STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 24, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pergo, a leading flooring company, today arranged a capital market day in Stockholm. Tony Sturrus, CEO of Pergo, stated that there are excellent opportunities for growth throughout the Company over the next two years. The most immediate and biggest opportunity exists in North America, where the laminate flooring market is expected to grow by 10-12 percent annually and the PERGO(R) brand is most well known. Pergo anticipates profit improvement during the latter part of 2005 due to growth in North America and by completed investments made in both Europe and the USA.
"Pergo is a company full of opportunities. We do however have a tremendous amount of work to do to live up to the expectations surrounding the Company. The management team has a sharpened focus and a greater sense of urgency in order to fulfill the expectations and create a more successful Pergo," says Tony Sturrus.
At the capital market day, the key members of the management presented a clear implementation plan for reaching the stated long-term objectives of the Company. Those communicated are to achieve an 8 percent return on operating margin and 20 percent return on capital employed. Pergo is also focusing on improving cash flow. The major capital programs are near completion as well as the impact of the 2004 restructuring charge. Pergo is also seeking to sell non-essential and surplus assets to strengthen the cash flow. "We are well positioned in North America. We have an efficient production and logistic structure and a strong product portfolio. Through customer surveys we know that the PERGO(R) brand is very strong in North America and is a great asset. We will capitalize on our brand and offer our customers new innovative products, accessories and other categories," says Tony Sturrus.
At the capital market day, Tony Sturrus presented more details on the European improvement program. Pergo will focus on rightsizing the European business, through the recently announced improvement program. The aim is to achieve savings in the magnitude of approximately SEK 100 million in 2006.
The savings are expected to be the result of synergies in purchasing, information technologies, product design and development and reduced corporate overhead and other fixed cost. Negotiations with the unions have started on reducing the Pergo staff by approximately 120 employees with most of the reductions occurring in Europe.
The capital market day webcast can be viewed after Thursday, August 25 on Pergo's Web site: www.pergo.com
For further comments, please contact CEO -- Tony Sturrus phone +46 410-36 31 00 E-mail: tony.sturrus@pergo.com CFO -- Staffan Soderqvist phone +46 410-36 31 00 E-mail: staffan.soderqvist@pergo.com Communications manager -- Asa Ruhr phone +46 410-36 31 00 mobile: +46 705-59 55 79 E-mail: asa.ruhr@pergo.com
Pergo is a leading flooring company with leading market positions, particularly in Europe and the U.S. Net sales amount to approx. SEK 2,8 billion and the number of employees is around 800. Pergo developed laminate flooring at the end of the 1970s and launched the product in Europe during the 1980s. The company started sales in the U.S. in 1994 and later also in Asia 1995 and Latin America 1997. The company's products have been marketed under the PERGO(R) brand name since 1989. The company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's O-list. For further information about Pergo, please visit our Web site www.pergo.com.
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