Webcasts Investor Day Meeting Today
VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13,
2006--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.
CONTACT:
AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Valley Forge
Michael N. Kilpatric, 610-727-7118
mkilpatric@amerisourcebergen.com
SOURCE:
AmerisourceBergen Corporation