Sanderson Farms, Inc. Holds Annual Meeting of Stockholders
Other directors, whose terms continue to future years, are:
In other action at the annual meeting, stockholders approved the following items of business: the
Even though the two stockholder proposals were rejected, the Company announced that following recent extensive engagement with many of its largest stockholders, and in recognition of evolving investor expectations in regard to sustainability reporting, the Company is committing to integrate the reporting standards of the
“Sanderson Farms recognizes that investors’ ESG priorities are rapidly evolving, and our board and management agree that it is important for our company to provide reliable and consistent data on sustainability topics,” said
Earlier in his remarks to stockholders concerning the Company’s operations, Sanderson said, “
“Looking ahead, we are optimistic about fiscal 2020. First, we are operating well in all areas of our business. Second, while market prices for boneless breast meat produced at our plants processing larger birds for food service customers remain under pressure and market conditions during our first fiscal quarter were very challenging, we continue to be positive about our opportunities in both the domestic and export markets over the next year.
“With respect to domestic markets, we expect to see continued favorable demand in retail grocery stores. Chicken remains favorably priced compared to other proteins, and we believe that dynamic will continue. We also believe we will see improved demand from food service customers, supported by an increase in promotional activity for chicken.
“With respect to the export markets, the outbreak of African swine fever in
Sanderson added, “Regardless of changing market conditions,
Following the stockholders meeting, the Board of Directors named
Commenting on the announcement, Sanderson said, “We are delighted to promote
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions about future events and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs, projections and estimates expressed in such statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to those discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
(1) Changes in the market price for the Company’s finished products and feed grains, both of which may fluctuate substantially and exhibit cyclical characteristics typically associated with commodity markets.
(2) Changes in economic and business conditions, monetary and fiscal policies or the amount of growth, stagnation or recession in the global or U.S. economies, any of which may affect the value of inventories, the collectability of accounts receivable or the financial integrity of customers, and the ability of the end user or consumer to afford protein.
(3) Changes in the political or economic climate, trade policies, laws and regulations or the domestic poultry industry of countries to which the Company or other companies in the poultry industry ship product, and other changes that might limit the Company’s or the industry’s access to foreign markets.
(4) Changes in laws, regulations, and other activities in government agencies and similar organizations applicable to the Company and the poultry industry and changes in laws, regulations and other activities in government agencies and similar organizations related to food safety.
(5) Various inventory risks due to changes in market conditions including, but not limited to, the risk that market values of live and processed poultry inventories might be lower than the cost of such inventories, requiring a downward adjustment to record the value of such inventories at the lower of cost or net realizable value as required by generally accepted accounting principles.
(6) Changes in and effects of competition, which is significant in all markets in which the Company competes, and the effectiveness of marketing and advertising programs. The Company competes with regional and national firms, some of which have greater financial and marketing resources than the Company.
(7) Changes in accounting policies and practices adopted voluntarily by the Company or required to be adopted by accounting principles generally accepted in
(8) Disease outbreaks affecting the production, performance and/or marketability of the Company’s poultry products, or the contamination of its products.
(9) Changes in the availability and cost of labor and growers.
(10) The loss of any of the Company’s major customers.
(11) Inclement weather that could hurt Company flocks or otherwise adversely affect its operations, or changes in global weather patterns that could affect the supply and price of feed grains.
(12) Failure to respond to changing consumer preferences and negative or competitive media campaigns.
(13) Failure to successfully and efficiently start up and run a new plant or integrate any business the Company might acquire
(14) Unfavorable results from currently pending litigation and proceedings, or litigation and proceedings that could arise in the future.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200213005609/en/
Source:
Mike Cockrell
Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer
& Chief Legal Officer
(601) 649-4030