EXHIBIT 99
----------
NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
---------------------------------------------
The Company has made statements in its Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2000, 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, return on invested
capital, capital expenditures, working capital, dividends, capital
structure, free cash flow, debt to capitalization ratios, interest
rates, internal growth rates, Euro conversion 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 that will be set forth generally in the 2000 Form
10-K and the documents that are incorporated by reference therein
could cause actual results to differ. Some of these factors are
described as criteria for success. Our failure to achieve, or limited
success in achieving, these objectives could result in actual results
differing materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements. In addition, there can be no assurance
that we have correctly identified and assessed all of the factors
affecting the Company or that the publicly available and other
information we receive with respect to these factors is complete or
correct.
Retail Economy
--------------
Our business depends on the strength of the retail economies in
various parts of the world, primarily in North America and to a lesser
extent Europe, Central and South America and Asia.
These retail economies are affected primarily by such factors as
consumer demand and the condition of the consumer products retail
industry. In recent years, the consumer products retail industry in
the U.S. and, increasingly, elsewhere has been characterized by
intense competition and consolidation among both product suppliers and
retailers.
1
Nature of the Marketplace
-------------------------
We compete with numerous other manufacturers and distributors of
consumer products, many of which are large and well-established. Our
principal customers are large mass merchandisers, such as discount
stores, home centers, warehouse clubs and office superstores. The
rapid growth of these large mass merchandisers, together with changes
in consumer shopping patterns, have contributed to a significant
consolidation of the consumer products retail industry and the
formation of dominant multi-category retailers, many of which have
strong bargaining power with suppliers. This environment
significantly limits our ability to recover cost increases through
selling prices. Other trends among retailers are to foster high
levels of competition among suppliers, to demand that manufacturers
supply innovative new products and to require suppliers to maintain or
reduce product prices and deliver products with shorter lead times.
Another trend, in the absence of a strong new product development
effort or strong end-user brands, is 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 strong end-user brands, the ongoing
introduction of innovative new products and continuing improvements in
customer service.
New Product Development
-----------------------
Our long-term success in this competitive retail environment
depends on our consistent ability to develop innovative new products
that create consumer demand for our products. Although many of our
businesses have had notable success in developing new products, we
need to continuously improve our new product development capability.
There are numerous uncertainties inherent in successfully developing
and introducing innovative new products on a consistent basis.
End-User Brands
---------------
Our competitive success also depends increasingly on our ability
to develop, maintain and strengthen our end-user brands so that our
retailer customers will need our products to meet consumer demand. We
will need to devote more marketing resources to this objective on a
cost-effective basis.
2
Cost Control
------------
Our success also depends on our ability to control and reduce our
costs, while maintaining consistently high customer service levels and
investing in new product development and in marketing our end-user
brands. Our objective is to become our retailer customers' low-cost
provider and global supplier of choice. To do this, we will need to
continuously improve our manufacturing efficiencies and develop
alternative sources of supply on a world-wide basis.
Acquisition Integration
-----------------------
The acquisition of companies that sell name-brand, staple
consumer product lines to volume purchasers has historically been one
of the foundations of our growth strategy. Over time, our ability to
continue to make sufficient strategic acquisitions at reasonable
prices and to integrate the acquired businesses successfully,
obtaining anticipated cost savings and operating income improvements
within a reasonable period of time, will be important factors in our
future growth. Having completed substantially the integration of
Rubbermaid Incorporated, we now need to complete the integration of
the Paper Mate/Parker businesses, which we acquired at the end of
2000.
Foreign Operations
------------------
Foreign operations, which include manufacturing and/or sourcing
in many countries in Europe, Asia, Central and South America and
Canada, are increasingly 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.
3