Exhibit 99.1
[SCHAWK LOGO]
AT SCHAWK, INC.: AT DRESNER CORPORATE SERVICES:
JAMES J. PATTERSON KRISTINE WALCZAK
SR. VP AND CFO 312-726-3600
847-827-9494 KWALCZAK@DRESNERCO.COM
JPATTERSON@SCHAWK.COM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2003
SCHAWK INC. ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLAN FOR GROWTH
DES PLAINES, IL, MAY 1, 2003--SCHAWK, INC. (NYSE: SGK), one of the world's
leading providers of digital brand image management solutions to the consumer
products packaging, advertising and promotions markets for the past 50 years,
today announced its strategic plan for growth - "Vision 2020" - and detailed the
following five-year growth targets:
o Annual sales growth of 20 percent on average over the next five years
consisting of a blend of organic growth and growth from acquisitions;
o Annual operating margin percentages in the low to mid-teens;
o Annual earnings per share percentage growth in the mid-teens.
President and CEO, David A. Schawk, commented, "Schawk is a collection of over
45 companies acquired since our founding in 1953. One of the most important
objectives we accomplished in the last two years was to bring these separate
companies into "One Company" - the theme of our 2001 annual report. We are now
utilizing all areas of expertise in our company to present a broad array of
services to our clients to help them improve the return on their graphic
services spending. Operating as a fully synchronized enterprise will continue to
bring value to our clients while differentiating Schawk from its competitors."
Mr. Schawk continued, "Over the past 18 months, the executive management team at
Schawk refined our strategic plan as our design for the future of Schawk -
"Vision 2020" - a clear strategy focused on the long-term growth of the
company."
The company's strategy is being executed through specific business objectives,
which have been communicated to its employees, and include:
o Organize Schawk's global service offerings into logical groupings, or core
competencies. Schawk has three core competencies - Graphic Services, which
includes the traditional prepress services, Brand Consulting and Design
under the "Anthem" brand, and Enterprise Products, which includes Digital
Asset Management solutions and 3-D imaging services.
o Increase organic sales growth. To date, a new sales management process has
been put in place, Sales Leaders have been trained in a structured selling
methodology and a new sales
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SCHAWK FIVE YEAR GROWTH PLAN
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compensation system has been introduced, which focuses the sales force on
profitable sales growth. Schawk's sales growth in the first quarter of 2003
was 11.7 percent.
o Expand globally - In the past few years, Schawk has expanded operations in
Canada, Asia and Mexico and today continues to investigate opportunities
around the world in order to meet its clients' growing demands for global
services.
o Reduce the cost structure to reflect the impact of technology and the
changing nature of Schawk's business. Three restructuring programs were
completed from 1999 through 2001 to reduce the number of full service
manufacturing locations and to eliminate duplicate cost structures. In
2002, the company reduced operating costs by ten percent as compared to the
prior year and today continues to evaluate opportunities to reduce costs as
an ongoing business objective.
"Within the next five years, our goal is to double the size of Schawk through
internal growth and acquisitions of other profitable companies in our industry,"
Mr. Schawk concluded. "We believe the global graphic services market will reach
$30 billion in 2003, and our focus is the approximately $15 billion that relates
to consumer products packaging, advertising and promotional applications.
Further, we know of no other independent graphic services company that has
global operations serving the leading consumer products companies to the extent
that Schawk does. We are uniquely positioned to capitalize on our history of
quality service, financial strength and name recognition to achieve our growth
objectives."
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements are
made based upon current expectations and beliefs that are subject to risk and
uncertainty. Actual results might differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements because of factors, such as, among other things, the
strength of the global economy in general and specifically market conditions for
the consumer products industry, the level of demand for Schawk's services, loss
of key management and operational personnel, our ability to implement our growth
strategy, our ability to make acquisitions on reasonable terms, or at all, the
stability of state, federal and foreign tax laws, our ability to identify and
exploit industry trends and to exploit technological advances in the imaging
industry, the stability of political conditions in countries in which we have
production capabilities, terrorist attacks, wars and other geo-political events,
as well as other factors detailed in Schawk, Inc.'s filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Schawk, Inc., headquartered in suburban Chicago, is a leading supplier of
electronic digitized high resolution color graphic services, brand consulting
and design and an array of digitally-based workflow solutions, all aimed at
bringing enhanced value to its clients. Schawk provides these advanced services
for the food, beverage, and consumer products packaging, point of sale, and
advertising markets.
For more information about Schawk, visit www.schawk.com.
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