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Stock Information

NASDAQ Trading Symbol: MATW
Recent Price 12/31/07): $46.87
52-Week Price Range: $49.50-$36.76
Fiscal 2007 Earnings Per Share: $2.04
Annual Dividend Per Share: $0.24
Shares Outstanding at 12/31/07: 31,116,157

Contact Matthews Investor Relations here

Investor Information:
Steven F. Nicola, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer Email

INVESTOR FACT SHEET

JANUARY 2008

This fact sheet is also available as a PDF download here

Company Profile

MATTHEWS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and brand solutions. Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze memorials and other memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment for the cemetery and funeral home industries. Brand Solutions include graphics imaging products and services, marking products and merchandising solutions. The Company’s products and services include cast bronze memorials and other memorialization products; caskets; cast and etched architectural products; cremation equipment and cremation-related products; mausoleums; brand management, printing plates, pre-press services and imaging services for the primary packaging and corrugated industries; marking and coding equipment and consumables, and industrial automation products for identifying, tracking and conveying various consumer and industrial products, components and packaging containers; and merchandising display systems and marketing and design services.

Business Operations

The Bronze segment manufactures and markets products in NorthAmerica, Europe and Australia used in the cemetery, funeral home and architectural industries. The segment’s principal products include cast bronze memorials and other memorialization products used mainly in cemeteries. Memorial products include flush bronze memorials, flower vases, crypt plates and letters, cameo portraits, cremation urns, niche units, cemetery features and statues, community and family mausoleums, and granite monuments and benches. In addition, the segment manufactures and markets cast bronze and aluminum architectural products used to identify or commemorate people, places and events.
The Casket segment is a leading manufacturer of caskets in North America, producing a wide variety of wood and metal caskets. It is also a leader in providing assortment planning and merchandising and display products for funeral service businesses. These products assist funeral service professionals in providing value and satisfaction to their client families.
The Cremation segment is the leading designer and manufacturer of cremation equipment and cremation-related products in North America. Cremation equipment and products are sold primarily to funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, animal disposers and veterinarians within North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. The segment also manufactures environmentally-friendly caskets, which are manufactured from wood fibers and corrugated materials covered with cloth, or paper veneer, which gives the appearance of wood.
The Graphics Imaging segment provides brand management, pre-press services, printing plates and creative design services to the primary packaging and corrugated industries. The segment’s principal products and services include brand management, pre-press graphics services, printing plates, print process assistance, print production management, digital asset management, content management and package design. These products and services are used by consumer products companies and packaging manufacturers to develop and print packaging graphics that identify and help sell the product in the marketplace.
The Marking Products segment designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of marking and coding equipment and consumables, and industrial automation products used by customers to identify, track andconvey various consumer and industrial products, components and packaging containers. Marking technologies include contact and ink-jet printing using awide range of specialty inks, as well as indenting and etching processes. Marking solutions can be a stand-alone operation or integrated directly into the manufacturing process at high speeds with extreme accuracy.
The Merchandising Solutions segment is an industry leader in providing value-added comprehensive merchandising solutions to consumer product marketers and retailers in industries such as electronics, technology, entertainment, food and beverage, apparel, footwear, home improvement, petroleum, appliances and flooring. The segment designs, engineers,manufactures and installs merchandising and display systems, and also provides creative merchandising and marketing solutions services.

Recent Highlights

  • The Company’s consolidated revenues were $749.4 million in fiscal 2007, compared to $715.9 million in fiscal 2006, an increase of 4.7%.
  • During fiscal 2007, we repurchased 1,366,297 shares of our common stock.
    In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the authorization to repurchase shares by 2.5 million shares, bringing the total repurchase authorization to 12.5 million shares. The buy-back program is designed to increase shareholder value and add to earnings per share.
  • For the quarter ended September 30, 2007, the Board of Directors increased the Company’s quarterly cash dividend by 9.1% to $0.06 per share. This was Matthews’ thirteenth dividend increase since our initial public offering in July 1994.
  • The closing price of our common stock on September 30, 2007 was $43.80, representing an increase of 19.1% from September 30, 2006. Since becoming a publicly traded company in July 1994, Matthews’ stock value has increased an average of 21.8% per year.

Click the chart to view an enlarged version.

Selected Financial Data


Years Ended September 30

20071
20062
2005
2004
20033

(Amounts in thousands, except per share data)

Net sales
$749.352
$715,891
$639,822
$508,801
$458,865
Gross profit
280,457
271,933
223,075
193,754
170,302
Operating profit
111,824
113,884
98,413
95,078
77,816
Interest expense
8,119
6,995
2,966
1,998
2,852
Income before income taxes
and change in accounting
103,716
105,408
93,056
89,117
71,086
Income taxes
38,990
38,964
34,985
34,584
27,582

Net income
$64,726
$66,444
$58,071
$54,533
$43,504

Earnings per common share:
Diluted
$2.04
$2.06
$1.79
$1.68
$1.35
Basic
2.05
2.08
1.81
1.69
1.37
Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
Basic
31,566
31,999
32,116
32,217
31,686
Diluted
31,680
32,252
32,381
32,542
32,147
Cash dividends per share
$.225
$.205
$.185
$.165
$.123
Total assets
$771,069
$716,090
$665,455
$533,432
$443,294
Long-term debt, noncurrent
142,273
120,289
118,952
54,389
57,023

  1. Fiscal 2007 included a net pre-tax charge of approximately $8,765 which consisted of a pre-tax charge of approximately $9,373 related to the acceleration of earn-out payments in the resolution ofemployment agreements from the Milso Industries acquisition and pre-tax charges of $3,515 primarily related to severance costs incurred in several of the Company’s segments, partially offset by a pre-taxgain of $1,322 on the sale of the merchandising consulting business in the Merchandising Solutions segment and favorable legal settlements, net of related legal costs incurred, of approximately $2,801.
  2. Fiscal 2006 included a net pre-tax gain of $1,016 which consisted of a pre-tax gain of $2,670 from the sale of a facility and a pre-tax charge of approximately $1,654 related toasset impairments and related costs.
  3. Fiscal 2003 included a net pre-tax charge of approximately $1,000 which consisted of a pre-tax gain of $2,600 on the sale of a facility and a goodwill impairment charge of $3,600.