Rouge Industries, Inc. Holds Annual Stockholders Meeting
6 May 1999
Rouge Industries, Inc. Holds Annual Stockholders Meeting; Board Approves Second Quarter Cash Dividend
DEARBORN, Mich., May 6 -- Rouge Industries, Inc.
held its annual meeting of stockholders today at the Hyatt Regency located in
Dearborn, Michigan.
The Company's stockholders elected three members to the Board of
Directors. John E. Lobbia, retired chairman and chief executive officer of
DTE Energy Company, and Gary P. Latendresse, the Company's executive vice
president and chief financial officer, were re-elected and Dominick C.
Fanello, vice chairman, Shiloh Industries, Inc., who was appointed in 1996 by
the Board of Directors to fill a board vacancy, was elected to the Company's
board for the first time. Messrs. Lobbia and Latendresse have served on the
Board of Directors since 1990 and 1992, respectively.
During the meeting, Carl L. Valdiserri, chairman and chief executive
officer of Rouge Industries, reported on the Company's efforts to return Rouge
Steel to normal steel production following the catastrophic explosion and fire
at the Rouge Complex Powerhouse on February 1, 1999. "The return of our blast
furnaces to production has been the most important element of our restoration
plan, and we believe that we are in the final hours of that process," said
Mr. Valdiserri. "With the repairs to our facilities complete, I would like to
extend my heartfelt thanks to all the people and organizations that helped us
during our time of need. This includes the major utility companies,
mechanical and electrical contractors, customers, suppliers and even our
competitors. In addition, our employees and the UAW, governmental officials
and insurance companies have all played a critical role in our resumption of
operations in such an orderly, safe and timely manner."
Mr. Valdiserri reported that the company will return to production during
one of the strongest domestic automotive steel markets in recent history.
"We remain concerned, however, with the continuing level of imported steel
that is being dumped in the U.S. market. You only have to look as far as the
steel industry's first quarter financial results to see its impact. While the
domestic industry shipped about the same quarterly volume as 1998, sales
revenue for the industry was down about $1 billion, which equates to $45 per
ton or a 12% reduction," concluded Mr. Valdiserri.
Gary P. Latendresse reported that the explosion and fire impacted
virtually every aspect of the Company's operating and financial performance
for the first quarter of 1999. He indicated that the Company believes that
its insurance program will be sufficient to cover most of the costs related to
the event. "Our insurers have already advanced the Company $35 million, and
we are working very closely with them to bring the insurance claim to a timely
resolution. Despite this, the process is complex and could extend into late
2000 or early 2001," remarked Mr. Latendresse. "We believe that we will have
most of the cost implications of this loss estimated by the end of the second
quarter and will return to more normal financial reporting and production
operations during the last half of 1999."
Ronald J. Nock, vice president, Sales and Marketing, reported that the
Company's customers have been very supportive during the outage. "We couldn't
have asked for better support from our customers. We've continued to supply
as many of their critical orders as we could during this period from our
inventories and purchased slabs and coils," said Mr. Nock.
In a separate action, the Board of Directors approved a second quarter
cash dividend in the amount of three cents ($0.03) per share payable on
July 23, 1999 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 9,
1999.
Rouge Industries is a producer of premium quality flat rolled sheet steel
and processed steel products. It is the parent corporation of Rouge Steel
Company, a fully integrated steel maker with its corporate offices and steel
making facilities located in Dearborn, Michigan. Rouge Industries primarily
serves the automotive, converter and service center markets.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking information about the Company.
A number of factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated, including changes in the general economic
climate, the supply of or demand for and pricing of steel products in the
Company's markets, potential environmental liabilities and higher than
expected costs. For further information on these and other factors that could
impact the Company and the statements contained herein, reference should be
made to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.