UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
| x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2003
OR
| ¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 000-16496
Constar International Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 13-1889304 | |
| (State of other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(IRS Employer Identification Number) | |
| One Crown Way, Philadelphia, PA | 19154 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
(215) 552-3700
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class |
| Common Stock, $.01 Par Value |
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes x No ¨
As of June 30, 2003, the aggregate market value of the shares of the Registrants Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant (treating Crown Holdings, Inc. and the Companys directors and executive officers as the Companys only affiliates for these purposes) was approximately $81,554,550 (based on the closing price of $7.59).
As of March 10, 2004, 12,498,241 shares of the Registrants Common Stock, excluding shares held in Treasury, were issued and outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement dated March 23, 2004 are incorporated by Reference into Part III hereof. Only those portions specifically cited in Part III hereof as being so incorporated are to be deemed filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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| Item 5. |
Market for Registrants Common Stock and Related Stockholder Matters |
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| Item 7. |
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
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| Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
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| Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters |
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| Item 15. |
Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K |
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.
This annual report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as anticipate, believe, expect, intend, plan, project, will, may, could, should, pro forma, continues, estimates, potential, predicts, goal, objective or similar expressions. Statements made regarding future results are subject to numerous assumptions, uncertainties and risks that may cause future results to be materially different from the results stated or implied in this document. The following are among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any results projected, forecasted, estimated or budgeted:
| | The Companys debt level and its ability to service existing debt or, if necessary, to refinance that debt; |
| | The Companys ability to comply with restrictive covenants contained in the instruments governing its indebtedness or obtain waivers if not in compliance; |
| | The Companys ability to compete successfully against competitors; |
| | The impact of price competition on gross margins and profitability; |
| | The level of demand for packaging requiring the Companys proprietary technologies and know-how; |
| | Continued conversion from metal, glass and other materials for packaging to plastic packaging; |
| | The Companys relationships with its largest customers, two of which represent a combined total of approximately 45% of the Companys 2003 consolidated revenues; |
| | The success of the Companys customers in selling their products in their markets; |
| | The Companys ability to manage inventory levels based on its customers projected sales; |
| | Risks associated with the Companys international operations; |
| | The terms upon which the Company acquires resin and its ability to reflect those terms in its sales; |
| | General economic and political conditions, including those that affect the price of oil and petrochemical products such as PET resin; |
| | The Companys ability to protect its existing technologies and to develop new technologies; |
| | The Companys ability to control costs; |
| | The Companys ability to achieve improved utilization on its equipment; |
| | Legal and regulatory proceedings and developments; |
| | Seasonal fluctuations in demand and the impact of weather on sales; |
| | The Companys ability to identify trends in the markets in which it competes and to offer new solutions that address the changing needs of these markets; |
| | The Companys ability to successfully execute its business model and enhance its product mix; |
| | The Companys ability to successfully prosecute or defend the legal proceedings to which it is a party; and |
| | The other factors disclosed from time to time by the Company in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any of our forward-looking statements. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on future results. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information or future events.
| ITEM 1. | BUSINESS |
General
Constar International Inc. (the Company or Constar) is a global producer of PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, plastic containers for food and beverages. Constar manufactures PET containers for conventional PET applications in soft drinks and water and for custom PET applications. Custom PET container applications include food, juices, teas, sport drinks, new age beverages, beer and flavored alcoholic beverages, most of which require advanced technologies, processing know-how or innovative designs.
Some foods and beverages are sensitive to oxygen and require special protective packaging. Oxbar, the Companys oxygen-scavenging technology, allows Constar to produce the special packaging required for the protection of oxygen sensitive products. We believe Oxbar is the industrys best performing oxygen barrier technology. The Company has also developed proprietary methods for addressing the challenges of hot-filling PET containers. The Company has experienced many past conversions of product lines to PET, including soft drinks, water, peanut butter and salad dressing. This gives the Company a strong understanding of the market dynamics associated with expected future large scale conversions to PET. The Company is engaged in development projects with leading consumer product companies to deliver the next generation of PET technologies, and has commenced commercial trials and filed patent applications for some of these technologies.
History
Prior to its initial public offering in November 2002, Constar was a wholly owned subsidiary of Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown). The Company was originally incorporated in 1927. From 1969 until it was acquired by Crown in October 1992, Constar operated as an independent publicly held corporation. The Companys principal executive offices are located at One Crown Way, Philadelphia, PA 19154-4599, and the telephone number is (215) 552-3700.
The PET Container Industry
The PET container industry is generally divided into two product types: conventional PET, which includes beverage containers for soft drinks and water, and custom PET, which includes containers that generally require specialized performance characteristics.
The conventional PET container industry consists of high volume production of containers for use in packaging soft drinks and water. The industry is supplied by independent producers, as well as captive manufacturers.
The custom PET container industry is characterized by complex manufacturing processes, unique materials, innovative product designs and technological know-how for products with special requirements. Because of the greater required manufacturing complexity, many custom PET applications have greater profitability and higher barriers to entry than conventional PET.
PET products include both bottles and preforms. Preforms are test tube-shaped intermediate products in the bottle manufacturing process. Some companies purchase preforms that they process into bottles at their own manufacturing facilities. Preforms are utilized in both conventional and custom applications. In the United States, manufacturers generally sell completed bottles. In Europe, manufacturers generally sell preforms.
The PET container business is a rapidly growing component of the United States packaging market due to continued growth in water and isotonics, conversion opportunities from other forms of packaging and the introduction of smaller sized soft drink containers. Most of these conversion opportunities involve the use of advanced or proprietary PET technologies.
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PET competes in the packaging market against a number of materials including glass, metal, paperboard and other plastics. Various factors affect the choice of packaging material. In the food and beverage markets, PET containers have been gaining market share due to consumer preference for PET containers transparency, resealability, light weight and shatter resistance. PET bottles and jars have also gained acceptance due to PETs custom molding potential, which allows customers to differentiate their products using innovative designs and shapes that increase promotional appeal.
Historically, conversions to PET from glass have occurred first in larger size bottles within a product category, and then proliferated to smaller sizes. This was the case for two liter soft drinks in the late 1970s, hot-fill gallon juices in the late 1980s, and 1.5 liter water bottles in the mid-1990s, as well as in many food conversions such as edible oil, salad dressings, peanut butter, and mayonnaise. The four main reasons for this phenomenon are:
| | Because larger bottles have less surface area in proportion to volume contained, permeation rates for oxygen and carbon dioxide are less critical to shelf life. |
| | The cost of the package in relation to the cost of the product contained is lower in larger bottles. The higher per-bottle costs needed to achieve specialized properties in a large bottle have less impact on a products cost per ounce. |
| | Larger glass bottles are proportionately heavier because strength is achieved partly by increasing the thickness of the glass, while PETs intrinsic strength does not require significantly greater wall thickness for large bottles. This issue makes PET bottles cost competitive with, and lighter than, glass bottles. |
| | Larger glass bottles are more prone to breakage because of their greater wall surface and weight. Because of their greater mass, they are potentially more damaging when dropped and broken. The shatter resistant nature of PET has even greater importance in larger bottle applications. |
Glass conversions in large bottles have typically been followed by conversions of small size bottles. This has resulted from both lower costs achieved over time by scale advantages and new technology, and from stronger demand arising when consumer familiarity and preference for larger size bottles in PET transfers to smaller sizes.
Opportunities to Leverage Strong Conventional PET Infrastructure
The Company is one of the largest North American suppliers of PET containers for conventional PET applications in soft drinks and water. The Companys large manufacturing base allows it to service its customers globally while achieving economies of scale and negotiating leverage with suppliers. The Company is one of the largest purchasers of PET resin in North America, which it believes provides it with negotiating leverage necessary to obtain resin at favorable prices.
