend in sales this year, and position the segment for real growth next year. My strategies will include a blend of organic growth through several new marketing initiatives, and a focused approach on tactical acquisitions. Allow me to summarize my near-term plans for each of our three businesses:

Fuller Brush Company

"We have a number of initiatives underway that are beginning to bear fruit:

"Internet: With Quixtar and fullerbrush.com leading the way, total Internet sales at FBC in June amounted to almost 5% of total company sales, well above the prior year.

"We consider the Internet an important and indeed necessary tool for Fuller. But, it is one of many tools, and it is not a panacea. We will continue to invest prudently to keep ourselves in the vanguard of Internet direct sellers.

"Custom Brush: We have outstanding technical capabilities in the area of custom precision brushes. With world-class customers like IBM and Maytag, our clients read like a Who's Who of American Industry. We have excellent credentials, a fabulous reputation, and excess capacity. I plan to market these strengths very aggressively, and put more people in the field to sell our expertise. I expect double-digit growth in this $6M business in the near future.

"Catalogs: Our business with PCH is coming back slowly after a severe downturn due to their legal/public relations problems. We have stayed a loyal partner, and we are being rewarded with a nice, steady, recovery. Direct mail and sweepstakes will be a bigger part of our business this year and will show real growth.

"We intend to continue to support PCH and view them as a key customer. We will, however, selectively diversify into the fast growing, high margin, home catalog business. Direct mail will be a key linchpin in our growth strategy at Fuller.

"International Expansion: For FBC this is a strategic imperative. Quixtar Canada is at the verge of breaking out into our first big international success story. My own broad experience in Asia and Latin America, spanning 25 years, will help position Fuller as a truly international brand. We have a brand that travels; and we intend to successfully exploit the equity in that brand, in those selected parts of the world where we think we can win.

"Acquisitions: We will be aggressive in pursuing those opportunities that fit our tight criteria for tactical acquisitions. CPAC's strong balance sheet will allow us to pursue opportunities that are:

• Accretive to CPAC earnings

• Profitable/Growing

• Add volume to Fuller Brush facility, and

• Draw on heritage of cleaning -- the closer we stay to our home, which for us is cleaning products, the more likely we are to succeed.

"We have a target list and we are currently pursuing several attractive companies that would be compatible and synergistic with Fuller Brush.

"In summary, FBC should continue to perform at or slightly above prior year's results in Fiscal Year 2002. We are positioning the company for double-digit sales growth next year via both organic growth and acquisition.

Stanley Home Products

"Stanley has been buffeted by a difficult external environment as well as some internal issues. A downturn in consumer spending combined with a diminishing customer representative network has made the last three quarters a real challenge. Externally, the softness in consumer spending put a dent in our sales while internally, we have been coping with multiple issues that have gotten our attention:

  1. Recruitment and retention are down -- the lifeblood of direct selling is attracting and keeping new sales associates. We need to do a better job.
  2. Our rep and customer bases are aging faster than we can get younger people into the organization.

3) Consumer preferences, along with societal changes and more working women, are creating profound transformation in the household products category. We need to make our household products more convenient to use.

"We have faced up to the issues and taken strong initiatives to halt the decline and stabilize this business. The key initiatives include:

"FIRST, focus talented resources exclusively on recruitment and retention, our # 1 issue.

"In June, Karen Conkey joined us to head up the recruitment, retention training function at Stanley. She is a pro, with 15 years experience at industry leader Jafra. We expect great things from Karen and are already beginning to see results.

"SECOND, we need to bring youth into our business to achieve a multi-generational organization. We can infuse Stanley with youthful vigor by focusing on:

"People -- The Internet will attract younger reps and customers. Our growing line of Personal Care products will also be attractive to this group.

"Products -- Our new products calendar will feature an increased stream of new offerings. New products will be introduced at a rate of 70% Personal Care and 30% Home Care to achieve the critical mass required to strategically separate the lines. In this way, reps can have a choice to sell only Household, only Personal Care, or a combination.

"Promotion -- We must create opportunities in our field management organization to attract bright, ambitious men and women. We are designing a field sales structure that opens up more opportunities for people to progress.

"We need to leverage our strengths to the maximum. One of these strengths is our great popularity among Hispanics. We are now working on a plan to extend the great success of Southern California and Texas to other areas like Chicago and Denver. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority, with great purchasing power and powerful brand loyalty. We need to replicate our success to new geographic areas.

"Stanley is under pressure from a number of different fronts. However, what will turn the tide for this great company, in addition to the strategic initiatives I have mentioned, is a core of fanatically loyal, thoroughly professional field managers and representatives. I just returned from the SHP National Sales Convention in Nashville and, believe me; their commitment and enthusiasm are contagious.

"Now let's turn to our third Fuller Brands business… Cleaning Technologies Group.

"This business was really hit hard during the last half of last year. Large national accounts left us for more attractive pricing offered by desperate competitors, other accounts actually cut their consumption of our products by up to 50% due to the slowdown in the retail environment, and we suffered disruption during our restructuring of this business. All these powerful external negative forces came down at the same time.

