Rayovac 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

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T O ฀ O U R ฀ S H A R E H O L D E R S ฀
(Continued)฀
innovation฀group฀that฀we฀charged฀with฀developing฀a฀range฀of฀groundbreaking฀new฀products฀to฀
help฀us฀maintain฀our฀status฀as฀a฀leading฀innovator฀in฀our฀industry.
By฀applying฀our฀proven฀disciplines฀to฀our฀integration฀of฀Remington,฀we฀completed฀the฀process฀
ahead฀of฀schedule,฀generating฀approximately฀$35฀million฀in฀annual฀cost฀savings.฀At฀the฀same฀
time,฀we฀capitalized฀on฀the฀strength฀of฀the฀Remington฀brand฀to฀drive฀an฀18฀percent฀increase฀in฀
Remington’s฀ revenues.฀ We฀ expect฀ Remington’s฀ products฀ to฀ be฀ our฀ fastest฀ growing฀ product฀
line฀over฀the฀next฀several฀years.
Completing฀Our฀Globalization
While฀ we฀ devoted฀ significant฀ management฀ attention฀ to฀ the฀ integration฀ of฀ Remington,฀ we฀
simultaneously฀executed฀two฀smaller,฀strategically฀important฀acquisitions฀that฀completed฀our฀
globalization฀and฀consolidated฀the฀Rayovac฀brand฀worldwide.฀Combined฀with฀our฀acquisition฀of฀
Varta฀in฀2002,฀these฀acquisitions฀have฀provided฀Rayovac฀with฀a฀significant฀presence฀in฀North฀
America,฀Latin฀America,฀Europe฀and฀Asia฀Pacific.
In฀March,฀we฀acquired฀85฀percent฀of฀Ningbo฀Baowang฀Battery฀Company฀in฀Ninghai,฀China.฀
Ningbo฀ Baowang฀ provides฀ us฀ with฀ a฀ modern฀ manufacturing฀ facility฀ that฀ we฀ believe฀ to฀ be฀
among฀the฀ lowest฀cost฀battery฀manufacturing฀operations฀in฀the฀world.฀ This฀facility฀will฀ have฀
manufacturing฀ capacity฀ of฀ up฀ to฀ a฀ billion฀ batteries฀ per฀ year฀ with฀ access฀ to฀ export฀ markets฀
around฀the฀globe.฀In฀addition,฀Baowang฀is฀a฀leading฀brand฀in฀China,฀so฀our฀acquisition฀added฀an฀
established฀name฀to฀our฀growing฀brand฀portfolio.฀It฀also฀provided฀us฀with฀an฀established฀sales฀
and฀ marketing฀ organization฀ that฀ will฀help฀ us฀ to฀ penetrate฀the฀rapidly฀ growing฀battery฀market฀฀
in฀China.
In฀May,฀ we฀acquired฀Microlite,฀a฀low-cost฀battery฀manufacturer฀headquartered฀in฀São฀Paulo,฀
Brazil.฀Microlite฀is฀Brazil’s฀leading฀battery฀company฀with฀$53฀million฀in฀net฀sales฀and฀a฀49฀percent฀
market฀share.฀Rayovac’s฀acquisition฀of฀Microlite฀provided฀us฀with฀new฀regional฀manufacturing฀
capabilities฀and฀an฀even฀stronger฀number-one฀market฀position฀in฀Latin฀America.฀Moreover,฀since฀
Microlite฀owned฀the฀Rayovac฀brand฀name฀in฀Brazil,฀this฀acquisition฀secured฀our฀right฀to฀the฀Rayovac฀
name฀worldwide,฀enabling฀us฀to฀present฀a฀united฀front฀to฀our฀customers฀around฀the฀globe.
We฀are฀now฀working฀diligently฀to฀integrate฀Ningbo฀and฀Microlite,฀applying฀many฀of฀the฀same฀
disciplines฀that฀we฀used฀in฀our฀integrations฀of฀Varta฀and฀Remington.฀At฀Ningbo,฀we฀are฀upgrad-
ing฀financial฀and฀reporting฀systems;฀expanding฀alkaline฀battery฀capacity;฀improving฀the฀quality฀
and฀performance฀of฀its฀products;฀and฀expanding฀its฀sales฀and฀distribution฀network.฀At฀Microlite,฀
we฀have฀hired฀experienced฀new฀leadership฀and฀strengthened฀the฀capital฀structure;฀we฀are฀now฀
Discipline
฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀We฀delivered฀an฀18฀percent฀increase฀
฀in฀Remington’s฀revenues฀in฀2004.฀
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 .