RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, Calif., Feb. 7, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- UTi Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:UTIW) today unveiled its five-year strategic plan, entitled "NextLeap," the roadmap by which management will work to achieve the company's higher growth objectives.
"We intend for NextLeap to challenge our UTi Team to deliver more in terms of customer value, sales growth, profitability and measurability," said Roger I. MacFarlane, UTi Worldwide's chief executive officer. "The plan is ambitious and clearly is intended to push our company to new levels of achievement, symbolized by 20 to the power of 5. The plan is not intended to constitute new guidance to investors and Wall Street. Rather, we are not comfortable resting on our past accomplishments, and NextLeap is designed to bring out the best in our team and build a stronger company for the future."
NextLeap, being introduced at a UTi Investor Day today, focuses the company on five key growth platforms over the next 20 quarters: 1) gaining major global strategic customers; 2) raising the annual net revenue growth rate; 3) improving operating margins; 4) rallying UTi's employees on key performance metrics to achieve these goals; and 5) ensuring UTi's team of people around the world deliver their targeted performance -- quarter-by-quarter -- over the next 20 quarters.
At the Investor Day, UTi management also will discuss SFAS 141 and 142 regarding goodwill amortization. Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Samuels will indicate that, while the impact of adopting SFAS 141 and 142 on the company's financial results for the year ending January 31, 2003 is still being evaluated, UTi has no expectations that a writedown of goodwill will be necessary. Samuels also will say that he does not currently anticipate any impairment of goodwill going forward, although future reviews are required by SFAS 142 on a quarterly basis. For the first three quarters of UTi Worldwide's 2002 fiscal year ended January 31, 2002, the company has recorded $0.16 per share per quarter of amortized goodwill.
Additionally, the company intends to discuss expanded financial details of its recent acquisition of Grupo SLI. For the year ended December 31, 2001, Grupo SLI had earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $3 million. As previously disclosed, Grupo SLI had net revenues of approximately $17 million in 2001.
"In just over a year, UTi Worldwide has achieved a number of important milestones that have set the foundation for the future," MacFarlane said. "In November 2000, we completed our U.S. initial public offering. We made a significant acquisition in Asia to establish our presence in that important, growing market, and we have just announced another acquisition in Spain. Our organization's mindset is now firmly set on selling solutions to meet our customers' supply chain management needs. The roll-out of our uWarehouse product is one excellent example of how UTi Worldwide uses sophisticated technology. At the same time, we have strengthened our financial reporting systems, controlled costs, generated free cash flow, and demonstrated an ability to steer our ship forward in admittedly very choppy economic waters."
MacFarlane will note at the Investor Day that the current environment for UTi Worldwide's business remains challenging, as weak economic conditions, particularly in the U.S., and uncertainties regarding airfreight capacity remain. MacFarlane plans to cite that international air cargo ton miles continued to decline through December 2001, as reported by the Air Transportation Association.
MacFarlane continued: "Nevertheless, the disciplined approach we take to managing our business allows us to be optimistic about the future. We endeavor to manage costs to keep them in line with revenues, and we remain focused on enhancing yields and free cash flow. While customer wins don't quickly translate to increased revenues, our confidence is further bolstered by the strength of new business awarded to us in January. As we start the new fiscal 2003 year, it is appropriate to share with our investors the excitement we have for NextLeap, as a motivating force behind our longer-term focus on solid shareholder value."
About UTi Worldwide
UTi Worldwide Inc. is a global, non-asset based supply chain management business providing supply chain logistics services and planning and optimization solutions. The company's services include freight forwarding, customs brokerage and warehousing services such as the coordination of shipping and the storage of raw materials, supplies, components and finished goods. Through its supply chain planning and optimization services, the company assists clients in designing and implementing systems that improve the predictability and visibility and reduce the overall cost of their supply chains. The company has a global and diverse business customer base ranging from large multinational enterprises to smaller local businesses. For more information about the company visit its Web site at www.go2uti.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this news release may be deemed to be 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. The company intends that all such statements be subject to the "safe-harbor" provisions contained in those sections. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, the company's discussion of its five growth platforms over the next 20 quarters, as well as the company's expectation that it will not write down goodwill nor report an impairment of goodwill for the fiscal-year ended January 31, 2002, and any other statements, which are not historical facts. Many important factors may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any such forward-looking statements, including general economic, political and market conditions, increased competition, integration risks associated with acquisitions, the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates, increases in the company's effective tax rates, industry consolidation making it more difficult to compete against larger companies, risks of international operations, the success and effects of new strategies, disruptions caused by conflicts, wars and terrorism, shortages in available cargo and container space and capacity constraints and changes by carriers in scheduling, frequency of services, cost increases and other factors not in the company's control, and the other risks and uncertainties described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may vary materially from those indicated. Although UTi believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, therefore, there can be no assurance that the results contemplated in forward-looking statements will be realized. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking information included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by UTi or any other person that UTi's objectives or plans will be achieved. The historical results achieved by the company are not necessarily indicative of its future prospects. UTi undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.