EXHIBIT 99.2
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NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
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The Company has made statements in its Current Report on Form 8-K
and the documents incorporated by reference therein that constitute
forward-looking statements, as defined by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties. The statements relate to, and other forward-
looking statements that may be made by the Company, may relate to,
information or assumptions about sales, income, earnings per share,
return on equity, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure,
free cash flow, debt to capitalization ratios, interest rates,
internal growth rates, Euro conversion plans and related risks, Year
2000 plans and related risks, pending legal proceedings and claims
(including environmental matters), future economic performance,
operating income improvements, synergies, management's plans, goals
and objectives for future operations and growth. These statements
generally are accompanied by words such as "intend," "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "project," "expect," "should" or similar
statements. You should understand that forward-looking statements are
not guarantees since there are inherent difficulties in predicting
future results. Actual results could differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. The factors
that are discussed below, as well as the matters set forth generally
in this Report and the documents that are incorporated by reference
therein could cause actual results to differ. In addition, there can
be no assurance that:
- we have correctly identified and assessed all
of the factors affecting the Company; or
- the publicly available and other information with
respect to these factors is complete or correct.
Retail Economy
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Our business depends on the strength of the retail economies in
various parts of the world, primarily in the U.S. and to a lesser
extent in:
- Europe, including the Middle East and Africa;
- Latin America; including Mexico and Central
America;
- Canada; and
- Asia, including Australia and New Zealand.
These retail economies are affected by such factors as consumer
demand, the condition of the consumer products retail industry and
weather conditions. In recent years, the consumer products retail
industry has been characterized by intense competition and
consolidation among both product suppliers and retailers.
Nature of the Marketplace
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We compete with numerous other manufacturers and distributors of
consumer products, many of which are large and well-established. In
addition, our principal customers are volume purchasers, many of which
are much larger than us and have strong bargaining power with
suppliers, which limits our ability to recover cost increases through
increased selling prices. The rapid growth of large mass
merchandisers, such as discount stores, warehouse clubs, home centers
and office superstores, together with changes in consumer shopping
patterns, have contributed to a significant consolidation of the
consumer product retail industry and the formulation of dominant
multi-category retailers. Other trends among retailers are to require
manufacturers to supply innovative new products, maintain or reduce
product prices or deliver products with shorter lead times, or for the
retailer to import generic products directly from foreign sources.
The combination of these market influences has created an intensely
competitive environment in which our principal customers continuously
evaluate which product suppliers to use, resulting in pricing
pressures and the need for ongoing improvements in customer service.
Growth by Acquisition
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The acquisition of companies that sell branded, staple consumer
product lines to volume purchasers is one of the foundations of our
growth strategy. Our ability to continue to make sufficient strategic
acquisitions at reasonable prices and to integrate the acquired
businesses within a reasonable period of time are important factors in
our future earnings growth.
Foreign Operations
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Foreign operations, which include manufacturing in Canada,
Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela and many countries in Europe, and
importing products from the Far East, increasingly are becoming
important to our business. Foreign operations can be affected by
factors such as currency devaluation, other currency fluctuations and
the Euro currency conversion, tariffs, nationalization, exchange
controls, interest rates, limitations on foreign investment in local
business and other political, economic and regulatory risks and
difficulties.
Integration of Rubbermaid
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Our merger with Rubbermaid incorporated was effective on March
24, 1999. After the merger, we commenced the process of integrating
Rubbermaid's businesses into our businesses, making senior management
changes at four of the five Rubbermaid divisions, administrative
savings initiatives, operations savings initiatives and customer
service/sales initiatives. Our ability to integrate these businesses
successfully and to realize anticipated operating income improvements
will be a challenge given the size of Rubbermaid and the differences
in corporate culture. All of these issues will be important factors
in our future earnings growth.