Aceto Corporation ACET today issued a letter to its shareholders, providing them with a strategic update regarding the focus and future plans for the Company. The full draft of the shareholder letter follows:
We write to you today to share our view, mine and that of the Board of Directors, of Aceto's strategic vision for the foreseeable future. Consistent with our policy, in this letter we will not be providing any specific guidance or projections related to our fiscal 2011 financial results. This is being written today because as we move into our fiscal year 2012 we are excited about the progress we have made and direction for the future we have put in-place. We felt the information provided herein should be disseminated now, rather than waiting for our next quarter or year-end communication. Additional information is contained in our new corporate presentation, which we have posted on our website this morning.
The most profound of our recent activities was the acquisition in December 2010 of the business of Rising Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a finished dosage form marketing and distribution company which provides Aceto with a presence as a developer and marketer with its own brand of generic pharmaceuticals, the Rising brand. While our core competencies and international reputation in sourcing, regulatory support and quality assurance enhance all our business segments, we are particularly excited about what the utilization of these competencies can yield when applied to Rising. We strongly believe that this new platform for growth synergizes all aspects of our Health Sciences efforts.
Aceto has long been focused on the Health Sciences segment as the key growth driver within its diverse portfolio of business interests and we anticipate investing a greater amount and percentage of our capital and other resources into this segment due to its potential for growth and its historical higher level of profitability. The Specialty Chemicals segment, the legacy business unit, remains an important component of our activities and we intend to continue to support the business as prudent judgment dictates.
Our third segment, now named, Agricultural Protection Products, shares many common traits with components (pharmaceutical intermediates/ingredients, nutritional additives, branded finished dosage form products) of our Health Sciences business, i.e. generic market participation, a focus on niche products and partnering on the supply and/or customer side. We intend to continue managing this segment with strategic selection of products and end-use markets that best reflect our business model.
Our Glyphosate initiative within the formerly named Crop Protection Products segment has not resulted in the financial or market success that had been anticipated. Glyphosate, which is an herbicide, is not a typical Aceto launch; it has a very broad and widely used agricultural commodity-like application, as opposed to being a niche product, and its market has many competitors, including one that dominates the market. Our entry into this market has proven to be much more challenging than had been expected.
Our future participation will only be on an opportunistic basis when our Asian sourcing offers us an opportunity to be profitable and competitive in the U.S. domestic market. Strategically, this is not a product or business activity that we have factored into our business plans going forward.
Within the Health Sciences segment our entrance into the pet vaccine market has also been difficult. After many years of effort we obtained a USDA approved label to market a foreign sourced four-in-one vaccine for canines in the United States. Going to the market with only one product has proven to be a formidable undertaking. For this business segment to be financially successful, the product line needs to be enhanced and expanded.
Recognizing we are not in a position to do so without diluting our primary business focus, we have partnered with an established company with a presence in the pet pharmaceutical distribution market. It is our intent to act as a conduit for product development between our manufacturing and distribution partners, supplying the same key sourcing and logistical resources we provide to all our business segments.
Over the next several years, we see Aceto evolving into a company primarily focused on basic human needs in the health sciences and agricultural protection industries, both of which share many common elements in their business fundamentals and logistics. We believe that our complement of activities will also allow us to participate and take advantage of the growth potential and higher margins these segments offer. We plan to invest in and grow our finished dosage form generics, pharmaceutical and nutritional-focused products, and our generic agricultural protection products pipelines.
If we accomplish our very focused objectives, we believe that over the next several years, we will be able to provide revenue growth (net of acquisitions) in the middle to high single digits and earnings per share growth at a somewhat higher rate. On the expense side, our goal is to maintain a focus on cost controls and efficiency as we implement our strategy to preferentially and prudently invest in the businesses to facilitate sustainable long-term growth.
The continuing support of our shareholders is most appreciated - we are working diligently to provide sustainable operating results by implementing the strategies outlined above.
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