Handleman Company Elects Albert Koch to President and Chief Executive Officer, Succeeding Stephen Strome
28 Novembre 2007 - 3:44PM
PR Newswire (US)
TROY, Mich., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Handleman Company
(NYSE:HDL), http://www.handleman.com/ today announced that its
Board of Directors has elected Albert A. Koch to President and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Koch is succeeding Stephen
Strome, who is retiring after nearly 30 years with the Company, of
which the last 16 were as CEO. Mr. Strome will become a consultant
to the Company to assist in accelerating its plan of returning to
profitability. Mr. Koch is an experienced business leader who has
successfully assisted a number of companies, including most
recently Polar Corporation and Champion Enterprises Inc., in
successfully achieving their strategic objectives. The Board of
Directors believes that Handleman's most important priorities are
to accelerate the pace of change at the Company and return it to
profitability, both areas in which Mr. Koch has a proven record of
excellence. Mr. Koch said, "The music industry is undergoing
dramatic changes. This requires the Company to continue building on
the significant steps Steve and his management team have already
put in place to reduce costs. At the same time we intend to pursue
additional opportunities to strengthen the Company's overall
performance. My focus at Handleman Company will be to improve
financial results, while leveraging the Company's core competencies
of category management, logistics and in-store service into other
avenues for growth." Stephen Strome added, "I have been working
with Handleman's Board of Directors to identify my successor. Al's
election by the Board of Directors allows me to retire having met
that goal. He has a history of returning companies to
profitability, accelerating change initiatives and strengthening
overall performance. Further, the Company's cost savings
initiatives are on track and the Company continues to focus on
identifying additional areas to reduce costs." Mr. Koch concluded,
"The Company has a long history of managing change and redefining
its business model. I am confident that, together with the talent
and proprietary processes that distinguish Handleman Company in the
marketplace, we will make significant progress in achieving our
goals. The holiday season is an important period for the Company. A
significant portion of its sales and earnings take place during
this period. In addition, the Company's liquidity is strong at this
time, with excess availability through its credit facility
currently at approximately $100 million." Mr. Koch is currently
Vice Chairman and Managing Director of AlixPartners, an
international financial advisory firm, and Chairman of Polar
Corporation, a leading full-service provider of tank trailers,
light-duty trailer parts and tank repair and maintenance services.
Previously he served as CEO at Champion Enterprises Inc., the
world's largest builder of manufactured homes. While at Champion
Enterprises Inc. he led a major financial and operational
turnaround, which saw significant improvement in the Company's
operating results and market capitalization. Other positions
included interim CFO of the Kmart Corporation and Oxford Health
Plans, and leading the restructuring of Ryder Systems, Inc. Mr.
Koch was a partner with Ernst & Young for 14 years, including
seven as Managing Partner of the Firm's Detroit office. He holds a
bachelor's degree in accounting from Elizabethtown College, and is
a member of several professional associations. About Handleman
Handleman Company is a category manager and distributor of
prerecorded music and console video game hardware, software and
accessories to leading retailers in the United States, United
Kingdom, and Canada. As a category manager, the Company manages a
broad assortment of titles to optimize sales and inventory
productivity in retail stores. Services offered include product
selection, direct-to-store shipments, marketing and in-store
merchandising. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Information in this press release contains forward-looking
statements, which are not historical facts. These statements
involve risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Actual results, events and performance could differ
materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking
statements including, without limitation, the ability to secure
funding or generate sufficient cash required to build and grow
other new businesses, achievement of cost saving strategies
identified or in the process of being implemented, risks associated
with the Company's responsibilities required under its agreement
with Tesco PLC, improving operating performance after the
termination of the Company's music supply agreement with ASDA and
generating cash from reducing working capital investment, achieving
the business integration objectives expected with the Crave
Entertainment Group and REPS acquisitions, changes in the music and
console video game industries, continuation of satisfactory
relationships with existing customers and suppliers, establishing
satisfactory relationships with new customers and suppliers,
effects of electronic commerce inclusive of digital music and
console video game distribution, success of new music and video
game releases, dependency on technology, ability to control costs,
relationships with the Company's lenders, pricing and competitive
pressures, successfully executing new business initiatives,
dependence on third-party carriers to deliver products to
customers, the occurrence of catastrophic events or acts of
terrorism, retaining and/or recruiting key executives, certain
global and regional economic conditions, and other factors
discussed in this press release and those detailed from time to
time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Handleman Company notes that the preceding conditions
are not a complete list of risks and uncertainties. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press
release. DATASOURCE: Handleman Company CONTACT: Thomas Braum,
Executive Vice President and CFO, +1-248-362-4400, Ext. 718, or
Greg Mize, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer,
+1-248-362-4400, Ext. 211, both of Handleman Company Web site:
http://www.handleman.com/
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