WHAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN VULCAN MATERIALS COMPANY 2010 ANNUAL REPORT WHAT WE KNOW WWW.VULCANMATERIALS.COM FOR CERTAIN 2010 ANNUAL REPORT SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION HOW TO REACH US GENERAL INFORMATION SHAREHOLDER SERVICES NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING 1. Our transfer agent and registrar, The Bank of New York The annual meeting of the shareholders will be held at the Mellon Corporation, New York, New York (BNY Mellon), corporate headquarters, 1200 Urban Center Drive, Birming- has a direct response system for handling shareholders’ ham, Alabama 35242, on May 13, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., Central THESE HAVE BEEN inquiries about change of address, account balances, recent divi- Daylight Time. All shareholders are urged to attend. A formal dend information, dividend checks, reportable income and notice of the meeting, proxy statement and proxy accompany dividend reinvestment. this report. DIFFICULT TIMES TELEPHONE ELECTRONIC DEPOSIT OF DIVIDENDS (866) 886-9902 Registered holders of our common stock may have their (toll-free inside the U.S. and Canada) quarterly dividends deposited to their checking or sav- (201) 680-6578 ings account free of charge. Contact The Bank of New York (outside the U.S. and Canada, may call collect) Mellon Corporation personnel to sign up for this service. FOR OUR COUNTRY, (800) 231-5469 (TDD, hearing impaired) Telephone: (866) 886-9902 Internet: bnymellon.com/shareowner/isd Vulcan Materials Company c/o BNY Mellon Shareholder Services BUYDIRECT AND DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN OUR CUSTOMERS P.O. Box 358015 The BuyDIRECT plan offers both existing registered Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15252-8015 stockholders and fi rst-time investors an affordable alternative Internet: bnymellon.com/shareowner/equityaccess for investing in the Company, including the ability to partici- pate in automatic reinvest ment of dividends to purchase addi- INVESTOR COMMUNITY & OUR BUSINESS. tional shares of our common stock. A brochure describing this RELATIONS RELATIONS service may be obtained by calling: Mark D. Warren David A. Donaldson Telephone: (205) 298-3220 Telephone: (205) 298-3220 Telephone: (866) 353-7849 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT INTERNET ADDRESS Our latest report is available on our website. You may also request Our Internet address is vulcanmaterials.com. This web- a printed copy by writing to Community Relations at the corporate site includes general Company information, Securities and headquarters address listed above. Exchange Commission fi lings, investor information and an archive of recent news releases. INDEPENDENT AUDITORS Our numbers reflect this. Yet we can manage our business through Deloitte & Touche LLP CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS protracted downturns and emerge stronger. Birmingham, Alabama Vulcan Materials Company Like most, we underestimated the severity and WE ALWAYS HAVE. 1200 Urban Center Drive Birmingham, Alabama 35242-2545 lingering extent of the downturn that spread Telephone: (205) 298-3000 Fax: (205) 298-2963 suddenly from the housing and financial sectors We are taking the RIGHT ACTIONS now to New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Assertions to the global economy. succeed in the near term and thrive down the road. Our common stock is listed and traded on the NYSE under the IT WILL TAKE TIME. symbol VMC. On June 10, 2010, Donald M. James, chairman and chief exec- utive offi cer, submitted to the NYSE the Written Affi rmation required by the rules of the NYSE certifying that he was not aware of any violations by Vulcan Materials Company of NYSE Corporate Governance listing standards. The certifi cations of Mr. James and Daniel F. Sansone, execu- tive vice president and chief fi nancial offi cer, made pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, have been fi led Design by Addison www.addison.com Major photography by Lorne Bridgman as exhibits to our 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K. 2. ACQUISITIONS IN OUR BUSINESS ARE FOR THE LONG TERM . In retrospect, the timing of the Florida Rock In the long term it will be seen, as other major acquisition made things more challenging for us acquisitions have been, as a springboard for in the present. GREATER SUCCESS. Yet this is not the first time that a major acquisition has been questioned after the fact and has held our numbers down for a time. 1 IN TIME, THE 3. PRIVATE SECTOR WILL RECOVER. PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE REMAINS CRITICAL , NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE. When the residential and non-residential Interstates to state and local highways — has an expo - construction sectors begin to recover, we will do nential impact on the economy. IT ALWAYS HAS. very well. Aggregates are an integral and early input to construction growth. When the political