Message #21 From:
Stock News Bot Date: December 13, 2006 05:00:00 AM
ABC News AmerisourceBergen Reaffirms Guidance For FY 2007 At Annual Investor Day
VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC) today will reaffirm its
previous fiscal year 2007 guidance at its Investor Day Meeting in New
York City. The Company is hosting a webcast of the meeting today
beginning at 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.
The Company continues to expect diluted earnings per share for fiscal
year 2007 to be between $2.40 and $2.55. The PharMerica Long Term Care
business, which the Company currently expects to spin off in the March
quarter of 2007, represents $0.09 to $0.11 of the Company’s
earnings expectations for all of fiscal year 2007.
Also unchanged are the key assumptions supporting the Company’s
diluted earnings per share expectations for fiscal 2007, which are:
operating revenue growth between 7 percent and 9 percent, at the high
end of market growth due to its specialty pharmaceuticals business and
completed acquisitions; operating margin expansion in the Pharmaceutical
Distribution segment; and free cash flow in the range of $425 million to
$500 million, which includes capital expenditures in the $100 million to
$125 million range. The Company also anticipates spending $450 million
to $500 million to repurchase its common shares during fiscal year 2007.
AmerisourceBergen will webcast its Investor Day Meeting today beginning
at 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time through approximately 3:30 pm.
Participating in the meeting will be: R. David Yost, Chief Executive
Officer; Kurt J. Hilzinger, President and Chief Operating Officer;
Michael D. DiCandilo, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer; Terrance P. Haas, Senior Vice President and President of
AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation; and Steven H. Collis, Senior Vice
President and President AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group. To access the
live webcast, go to the Webcasts section on the Investor Relations page
at www.amerisourcebergen.com.
A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days.
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) is one of the world’s
largest pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States,
Canada and selected global markets. Servicing both pharmaceutical
manufacturers and healthcare providers in the pharmaceutical supply
channel, the Company provides drug distribution and related services
designed to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. AmerisourceBergen’s
service solutions range from pharmacy automation and pharmaceutical
packaging to pharmacy services for skilled nursing and assisted living
facilities, reimbursement and pharmaceutical consulting services, and
physician education. With more than $60 billion in annualized revenue,
AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, and employs more
than 13,000 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #27 on the Fortune 500
list. For more information, go to www.amerisourcebergen.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are
based on management’s current expectations and
are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results
may vary materially from the expectations contained in the
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements herein
include statements addressing management’s
views with respect to future financial and operating results and the
benefits, efficiencies and savings to be derived from the Company’s
integration plan to consolidate its distribution network. The following
factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in any forward-looking statements: competitive
pressures; the loss of one or more key customer or supplier
relationships; customer defaults or insolvencies; changes in customer
mix; supplier defaults or insolvencies; changes in pharmaceutical
manufacturers' pricing and distribution policies or practices; adverse
resolution of any contract or other disputes with customers (including
departments and agencies of the U.S. Government) or suppliers;
regulatory changes (including increased government regulation of the
pharmaceutical supply channel); changes in U.S. government policies
(including reimbursement changes arising from federal legislation,
including the Medicare Modernization Act and the Deficit Reduction Act
of 2005); price inflation in branded pharmaceuticals and price deflation
in generics; declines in the amounts of market share rebates offered by
pharmaceutical manufacturers to the PharMerica Long-Term Care business,
declines in the amounts of rebates that the PharMerica Long-Term Care
business can retain, and/or the inability of the business to offset the
rebate reductions that have already occurred or any rebate reductions
that may occur in the future; any disruption to or other adverse effects
upon the PharMerica Long-Term Care business caused by the announcement
of the Company’s agreement to combine the
PharMerica Long-Term Care business with the institutional pharmacy
business of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. into a new public company that will
be owned 50% by the Company’s shareholders
(the “PharMerica LTC Transaction”);
the inability of the Company to successfully complete the PharMerica LTC
Transaction; fluctuations in market interest rates; operational or
control issues arising from the Company’s
outsourcing of information technology activities; the Pharmaceutical
Distribution segment’s ability to continue to
successfully transition its business model to fee-for-service; success
of integration, restructuring or systems initiatives; fluctuations in
the U.S. dollar - Canadian dollar exchange rate and other foreign
exchange rates; economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory
developments in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside of the
United States; acquisition of businesses that do not perform as we
expect or that are difficult for us to integrate or control; changes in
tax legislation or adverse resolution of challenges to our tax
positions; and other economic, business, competitive, legal, regulatory
and/or operational factors affecting the business of the Company
generally. Certain additional factors that management believes could
cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those
described in forward-looking statements are set forth (i) in Item 1A
(Risk Factors) in the Company’s Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006 and elsewhere
in that report and (ii) in other reports filed by the Company pursuant
to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
