Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) today announced a strategic capital deployment plan, which includes the use of proceeds from the $300 million convertible debt offering initiated yesterday.
The company will repurchase approximately 1.25 million shares of stock for $100 million, bringing total stock repurchases since the beginning of the current fiscal year to approximately 2.5 million shares – or approximately seven percent of outstanding shares.
The company will also contribute approximately $300 million to its defined benefit employee pension plan, bringing total contributions by the end of the calendar year to $385 million. The goal is to fully fund the plan, reduce future pension expenses, and eliminate volatility of future retirement benefit costs. In combination, the share repurchase program and a fully funded pension plan will provide ATK shareholders with significant earnings per share growth while substantially increasing the company’s future cash flow from operations.
“The plan we announce today is a continuation of our balanced capital deployment strategy to generate long-term double-digit earnings growth,” said Dan Murphy, Chairman and CEO. “This plan significantly increases EPS, strengthens our cash flow profile, reduces exposure to the volatility of today’s pension plan environment, and affords us the strategic flexibility to aggressively pursue new opportunities to continue growing our business.”
New hire benefit changes
On January 1, 2007, ATK will eliminate the defined benefit plan for non- union new hires and replace it with an enhanced defined contribution plan. The new design will reduce the financial risks associated with future retirement benefit costs, while still allowing ATK to offer an attractive benefit plan to new employees.
Updated EPS and cash flow from operations guidance
ATK is increasing FY07 EPS guidance to $4.90-$5.05. The company is revising its FY07 cash flow from operations guidance to $25 million from its previous expectation of $260 million. The change reflects the additional $300 million in pension contributions, partially offset by expected tax benefits.
ATK now expects FY08 EPS to increase by approximately 15 percent over FY07 guidance levels. FY08 operating cash flow from operations is expected to be approximately $340 million. Consistent with past practices, ATK will provide more specific guidance details on FY08 performance near the end of the company’s FY07 third quarter.
ATK is a $3.4 billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing approximately 15,000 people in 22 states. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.
Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward- looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company’s competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; pension asset returns and assumptions on future returns; discount rates, service costs and funding; access to capital markets and the costs thereof, changes in accounting standards, the company’s capital deployment strategies, including debt repayment and share repurchases; and general economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
