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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark one)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the 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 000-26025

 

U. S. CONCRETE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   76-0586680

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

 

2925 Briarpark, Suite 500, Houston, Texas 77042

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (713) 499-6200

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

 

Common Stock, par value $.001    Nasdaq National Market
(Title of class)    (Name of exchange on which registered)

 

Rights to Purchase Series A Junior

Participating Preferred Stock

(Title of class)

 

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 þ 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 registrant’s 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 Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes þ No ¨

 

As of June 30, 2003, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, there were 28,274,426 shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding, 21,645,497 of which, having an aggregate market value of $83,118,709 based on the closing market price of $3.84 per share of the common stock of the registrant reported on the Nasdaq National Market on that date, were held by non-affiliates of the registrant. As of March 10, 2004, there were 28,661,954 shares of common stock, par value $.001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding. For purposes of the above statements only, all directors and executive officers of the registrant are assumed to be affiliates.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Portions of the Proxy Statement related to the registrant’s 2004 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

 



Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

          Page

PART I     

Item 1.

   Business    1

Item 2.

   Properties    13

Item 3.

   Legal Proceedings    13

Item 4.

   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders    14
PART II     

Item 5.

   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters    15

Item 6.

   Selected Financial Data    16

Item 7.

   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations    17

Item 7A.

   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk    29

Item 8.

   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data    30

Item 9.

   Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure    58

Item 9A.

   Controls and Procedures    59
PART III     

Item 10.

   Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant    60

Item 11.

   Executive Compensation    60

Item 12.

   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters    60

Item 13.

   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions    60

Item 14.

   Principal Accountant Fees and Services    60
PART IV     

Item 15.

   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K    61


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Statements we make in this Annual Report on Form 10-K which express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those to which we refer under the heading “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” following Item 1 in this report.

 

PART I

 

Item 1.    Business

 

General

 

U.S. Concrete is a major producer of ready-mixed concrete and related concrete products in select markets in the United States. We believe we are among the leading producers of ready-mixed concrete in substantially all the markets in which we have ready-mixed operations. Ready-mixed concrete is an important building material that is used in the vast majority of commercial, residential and public works construction projects.

 

The principal states in which we operate are California (44% of 2003 net sales), New Jersey (17% of 2003 net sales), Michigan (12% of 2003 net sales) and Texas (9% of 2003 net sales).

 

As of March 10, 2004, we had 89 fixed and eight portable ready-mixed concrete plants, eight precast concrete plants, three concrete block plants and one aggregates quarry. During 2003, these facilities produced approximately 5.0 million cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete, 7.5 million eight-inch equivalent block units and 1.0 million tons of aggregates. We derived approximately 78% of our 2003 revenues from the sale of ready-mixed concrete and the remaining 22% of those revenues from the sale of other concrete and concrete-related products and aggregates.

 

Our operations consist principally of formulating, preparing and delivering ready-mixed concrete to the job sites of our customers. We also provide services intended to reduce our customers’ overall construction costs by lowering the installed, or “in-place,” cost of concrete. These services include the formulation of mixtures for specific design uses, on-site and lab-based product quality control and customized delivery programs to meet our customers’ needs. Our marketing efforts primarily target general contractors, developers and home builders whose focus extends beyond the price of ready-mixed concrete to product quality and consistency and reduction of in-place concrete costs. In addition, we manufacture and deliver various precast and concrete masonry products to the construction industry. Our customer base for all our concrete products often overlaps in markets in which we produce ready-mixed concrete and other concrete products.

 

Industry Overview

 

General

 

Ready-mixed concrete is a highly versatile construction material that results from combining coarse and fine aggregates, such as gravel, crushed stone and sand, with water, various admixtures and cement. Ready-mixed concrete can be manufactured in thousands of variations, which in each instance may reflect a specific design use. Manufacturers of ready-mixed concrete generally maintain only a few days’ inventory of raw materials and must coordinate their daily material purchases with the time-sensitive delivery requirements of their customers.

