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March 28, 2003 COMPASS MINERALS GROUP, INC. MAKES $30 MILLION VOLUNTARY BANK DEBT REPAYMENT IN MARCH 2003 OVERLAND PARK, KS, March 28, 2003 - Compass Minerals Group, Inc., a leading producer and marketer of salt and specialty potash, today announced that it has made an additional $30 million voluntary bank debt repayment in March. "We are seeing the full benefits from our prior year cost reduction initiatives and are continuing to apply the capital spending discipline practiced during 2002. In addition, winter demand for 2003 has been good in our combined deicing market areas," said Michael E. Ducey, President and CEO. "Therefore, we decided to apply our free cash flow resulting from these spending controls and solid sales results toward additional debt reduction. This reflects our confidence in the continued success of Compass Minerals Group and provides a very good first step in helping us meet our 2003 deleveraging goals." Compass Minerals Group is the second largest North American producer of salt, the largest producer of salt in the United Kingdom and the largest North American producer of sulfate of potash, a specialty fertilizer. Compass Minerals Group is approximately 81% owned by Apollo Management L.P. and Company management, with the remainder owned by IMC Global Inc. Certain statements in this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. The Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause the Company's results to differ materially from current expectations include: general economic and business conditions, industry trends, weather, raw material costs and availability, changes in demand for its products, actions of its competitors and the additional factors and risks contained in the Company's S-4 dated April 23, 2002. The Company has filed its first quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the Securities Exchange Commission on May 15, 2002. The S-4 and Form 10-Q are available on the web site maintained by the Securities Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov . |
