WARSAW, Ind., March 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA), a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays, confirmed published reports that a minor electrical fire occurred at its Sheffield, UK manufacturing plant during the evening of Saturday, March 8, 2014. The fire was confined to the temporary Acid Shop, with damage limited to 3 tanks of a line of 9 tanks. Local authorities have confirmed that the temporary Acid Shop's structure remains intact and sound. Further, there was no damage to any other section of the plant. No Symmetry employees or first responders were injured as a result of the fire, which was controlled quickly.
The Acid Shop functions in conjunction with the Company's forging operation at the Sheffield Plant. Post forging, parts are immersed in acidic baths to facilitate removal of material from the forging process. Accordingly, the fire will not impact the forges or other operations at the plant, although throughput may be delayed as the new tanks are validated. Refurbishment work has already begun, and it appears that the line will be repaired, validated and operational in early April. The Company projects little financial impact beyond a delay in revenue from first quarter 2014 to second quarter 2014 of approximately $1 million.
Thomas J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Symmetry Medical, stated, "Thanks to the rapid response of our security team and the local fire brigade, this minor fire was contained to one of the lines in our temporary Acid Shop. Sheffield customers were notified on March 10th, we are working to minimize customer disruption through our business continuity plan, and all customers will continue to receive timely updates from the Symmetry team. We expect to have the line back in service within a relatively short period, pending any necessary customer validations."
About Symmetry Medical Inc.
Symmetry Medical Inc. is a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company's thousands of Teammates provide design, development and worldwide production capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, other medical device markets, and specialized non-healthcare markets. Symmetry's trusted reputation and brands, broad Intellectual Property portfolio and commitment to innovation enable it to collaborate with hundreds of global medical device manufacturers as well as thousands of hospitals to provide solutions for today's needs and tomorrow's growth.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in the press release regarding Symmetry Medical Inc.'s business which are not historical facts may be "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are predictive in nature and are frequently identified by the use of terms such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "intend," and similar words indicating possible future expectations, events or actions. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from our current expectations. We refer you to the "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking-Statements" sections in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Company's other filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov.