PITTSBURGH, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/16/15 --
Koppers Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc.(NYSE: KOP) announced today that it has agreed to contract extensions with each of its two largest railroad customers, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) and CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX). Koppers combined revenues from BNSF and CSX accounted for approximately 40% of 2014 railroad-related sales for Koppers.
The agreements extend the contracts to 2021 from the previous 2017 expirations and include commitments for Koppers to provide crossties as well as related products and services to BNSF and CSX through the respective contract periods.
Tom Loadman, Senior Vice President of Railroad Products and Services, said, "We are pleased to be able to continue our positive relationships with BNSF and CSX. We have a long history of serving the North American rail network with quality products and services, and hope to continue growing our presence serving that market into the future."
Leroy Ball, president and CEO of Koppers, said, "With the variability we have been experiencing in our more volatile Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) business, we felt the timing was right to extend these key railroad agreements to stabilize a sizable portion of our revenue and earnings for a prolonged period of time. Our focus moving forward will continue to be on emphasizing our higher value business segments as we look to restructure and lessen our exposure to the more cyclical CMC business."
About Koppers
Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global producer of carbon compounds, chemicals, and treated wood products and services for the aluminum, railroad, specialty chemical, utility, rubber, concrete, steel, residential lumber, and agriculture industries. Including our joint ventures, we serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia, China and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP." For more information, visit us on the Web: www.koppers.com. Questions concerning investor relations should be directed to Michael J. Zugay at 412 227 2231 or Michael W. Snyder at 412 227 2131.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions, including inflation, interest and foreign currency exchange rates, of countries in which the Company does business; competitive pressures; the loss of one or more key customer or supplier relationships; customer insolvencies; successful integration of structural changes, including restructuring plans, acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; cost and availability of raw materials; and other economic, business, competitive, regulatory and/or operational factors affecting the business of Koppers generally.
For Information:
Michael J. Zugay
Chief Financial Officer
412 227 2231
Email contact
Source: Koppers Holdings Inc.