 

The quality of ready-mixed concrete is time-sensitive, as it becomes difficult to place within 90 minutes after mixing. Many ready-mixed concrete specifications do not allow for its placement beyond that time. Consequently, the market for a permanently installed ready-mixed concrete plant generally is limited to an area within a 25-mile radius of its location. Concrete manufacturers produce ready-mixed concrete in batches at their plants and use mixer and other trucks to distribute and place it at the job sites of their customers. These manufacturers generally do not provide paving or other finishing services construction contractors or subcontractors typically perform.

 

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Concrete manufacturers generally obtain contracts through local sales and marketing efforts they direct at general contractors, developers and home builders. As a result, local relationships are very important.

 

On the basis of information the National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association has provided to us, we estimate that, in addition to vertically integrated manufacturers of cement and ready-mixed concrete, approximately 3,000 independent concrete producers currently operate a total of approximately 6,000 plants in the United States. Larger markets generally have numerous producers competing for business on the basis of price, timing of delivery and reputation for quality and service. We believe, on the basis of available market information, that the typical ready-mixed concrete company is family-owned and has limited access to capital, financial and technical expertise and exit strategies for its owners. Given these operating constraints, we believe many ready-mixed concrete companies are finding it difficult to both grow their businesses and compete effectively against larger, more cost-efficient and technically capable competitors. We believe these characteristics in our highly fragmented industry present growth opportunities for a company with a national strategy, focused acquisition program and access to capital.

 

Annual usage of ready-mixed concrete in the United States remains near record levels. According to information available from the National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association and F.W. Dodge, total sales from the production and delivery of ready-mixed concrete in the United States over the past three years were as follows (in millions):

 

2003

   $ 26,938

2002

   $ 26,971

2001

   $ 27,137

 

According to F.W. Dodge data, the four major segments of the construction industry accounted for the following approximate percentages of the total volume of ready-mixed concrete produced in the United States in 2003:

 

Residential construction

   30 %

Commercial and industrial construction

   19 %

Street and highway construction and paving

   31 %

Other public works and infrastructure construction

   20 %

 

Historically, barriers to the start-up of a new ready-mixed concrete manufacturing operation have been low. In recent years, however, public concerns about dust, process water runoff, noise and heavy mixer and other truck traffic associated with the operation of ready-mixed concrete plants and their general appearance have made obtaining the permits and licenses required for new plants more difficult. Delays in the regulatory process, coupled with the substantial capital investment start-up operations entail, have raised the barriers to entry for those operations.

 

For a discussion of the seasonality of the ready-mixed concrete industry generally, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations —Factors That May Affect Our Future Operating Results” in Item 7 of this report.

 

Significant Factors Impacting the Market for Ready-Mixed Concrete

 

Industry-wide Promotional and Marketing Activities. We believe industry participants have only in recent years focused on and benefited from promotional activities to increase the industry’s share of street and highway and residential construction expenditures. Many of these promotional efforts resulted from an industry-wide initiative called RMC 2000, a program established in 1993 under the leadership of our chief executive officer, Eugene P. Martineau. The National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, the industry’s largest trade organization, has adopted this program. Its principal goals have been to (1) promote ready-mixed concrete as a

 

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building and paving material, (2) improve the overall image of the ready-mixed concrete industry and (3) improve financial returns for producers of ready-mixed concrete. We believe RMC 2000 has been a catalyst for increased investment in the promotion of concrete.

 

Development of New and Innovative Ready-mixed Concrete Products. Ready-mixed concrete has many attributes that make it a highly versatile construction material. In recent years, industry participants have developed various product innovations, including:

 

    concrete housing;

 

    pre-cast modular paving stones;

 

    pre-stressed concrete railroad ties to replace wood ties;

 

    flowable fill for backfill applications;

 

    continuous-slab rail-support systems for rapid transit and heavy-traffic rail lines; and

 

    concrete bridges, tunnels and other structures for rapid transit systems.

 

Other examples of successful innovations that have opened new markets for concrete include:

 

    highway median barriers;

 

    highway sound barriers;

 

    paved shoulders to replace less permanent and increasingly costly asphalt shoulders;

 

    pervious concrete parking lots providing a long-lasting, environmentally sensitive and aesthetically pleasing urban environment; and

 

    colored pavements to mark entrance and exit ramps and lanes of expressways.