will is found to reinvest appro- priately in America’s transportation systems and Across the United States, existing infrastructure public works, VULCAN WILL BENEFIT DIRECTLY. needs critical upgrades and repair. In our key mar- kets, populations continue to grow, placing In the meantime, our OPERATIONAL DISCIPLINE additional strain on existing infra structure. It is past i s s e e i n g u s t h r o u g h t h e w o r s t e c o n o m i c d o w nt u r n t i m e t o a d d r e s s t h i s p r e s s i n g n e e d . E s p e c i a l l y s i n c e in the company’s history. public investment in infrastruc ture—from dams and water systems to airports and ports, from the 2 4. OUR BUSINESS HAS GREAT NATURAL ADVANTAGES . AGGREGATES ARE INDISPENSABLE. They do Our footprint, our assets, our distribution not ship easily. Location is key. Permits for new network, and the quality and accessibility of quarries near population centers are extremely our reserves are SIMPLY UNMATCHED. hard to get. Vulcan is the leading supplier of aggregates in the nation, with strategically located, permitted reserves. And the populations in Vulcan states, and their infrastructure needs, continue to grow at a faster rate than in the rest of the nation. 3 5. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR BUSINESS REMAIN STRONG. Vulcan enjoys a powerful mix of leading market and WE BELIEVE in the future of this great and geographical advantages, and a legacy of uncommon growing country, in the resiliency of the American operational discipline. In our more than 50 years people, and in the power of strong fundamentals. as a public company, we have routinely outpaced the markets and intend to do so going forward, WE ARE READY. Vulcan remains what we have particularly as the United States — and the states always been: well-positioned to deliver value over where Vulcan operates — continues to grow. the long term. 4 DEAR SHAREHOLDERS & FRIENDS, DONALD M. JAMES Chairman and Chief Executive Officer As you know, 2010 was another difficult year for our country, our customers and our business. The lingering downturn in construction activity produced weak private sector demand in all markets. Our year-end numbers unfortunately refl ected this weakness. While our unit cash margin for aggregates However, this annual report is about Key Vulcan-served states continue to is near record highs, some 26 percent the near term. And, while there are benefit the most from highway proj- h i g h e r t h a n a t t h e p e a k o f d e m a n d i n 2 0 0 5 , some indications that the economy ects related to the American Recov- volumes remain low and our down stream on which we depend is stirring back ery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For products—ready-mixed concrete and to life, the near-term outlook for our example, Vulcan states were appor- asphalt — have been hit particularly hard. business still indicates that there are t ioned 55 percent more st imulus funds challenges ahead. than non-Vulcan states. At this writ- Our strategy of expanding our footprint ing, according to the Federal High- within the country’s primary growth PROGRESS way Administration, some 40 percent markets, and securing valuable aggre- of stimulus funds obligated for high- gates reserves near key population cen- There has been some good news. Stim- ways in Vulcan-served states remains ters, remains sound, and has served our ulus funding for highways provided to be spent. Momentum, however, has shareholders well throughout our long much-needed jobs and projects across picked up and we expect the remain- history — especially through the lens of the nation, including in those states ing funds to be fully spent over the the long-term view. where we operate and which we serve. next year and a half. 5 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS $500 $750 $350 $250 $375 $175 ’06 ’07 ’08’09 ’10 ’06 ’07’08 ’09 ’10 ’06 ’07’08 ’09 ’10 $0 $0 $0 NET EARNINGS CASH EARNINGS FREE CASH FLOW (in millions) (in millions) (in millions) The federal Highway Trust Fund was historic highs, despite a 50 percent drop time, our long-term investors have greatly restored to solvency by the HIRE Act in in demand for aggregates since the peak benefi ted from their ownership positions March 2010, with reserves that should of this cycle. in Vulcan. provide suffi cient time for Congress to enact longer-term funding solutions for We continue to invest in systems to THE LONG VIEW highway programs. improve effi ciency. While our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project — The United States remains a dynamic OUR RESPONSE undertaken to replace legacy systems and country, and is still growing, particularly streamline many internal processes — in Vulcan-served states, where 78 percent Our people have done an outstanding raised short-term costs, over the long of the country’s total population growth job managing our business under very term it will help signifi cantly lower costs over the next decade is projected to occur.