Exhibit 99.1
Brandywine West, 1521 Concord Pike, Suite 301 |
N E W S R E L E A S E
CONTACT: Elise A. Garofalo
Director of Investor Relations
302-778-8227
GrafTech Schedules Fourth Quarter 2004 Conference Call: Reaffirms Fourth
Quarter 2004 Earnings Estimate
Wilmington, DE – January 13, 2005 – GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:GTI) today announced that it will hold its 2004 fourth quarter conference call with investors and analysts on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 11:00 am EST. The news release announcing the 2004 fourth quarter results will be issued before the market opens on March 15, 2005.
GTI reaffirms its previously disclosed 2004 fourth quarter earnings guidance before restructuring charges and other income/expense, net of $0.11-$0.13 per share, excluding the previously disclosed $0.01 per share impact of 13.6 million shares underlying the Company’s contingent convertible debt. As required by new accounting rules adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board effective December 15, 2004, shares underlying GTI’s contingent convertible debt will be included in GAAP earnings per share calculations.
The Company has scheduled its earnings release and related conference call to closely coincide with the filing of its Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The schedule reflects the required audit procedures and related internal control assessment and attestation required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This process includes the review of the internal controls over closing and reporting of information provided in the Company’s Form 10-K.
The dial in number for the live audio call beginning at 11:00am EST is:
Domestic – (800) 218-0204
International – (303) 205-0033
If you are interested in participating in this call, please contact Kelly Powell at (302) 778- 8231 or kelly.powell@graftech.com. To ensure your participation, please dial in a few minutes prior to the start of the call and reference the GrafTech Fourth Quarter Conference Call.
A replay of the call will be available for 72 hours following the call. The replay will be accessible within two hours from the finish of the conference call. You can access the replay by using the following numbers for domestic and international dial in:
Domestic – (800) 405-2236
International – (303) 590-3000
Passcode – 11021508#
The conference call will also be available on our website, www.graftech.com, within two days of the call, in the investor relations section.
GrafTech International Ltd. is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and providers of high quality synthetic and natural graphite and carbon based products and technical and research and development services, with customers in about 60 countries engaged in the manufacture of steel, aluminum, silicon metal, automotive products and electronics. We manufacture graphite electrodes and cathodes, products essential to the production of electric arc furnace steel and aluminum. We also manufacture thermal management, fuel cell and other specialty graphite and carbon products for, and provide services to, the electronics, power generation, semiconductor, transportation, petrochemical and other metals markets. We are the leading manufacturer in all of our major product lines, with 13 state of the art manufacturing facilities strategically located on four continents. GRAFCELL®, GRAFOIL®, and eGRAF®are our registered trademarks. For additional information on GrafTech International, call 302-778-8227 or visit our website at www.graftech.com. For additional information on our subsidiary, Advanced Energy Technology Inc., call 216-529-3777.
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This release and any related discussions may contain forward-looking statements about such matters as: future production, prices and sales of and demand for various products; future operational and financial performance of various businesses; economic conditions; interest rate management activities; strategic and business plans; legal matters; consulting projects; potential actions regarding debt or equity securities; and future asset sales, costs, working capital, revenues, business opportunities, values, debt levels, cash flows, cost savings and reductions, margins, earnings and growth. We have no duty to update these statements. Actual future events, results and conditions could differ materially due to various factors, including: the possibility that global or regional economic conditions or end market conditions for our products may not improve or may worsen; the possibility that anticipated electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production capacity additions may not occur or that further graphite electrode (GE) manufacturing capacity additions may occur; the possibility that changes in EAF steel production or GE production may result in fluctuations in GE demand, prices or volumes; the possibility that quarterly or annual average GE prices may differ from current spot prices or that announced GE price increases or surcharges may not be realized; the possibility that changes in GE product mix may impact average GE revenue per metric ton; the possibility that economic or technological developments may affect demand for the various types of cathodes used in aluminum smelting, that anticipated aluminum smelting capacity changes or additions using graphite cathodes may not occur or that increased production of graphite or other cathodes may occur; the possibility that changes in production of aluminum or various types of cathodes may not result in fluctuations in demand, prices or volumes of various types of cathodes; the possibility of delays in or failure to achieve widespread commercialization of fuel cells which use our products or that fuel cell manufacturers may obtain those products from other sources; the possibility of delays in or failure to achieve successful development and commercialization of electronic thermal management or other new or improved products or that they could be subsequently displaced by other products or technologies; the possibility of delays in meeting or failure to meet contractual or other product development milestones or delays in expanding or failure to expand our manufacturing capacity to meet any growth in demand; the possibility that we may be unable to protect our intellectual property or may infringe the intellectual property rights of others; unanticipated events or circumstances relating to antitrust or other lawsuits;