"I'm happy to report that we are now seeing slow but steady progress at CTG. The positive results are beginning to come alive every day.

"In Quarter one, CTG returned to profitability despite our largest national account cutting its consumption in half. We began a margin improvement program that will continue indefinitely. This program, which features ambitious goals and specific measurements, resulted in an improvement of five gross margin points in the First Quarter. Finally, expense control has produced the desired result, and now CTG is properly sized, correctly aligned, and poised for top-line growth. The key initiatives in top-line growth will be:

"First, we recently launched regional grocery sanitation program. Here, we found a niche in which we can effectively compete and win. We offer one stop shopping for supermarket cleaning needs, and we have chosen those regional chains where service and range of products mean a lot, and where we can command attractive pricing. We expect to close our first regional grocery deal sometime this quarter with more to follow.

"Second, a tighter focus in our product offering. We have set aggressive targets of rationalizing SKU's by a minimum of 10% this year. We can't be all things to all people -- we will slim down our range and sell more volume of fewer SKU's -- this will lower distribution costs and increase field sales effectiveness.

"Furthermore, for the first time, we have set tight gross margin criteria for individual products, and we will be prudently ruthless in discontinuing unacceptably low-margin business. We are now in a position to be able to turn down business that does not meet our profit expectations.

"Third, International expansion of CTG's franchise is key to future growth. I will be working closely with CPAC managers in Europe and Asia to plan and execute CTG penetration of those overseas markets where we feel we can compete. We will be actively pursuing partners, alliances, and leverage our strengths into international markets.

"Fourth, National Account Development needs, and is now getting, full-time professional leadership. Mike Carr, an industry veteran, has enjoyed success in developing and nurturing national accounts like K-Mart. Mike will provide the necessary leadership to make us a force with selected national accounts. We have proven conclusively in side-by-side comparative testing that we can beat the likes of S.C. Johnson on key product attributes. Now we need to leverage that superiority into new national accounts, and one of our best men is on the case.

"In summary, we are undertaking a significant number of bold initiatives in the Fuller Brands segment. While they may not yield spectacular results in this very difficult current fiscal year, they are the right initiatives, and they will reward you, the shareholders of CPAC, Inc., over time. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to addressing you periodically with news of our progress."

 

Wendy F. Clay, CPAC's Vice President, Administration and Chief Operating Officer, Stanley Home Products

"The corporate staff in Leicester handles a number of different functions for CPAC, Inc. and continues to provide services to the other divisions. Employee benefits administration, public relations, investor relations, human relations, MIS (management information systems), and financial support all fall under the corporate umbrella. I have the pleasure of speaking to you today on a variety of different and unrelated subjects that fall under the category of corporate administration.

"First let’s talk about our stock price in light of our performance this year and that of others in the industry. Not news to any of you, but a lot has happened in the market since the last time we met! Our troubled economy has impacted sales and profits of large and small companies alike, and the previously high-flying Internet stocks have predictably tumbled.

"As of this morning, our stock was trading at $6.32 per share – this is 13% less than what we reported at last year’s annual meeting. In terms of volatility however – while many companies have seen tremendous swings, our highs and lows for the year were almost identical to the previous 12 months at $8.50 and $5.12 respectively.

"Although this has not been our best year in terms of growth, there are a number of things we can point to that are positive. To recap briefly some of Tom Weldgen’s comments:

  • We remain financially solid – at March 31, operating income was $7.3 million
  • Cash dividends paid were $0.28 versus $0.26 per share resulting in a dividend yield on today’s stock price of 4.4 %
  • With nearly $8 million in cash we have a low – zero net debt position

"These are all strong indicators of solid companies.

"That said, conserving cash has been a strength of ours. . . investing in the right internal growth initiatives has been a weakness. Mr. McNamara brings expertise to help us in this area with respect to Fuller Brands.

"Where do we need improvement? The single most important area of focus is growth – our sales slipped 7% year over year and we simply must reverse that trend. One action we have taken is to change the compensation program for senior management such that both sales and profit goals must be obtained before any incentive compensation can be paid. Previously our program rewarded senior managers for increases in earnings per share exclusively.

"What else can we do? Although our cash position is strong, we must remain vigilant about expense reduction in areas that don’t compromise growth. Some examples are as follows:

  • In operations -- The introduction of a plant-wide gainsharing program at Fuller to focus on improving manufacturing efficiencies and eliminating waste at our largest facility. This program was just launched in April of this year.
  • In investor relations -- The scaled-back presentation of our annual report this year and streamlined quarterly reports. By using the 10K as an insert for the annual report, we reduced its production cost by nearly 30%. Many of you are aware that all of our materials are posted on our web site, www.cpac.com. We will continue to use this method of communicating with our shareholders to its fullest extent to reduce costs and help us be compliant with the new Fair Disclosure regulations. As another example, we are now posting management comments quarterly on the Internet and have thus eliminated the analyst conference call expense. We will continue to make these types of changes, which we hope will contribute to improved earnings in addition to expanded and more expeditious communication with our shareholders.
  • In human relations – benefits costs for all companies continue to rise and this becomes even more significant during challenging economic times. Through additional cost sharing, plan design changes and employee education, we have been able to consistently hold costs under the national average renewal rates for our benefits programs.

