Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This website contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements relating to our businesses and our prospects, new products, sales, expenses, tax rates, cash flows, prepublication investments and operating and capital requirements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management’s current expectations or plans for our future operating and financial performance and are based on assumptions management believes are reasonable at the time they are made.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” “target,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “continue” and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict; therefore, actual outcomes and results could differ materially from what is expected or forecasted. These risks and uncertainties include, among others:
- worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions;
- currency and foreign exchange volatility;
- the effect of competitive products and pricing;
- the level of success of new product development and global expansion;
- the level of future cash flows;
- the levels of capital and prepublication investments;
- income tax rates;
- restructuring charges;
- the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances;
- the level of interest rates and the strength of the capital markets in the U.S. and abroad;
- the demand and market for debt ratings, including collateralized debt obligations, residential and commercial mortgage and
- asset-backed securities and related asset classes;
- the state of the credit markets and their impact on Standard & Poor’s Ratings and the economy in general;
- the regulatory environment affecting Standard & Poor’s Ratings;
- the level of merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. and abroad;
- the level of funding in the education market;
- School Education Group’s level of success in adoptions and open territories;
- enrollment and demographic trends;
- the strength of School Education Group’s testing market, Higher Education, Professional and International’s publishing markets and the impact of technology on them;
- continued investment by the construction, automotive, computer and aviation industries;
- the strength of the domestic and international advertising markets;
- the strength and performance of the domestic and international automotive markets;
- the volatility of the energy marketplace;
- and the contract value of public works, manufacturing and single-family unit construction.
In addition, there are certain risks and uncertainties relating to our previously announced Growth and Value Plan which contemplates a tax-free spin-off of our education business, including, but not limited to, the impact and possible disruption to our operations, the timing and certainty of completing the transaction, unanticipated developments that may delay or negatively impact the spin-off, and the ability of each business to operate as an independent entity upon completion of the spin-off. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
January 31, 2012