Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPB), a diversified and global consumer products company with market-leading brands, announced today it has signed a two-year contract for 2011-2012 with Carrefour Group, the world’s second largest retailer, under which Spectrum will supply its branded alkaline and zinc batteries, as well as rechargeable chargers and accumulators, under the VARTA® brand in Europe and the Rayovac® brand in Latin America.
“We are pleased to be chosen as one of two branded battery suppliers for Carrefour following a listing competition with other major global battery producers,” said Dave Lumley, Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Brands Holdings and president of the Company’s Global Batteries division. “This important listing with Carrefour is a key step in fulfilling our distribution expansion objective for VARTA® and Rayovac® in food retailer channels throughout Europe and Latin America. It also will contribute to the continuing overall global growth of our battery business and brand visibility strategy at point-of-sale.
“Our VARTA® and Rayovac® brands will serve Carrefour’s desire to provide ‘same performance at better value’ products to their customers,” Mr. Lumley continued. “We continue to believe our Spectrum Value Model is the right retail customer strategy for our non-discretionary, replacement consumer products. It provides value to the consumer with products that work as well as or better than our competitors for a lower cost, while delivering higher margins and lower acquisition costs to retailers, along with excellent category management and high service levels.”
With nearly 9,500 stories in 32 countries, Carrefour is the number-one and number-two retailer in Europe and Latin America, respectively.
About Spectrum’s Global Batteries Business
Spectrum Brands Holdings’ batteries business spans the globe, from North America to Europe and Latin America where the Company is among the top one, two or three suppliers in each region. In Central Europe, the premium-positioned VARTA® is the second-largest alkaline battery brand. In North America, Rayovac® is the number-three brand with a well-defined value proposition and growing share, and in Latin America, the Rayovac® brand dominates the battery market. The Company also is the leading global supplier of hearing aid batteries. Our portfolio features a wide variety of consumer batteries, including alkaline, zinc carbon, hearing aid, rechargeable batteries and chargers. Rayovac® and VARTA® also market portable lighting products. For more information, visit www.rayovac.com, www.VARTA-consumer.com and www.la.rayovac.com.
About Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.
Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., a member of the Russell 2000 Index, is a global, diversified and market-driven consumer products company and a leading supplier of batteries, shaving and grooming products, personal care products, small household appliances, specialty pet supplies, lawn & garden and home pest control products, personal insect repellents and portable lighting. Helping to meet the needs of consumers worldwide, the Company offers a broad portfolio of market-leading and widely trusted brands including Rayovac®, Remington®, Varta®, George Foreman®, Black & Decker®, Toastmaster®, Tetra®, Marineland®, Nature’s Miracle®, Dingo®, 8-in-1®, Littermaid®, Spectracide®, Cutter®, Repel®, and Hot Shot®. Spectrum Brands’ products are sold by the world's top 25 retailers and are available in more than one million stores in more than 120 countries around the world. Spectrum Brands generated net sales of $3.1 billion from continuing operations in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.spectrumbrands.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this news release and other oral and written statements by representatives of the Company regarding matters such as the Company’s ability to meet its expectations for its fiscal 2011 (including its ability to increase its adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow and reduce its cumulative debt), may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like “future,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “believe,” “expect,” “project,” “forecast,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “will,” “may,” and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of (1) Spectrum Brands' ability to manage and otherwise comply with its covenants with respect to its significant outstanding indebtedness, (2) risks related to our ability to integrate, and to realize synergies from, the combined businesses of Spectrum Brands and Russell Hobbs, (3) risks that changes and developments in external competitive market factors, such as introduction of new product features or technological developments, development of new competitors or competitive brands or competitive promotional activity or spending, (4) changes in consumer demand for the various types of products Spectrum Brands offers, (5) unfavorable developments in the global credit markets, (6) the impact of overall economic conditions on consumer spending, (7) fluctuations in commodities prices, the costs or availability of raw materials or terms and conditions available from suppliers, (8) changes in the general economic conditions in countries and regions where Spectrum Brands does business, such as stock market prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation and consumer spending, (9) Spectrum Brands' ability to successfully implement manufacturing, distribution and other cost efficiencies and to continue to benefit from its cost-cutting initiatives, (10) Spectrum Brands' ability to identify, develop and retain key employees, (11) unfavorable weather conditions and various other risks and uncertainties, including those discussed herein and those set forth in the securities filings of each of Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. and Spectrum Brands, Inc., including each of their most recently filed Annual Reports on Form 10-K or Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Spectrum Brands cautions the reader that its estimates of trends, market share, retail consumption of its products and reasons for changes in such consumption are based solely on limited data available to Spectrum Brands and management's reasonable assumptions about market conditions, and consequently may be inaccurate, or may not reflect significant segments of the retail market.
Spectrum Brands also cautions the reader that undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Spectrum Brands undertakes no duty or responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect actual outcomes.
Contacts:
Dave Prichard
608.278.6141