The Company believes that its conversion opportunities into custom PET packaging are significantly aided by the following economies of scale provided by its conventional PET business:
| | Many of the assets, skills and processes used to manufacture conventional PET products are directly applicable to custom PET manufacturing. |
| | Many of the same consumer product companies that buy soft drink and water bottles from Constar are also major buyers of custom containers. |
| | Since the Companys existing plants in the United States are already located in proximity to most major markets, the Company can serve custom PET conversion opportunities by adding equipment to its existing plants. Because the manufacturing process is highly automated, much of the cost of operating a bottle making plant is in indirect overhead spending such as warehousing, facility leasing and general administration, which can be more broadly distributed when more bottle-making activity is combined into a plant. |
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Key Markets and Products
The Company is a leading producer of PET containers for food and beverages. The Companys products are used in a variety of end-use markets, including soft drinks, water, peanut butter, edible oils, salad dressing, juices, teas, beer and flavored alcoholic beverages. The Company supplies PET products for such well-known brands as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, 7Up, Motts, Peter Pan, Aquafina, Wishbone, Rolling Rock and Smirnoff Ice. The Company primarily manufactures and sells bottles in the United States. In Europe, the Company primarily sells preforms. Approximately 76% of the Companys 2003 revenue was attributable to sales in the United States and approximately 24% was attributable to sales in Europe.
Conventional PET
The Companys conventional PET sales relate primarily to containers for use in packaging soft drinks and water. In 2003, conventional PET products represented approximately 78% of the Companys sales.
Soft Drinks. Constar is a leading independent provider of PET containers to the United States soft drinks market. The Company is the largest domestic supplier of PET containers to PepsiCo, as well as a leading supplier to Cadbury Schweppes plc, the maker of Dr. Pepper and 7Up. Constars strategy in this market segment is to maintain its relatonships with major customers and grow profitably in the multi-pack, single serve soft drink segment in supermarkets and club stores.
Water. The Company is the largest supplier to PepsiCos water brand Aquafina in the United States. Larger water bottlers, including Perriers, Nestlé S.A., Groupe Danone and Coca-Cola, predominantly manufacture their own containers. Constar maintains a strong position with a number of independent water bottlers such as Premium Waters and Suntory. Most smaller water bottlers generally buy bottles or preforms from PET bottle merchants. Constars strategy in this market is to maintain current relationships and grow profitability along with its customers growth within this market.
Custom PET
Custom PET products represented approximately 16% of Constars sales in 2003. The Company believes that custom PET applications represent significant growth opportunities for the Company. Additionally, custom PET applications generally provide higher margins and have higher barriers to entry than conventional PET, due to greater manufacturing complexity.
Custom PET Technologies
Custom PET technologies are necessary to produce PET bottles for foods and beverages that require advanced technologies for packaging, such as oxygen-scavenger and hot-fill. Scavenger technologies inhibit oxygen from penetrating the packaging, which can cause the flavor and the color of the product to degrade. Hot-fill technologies are used to allow pouring of heat processed beverages into bottles that can withstand high temperatures without deforming. In the past, products requiring these characteristics were generally packaged in glass. Currently available technologies allow these products to be packaged in PET, which is more desirable than glass because of PETs light weight and shatter resistance.
Oxygen Scavenger. The Companys Oxbar technology increases product shelf life by inhibiting oxygen from entering the packaging. An additional benefit of Oxbar is that the barrier technology can be incorporated in the preforms from which plastic bottles are blown. This is an important competitive advantage since preforms can be shipped more economically than bottles and allow for the blowing of oxygen-scavenger bottles on the worlds existing base of blow-molding equipment without modification.
Constar is progressing in its effort to develop monolayer oxygen-scavenging bottles. As opposed to its existing multi-layer oxygen-scavenging bottles, which have Oxbar between two layers of PET, monolayer bottles incorporate the scavenging technology into a single layer container. This will introduce oxygen-
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scavenging properties into preforms made on conventional injection presses, eliminating significant incremental costs of multi-layer injection molding. Combined with monolayer Oxbars outstanding barrier performance, we believe monolayer Oxbar has both a cost and performance advantage over competing technologies. The Companys existing Oxbar patents cover monolayer oxygen-scavenging technology, and Constar is testing monolayer bottles for commercial use.
