Forward Looking Statements
This
Form 10-K contains or may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends these
forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for such
statements. These statements include, among other things, any predictions
regarding the Company’s prospects or future financial condition, earnings,
revenues, expenses or other financial items, any statements concerning the
Company’s prospects or future operations, including management’s plans or
strategies and objectives therefor and any assumptions, expectations or beliefs
underlying the foregoing. These statements can sometimes be identified by the
use of forward looking words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “plan,” “project,” estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “continue,” “pro
forma,” “forecast” or other similar expressions or the negative thereof. All
statements other than statements of historical facts in this report or referred
to in or incorporated by reference into this report are “forward-looking
statements.” These statements are based on current expectations, but are
subject to certain inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which are
difficult to predict and are beyond our control. Although we believe our
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, stockholders are cautioned that no assurance can be
given that our expectations will prove correct. Actual results and developments
may differ materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by these
statements, based on various factors, including the effects of the global
economic recession and its impact on our sales volumes and pricing of our
products, our ability to collect our receivables from customers and our ability
to raise funds at reasonable rates; fluctuations in worldwide markets for corn
and other commodities, and the associated risks of hedging against such
fluctuations; fluctuations in the markets and prices for our co-products,
particularly corn oil; fluctuations in aggregate industry supply and market
demand; the behavior of financial markets, including foreign currency
fluctuations and fluctuations in interest and exchange rates; continued
volatility and turmoil in the capital markets; the commercial and consumer
credit environment; general political, economic, business, market and weather
conditions in the various geographic regions and countries in which we
manufacture and/or sell our products; future financial performance of major
industries which we serve, including, without limitation, the food and
beverage, pharmaceuticals, paper, corrugated, textile and brewing industries; energy costs and availability, freight and
shipping costs, and changes in regulatory controls regarding quotas, tariffs,
duties, taxes and income tax rates; operating difficulties; boiler reliability;
our ability to effectively integrate acquired businesses; labor disputes;
genetic and biotechnology issues; changing consumption preferences and trends;
increased competitive and/or customer pressure in the corn refining industry;
and the outbreak or continuation of serious communicable disease or hostilities
including acts of terrorism. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date on which they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to
update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after
the date of the statement as a result of new information or future events or
developments. If we do update or correct one or more of these statements,
investors and others should not conclude that we will make additional updates
or corrections. For a further
description of these and other risk factors, see Item 1A-Risk Factors
above and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.