Span-America Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAN) announced today results from the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on February 22, 2017. At the meeting, shareholders elected the following directors to serve three-year terms expiring in 2020: Tom Grady, Jr., Dan Lee and Tom Sullivan. Mr. Grady plans to retire from the Company’s board effective as of the 2018 annual meeting of shareholders in accordance with Company by-laws, because he will turn age 75 during 2017. The board expects to select a nominee for director to fill the remainder of Mr. Grady’s term to be voted on at the 2018 annual meeting.
Other directors continuing in office were Richard Coggins, Tom Henrion and Linda Norman, whose terms expire in 2018. Robert Dick, Jim Ferguson and Terry Allison Rappuhn also continued in office with terms expiring in 2019.
In other business at the meeting, shareholders approved the advisory vote on executive compensation, the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan and the selection of Elliott Davis Decosimo as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2017.
In addition, shareholders voted for a frequency of “Every 1 Year” for holding advisory votes on executive compensation. The board unanimously approved a resolution to accept the recommendation of the shareholders and hold the advisory vote on executive compensation every year.
In comments following the annual meeting, Jim Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of Span-America, stated, “Our outlook for fiscal year 2017 remains positive. Order volume in our medical segment continues to be strong, particularly for medical beds made at our Span-Canada facility. We are encouraged by the current level of demand in our medical segment, and we believe this trend will contribute to medical sales growth during the remainder of fiscal 2017.”
As previously reported, Ferguson also stated that sales for the custom products segment are expected to be down in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 compared with the same quarter last year due to lower sales of consumer bedding products. However, the rate of decline in consumer sales in the second quarter this fiscal year is expected to be lower than in the first quarter. For the second half of fiscal 2017, consumer sales comparisons are expected to improve compared with the first half of fiscal 2017.
“We believe business conditions in our markets are good, and we expect our overall sales and earnings comparisons for the remainder of fiscal 2017 to improve over our first quarter fiscal 2017 comparative results,” concluded Mr. Ferguson.
Forward-Looking Statements
We have made forward-looking statements in this release regarding, among other things, our expectations for future sales and earnings performance. We wish to caution the reader that these statements are only predictions. These forward-looking statements may be generally identified by the use of forward-looking words and phrases, such as “will,” “intends,” “would,” “estimates,” “continues,” “may,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “should,” “optimistic,” and “expects,” and are based on the company’s current expectations or beliefs concerning future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks and uncertainties facing the company, including: (a) the inability to achieve anticipated sales growth in the medical segment, (b) the possibility that anticipated declines in sales of consumer bedding products could be greater than expected, (c) the possibility of a loss of a key customer or distributor for our products, (d) risks related to international operations and foreign currency exchange associated with our Canadian subsidiary, (e) the possibility of having material uncollectible receivables from one or more key customers or distributors, (f) the potential for volatile pricing conditions in the market for polyurethane foam, (g) raw material cost increases, (h) the possibility that some or all of our medical products could be determined to be subject to the 2.3% medical device excise tax imposed by the Affordable Care Act, (i) the potential for lost sales due to competition from low-cost foreign imports, (j) changes in relationships with large customers or key suppliers, (k) uncertainty about whether or not we will continue to be awarded one-time seasonal promotions with major retailers, which can have a large impact on annual revenues and earnings, (l) the impact of competitive products and pricing, (m) government reimbursement changes in the medical market, (n) FDA and Health Canada regulation of medical device manufacturing and (o) other risks referenced from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. We disclaim any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We are not responsible for changes made to this document by wire services or Internet services.
About Span-America Medical Systems, Inc.
Span-America manufactures and markets a comprehensive selection of pressure management products for the medical market, including Geo-Matt®, PressureGuard®, Geo-Mattress®, Custom Care®, Span+Aids®, Isch-Dish®, Risk Manager® and Selan® products. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary Span Medical Products Canada Inc., we manufacture and market the Encore®, Advantage and Rexx beds as well as related in-room furnishing products for the long-term care market. We also supply custom foam and packaging products to the consumer and industrial markets. Span-America’s stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “SPAN.” For more information, please visit www.spanamerica.com.
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Contacts:
Jim Ferguson, 864-288-8877, ext.
6912
President and Chief Executive Officer