 

Our Business Strategy

 

Our objective is to become the leading value-added provider of ready-mixed concrete and related concrete products in each of our markets and to diversify the geographic scope of our operations. We plan to achieve this objective by continuing to implement our national operating strategy and continuing to make acquisitions on a selective basis.

 

Implementation of National Operating Strategy. We have designed our national operating strategy to (1) increase revenues and market share through improved marketing and sales initiatives and enhanced operations and (2) achieve cost efficiencies.

 

    Improving Marketing and Sales Initiatives and Enhancing Operations. Our basic operating strategy emphasizes the sale of value-added products to customers who are more focused on reducing their in-place concrete costs than on the price per cubic yard of the ready-mixed concrete they purchase. Key elements of our service-oriented approach include:

 

    providing corporate-level marketing and sales expertise;

 

    establishing and implementing company-wide quality control improvements;

 

    providing technical services expertise to optimize mix designs and develop innovative new products;

 

    continuing to develop and implement training programs that emphasize successful marketing, sales and training techniques and the sale of high-margin concrete mix designs; and

 

    investing in computer and communications technology at each of our locations to improve communications, purchasing, accounting, dispatch, truck tracking, delivery efficiency, reliability of equipment and customer service.

 

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We have formed strategic alliances with several national specialty admixture and engineering software companies to provide alternative concrete solutions for designers and contractors using value-added products. Through these alliances, we can offer color-conditioned, fiber-reinforced and high-performance concretes, as well as advanced software technology that can be used to design buildings constructed of reinforced concrete. We believe the design software provides opportunities to expand uses of structural concrete in office and institutional buildings to better compete with structural steel. With each of these initiatives, we are seeking to enhance our product offering, capabilities and services, penetrate new market segments, increase market demand for our products and provide economical solutions to our customers. We train our sales professionals in the application of these advanced technologies and intend to expand our promotion of these technologies as we seek to advance concrete as the preferred building material of choice.

 

    Achieving Cost Efficiencies. We strive over time to reduce operating expenses of our businesses. We believe that if we continue to increase in size on both a local market and national level, we should continue to experience cost savings in such areas as:

 

    materials, through procurement and optimized mix designs;

 

    purchases of mixer trucks and other equipment, spare parts and tools;

 

    vehicle and equipment maintenance; and

 

    insurance and other risk management programs.

 

Disciplined Growth Through Acquisitions. The ready-mixed concrete industry is a fragmented, consolidating industry with over 3,000 independent producers. We believe these characteristics present growth opportunities for a company with a national strategy, focused acquisition program and access to capital. Our acquisition program targets opportunities for expansion in our existing markets and entering new geographic markets in the United States.

 

    Expanding in Existing Markets. We seek to continue acquiring other well-established companies operating in our existing markets in order to expand our market penetration. We have acquired operating companies in substantially all of our ready-mixed concrete markets following our initial entry into these markets. By expanding in existing markets through acquisitions, we expect to realize operating synergies, including:

 

    increased market coverage;

 

    improved utilization and range of mixer trucks through access to additional plants;

 

    customer cross-selling opportunities; and

 

    reduced operating costs and selling, general and administrative costs.

 

    Entering New Geographic Markets. We seek to continue entering new geographic markets that have demonstrated adequate sustainable demand and prospects for growth. In each new market we enter, we target for acquisition one or more of the leading local or regional companies that can serve as platform businesses into which we can consolidate other operations. Important criteria for these acquisition candidates include historically successful operating results, established customer relationships and superior operational management personnel, whom we generally seek to retain.

 

Products and Services

 

Ready-Mixed Concrete. Our ready-mixed concrete products consist of proportioned mixes we prepare and deliver in unhardened plastic states for placement and shaping into their designed forms. Selecting the optimum mix for a job entails determining not only the ingredients that will produce the desired permeability, strength,

 

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appearance and other properties of the concrete after it has hardened and cured, but also the ingredients necessary to achieve a workable consistency considering the weather and other conditions at the job site. We believe we can achieve product differentiation for the mixes we offer because of the variety of mixes we can produce, our volume production capacity and our scheduling, delivery and placement reliability. We also believe we distinguish ourselves with our value-added service approach that emphasizes reducing our customers’ overall construction costs by lowering the in-place cost of concrete and the time required for construction.

 

From a contractor’s perspective, the in-place cost of concrete includes both the amount paid to the ready-mixed concrete manufacturer and the internal costs associated with the labor and equipment the contractor provides. A contractor’s unit cost of concrete is often only a small component of the total in-place cost that takes into account all the labor and equipment costs required to build the forms for the ready-mixed concrete and place and finish the ready-mixed concrete, including the cost of additional labor and time lost as a result of substandard products or delivery delays not covered by warranty or insurance. By carefully designing proper mixes and using advances in mixing technology, we can assist our customers in reducing the amount of reinforcing steel, time and labor they will require in various applications.

 

We provide a variety of services in connection with our sale of ready-mixed concrete that can help reduce our customers’ in-place cost of concrete. These services include:

 

    production of new formulations and alternative product recommendations that reduce labor and materials costs;

 

    quality control, through automated production and laboratory testing, that ensures consistent results and minimizes the need to correct completed work; and

 

    automated scheduling and tracking systems that ensure timely delivery and reduce the downtime incurred by the customer’s placing and finishing crews.

 

We produce ready-mixed concrete by combining the desired type of cement, sand, gravel and crushed stone with water and typically one or more admixtures. These admixtures, such as chemicals, minerals and fibers, determine the usefulness of the product for particular applications.

 

We use a variety of chemical admixtures to achieve one or more of five basic purposes:

 

    relieve internal pressure and increase resistance to cracking in subfreezing weather;

 

    retard the hardening process to make concrete more workable in hot weather;

 

    strengthen concrete by reducing its water content;

 

    accelerate the hardening process and reduce the time required for curing; and

 

    facilitate the placement of concrete having low water content.

 

We frequently use various mineral admixtures as supplementary cementing materials to alter the permeability, strength and other properties of concrete. These materials include fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and silica fume.

 

We also use fibers, such as steel, glass and synthetic and carbon filaments, as an additive in various formulations of concrete. Fibers help to control shrinkage cracking, thus reducing permeability and improving abrasion resistance. In many applications, fibers replace welded steel wire and reinforcing bars. Relative to the other components of ready-mixed concrete, these additives generate comparatively high margins.

 

Precast Concrete. We produce precast concrete products at eight plants in four states, including six in California. Our precast concrete products consist of concrete we produce and then pour into molds at our plant sites. These operations produce a wide variety of specialized finished products, including specialty engineered

 

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structures, custom signage, manholes, catch basins, highway barriers and curb inlets. After the concrete sets, we strip the molds from the products and ship the finished product to our customers. Because these products are not perishable, precast concrete plants can serve a much larger market than ready-mixed concrete plants. Our precast operations in Northern California and Delaware are located near our ready-mixed concrete operations and consequently afford us various synergies.

 

Building Materials. Our building materials operations supply various materials, products and tools contractors use in the concrete construction industry. These materials include rebar, wire mesh, color additives, curing compounds, grouts, wooden forms and numerous other items. Our building materials operations are generally located near our ready-mixed concrete operations.

 

Aggregates. We produce crushed stone aggregates from our granite quarry in Northern New Jersey. We sell these aggregates for use in commercial, residential and public works projects primarily in that area and Orange County, New York. Production during 2003 was approximately 1.0 million tons, and we estimate the quarry has approximately 44 million tons of remaining reserves. We acquired the quarry in January 2002 principally to expand our market presence in Northern New Jersey and to provide crushed stone aggregates to third-party customers as well as to our existing ready-mixed concrete operations in that market.

 

Concrete Masonry. We manufacture various shapes and sizes of concrete masonry, commonly known as concrete block, for use in both residential and commercial applications. We produced approximately 7.5 million units of concrete masonry during 2003 at plants in Michigan, Delaware and New Jersey.

