Press Release
Park Electrochemical Corp.
(516) 354-4100
PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS
LAKE SUCCESS, New York, September 26, 2001...Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE-PKE) reported sales of $51,743,000 for the second quarter ended August 26, 2001 compared to $129,902,000 for the second quarter of last year. Park’s sales for the first six months were $120,845,000 compared to last year’s first six month’s sales of $250,061,000. Park reported a net loss of $3,779,000 for the second quarter compared to net earnings of $11,655,000 for last year’s second quarter and a net loss of $6,919,000 for the first six months, before a one-time pre-tax charge of $16,388,000 incurred and reported in the first quarter ended May 27, 2001, compared to net earnings of $20,484,000 for last year's first six months. Park’s loss per share for the second quarter was $.19 basic and diluted versus earnings per share of $.73 basic and $.63 diluted for last year's second quarter.
The average number of shares outstanding for the quarter ended August 26, 2001 was 19,545,000 basic and diluted compared to 15,882,000 basic and 19,939,000 diluted for last year’s second quarter. For the six month period ended August 26, 2001 the average basic and diluted shares outstanding was 19,482,000 compared to 15,870,000 basic and 19,771,000 diluted for last year’s first six month period. The increase in the number of basic shares outstanding in the current year was principally due to the conversion of $95,934,000 principal amount of the Company’s 5.5% Convertible Subordinated Notes into 3,411,000 shares of the Company’s common stock on March 1, 2001.
As previously reported by the Company, during the quarter ended May 27, 2001, the Company sold the assets and business of Nelco Technology, Inc. (“NTI”), a wholly-owned Park subsidiary, and closed a related support facility to NTI in Arizona and incurred pre-tax severance charges relating to the layoff of employees at the Company's continuing operations. The total one-time pre-tax charge incurred in the first quarter ended May 27, 2001 was $16,388,000.
Brian Shore, Park’s President and CEO, said, “When we announced our first quarter results on June 27, 2001, we indicated that our sales volumes during the months of May and June of 2001 were running at approximately 40% of the average sales levels of the 2001 fiscal year. In fact, our sales levels for the entire second quarter ran at approximately 40% of the 2001 fiscal year sales levels! Clearly, there was no recovery in our second quarter, and, at this point, we have no important insight into when the recovery will in fact occur. Of course, the unspeakable events of September 11, 2001 have created even more uncertainty for the global electronics industry. However, we will not speculate about or comment on how the September 11, 2001 events will affect our industry. Our only comment on those events is that our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those most directly affected by the disaster.”
Brian Shore concluded: “Notwithstanding the persistent and pervasive industry downturn and the uncertain global environment, we continue to be very optimistic about the long-term future of our industry and of our company. Although the electronics industry and the world are going through some real difficulties at this time, we see no believable long-term scenario for the global electronics industry other than one of high growth and vitality. Accordingly, we continue with our initiatives to expand and enhance our business around the world. We are in the process of completing the expansions and enhancements of our Nelco New York and Nelco California facilities. The expansion of our Neltec facility was completed several months ago. We continue with the installation of RF Microwave manufacturing capability at our Neltec facility in Tempe, Arizona. We continue with the enhancements of our Nelco S.A. and Nelco Singapore facilities. We also continue with our new initiative into China. And, most importantly, we continue with our mission of Customer Intimacy and we continue to work hard every day to help our customers succeed. The bottom line is that, although the world currently is a very complicated place, we are as optimistic as ever about our company's future.”
The Company will host a conference call to discuss its financial results at 11:00 a.m. EDT today. Forward-looking and other material information may be discussed in this conference call. The conference call dial-in number is (800) 553-0273.
Certain portions of this press release may be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from Park's expectations. Such factors include, but are not limited to, general conditions in the electronics industry, Park’s competitive position, the status of Park’s relationships with its customers, economic conditions in international markets, the cost and availability of utilities, and the various factors set forth under the caption “Factors That May Affect Future Results” after Item 7 of Park's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 25, 2001.
Park Electrochemical Corp. is a leading global designer and producer of electronic materials used to fabricate complex multilayer printed circuit boards and interconnection systems. Park specializes in advanced materials for high layer count circuit boards and high speed digital broadband telecommunications, internet and networking applications. Park’s electronic materials business operates through fully integrated business units in Asia, Europe and North America. The Company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, China (operations expected to commence in the Company’s third quarter), Germany, France, England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Arizona and California. Park's electronic materials business operates under the “Nelco” name.
Additional corporate information is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.parkelectro.com.
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