Heinz has issued the following response to an article on Dr Tony O'Reilly in last week's edition:

The article on Heinz on September 15th was unbalanced and inaccurate in a number of key respects, probably compounded by the fact that your reporter never bothered to check any of her facts with the company.

Heinz continues to perform very well as is shown by the following facts:

1. Earnings per share have increased by a compound annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent for the past four years.

2. Operating margins increased over the past four years to 18.2 per cent from 14.1 per cent.

3. Five of Heinz's seven key global businesses recorded compound annual growth rates of 5-12 per cent per year for the past three years.

Heinz has icon brands in over 50 markets around the world and is introducing new products faster than at any time in its history. Heinz has one of the best food service businesses in America, growing sales at about 10 per cent per year.

As for the lower share price, the 30 per cent decline is mirrored by the 30 per cent decline in the Standard & Poor Food Index over the past two years. However, in the past six months, Heinz shares have rebounded by approximately 20 per cent, placing us in the upper half of our food peer group.

In considering Dr O'Reilly's record at Heinz, the most important fact omitted in your article was that in his period as CEO of Heinz from 1979 to 1998, Tony O'Reilly delivered an average yearly return of 22 per cent to shareholders, compared with 17 per cent for the S&P 500.

In writing of Dr O'Reilly's impact on Pittsburgh, you fail to mention that the Mayor of Pittsburgh presented Dr O'Reilly with the keys to the city last week, saying that "he was one of the handful of visionaries who helped transform Pittsburgh into a truly international centre of learning, research, business and finance".

In fact, Mr Pete Flaherty, who was Mayor of Pittsburg when Dr O'Reilly first arrived in the 1970's, came to last week's shareholder meeting to give his own personal tribute.

In another tribute to Dr O'Reilly, a new theatre, designed by the renowned architect, Mr Michael Graves, has been named "The O'Rillly Theatre", a singular and lasting honour.

I will leave the last word to the new chairman of Heinz, Mr Bill Johnson, who said at the Heinz Shareholders meeting: "Tony transformed Heinz into a global food company and was one of the first truly global CEOs. His vision and energy were key to Heinz's long growth record. Tony leaves us a proud legacy, upon which we will continue to build as we open new markets and explore new growth opportunities around the world."

Sincerely, Ted Smyth, Corporate & Government Affairs, H.J. Heinz Company Headquarters, Pittsburgh.