 

Operations

 

We have made substantial capital investments in equipment, systems and personnel to facilitate continuous multi-customer deliveries of highly perishable products. In any given market, we may maintain a number of plants whose production we centrally coordinate to meet customer production requirements. We must be able to adapt constantly to continually changing delivery schedules.

 

Our ready-mixed concrete plants consist of permanent and portable facilities that produce ready-mixed concrete in wet or dry batches. Our fixed-plant facilities produce ready-mixed concrete that we transport to job sites by mixer trucks. Our mobile-plant operations deploy our eight mobile-plant facilities to produce ready-mixed concrete at the job site that we direct into place using a series of conveyor belts or a mixer truck. Several factors govern the choice of plant type, including:

 

    capital availability;

 

    production consistency requirements;

 

    daily production capacity requirements; and

 

    job-site location.

 

A wet batch plant generally has a higher initial cost and daily operating expense, but yields greater consistency with less time required for quality control in the concrete produced and generally has greater daily production capacity, than a dry batch plant. We believe that a wet batch plant having an hourly capacity of 250 cubic yards currently would cost approximately $1.5 million, while a dry batch plant having the same capacity currently would cost approximately $0.7 million. At March 10, 2004, we operated 24 wet and 73 dry fixed and portable batch plants.

 

The market primarily will drive our future plant decisions. The relevant market factors include:

 

    the expected production demand for the plant;

 

    the expected types of projects the plant will service; and

 

    the desired location of the plant.

 

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Generally, plants intended primarily to serve high-volume, commercial or public works projects will be wet batch plants, while plants intended primarily to serve low-volume, residential construction projects will be dry batch plants. We use our portable plants to service large, long-term jobs and jobs in remote locations.

 

The batch operator in a dry batch plant simultaneously loads the dry components of stone, sand and cement with water and admixtures in a mixer truck that begins the mixing process during loading and completes that process while driving to the job site. In a wet batch plant, the batch operator blends the dry components and water in a plant mixer from which he loads the already mixed concrete into the mixer truck, which leaves for the job site promptly after loading.

 

Mixer trucks slowly rotate their loads en route to job sites in order to maintain product consistency. A mixer truck typically has a load capacity of 10 cubic yards, or approximately 20 tons, and an estimated useful life of 12 years. A new truck of this size currently costs approximately $130,000. Depending on the type of batch plant from which the mixer trucks generally are loaded, some components of the mixer trucks usually require refurbishment after three to five years. At March 10, 2004, we operated a fleet of approximately 923 mixer trucks.

 

In our manufacture and delivery of ready-mixed concrete, we emphasize quality control, pre-job planning, customer service and coordination of supplies and delivery. We often obtain purchase orders for ready-mixed concrete months in advance of actual delivery to a job site. A typical order contains various specifications the contractor requires the concrete to meet. After receiving the specifications for a particular job, we use computer modeling, industry information and information from previous similar jobs to formulate a variety of mixtures of cement, aggregates, water and admixtures which meet or exceed the contractor’s specifications. We perform testing to determine which mix design is most appropriate to meet the required specifications. The test results enable us to select the mixture that has the lowest cost and meets or exceeds the job specifications. The testing center creates and maintains a project file that details the mixture we will use when we produce the concrete for the job. For quality control purposes, the testing center also is responsible for maintaining batch samples of concrete we have delivered to a job site.