"We will continue to target non-growth related areas to control expenses in all parts of the business.

"Moving on to public relations activities and events, I’d like to mention a few that are related specifically to the Fuller Brands side of our business, where I have been the closest over the past year.

"Both Fuller Brush and Stanley Home Products are celebrating milestone years this year. For Fuller, its 95th year in business, and for Stanley – its 70th year in business. Both companies have anniversary events planned throughout the year with the communications aspects handled by our corporate staff. In July we released several stories over the newswire on Stanley Home Products to commemorate the origin of the party plan method of selling, and to acknowledge Stanley’s rich background. At Stanley's National Sales Convention last week, we exhibited a 70 year display of memorabilia including photos, old products, newsletters and advertisements from the 30’s, on up. A 'virtual display' will now be created and posted on Stanley’s web site.

"Fuller Brush will also introduce special anniversary promotions online, at the retail stores and throughout the holiday season in recognition of its 95th year in business.

"Fuller also placed several national advertisements this year in recognized magazines like AARP, Modern Maturity, Better Homes and Gardens and Reader’s Digest. Additional corporate identity type ads are planned for the future to help expand awareness of the Fuller name and drive traffic to their Internet sites.

"These activities will tie into Mr. McNamara’s more comprehensive plans for long term growth for the Fuller Brands segment.

"As we look to the future, we are well aware of the corporation’s need to focus on sales, or top line growth for all subsidiaries, without losing our historical orientation to bottom line results. The administrative group is charged with supporting the approved plans and strategies of each subsidiary in a cost effective and timely manner. This means questioning expenditures -- not compromising plans. The creative and resourceful use of both our people and our funds to achieve our goals will remain a priority.

"We appreciate your continued support of our company and look forward to a promising future."

Questions and Answers:

  1. Have you seriously considered a dividend reinvestment plan?

TJW: We have reviewed the dividend reinvestment plan twice in the last three years, and for the shareholder base that we have, the economics of it did not make sense. We couldn't find a broker that was willing to undertake that effort, because we don't have that many individual shareholders.

  1. With Europe going into a recession, how does that affect your growth plans?

TJW: Based on our growth in Europe and in the Pacific Rim, we're taking significant new customers. Our preliminary July numbers indicate that sales from our Belgian operation are up significantly over last year. Although their existing customer base is purchasing less product overall, they are continuing to add new customers and thus are achieving sales growth. There is significantly more market share available to us.

TNH: Also, the Euro exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar are significantly weaker than they were a year ago. However, they're also weak against many other currencies. As a result, exports from our Belgian and Italian plants remain positive. The only country where they have had major problems is Turkey, which is now a disastrous marketplace. We've seen sales pick up in Russia, U.K., and Scandinavian countries. We don't look at the European market as just the EC countries. We are seeing positive results in local currencies. The difficulty for us as a U.S. corporation operating abroad is in translating those results into U.S. dollars. We can be up in local currency but actually report flat to down sales and profits as a result. We're constantly fighting the exchange rates.

  1. You mentioned the Hispanic community in Fuller Brands. Are you actively recruiting within the U.S. Hispanic community, and will that translate into success into international Spanish-speaking markets such as Mexico? And are you marketing your products in Mexico?

RM: Regarding recruitment -- Yes. There are two major areas of the country in which we have strong field sales organizations focusing on recruitment, with the assistance of a Stanley employee based in Los Angeles. She will play an integral part in our efforts in Denver and Chicago. Regarding selling in Mexico -- no, we will not sell Fuller Brush in Mexico because of a non-compete agreement with Sara Lee. But here is the other side of the equation. You're aware of immigration into the U.S. from Mexico. House of Fuller in Mexico [not affiliated with CPAC] is a huge direct selling business. Many Mexicans that arrive here are already familiar with Fuller, so our work has been done in terms of establishing brand awareness. Our objective now is to market to these people as they enter the U.S.

TNH: What's also important to mention is that Read McNamara is fluent in Spanish, Javier Paredes [President of Stanley Home Products] is from South America, and Wendy Clay also speaks Spanish. So the three top executives in Stanley Home Products are able to communicate with that group.

  1. Does the inability to market in Mexico apply to Stanley Home Products too?

RM: Yes, but other parts of Latin America may hold great promise for us. I can be more specific at the next annual meeting. There are other opportunities for Fuller Brands south of the border.

  1. Are you seeing any pricing stability in the imaging sector?

TNH: In the U.S., it really isn't a question of price. We have lost no customers, and our pricing remains relatively constant. It is not our strategy to lower prices to increase market share. We package an entire array of products to gain new customers. That isn't quite the same in Russia, where there is tremendous pressure from the two largest imaging companies for market share. In China, pricing is almost below our cost, so we simply are not a factor in that market. It's the only area in the Pacific Rim where we don't have a customer base.

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