Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMMSCOPE EXPECTS AT&T FOURTH QUARTER SLOWDOWN;
REAFFIRMS FOURTH QUARTER GUIDANCE
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HICKORY, NC, NOVEMBER 24, 2000 - CommScope, Inc. (NYSE: CTV) announced
today that it has been notified by AT&T Broadband that AT&T will not accept
product deliveries under open purchase orders from many of its suppliers,
including CommScope, for the balance of this year. While an AT&T slowdown
will have some negative effect, CommScope does not expect this event to
change its previously provided overall fourth quarter earnings guidance.
"AT&T has advised us and others that it has excess inventories for
many of their materials and is correcting the situation by this action,"
said Frank M. Drendel, CommScope's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
"We have offered our cooperation in this regard and have been advised by
AT&T that they expect to begin accepting deliveries by mid-January of next
year.
"We are not changing our fourth quarter guidance because we have been
shipping at stronger than expected levels to this point in this quarter,"
Drendel commented. "We now expect shipments to slow over the remainder of
the fourth quarter." In CommScope's October 23, 2000, third quarter
earnings press release and conference call, it gave guidance that it
expects year-over-year sales growth in the mid-teens and diluted earnings
per share in the $0.40-$0.44 range for the fourth quarter ending December
31, 2000.
"Orders, including orders from AT&T, have been less than anticipated
thus far in the fourth quarter," Drendel added. "While we remain excited
about the worldwide opportunities for broadband HFC products, we have
concerns about current order rates and the ability of certain customers to
get new financing for some of their projects. Under these circumstances, we
are reducing our sales and earnings growth guidance for 2001 to the
mid-teen range from the 20% previously given."
CommScope is the world's largest manufacturer of broadband coaxial
cable for Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) applications and is a leading supplier
of high-performance fiber optic and twisted pair cables for LAN, wireless
and other communications applications.
Statements in this press release which are other than historical facts
are intended to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and other related laws, and include, but are not limited to
those statements relating to orders, sales and earnings expectations,
expected demand from AT&T and others, capacity expansion, relative market
position and outlook. While CommScope believes such statements are
reasonable, the actual results and effects could differ materially from
those currently anticipated. Factors and risks that could cause such
differences include, but are not limited to telecommunications industry
capital spending, changes in cost and availability of key raw materials,
successful implementation of the bi-metals operation and other vertical
integration activities, pricing and acceptance of CommScope's products,
successful expansion and related operation of our facilities, effective
implementation of our integrated information system, developments in
technology, industry competition, ability of our customers to secure
adequate financing, regulatory changes affecting our industries, worldwide
economic conditions, and other factors. The cautionary statements contained
in Exhibit 99 to CommScope's Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30,
2000 are incorporated herein by reference. In providing forward looking
statements, CommScope is not undertaking any duty or obligation to update
these statements publicly as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Visit CommScope at www.comscope.com
CONTACTS:
PHIL ARMSTRONG BETSY LAMBERT, APR
INVESTOR RELATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS
(828) 323-4848 (828) 323-4873
# # #