 

We use computer modeling to prepare bids for particular jobs based on the size of the job, location, desired margin, cost of raw materials and the design mixture identified in our testing process. If the job is large enough and has a projected duration beyond the supply arrangement in place at that time, we obtain quotes from our suppliers as to the cost of raw materials we use in preparing the bid. Once we obtain a quotation from our suppliers, the price of the raw materials for the specified job is informally established. Several months may elapse from the time a contractor has accepted our bid until actual delivery of the ready-mixed concrete begins. During this time, we maintain regular communication with the contractor concerning the status of the job and any changes in the job’s specifications in order to coordinate the multi-sourced purchases of cement and other materials we will need to fill the job order and meet the contractor’s delivery requirements. We confirm that our customers are ready to take delivery of manufactured product throughout the placement process. On any given day, a particular plant may have production orders for dozens of customers at various locations throughout its area of operation. To fill an order:

 

    the customer service office coordinates the timing and delivery of the concrete to the job site;

 

    a load operator supervises and coordinates the receipt of the necessary raw materials and operates the hopper that dispenses those materials into the appropriate storage bins;

 

    a batch operator, using a computerized batch panel, prepares the specified mixture from the order and oversees the loading of the mixer truck with either dry ingredients and water in a dry batch plant or the already-mixed concrete in a wet batch plant; and

 

    the driver of the mixer truck delivers the load to the job site, discharges the load and, after washing the truck, departs at the direction of the dispatch office.

 

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The central dispatch system tracks the status of each mixer truck as to whether a particular truck is:

 

    loading concrete;

 

    en route to a particular job site;

 

    on the job site;

 

    discharging concrete;

 

    being washed; or

 

    en route to a particular plant.

 

The system is updated continuously via signals received from the individual truck operators as to their status. In this manner, the dispatcher can determine the optimal routing and timing of subsequent deliveries by each mixer truck and monitor the performance of each driver.

 

A plant manager oversees the operation of each plant. Our employees also include:

 

    maintenance personnel who perform routine maintenance work throughout our plants;

 

    a full-time staff of mechanics who perform substantially all the maintenance and repair work on our vehicles;

 

    testing center staff who prepare mixtures for particular job specifications and maintain quality control;

 

    various clerical personnel who perform administrative tasks; and

 

    sales personnel who are responsible for identifying potential customers and maintaining existing customer relationships.

 

We generally operate each of our plants on a single shift, with some overtime operation during the construction season. On occasion, however, we may have projects that require deliveries around the clock.

 

Cement and Raw Materials

 

We obtain most of the materials necessary to manufacture ready-mixed concrete at each of our facilities on a daily basis. These raw materials include cement, which is a manufactured product, stone, gravel and sand. Each plant typically maintains an inventory level of these materials sufficient to satisfy its operating needs for a few days. Cement represents the highest cost material used in manufacturing a cubic yard of ready-mixed concrete, while the combined cost of the stone, gravel and sand used is slightly less than the cement cost. In each of our markets, we purchase each of these materials from several suppliers.

 

Marketing and Sales

 

General contractors typically select their suppliers of ready-mixed concrete. In large, complex projects, an engineering firm or division within a state transportation or public works department may influence the purchasing decision, particularly if the concrete has complicated design specifications. In those projects and in government-funded projects generally, the general contractor or project engineer usually awards supply orders on the basis of either direct negotiation or competitive bidding. We believe the purchasing decision in many cases ultimately is relationship-based. Our marketing efforts target general contractors, design engineers and architects whose focus extends beyond the price of ready-mixed concrete to product quality and consistency and reducing the in-place cost of concrete.

 

Customers

 

Of our 2003 sales, we made approximately 32% to commercial and industrial construction contractors, approximately 46% to residential construction contractors, approximately 7% to street and highway construction

 

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contractors and approximately 15% to other public works and infrastructure contractors. In 2003, no single customer or project accounted for more than 4.5% of our total sales.

 

We rely heavily on repeat customers. Our management and dedicated sales personnel are responsible for developing and maintaining successful long-term relationships with key customers. We believe that by expanding our operations into more geographic markets, we will be in a better position to market to and service large nationwide and regional contractors.

 

Competition

 

The ready-mixed concrete industry is highly competitive. Our competitive position in a market depends largely on the location and operating costs of our ready-mixed concrete plants and prevailing prices in that market. Price is the primary competitive factor among suppliers for small or simple jobs, principally in residential construction, while timeliness of delivery and consistency of quality and service as well as price are the principal competitive factors among suppliers for large or complex jobs. Our competitors range from small, owner-operated private companies to subsidiaries or operating units of large, vertically integrated cement manufacturing and concrete products companies. Competitors having lower operating costs or having the financial resources to enable them to accept lower margins have a competitive advantage over us for jobs that are particularly price-sensitive. Competitors having greater financial resources to build plants in new areas or pay for acquisitions also have competitive advantages.

