Raven Industries Included in Forbes 200 Best Small Companies

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raven Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAVN), today announced it was named to the 2009 Forbes' list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America, available at http://www.forbes.com/200best. Forbes ranked Raven as the 109th top U.S. small company and 30th based on return on equity. This is the fourth consecutive year Raven has made the list.

"We appreciate this recognition, which reflects our company's ongoing dedication to its customers, shareholders and business strategy," said President and Chief Executive Officer Ronald M. Moquist. "ROE is one of our key metrics that we measure our success and we're pleased to see that our ranking in this area continues to increase year after year. During these tough economic times, we remain committed to our three pillar strategy of 'protecting the core, generating and preserving cash and investing in quality.' It is this strategy that has allowed us to continue to post profitability and strong returns on shareholders' equity."

The rankings are based on one and five-year sales growth, earnings per share growth and return on equity. To qualify, companies must have sales between $5 million and $750 million, and meet certain share price and other criteria. Forbes also compares a company's stock performance with its industry peers.

About Raven Industries, Inc.

Raven is an industrial manufacturer that provides electronic precision-agriculture products, reinforced plastic sheeting, electronics manufacturing services, and specialty aerostats and sewn products to niche markets.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "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, including statements regarding the expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The company intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance these assumptions are correct or that these expectations will be achieved. Assumptions involve important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect results in the future. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those relating to weather conditions and commodity prices, which could affect some of the company's primary markets, such as agriculture and construction; or changes in competition, raw material availability, technology or relationships with the company's largest customers--any of which could adversely affect any of the company's product lines--as well as other risks described in Raven's 10-K under Item 1A. This list is not exhaustive, and the company does not have an obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date these statements are made.

On the Internet, information is available on the company's Web site, www.ravenind.com.

SOURCE Raven Industries, Inc.

Copyright © 2009, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2009, NewsBlaze, Daily News

Tags: ,AGR,ECP,CPR,AWD,SBS,SD-RAVN-in-Forbes200