Mar 8, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

USG Corporation Hosts Inaugural Investor Day

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG), an industry-leading manufacturer of building products and innovative solutions, will host its inaugural Investor Day today from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time with presentations from Jennifer Scanlon, president and chief executive officer, Matthew Hilzinger, chief financial officer, and other senior members of USG’s management team. Management will share insights into USG’s corporate strategy, key business and product initiatives, reaffirm its 2018 outlook and introduce 2020 financial targets.

“In recent years, our company has taken strategic actions that have strengthened the business and delivered greater value to our customers,” said Jennifer Scanlon, president and chief executive officer of USG Corporation. “We exited distribution, repaid over a billion dollars of debt, initiated cost reduction initiatives and introduced innovative new products. These actions transformed our company, our products and our balance sheet while lowering our cost structure and improving our competitive position. We are now focused on executing our new corporate strategy which we believe will drive sustained profitable growth and increase shareholder value.”

Advance USG’s Leadership Position

Over the last several years, USG improved the financial and operational position of the company by:

  • Redefining its portfolio through divestitures and strategic acquisitions to access faster growing markets;
  • Reducing costs and improving efficiencies, including implementing new processes to lower working capital;
  • Optimizing its capital structure by reducing debt and achieving its targeted 1.5 – 2.0x adjusted net debt to EBITDA leverage ratio.

Building on these actions, USG’s corporate strategy seeks to enhance the company’s leadership position in the building products industry, achieve unparalleled customer loyalty and deliver profitable growth.

Reaffirm 2018 Outlook and Introduce 2020 Financial Targets

Management will reaffirm its 2018 financial and end market outlook, which was disclosed on the fourth quarter earnings call on February 1, 2018. Additionally, management will introduce estimated 2020 financial targets for the company’s four reportable segments. Management will detail key business and product initiatives underlying the financial targets.

According to Ms. Scanlon, “USG’s inaugural Investor Day will provide an in-depth perspective of our strategic initiatives designed to fuel profitable growth. We expect to execute on these initiatives to achieve our financial targets, with the underlying goals of achieving unparalleled customer loyalty and increasing shareholder value.”

Webcast and Presentation Information

The live webcast and presentation materials are available at USG’s investor relations website at http://investor.usg.com, in the “Events and Presentations” section. To participate by phone, please dial 1-669-900-6833. The pass code is 213161555. Please call 10 minutes prior to the start time. A replay of the webcast will be available on the USG website until March 7, 2019.

About USG Corporation

USG Corporation is an industry-leading manufacturer of building products and innovative solutions. Headquartered in Chicago, USG serves construction markets around the world through its Gypsum, Performance Materials, Ceilings, and USG Boral divisions. Its wall, ceiling, flooring, sheathing and roofing products provide the solutions that enable customers to build the outstanding spaces where people live, work and play. Its USG Boral Building Products joint venture is a leading plasterboard and ceilings producer across Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. For additional information, visit www.usg.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 related to management’s expectations about future conditions, including, but not limited to, the success and impact of the company’s new corporate strategy and initiatives on profitability and shareholder value and financial and end market outlook. Actual business, market or other conditions may differ materially from management’s expectations and, accordingly, may affect our sales and profitability or other results and liquidity. Any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Actual results may differ materially due to various other factors, including: economic conditions, such as employment levels, the availability of skilled labor, household formation, home ownership rate, new and existing home price trends, availability of mortgage financing, interest rates, deductibility of mortgage interest and real estate taxes, consumer confidence, job growth and discretionary business investment; competitive conditions and our ability to maintain or achieve price increases; the loss of one or more major customers, including L&W, and the increasing number of our customers with significant buying power; increased costs, or decreased availability, of key raw materials, transportation or energy; unexpected operational difficulties or catastrophic events at our facilities; our ability to successfully operate the joint venture with Boral Limited, including risks that our joint venture partner, Boral Limited, may not fulfill its obligations as an investor or may take actions that are inconsistent with our objectives; exposure to risks of operating internationally; our ability to innovate and protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights; our ability to make capital expenditures and achieve the expected return on investment; a disruption in our information technology systems; compliance with environmental and safety regulations or product safety concerns; the outcome in legal and governmental proceedings; the ability of a small number of stockholders to influence our business and stock price; our ability to successfully pursue and complete acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions to complement or expand our businesses; significant changes in factors and assumptions used to measure our defined benefit plan obligations; our ability to return capital to stockholders; the occurrence of an “ownership change” within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code; our ability pursue strategic opportunities without increasing our debt and leverage ratio; the effects of acts of terrorism or war upon domestic and international economies and financial markets; and acts of God. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release. Additional information concerning these and other factors may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.