Food. Constar manufactures containers for well-known brands including ConAgra Grocery Products Wessen Oil, Healthy Choice peanut butter, Unilivers Wishbone Salad Dressings, and Smuckers Toppings. Constar also produces bottles for some of the largest producers of quality private-labeled food products.
Hot-fill. The Company possesses expertise and patents that enable it to manufacture bottles that can withstand the hot-fill process. Products within this market are filled at temperatures in excess of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot-fill bottles require specialized equipment and processes that allow the bottles to withstand this heat without deforming. Hot-fill bottles also use structural design features that absorb and withstand vacuum created inside the bottle when the contents cool after filling. In response to customer requests for new hot-fill packages, the Company has developed a next generation heat-set container. This new technology allows the Company to produce creative product designs without the structural design features that meet customer requirements and offer the potential for lighter-weight bottles. The Company is currently testing the container for commercial use. Constar supplies hot-fill bottles for brands such as Arizona Iced Tea, Veryfine, and Alfresh. The Company supplies a full range of sizes, from gallon-handed bottles for juices to single serve bottles.
Pasteurization. The Company has expertise and proprietary functional design features that enable its PET bottles to be filled on the same filling lines as glass bottles for pasteurized beer. During pasteurization, the sealed bottle and its contents are subjected to heat, which both increases the internal pressure of the bottle and decreases the rigidity of the bottle. The Companys pasteurizable bottle has a proprietary base design that resists deformation during this process, and a proprietary neck design that expands slightly under heat and pressure to reduce stress on the base. In line with the Companys strategy for capturing conversion opportunities, Constar plans to apply its Oxbar technology first to target larger capacity, multiserve bottle glass conversions and then target smaller, single serve bottle conversions as the market expands.
Customers
Generally, Constar supplies its customers pursuant to contracts with terms of one year or longer. Substantially all of the Companys customer contracts contain provisions that allow for the pass through of changes in the price of PET resin. In 2003, the Companys top five customers accounted for approximately 56% of the Companys sales, while the Companys top ten customers accounted for approximately 68% of the Companys sales. During the same period, purchases by PepsiCo accounted for approximately 34% of the Companys sales while Coca-Cola accounted for approximately 11% of the Company sales. Other than PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, no customer accounted for more than 10% of the Companys sales in 2003.
Research and Development
The Company conducts its major technology and product development work, as well as testing and product qualification, in-house. From laboratory locations in Alsip, Illinois and Sherburn, United Kingdom, Constars research and development staff provides project support for the design and development needs of its existing and potential customers, and is responsible for the full range of development activity from concept to commercialization. The Company paid Crown technology charges of $12.1 million and $13.2 million in 2002 and 2001, respectively. The charges represent payments for technology services, including research and development, product testing, legal expenses and laboratory maintenance from shared Crown facilities. Prior to the initial public offering, the Company was charged a fee by Crown for research and technology services of approximately 1.8% of net sales. Upon completion of the initial public offering, this arrangement was discontinued and the Companys requirements were thereafter met by hiring PET research and development staff from Crown, by outsourcing with unrelated thirdparty providers, and through a research and development
5
agreement with Crown Cork and Seal Technologies Corporation. During 2003, the Company paid $1.0 million to Crown for services rendered under this agreement. The Company ceased outsourcing these services to Crown Cork and Seal Technologies during the third quarter of 2003. The Companys research and development staff have advanced degrees in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and polymer science. Their skills include statistics, process monitoring, process control, product design, computer assisted design, and computer aided engineering. Typical activities of the staff include:
| | determination of ideal design, lightest weight, and optimum finish; |
| | design development to enhance product preference; |
| | use of predictive tools to minimize development cycle; |
| | unit cavity production and the making of samples; |
| | blow-mold trials in the process lab and in the field; |
| | setting process parameters and specifications; and |
| | assisting its customers tests of new containers. |
Sales and Marketing
The Companys management structure includes a senior vice president of sales and marketing, four regional vice presidents of sales and a vice president of marketing. In addition to having responsibility for overseeing regional sales, each vice president of sales also has product line management responsibilities for certain product lines.
