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Alpharetta, Georgia (June 11, 2007 )
- Exide Technologies (NASDAQ:XIDE)(www.exide.com), a
global leader in stored electrical-energy solutions, announced
that on June 11, 2007 it filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
Quarter
Net sales for the fourth fiscal quarter were $806.6 million
compared to $730.6 million in the comparable prior year period.
Foreign currency exchange rates favorably impacted net sales by
approximately $39 million. Excluding the impact of currency, net
sales increased in the current year quarter by $37 million on
stronger volume in the Company’s global Industrial Energy
segments, and improved pricing in all of its businesses. This
was offset to a degree by soft volume in the Company’s
Transportation Europe/ROW Segment, due to an unusually mild
winter in Europe.
The net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 amounted to
$21.6 million or ($0.35) a share compared with a net loss in the
fiscal 2006 fourth quarter of $76.3 million or ($2.98) a share.
The reduced net loss in the current year quarter reflects
continuing operational improvements and favorable pricing
adjustments, which were partially offset by a $4.0 million
increase in interest costs due to higher debt levels and higher
interest rates. Additionally, last year’s fourth quarter was
negatively impacted by the recording of a $24 million (net of
tax) expense relating to the settlement of an historic fine
levied by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
Illinois.
Fiscal Year 2007
For the full fiscal year, the Company reported a $119.9
million increase in net sales to $2.94 billion, of which $87.7
million was due to favorable foreign exchange rates, principally
resulting from a stronger Euro. Excluding foreign exchange, net
sales increased by $32.2 million. Gordon Ulsh, President and CEO
stated, “We continue to execute on the pricing front to
compensate for higher commodity and other costs; and, in
accordance with our strategy, we have shed some volume rather
than maintaining accounts that do not afford us an adequate
return. While this strategy will improve gross profit margins,
it contributed to the unit volume deterioration we experienced
in our Transportation Segments. We also continue to see softness
in capital spending by some of the major telecom players,
resulting in lower unit volumes of our Network Power products,”
Mr. Ulsh said.
The fiscal 2007 net loss was $105.9 million or ($2.39) a share,
an improvement from a net loss of $172.7 million or ($6.75) a
share in fiscal 2006. Gross profit improved by approximately $66
million to $472.8 million. “This reflects not only our pricing
posture, but also continued improvement in our manufacturing and
distribution performance as we execute our Take Charge!
initiatives,” Mr. Ulsh said. The year-over-year net loss
improvement was aided by the fiscal 2006 settlement with the
U.S. Attorney, an approximately $10 million reduction in the
consolidated tax provision and a $1.8 million reduction in
reorganization-related expenses. However, those items were
offset somewhat by a $20.5 million increase in net interest
expense, and a higher loss on sale/impairment of fixed assets
resulting principally from the write down of land and buildings
held for sale in France.
The lower net losses per share in the quarter and for the full
year were favorably impacted by higher weighted average shares
outstanding as a result of the Company’s $75 million rights
offering and $50 million private sale of common stock. Also,
prior year net loss per share has been restated to give effect
of a stock dividend treatment resulting from this transaction.
The Company also reported positive earnings before interest and
taxes (“EBIT”) of $4.5 million for the fourth quarter 2007,
compared with negative EBIT of $44.7 million in the prior year’s
fourth quarter. Adjusted EBITDA in the fiscal 2007 fourth
quarter was $43.9 million compared with $19.5 million in the
comparable prior year period. For the year, Adjusted EBITDA
improved 52% to $158.6 million from $104.5 million.
Mr. Ulsh went on to say “We know we still have much work to do,
but it is rewarding to see our efforts to date recognized as
evidenced by rating agency upgrades, an oversold refinancing of
our senior secured bank credit facility as well as an
unqualified audit opinion on our financial statements and
internal control environment at and for the year ended March 31,
2007.”
The Company, as it has said in the past, uses Adjusted EBITDA as
a key measure of its operational financial performance. This
measure underlies the Company’s operational performance and
excludes the nonrecurring impact on the Company’s current
restructuring actions. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and
restructuring charges. Our Adjusted EBITDA definition also
adjusts reported earnings for the effect of non-cash currency
remeasurement gains or losses, the non-cash gain or loss from
revaluation of the Company’s warrants liability, impairment
charges and non-cash gains or losses on asset sales as well as a
specific exclusion for the aforementioned settlement with the
U.S. Attorney. See the reconciliations of net losses to EBIT and
Adjusted EBITDA in the attachments to this release.
Conference Call
The Company previously announced that it will hold a conference
call to discuss its results on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 10:00
a.m. (EDT).
- Dial-in number for US/Canada: (877) 563-6439
- Dial-in number for international callers: (706) 758-9457
- Conference ID: 9423131
Further information about Exide, including its financial results,
are available at
www.exide.com.
The Exide Technologies logo is available at
http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3300
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, this press release may be
deemed to contain "forward-looking" statements. The Company
desires to avail itself of the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act") and
is including this cautionary statement for the express purpose
of availing itself of the protection afforded by the Act. The
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statement in this or any prior
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise.
Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, (a) projections of revenues, cost of raw materials,
income or loss, earnings or loss per share, capital
expenditures, growth prospects, dividends, the effect of
currency translations, capital structure and other financial
items, (b) statements of plans and objectives of the Company or
its management or Board of Directors, including the introduction
of new products, or estimates or predictions of actions by
customers, suppliers, competitors or regulating authorities, (c)
statements of future economic performance and (d) statements of
assumptions, such as the prevailing weather conditions in the
Company's market areas, underlying other statements and
statements about the Company or its business.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from these forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, the following general factors such as: (i) the
Company's ability to implement and fund based on current
liquidity business strategies and restructuring plans, (ii)
unseasonable weather (warm winters and cool summers) which
adversely affects demand for automotive and some industrial
batteries, (iii) the Company's substantial debt and debt service
requirements which may restrict the Company's operational and
financial flexibility, as well as imposing significant interest
and financing costs, (iv) the litigation proceedings to which
the Company is subject, the results of which could have a
material adverse effect on the Company and its business, (v) the
realization of the tax benefits of the Company's net operating
loss carry forwards, which is dependent upon future taxable
income, (vi) the fact that lead, a major constituent in most of
the Company's products, experiences significant fluctuations in
market price and is a hazardous material that may give rise to
costly environmental and safety claims, (vii) competitiveness of
the battery markets in North America and Europe, (viii) the
substantial management time and financial and other resources
needed for the Company's consolidation and rationalization of
acquired entities, (ix) risks involved in foreign operations
such as disruption of markets, changes in import and export
laws, currency restrictions, currency exchange rate fluctuations
and possible terrorist attacks against U.S. interests, (x) the
Company's exposure to fluctuations in interest rates on its
variable debt, (xi) the Company's ability to maintain and
generate liquidity to meet its operating needs, (xii) general
economic conditions, (xiii) the ability to acquire goods and
services and/or fulfill labor needs at budgeted costs, (xiv) the
Company's reliance on a single supplier for its polyethylene
battery separators, (xv) the Company's ability to successfully
pass along increased material costs to its customers, (xvi) the
Company's ability to comply with the provisions of Section 404
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and (xvii) the Company's
significant pension obligations over the next several years.
Therefore, the Company cautions each reader of this press
release carefully to consider those factors set forth above and
those factors described in the Company's Form 10-K filed on June
11, 2007, because such factors have, in some instances, affected
and in the future could affect, the ability of the Company to
achieve its projected results and may cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed herein.
Financial tables (PDF reader required)
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