 

Employees

 

As of March 10, 2004, we had approximately 421 salaried employees, including executive officers and management, sales, technical, administrative and clerical personnel, and approximately 1,573 hourly personnel, including delivery professionals, we generally employ on an as-needed basis. The number of employees fluctuates depending on the number and size of projects ongoing at any particular time, which may be impacted by variations in weather conditions throughout the year.

 

As of March 10, 2004, approximately 811 of our employees were represented by labor unions having collective bargaining agreements with us. Generally, these agreements have multi-year terms and expire on a staggered basis. Under these agreements, we pay specified wages to covered employees and make payments to multi-employer pension plans and employee benefit trusts rather than administering the funds on behalf of these employees.

 

We have not experienced any strikes or significant work stoppages in the past five years. We believe our relationships with our employees and union representatives are satisfactory.

 

Training and Safety

 

Our future success will depend, in part, on the extent to which we can attract, retain and motivate qualified employees. We believe that our ability to do so will depend on the quality of our recruiting, training, compensation and benefits, the opportunities we afford for advancement and our safety record. Historically, we have supported and funded continuing education programs for our employees. We intend to continue and expand these programs. We require all field employees to attend periodic safety training meetings and all delivery professionals to participate in training seminars. The responsibilities of our national safety director include managing and executing a unified, company-wide safety program.

 

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Governmental Regulation and Environmental Matters

 

A wide range of federal, state and local laws apply to our operations, including such matters as:

 

    land usage;

 

    street and highway usage;

 

    noise levels; and

 

    health, safety and environmental matters.

 

In many instances, we must have certificates, permits or licenses to conduct our business. Failure to maintain these required authorizations or to comply with applicable laws could result in substantial fines or possible revocation of our authority to conduct some of our operations. Delays in obtaining approvals for the transfer or grant of authorizations, or failures to obtain new authorizations, could impede our acquisition program.

 

Environmental laws that impact our operations include those relating to air quality, solid waste management and water quality. These laws are complex and subject to frequent change. They impose strict liability in some cases without regard to negligence or fault. Sanctions for noncompliance may include revocation of permits, corrective action orders, administrative or civil penalties and criminal prosecution. Some environmental laws provide for joint and several strict liability for remediation of spills and releases of hazardous substances. In addition, businesses may be subject to claims alleging personal injury or property damage as a result of alleged exposure to hazardous substances, as well as damage to natural resources. These laws also may expose us to liability for the conduct of others, or for acts that complied with all applicable laws when performed.

 

We have conducted Phase I investigations to assess environmental conditions on substantially all the real properties we own or lease and have engaged independent environmental consulting firms in that connection. We have not identified any environmental concerns we believe are likely to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flows, but you have no assurance material liabilities will not occur. You also have no assurance our compliance with amended, new or more stringent laws, stricter interpretations of existing laws or the future discovery of environmental conditions will not require additional, material expenditures. OSHA regulations establish requirements our training programs must meet.

 

We have all material permits and licenses we need to conduct our operations and are in substantial compliance with applicable regulatory requirements relating to our operations. Our capital expenditures relating to environmental matters were not material in 2003. We currently do not anticipate any material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flows as a result of our future compliance with existing environmental laws controlling the discharge of materials into the environment.