Sources and Availability of Raw Materials
The Company buys PET resin directly from resin suppliers in the United States, Europe and Asia. While specialized PET resin is required for hot-fill and other applications, most of the major PET manufacturers supply a full range of resin specifications. The Company believes that the large volume of resin that it purchases provides leverage that assists it in negotiating favorable resin purchasing agreements.
The Company buys labels from several suppliers, mostly in the United States, for application to bottles for its customers. The Companys ability to work closely with its customers to forecast, order, and stock the large number of different labels they need and to deliver labeled bottles as needed is an important element of the service it provides.
Competition
PET containers compete with glass bottles, metal cans, paperboard containers and other packaging materials. The Companys major PET industry competitors in the United States are Amcor Ltd., Ball Corporation, Graham Packaging Company, Owens-Illinois, Inc. and Plastipak Holdings, Inc. In Europe, the competitive landscape is much more fragmented.
Competition in the PET industry is intense. In all of the Companys markets, high standards of service, reliability, and quality performance are prerequisites to obtaining significant awards of business from customers. Margins are tight in the conventional soft drink and water business, and differentiation is obtained by cost advantage of scale, design and execution capability, and the ability to bring synergies to the supply relationship through innovation and organizational integration. While these capabilities are also valuable for custom PET, the major basis for competition in custom PET applications is technology, since patent protection, know-how, and highly specialized equipment and process techniques are required to manufacture custom PET products. Some of this technology, however, is commercially available.
The PET business is highly capital intensive, with whole manufacturing lines often committed to the requirements of a single customer. An important element of competition is the strength of each companys
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process for evaluation, design, presentation and execution of new product development opportunities presented by the packaging needs of customers. Product design, engineering and investment decisions made when new capacity is acquired, and the financial and contractual terms obtained with customers to support that investment, are key determinants of a companys success in this market. Flexibility of the manufacturing platform, large scale plants that distribute overhead costs broadly and continuous improvement are sources of competitive cost advantage.
Intellectual Property
The Companys portfolio of intellectual property assets includes U.S. and foreign utility and design patents and patent applications. Among these assets are a number of patents on its oxygen-scavenging technology, as well as patents related to its line of hot-fill bottles. The earliest of the U.S. oxygen-scavenging patents is not due to expire for approximately five years. The Company also owns registrations of, and/or pending applications for registration of, the trademarks CONSTAR, OXBAR and other marks in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions.
The Companys OXBAR technology is subject to a worldwide royalty-free cross-license with Rexam AB, which owns several patents relating to oxygen-scavenging technology. The cross-license agreement gives both parties the right to use and sublicense each others oxygen-scavenging technology patents but not each others know-how. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP and Chevron Research and Technology Company, collectively referred to as Chevron, hold a royalty-based, exclusive, worldwide license under certain of the Companys oxygen-scavenging patents to make, use, and sell a defined type of oxygen-scavenging material and a defined set of products incorporating such material. The Company received a favorable ruling against Chevron in a lawsuit based on the scope of this license, which is more fully described under Legal Proceedings below.
In addition, the Company relies on proprietary know-how, continuing technological innovation and other trade secrets to develop products and maintain its competitive position. The Company attempts to protect its proprietary know-how and its other trade secrets by executing, when appropriate, confidentiality agreements with its customers and employees. The Company cannot assure you that its competitors will not discover comparable or the same knowledge and techniques through independent development or other means.
Environmental Liabilities and Costs
The Companys facilities and operations are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to air emissions, wastewater discharges and chemical and hazardous waste management and disposal. The Company is also subject to employee safety laws. The nature of its operations exposes the Company to the risk of liabilities or claims with respect to environmental and worker health and safety matters. There can be no assurance that material costs will not be incurred in connection with these liabilities or claims. Based on its experiences to date, the Company believes that the future cost of compliance with existing environmental and employee safety laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect. However, future events, including changes in laws and regulations or their interpretations, may give rise to additional costs that could be material.
