Rayovac 2004 Annual Report Download - page 10

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 10 of the 2004 Rayovac annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 115

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115

These฀results,฀while฀impressive฀in฀any฀year,฀are฀particularly฀rewarding฀in฀the฀context฀of฀fiscal฀
2004’s฀ challenging฀ global฀ economy,฀ which฀ was฀ characterized฀ by฀ low฀ economic฀ growth,฀
and฀political฀instability฀and฀currency฀devaluation฀in฀a฀number฀of฀world฀markets.฀Our฀ability฀
to฀ overcome฀ these฀ obstacles,฀ expand฀ our฀ global฀ operations,฀ and฀ deliver฀ strong฀ financial฀
performance฀was฀duly฀recognized฀by฀the฀investment฀community:฀Our฀stock฀price฀rose฀from฀
$14.60฀per฀share฀at฀fiscal฀year-end฀2003฀to฀$26.35฀at฀the฀close฀of฀fiscal฀2004,฀a฀gain฀of฀80฀
percent—an฀impressive฀increase฀in฀shareholder฀value฀by฀any฀measure.
Refining฀Our฀Growth฀Strategy
Rayovac’s฀ record฀ of฀ success฀ has฀ been฀ predicated฀ on฀ our฀ highly฀ effective฀ growth฀ strategy.฀
Since฀our฀management฀team฀took฀the฀helm฀at฀Rayovac฀in฀1996,฀we฀have฀more฀than฀tripled฀our฀
annual฀net฀sales,฀and฀we฀have฀transformed฀our฀business฀into฀a฀global฀enterprise฀with฀a฀broad฀
portfolio฀of฀products฀and฀a฀worldwide฀customer฀base.฀We฀have฀achieved฀this฀growth฀primarily฀
through฀acquisitions฀ that฀ advanced฀ our฀geographic฀expansion฀and฀gave฀us฀premier฀ brand฀฀
positions—a฀timely฀strategy฀in฀light฀of฀the฀global฀nature฀of฀retailing฀today.฀We฀are฀now฀able฀to฀
offer฀the฀world’s฀largest฀retailers฀the฀innovative฀products฀and฀the฀stringent฀customer฀service฀
levels฀ they฀ require฀to฀compete฀on฀a฀worldwide฀ basis.฀Our฀ vision฀ is฀ to฀ grow฀ alongside฀these฀
large฀ customers฀ so฀ that฀ we฀ can฀ support฀ them฀ virtually฀ anywhere฀ in฀ the฀ world฀ they฀ choose฀฀
to฀operate.
Rayovac฀has฀enjoyed฀an฀excellent฀track฀record฀in฀achieving฀symbiotic฀growth฀with฀our฀customers,฀
and฀we฀are฀confident฀that฀we฀can฀realize฀our฀vision.฀Rayovac’s฀products,฀for฀example,฀were฀
offered฀ in฀Sam฀ Walton’s฀ first฀Wal-Mart฀and฀ in฀every฀ Wal-Mart฀since฀ then.฀Our฀ resounding฀
success฀in฀supporting฀sophisticated฀retailers฀is฀reflected฀in฀our฀quality฀relationships฀with฀19฀of฀
the฀world’s฀top฀20฀retailers,฀including฀Ahold,฀Aldi,฀Albertsons,฀Carrefour,฀Costco,฀Intermarche,฀
Kroger,฀Metro,฀Sears,฀Target,฀Tesco,฀and฀The฀Home฀Depot,฀among฀others.฀Our฀goal฀is฀to฀maintain฀
mutually฀rewarding฀relationships฀with฀100฀percent฀of฀the฀world’s฀top฀retailers,฀making฀our฀branded฀
consumer฀products฀ubiquitous฀within฀the฀world’s฀mass฀retail฀channels.
In฀fiscal฀2004,฀we฀successfully฀positioned฀ourselves฀to฀achieve฀this฀goal.฀By฀acquiring฀Microlite฀
and฀Ningbo฀Baowang,฀we฀completed฀our฀global฀expansion฀and฀extended฀our฀footprint฀to฀every฀
geographic฀market฀where฀we฀wish฀to฀operate.฀Our฀powerful฀new฀infrastructure฀now฀spans฀the฀
world฀with฀an฀integrated฀global฀manufacturing,฀distribution฀and฀information฀services฀platform,฀
supported฀ by฀ a฀ worldwide฀ sales฀ and฀ marketing฀ organization฀ that฀ is฀ managed฀ regionally฀ and฀
T O ฀ O U R ฀ S H A R E H O L D E R S ฀
(Continued)฀
Strategy
Our฀goal฀is฀to฀maintain฀mutually฀rewarding฀relationships฀with฀฀
฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀100฀percent฀of฀the฀world’s฀top฀retailers,฀making฀our฀branded฀฀
consumer฀products฀ubiquitous฀within฀the฀world’s฀mass฀retail฀channels.฀
T h e ฀ P o w e r ฀ B e h i n d ฀ O u r ฀ B r a n d s . ฀ G r o w t h . ฀ D i s c i p l i n e . ฀ F o c u s . ฀ S t r a t e g y . ฀ I n n o v a t i o n . ฀ E x p e r i e n c e .