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Non-Tech : soc-sunbeam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: leigh aulper who wrote (391)	1/14/2000 1:53:00 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 407

Nice piece on SOC form Briefing.com ____________________________________________________________ STOCKS TO WATCH 12:36 ET ****** Sunbeam Corp. (SOC) 5 +9/16: This consumer products company announced organizational changes today in an effort to complete its strategy to streamline and decentralize its structure. The idea behind the changes is to build stronger individual and team performances that will allow Sunbeam to be "better focus on consumers and product offerings in the marketplace." At the same time, Sunbeam plans to enter the smart appliances market by unveiling nine products later this year that will work together to deliver convenience, performance and safety throughout the house. With Sunbeam, this is a radical departure from past practices, particularly building team cohesion in order to meet challenges in the marketplace. In the past, especially when former CEO Chain Saw Al" Dunlap ruled the roost, there was no such thing as team unity. Instead, it was team cohesionless that was fostered by a spirit of everyone for himself as Mr. Dunlap accompanied every restructuring plan with buckets full of job reductions and plenty of charges associated with the "slash and burn" policy of his reign. While initially, such policies lit a fire under the stock and allow the shares to climb as high as 51 1/2 in the early part of 1998, eventually, investors lost patience and confidence is this type of management philosophy, especially when "slash at any cost" policies did not lead to long lasting results. With the planned introduction of the smart appliance whole-house approach, Sunbeam is going after a new market that has already attracted the attention of other well know consumer products retailers, including Microsoft and General Electric. While it is too early to tell whether this new market will bear fruit, Sunbeam certainly has the household products and brand names that could easily invigorate its product offerings. The stock is currently far away (90% below) from the highs reached in 1998, but you can bet that with a group of well recognizable product names, it is only a matter of time before Sunbeam starts to be taken seriously again. It certainly hasn't been the same since "Chain Saw Al" departed the scene It has just taken a long time to clean-up his mess. RN

To: leigh aulper who wrote (391)	2/28/2000 3:54:00 PM
From: Big Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 407

Faltering Sunbeam Reorganizes Again By Jennifer Friedlin TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com Staff Reporter 1/14/00 10:58 AM ET Sunbeam (SOC:NYSE - news), the highly indebted maker of grills and coffee makers that has been reorganized and dissected twice in the past four years, announced another restructuring plan Friday, but the market didn't seem convinced the formula would drive the company back to profitability. Sunbeam's stock, which has been languishing below 10 since July 1998, inched higher, rising 9/16, or 13%, to 5 in morning trading. (Sunbeam closed up 11/16, or 15.49%, at 5 1/8.) The company said it was combining its appliances and personal care business units into its broader household products business unit. "This new structure will enable us to more effectively leverage the strong potential of our Sunbeam, Oster and Mr. Coffee brands to both consumers and the trade," Chairman and Chief Executive Jerry Levin said in a statement. Andy Hill, the current president of Sunbeam Personal Care, was named president of the combined unit. The company also announced that the new household products business division will manage the Sunbeam's health business unit, although the two divisions will remain separate. Justin Mauer, an analyst with McDonald Investments, said the reorganization seemed to make sense, but noted that it did not address the company's more dire problem, namely the need to refinance billions of dollars in debt. "Refinancing is key," said Mauer, adding that he would be waiting to see if and how Sunbeam goes about refinancing $750 million in zero-coupon debt. Mauer rates the company a hold. His firm has not done any underwriting for Sunbeam. The company took on about $2.5 billion in debt in order to finance a buying spree that resulted in the acquisition of number of businesses under the stewardship of former chief executive Al Dunlap, the once-renowned turnaround expert known as "Chainsaw Al" who was forced to resign as the company's performance faltered. The acquisitions made by Dunlap have dropped in value and Sunbeam has been mired in losses. According to a survey by First Call/Thomson Financial, Sunbeam is expected to post a fourth-quarter loss per share of 41 cents a share and a loss of $1.97 per share for full-year 1999. Mauer said that in Sunbeam's current financial condition it would be "very difficult" to achieve an accounting profit. Sunbeam also announced that it would be unveiling its line of "smart" appliances at the International Housewares 2000 show, which starts Sunday in Chicago. Such appliances network automatically and can communicate, such as a bathroom scale that transmit weight data to a physician. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------