 

Product Warranties

 

Our operations involve providing ready-mixed and other concrete formulations that must meet building code or other regulatory requirements and contractual specifications for durability, stress-level capacity, weight-bearing capacity and other characteristics. If we fail or are unable to provide product meeting these requirements and specifications, material claims may arise against us and our reputation could be damaged. In the past, we have had significant claims of this kind asserted against us that we have resolved. There currently are, and we expect that in the future there will be, additional claims of this kind asserted against us. Some, but not all, claims of this type are covered by indemnity provisions in our acquisition agreements with the former owners of businesses we have acquired or by insurance. If a significant uninsured or unindemnified product–related claim is resolved against us in the future, that resolution may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

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Insurance

 

Our employees perform a significant portion of their work moving and storing large quantities of heavy raw materials, driving large mixer trucks in heavy traffic conditions or delivering concrete at construction sites or in other areas that may be hazardous. These operating hazards can cause personal injury and loss of life, damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage. We maintain insurance coverage in amounts and against the risks we believe accord with industry practice, but this insurance may not be adequate to cover all losses or liabilities we may incur in our operations, and we may be unable to maintain insurance of the types or at levels we deem necessary or adequate or at rates we consider reasonable.

 

Available Information

 

Our web site address is www.us-concrete.com. We make available on this web site under “Investors,” free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those materials with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We have adopted a code of ethics for our chief executive officer, chief financial officer and other senior financial officers, a copy of which is an exhibit to this report.

 

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

We are including the following discussion to inform our existing and potential security holders generally of some of the risks and uncertainties that can affect our company and to take advantage of the “safe harbor” protection for forward-looking statements that applicable federal securities law affords.

 

From time to time, our management or persons acting on our behalf make forward-looking statements to inform existing and potential security holders about our company. These statements may include projections and estimates concerning our business strategies, revenues, income, cash flows and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements generally use words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “goal” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. In addition, sometimes we will specifically describe a statement as being a forward-looking statement and refer to this cautionary statement.

 

Various statements this report contains, including those that express a belief, expectation or intention and those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those forward-looking statements appear in Item 1—“Business,” Item 2— “Properties,” Item 3—“Legal Proceedings,” Item 7—“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” Item 7A—“Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” Item 9A—“Controls and Procedures” and elsewhere in this report, including in the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report. We disclaim any obligation to update these statements, and we caution you not to rely unduly on them. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and assumptions about future events. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to, among other matters, the following:

 

    our national operating and acquisition strategies;

 

    our ability to integrate the businesses we acquire;

 

    our ability to obtain the capital necessary to finance our growth strategies;

 

    the availability of qualified personnel;

 

    the trends we anticipate in the ready-mixed concrete industry and in our business;

 

    the level of activity in the construction industry generally and in our local markets for ready-mixed concrete and other concrete products;

 

    the highly competitive nature of our business;

 

    the cost of capital, including the interest expense associated with our outstanding borrowings, which is tied in part to market interest rates;

 

    changes in, or our ability to comply with, governmental regulations, including those relating to the environment;

 

    our labor relations and those of our suppliers of raw materials;

 

    the level of funding allocated by the United States Government, states and municipalities for general highway, transit and safety spending;

 

    unexpected events that delay or adversely affect our ability to deliver concrete according to our customers’ requirements;

 

    sustained adverse weather conditions or other events that delay or cause the postponement of our customers’ projects, or adversely affect our economics;

 

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    our ability to control costs and maintain quality; and

 

    our exposure to warranty and defect claims from end users of our products, developers and other customers.

 

We believe the items we have outlined above are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in a forward-looking statement in this report or elsewhere by us or on our behalf. We have discussed most of these factors in more detail elsewhere in this report. These factors are not necessarily all the important factors that could affect us. Unpredictable or unknown factors we have not discussed in this report also could have material adverse effects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update our description of important factors each time a potential important factor arises. We advise our existing and potential security holders that they should (1) be aware that important factors to which we do not refer above could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and (2) use caution and common sense when considering our forward-looking statements.

 

Item 2.    Properties

 

Facilities

 

The table below lists our concrete plants at March 10, 2004. We believe these plants are sufficient for our current needs. The ready-mixed concrete volumes shown are the volumes each location produced in 2003.

 

     Ready-Mixed Concrete
Plants


   Precast
Plants


   Block
Plants


   Ready-Mixed
Concrete
Volume (in
thousands of
cubic yards)


     Fixed

   Portable

   Total

        

Locations:

                             

Northern California

   20    2    22    5       1,878

Atlantic Region

   26    3    29    1    2    1,206

North Texas/Southwest