Certain environmental laws hold current owners or operators of land or businesses liable for their own and for previous owners or operators releases of hazardous or toxic substances. Because of its operations, the long history of industrial operations at some of its facilities, the operations of predecessor owners or operators of certain of its businesses, and the use, production and release of hazardous substances at these sites and at surrounding sites, the Company may be affected by liability provisions of environmental laws. Various facilities have experienced some level of regulatory scrutiny in the past and are, or may become, subject to further regulatory inspections, future requests for investigation or liability for past practices.
The Didam, Netherlands facility has been identified as having impacts to soil and groundwater from volatile organic compounds at concentrations that exceed those permissible under Dutch law. The main body of the
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groundwater plume is beneath Constars Didam facility but it also appears to extend from an upgradient neighboring property. At the request of Dutch authorities, the Companys environmental consultant is in the process of implementing additional investigations at the facility, the results of which will be submitted to the Dutch authorities. Constar has an accrual of $0.2 million for costs associated with completing the required investigations and certain other activities that may be required at the Didam facility. As more information becomes available relating to what additional actions may be required at the site, including potential remediation activities, this accrual maybe adjusted, as necessary, to reflect the new information. The Company has no other accruals for environmental matters.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, or CERCLA, provides for responses to and joint and several liability for releases of hazardous substances into the environment. The Company has received requests for information or notifications of potential liability from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, under CERCLA and certain state environmental agencies under state superfund laws for off-site locations. The Company has been identified by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a potentially responsible party at three related sites in Wisconsin and agreed to share in the remediation costs with one other party. Remediation is ongoing at two of these sites and remediation has been completed at the third site. The Company has also been identified as a potentially responsible party at the Bush Valley Landfill site in Abingdon, Maryland and entered into a settlement agreement with the EPA in July 1997. The activities required under that agreement are ongoing. The Company has not incurred any significant costs relating to these matters and does not believe that it will incur material costs in the future in responding to conditions at these sites.
Employees
As of December 31, 2003, the Company employed approximately 1,990 employees, with approximately 1,672 in the United States and approximately 318 in Europe. None of its U.S. employees are unionized, but there are union workers at its Sherburn, United Kingdom plant and its Didam, Netherlands plant. The Company believes that its employee relations are good and that its practices in the areas of training, progression, retention, and team involvement foster continuous improvement in capabilities and satisfaction levels throughout its workforce.
Securities Exchange Act Reports
We maintain an Internet website at the following address: www.constar.net. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K. We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These include our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC.
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| ITEM 2. | PROPERTIES |
The Companys corporate headquarters are located at One Crown Way, Philadelphia, PA. The Company maintains facilities in the United States and Europe, and has a joint venture interest in Turkey. The locations of these facilities, their respective sizes and ownership/lease status are as follows:
| Location |
Type of Facility |
Size(1) |
Ownership Status | |||
| NORTH AMERICA | ||||||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Headquarters | 23,000 | Leased | |||
| Alsip, Illinois |
Research and Development | 33,300 | Leased | |||
| Atlanta, Georgia |
Warehouse | 145,202 | Leased | |||
| Atlanta, Georgia(2) |
Plant | 121,704 | Owned | |||
| Atlanta, Georgia(2) |
Administrative | 38,438 | Owned | |||
