Date: 8 February 2010
Curran, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Optical Fiber, will tell investors that worldwide demand for optical fiber solutions grew significantly despite the recession. Fiber demand grew by more than 17% in 2009, driven by continued investment in the China broadband infrastructure, which itself improved by more than 70% year over year. As the China 3G network build slows this year, Corning expects that worldwide optical fiber demand will level off and be even with or down about 5% compared to last year’s strong performance.
“However, looking forward, we believe that innovation will drive future growth opportunities,” Curran will say. While overall fiber-to-the-home installations have been slower than anticipated, Corning expects international government fiber network investments to create new market opportunities. “We also expect the data center market to grow significantly over time, driven by video-based content creation,” he will explain.
Environmental Technologies
Both Corning’s automotive and diesel products businesses were severely impacted by the global economic recession last year, but “We are beginning to see signs of a significant auto industry recovery,” Thomas R. Hinman, senior vice president, Corning Environmental Technologies, will point out. “We expect the automotive vehicle market to grow by 10% this year and auto production could grow faster than historical rates over the next several years. As in a number of Corning businesses,” Hinman will note, “China is a significant driver of this recovery. In 2009, China became not only the world’s largest producer of cars but also the largest consumer of vehicles as well.”
Hinman will explain that, although the heavy-duty diesel market is unlikely to experience an upturn in production for at least another year or two, “we continue to believe in the potential of this market. We anticipate that diesel truck production will return to the normal 200,000 vehicles per year by 2012 or 2013. This will present Corning with an annual total diesel revenue opportunity near $500 million by 2012.”
Emerging Technologies
Dr. Joseph A. Miller, executive vice president and chief technology officer, will review the company’s emerging technology portfolio and point out the company’s high rate of innovation delivery. Corning has been granted approximately 200 new patents each year, and more than 50% of the company’s revenues over the past three years have come from new products. Miller will share examples of recent new product introductions, including the Corning® Epic® system, a high-throughput label-free screening process for drug discovery. There are currently more than 30 systems in use around the world, and Corning recently entered into a strategic collaboration with PerkinElmer to develop next-generation label-free detection technologies. Miller will explain that the company has also extended its gas-permeable membrane technology into higher-volume markets and identified significant market opportunities for its Advanced-Flow™ glass reactors for chemical processing.
Financial Outlook
James B. Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer, will tell investors, “We believe all our business segments have the potential for growth. The 2010 glass market will be larger than last year, the auto industry will grow, and we have significant demand for our Gorilla glass product.” He will point out that equity earnings will be significant for Corning in 2010. “Dow Corning Corporation should see sales increase by more than 10% this year, with strong performance in both its silicone business and Hemlock Semiconductors.”
Total capital spending for Corning is planned to be in the $600 million to $700 million range but could climb if adjacent opportunities are successful. Corning’s tax rate is expected to be about 10%.
Conference Broadcast Information
Corning’s annual investor meeting will be held on Friday, Feb. 5 at TheTimesCenter, located at 242 W. 41st Street, New York. Corning’s products and technologies will be on display from 7:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Corning will make the presentation at its annual investor conference available to the public through a video and audio webcast and telephone access. The broadcast will begin at 9 a.m. EST. The dial-in number is (800) 230-1766 (U.S.) or (612) 234-9960 (international). The password is 2010 Analyst Meeting. The leader is Sofio. A replay of the call will be available at 1 p.m. EST and will run through 5 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. To access the replay, dial (800) 475-6701 (U.S.) or (320) 365-3844 (international). The passcode is 143292. The audio webcast will be archived for one year following the call.
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