National Media Corporation Expects Fourth Quarter Loss and Is
Evaluating Restructuring Costs and Certain Write-Offs
PR Newswire - April 28, 1997 09:47
Robert N. Verratti Named as President and CEO
PHILADELPHIA, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- National Media Corporation
(NYSE: NM) today announced that the Company expects to report an operating
loss for its fourth fiscal quarter and for its fiscal year ended March 31,
1997.
The loss is due to its business improving more slowly than expected in the
fourth fiscal quarter. The Company is in the midst of an evaluation involving
certain of its corporate acquisitions, the carrying value and amortization of
production costs, the value of certain inventories and receivables and a
restructuring of operations, as well as various other matters. As a result,
the Company expects to incur additional losses due to these potential
adjustments.
The Company said it would provide more specific financial information on
the quarterly and year-end fiscal results as that information becomes
available.
The Company also announced that it has named Robert N. Verratti as
President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors.
Moreover, the Company announced that it has retained Lehman Bros. to assist it
in exploring a full range of strategic business alternatives.
Mr. Verratti replaces Mark P. Hershhorn, who resigned as President and
Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of the Company. The Company said
the parting was amicable and was the result of the recognition by
Mr. Hershhorn and the Board of Directors that their approaches to the
development of the Company's business differed significantly. Frederick S.
Hammer, Chairman of the Board, acknowledged Mr. Hershhorn's contributions to
the Company's business and wished him well in his future endeavors.
Before joining National Media Corporation, Mr. Verratti was a special
advisor for acquisitions to Warren V. (Pete) Musser, the Chairman and CEO of
Safeguard Scientifics. Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. is a billion-dollar NYSE-
listed company (NYSE: SFE) that strategically invests in technology-driven
growth companies. Mr. Musser is also a member of National Media Corporation's
Board of Directors. Mr. Verratti is a member of the Boards of Directors of
CRW Financial and Multigen Inc. Mr. Verratti has also served as CEO of Globe
Ticket Company, a specialty printing company, and as CEO of Total Care
Systems, a congregate care management company. Mr. Verratti is a graduate of
the U.S. Naval Academy and served five years in the Nuclear Submarine Service.
In addressing the retention of Lehman Bros., Mr. Hammer said that the
Company's Board of Directors and senior management decided, in addition to its
existing advisory relationship with J.P. Morgan, to procure additional advice
regarding strategic business alternatives after heavy trading in its common
stock during the period of late February and early March encouraged
speculation about outside interest in the Company. "We decided at that time
that we needed an additional independent perspective in order to best serve
the interest of our shareholders," Hammer said.
National Media Corporation is the world's fastest growing transactional
television programming company and has become a strong, integrated, global
consumer marketer through its consumer programming expertise and, with its
subsidiary companies, brings transactional television programming to more than
365 million television households worldwide.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The Company
wishes to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this statement for
the purpose of availing itself of such provisions. Examples of forward-
looking statements include, but are not limited to, (1) projections of
revenues, income or loss, profitability, earnings or loss per share and other
financial indicators, (2) statements of plans or objectives of the Company's
management or Board of Directors and (3) other statements about the Company or
the infomercial industry.
The Company's ability to predict projected results or the effect of
certain events on the Company's results of operations is inherently uncertain.
Therefore, the Company wishes to caution each reader of this release to
carefully consider certain factors, including competition for customers, media
pricing and access, market conditions regarding buyers and sellers of media,
the potential effects of litigation involving the Company, the risks of doing
business in the U.S., and the international marketplace, issues related to
entering new markets, the inherent difficulty in identifying successful
products, locating efficient suppliers of such products and bringing such
products to market in a timely fashion and other factors, each of which could
affect the ability of the Company to achieve its projected results and may
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed herein.
To request previous press releases on National Media Corporation, contact
PR Newswire at 800-758-5804, ext. 604644.
SOURCE National Media Corporation
CONTACT: Bruce Boyle, Director of Investor Relations of National Media,
215-989-4641 |