| Birmingham, Alabama(3) |
Warehouse | 66,000 | Leased | |||
| Birmingham, Alabama(2)(3) |
Plant | 184,723 | Leased | |||
| Charlotte, North Carolina |
Warehouse | 59,250 | Leased | |||
| Charlotte, North Carolina |
Warehouse | 127,091 | Leased | |||
| Charlotte, North Carolina(2) |
Plant | 83,250 | Owned | |||
| Cheraw, South Carolina |
Plant | 134,236 | Leased | |||
| Collierville, Tennessee |
Plant | 81,210 | Leased | |||
| Collierville, Tennessee |
Warehouse | 136,847 | Leased | |||
| Dallas, Texas |
Plant | 198,099 | Leased | |||
| Dallas, Texas |
Warehouse | 440,640 | Leased | |||
| Dallas, Texas |
Warehouse | 201,661 | Leased | |||
| Havre de Grace, Maryland (Clark Road)(2) |
Plant | 437,564 | Owned | |||
| Havre de Grace, Maryland (Old Bay Lane) |
Plant | 67,200 | Leased | |||
| Houston, Texas |
Plant | 191,537 | Leased | |||
| Houston, Texas |
Warehouse | 44,050 | Leased | |||
| Jackson, Mississippi |
Plant | 90,435 | Leased | |||
| Jackson, Mississippi |
Sidetrack | 800 ft | Leased | |||
| Kansas City, Kansas |
Warehouse | 47,277 | Leased | |||
| Kansas City, Kansas(2) |
Plant | 236,633 | Leased | |||
| Newark, Ohio |
Warehouse | 211,200 | Leased | |||
| Newark, Ohio(2) |
Plant | 109,800 | Leased | |||
| Orlando, Florida |
Warehouse | 164,640 | Leased | |||
| Orlando, Florida |
Plant | 180,332 | Leased | |||
| Orlando, Florida |
Warehouse | 180,000 | Leased | |||
| Reserve, Louisiana(3) |
Plant | 187,500 | Leased | |||
| Salt Lake City, Utah |
Warehouse | 40,000 | Leased | |||
| West Chicago, Illinois |
Warehouse | 40,000 | Leased | |||
| West Chicago, Illinois(2) |
Plant | 123,100 | Owned | |||
| EUROPE | ||||||
| Didam, Netherlands |
Plant | 174,913 | Owned | |||
| Izmir, Turkey |
Plant | 69,966 | Owned by joint venture | |||
| Sherburn, England |
Plant | 237,000 | Owned | |||
| Sherburn, England |
Warehouse | 399,997 | Leased |
| (1) | In square feet, unless otherwise noted. |
| (2) | These properties are held subject to mortgages granted under the Companys senior secured credit facility. |
| (3) | As part of the 2003 restructuring plan, the Company closed manufacturing facilities at Birmingham, Alabama and Reserve, Louisiana. |
The Company from time to time secures additional warehouse space on a short-term basis as needed to meet inventory storage requirements.
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| ITEM 3. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
Prior to Constars initial public offering, Crown Cork & Seal Technologies Corporation (CCK Technologies), held the patents relating to Oxbar and subsequently contributed these patents to Constar as part of the restructuring attendant to the Companys initial public offering. CCK Technologies filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified monetary damages on April 8, 1999 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against Continental PET Technologies, Inc, alleging that Continental PET, a subsidiary of Owens-Illinois, Inc., was infringing one of its U.S. Oxbar-related patents. The complaint alleges that the materials that Continental PET uses and has used since at least 1998 to achieve oxygen-scavenging properties for the bottles it sells infringe one of CCK Technologies Oxbar patents. Chevron intervened in the action on May 31, 2000 to assert cross-claims seeking a declaratory judgment that its rights under its license from CCK Technologies include exclusive rights to the particular application of Oxbar technology in multi-layer PET bottles used by Continental PET, as well as certain other rights. On November 25, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled in favor of CCK Technologies, confirming that the license granted to Chevron did not include the rights that CCK Technologies claims are being infringed by Continental PET and finding instead that Continental PETs bottles are within the rights retained by CCK Technologies. This decision allows Constar to pursue the lawsuit that CCK Technologies initiated against Continental PET. On January 22, 2003, the Company was substituted for CCK Technologies in the lawsuit. In an April 2, 2003 ruling, the District Court entered judgment in accordance with its November 25, 2002 opinion in favor of the Company and denied Chevron permission to pursue an immediate appeal from the judgment. Chevron must now wait to appeal until after the underlying infringement case by Constar against Continental PET has been resolved. The courts schedule for this infringement suit calls for discovery to conclude in the second quarter of 2004, and the Company currently expects that a trial will be held in 2004.
