DIRECT VS. INDIRECT OWNERSHIP

Direct Stock Ownership: Your stock is registered directly on the books of the company as a stockholder of record. (You may hold your shares in certificate form or in book-entry form through the Direct Registration System. See DIRECT REGISTRATION for more details.)

You receive stockholder communications directly. Your name appears on the company's stockholder of record list. Indirect Stock Ownership: Your stock is held through a bank or brokerage firm in the broker's name for your benefit. Indirect ownership is generally referred to as "beneficial" or "street-name" ownership. A stock certificate is not registered in your name, and the company does not have a record of you as a stockholder.

Financial reports and proxy materials are mailed by the company to brokers for distribution to beneficial stockholders DIRECT REGISTRATION Under the Direct Registration System, physical certificates are not issued to stockholders. Instead, each stockholder is provided with a statement at least once a year reflecting the number of shares registered in his or her name on the company's books. This form of ownership, known as "book entry," provides benefits to you and the company.

These benefits include the reduction of: • Problems associated with shares held in certificate form, such as the need for safe storage • Costs associated with the replacement of lost stock certificates • The requirement for physical movement of stock certificates at the time of sale and the accompanying potential for loss • Costs associated with the issuance and delivery of physical stock certificates If you purchase company shares through a broker and would like those shares to be held in book entry, you will need to instruct your broker to register your shares in book entry through the Direct Registration System.

Similarly, if you already own company shares that are held by a bank, broker or trustee in street name, you may have some or all of those shares transferred to book-entry form. Simply instruct your bank, broker or trustee to register your shares in book entry through the Direct Registration System. You may revert to certificate form at any time by contacting our Registrar and Transfer Agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A. For further details on the Direct Registration System, please contact Computershare.

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