Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Additional information regarding these and other risks is contained in the company's periodic filings with the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statement as such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the company's substantial amount of debt, inflation of and volatility in raw material and energy costs, volatility in the credit and securities markets, cutbacks in consumer spending that could affect demand for the company's products, continuing pressure for lower cost products and the company's ability to implement its business strategies, including productivity initiatives and cost reduction plans. Such statements including but not limited to statements relating to declines in raw material and commodity prices, consumer purchasing trends, statements regarding our performance and our ability to recognize $90 million of annualized synergies by 2010 are based on currently available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's present expectations. Commenting on our results this morning are Dave Scheible, the company's President and CEO, and Dan Blount, Senior Vice President and CFO.īefore we get started I would like to remind everyone that statements of our expectations in this call constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Thank you for joining us on Graphic Packaging Holding Company's fourth quarter and full year 2008 earnings call this morning. Scott Wenhold, the company's Vice President and Treasurer. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to introduce Mr. Scott Wenhold – Vice President, Treasurerĭavid Scheible – President, Chief Executive Officerĭaniel Blount – Senior Vice President, Chief Financial OfficerĪt this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Graphic Packaging Holding Company fourth quarter and full year 2008 earnings call. There is no better leader for Graphic Packaging than Mike, given his commitment and passion for the business, deep industry and customer knowledge, and keen leadership skills.Graphic Packaging Holding Company ( NYSE: GPK) Q4 2008 Earnings Call Febru10:00 AM ET He will bring a fresh perspective to the CEO role, as he continues on the strategic path he helped shape and execute over the past several years. Becoming president and CEO is the natural next step for Mike, whose partnership with me has been critical in engineering the company's transformation into a singularly focused, vertically integrated business.

I am equally as proud that we have built a culture of excellence that will drive enduring success for our company in the future. We have done so by reducing debt, expanding EBITDA margins, growing earnings per share, and significantly increasing stock price in the face of challenging operating environments. We have established Graphic Packaging as a clear leader in our industry. Scheible said that 'I am very proud of the many accomplishments we have achieved working together since I joined the company in 1999.

David scheible graphic packaging