Constar is also one of 42 defendants in a patent infringement action seeking unspecified monetary damages brought on August 3, 1999 by North American Container, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas based on its patent for a certain plastic container design. The other defendants include many of the principal plastic container manufacturers, various food and beverage companies, and three grocery store chains. On November 28, 2003, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The parties have agreed to dismiss without prejudice certain remaining unadjudicated claims in order to position the case for appeal to the Federal Circuit by the plaintiff.
The Company and certain of its present directors have been named as defendants in two putative securities class action lawsuits filed in the United Sates District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Parkside Capital LLC v. Constar International Inc¸ et al. (Civil Action No. 03-5020), filed on September 5, 2003 and Walter Frejek v. Constar International Inc. et al. (Civil Action No. 03-5166), filed on September 15, 2003. The complaints generally allege that the registration statement and prospectus for the Companys initial public offering of its common stock on November 14, 2002 contained material misrepresentations and/or omissions regarding the business and financial results of the Company and included false financial results due to the Companys failure to timely take an impairment charge against the goodwill in the Companys financial statements. Plaintiffs claim that defendants in these lawsuits violated Section 11 and Section 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Plaintiffs seek class action certification and an award of damages and litigation costs and expenses. A lead plaintiff has not yet been designated. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to defend against them vigorously.
The Company is a defendant in a lawsuit filed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida on January 9, 2001 by former and current employees of its Orlando, Florida facility seeking unspecified monetary damages. The lawsuit alleges bodily injury as a result of exposure to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) during the manufacture of plastic bottles during the 1970s, 1980s and into the mid-1990s. The PVC manufacturers and manufacturers of the manufacturing equipment are also defendants. The litigation is currently in the discovery stage and the Company believes the claims are without merit and is aggressively defending against the claims. A trial as to only one of the plaintiffs is currently scheduled to commence in August 2004.
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The Company is subject to other lawsuits and claims in the normal course of business and related to businesses operated by predecessor corporations. Management believes that the ultimate liabilities resulting from these lawsuits and claims will not materially impact its results of operations or financial position.
| ITEM 4. | SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS |
No matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of 2003.
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| ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANTS COMMON STOCK AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS |
Since completing its initial public offering of common stock in the fourth quarter of 2002, the Companys common stock has been listed on the National Market segment of The Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq National Market) under the symbol CNST. The following table sets forth the high and low bid prices for each full quarterly period since the Companys initial public offering in November 2002 as quoted on The Nasdaq National Market.
| 2003 |
High |
Low | ||||
| Quarter ended December 31, 2003 |
$ | 5.83 | $ | 4.31 | ||
| Quarter ended September 30, 2003 |
$ | 9.43 | $ | 4.98 | ||
| Quarter ended June 30, 2003 |
$ | 9.10 | $ | 6.29 | ||
| Quarter ended March 31, 2003 |
$ | 12.00 | $ | 5.80 | ||
| 2002 |
||||||
| Quarter ended December 31, 2002 |
$ | 12.97 | $ | 9.90 | ||
At March 10, 2004, there were no shares of preferred stock outstanding.
As of March 10, 2004, there were approximately 23 holders of record of the Companys common stock. The Company did not declare dividends on its common stock during the year and it does not intend to declare dividends on its common stock in the foreseeable future. On December 31, 2003 the closing price of the common stock was $5.39.
Equity Compensation Plans
The Company has a stock-based incentive compensation plan (the 2002 Plan) under which employees maybe granted deferred stock, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights (SAR) and incentive or non-qualified stock options. The Company also has a plan (the Directors Plan) under which non-employee directors may be granted restricted stock or non-qualified stock options to purchase shares of Common Stock. The 2002 Plan and the Directors Plan, together, are referred to hereafter as the Option Plans.
Options granted are to be issued at prices equal to at least fair market value and expire up to ten years after the grant date in the case of the 2002 Plan and up to five years after the grant date in the case of the Directors Plan. The plan is administrated by the Compensation committee of the Board of Directors, which determines the vesting provisions, the form of payment for shares and all other terms of the options or grants. The maximum number of shares reserved under the 2002 Plan is 850,000 shares. At December 31, 2003, 260,335 shares were available for future grants. The maximum number of shares reserved under the Directors Plan is 25,000. At December