Henry Schein Announces $200 Million Increase to Stock Repurchase Program
MELVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the largest provider of health care products and services to office-based practitioners, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of shares of the Company's common stock. This program is in addition to the $100 million repurchase program announced in November 2010, which has been fully executed.
The Company currently has approximately 91 million shares outstanding, and this new authorization represents approximately 3.5 percent of shares outstanding at the current stock price. Purchases may be made from time to time in the open market, or through negotiated transactions.
"During the first six months of the current fiscal year Henry Schein generated operating cash flow of approximately $185 million," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein. "Our Board has determined that buying back additional shares represents an attractive investment and is an appropriate means to continue building shareholder value."
About Henry Schein
Henry Schein, a Fortune 500® company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, is the largest provider of health care products and services to office-based practitioners. The Company is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. Henry Schein's five businesses - North American Dental, North American Medical, North American Animal Health, International and Technology - serve more than 700,000 customers worldwide, including dental practitioners and laboratories, physician practices and animal health practices, as well as government and other institutions. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items.
Henry Schein also provides exclusive, innovative technology offerings for dental, medical and veterinary professionals, including value-added practice management software and electronic health record solutions. Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs more than 14,000 people and has operations or affiliates in 25 countries. The Company's net sales reached a record $7.5 billion in 2010. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.
In accordance with the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein. All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are identified by the use of such terms as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the SEC and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC. These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.
Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: recently enacted healthcare legislation; effects of a highly competitive market; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in regulatory requirements; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from disruption to our information systems; general economic conditions; decreased customer demand and changes in vendor credit terms; disruptions in financial markets; our dependence upon sales personnel, manufacturers and customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority.
We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.