Press Release

Contact: Adrienne Binenstock
Park Electrochemical Corp.
(516) 354-4100

PARK ELECTROCHEMICAL CORP. PREANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

LAKE SUCCESS, New York, September 2, 1998...Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE-PKE) announced that it estimates its sales for the second quarter ended August 30, 1998 to be approximately $85 million and that it estimates its diluted earnings per share for the quarter to be in the range of a loss of $.08 to a profit of $.02.

Brian Shore, Park’s President and CEO, said, “We are taking the unusual step of preannouncing an estimate of our second quarter earnings because of the uncertainty in the investment community regarding our second quarter performance. This should not be seen as a precedent, and, as a general rule, we do not intend to preannounce our earnings in the future. While we are clearly unhappy to announce our worst quarterly performance in many years, it is important that our investors understand the dynamics of our second quarter financial performance. First of all, the global electronics materials markets which we serve were very depressed during the quarter as the result of industry inventory excesses, the Asian financial crisis and underlying fundamental weakness in the global economy. In addition, our second quarter results were very negatively affected by the loss of our largest customer, Delco Electronics. As we previously reported, Delco recently elected to close its circuit board operation and completely exit the circuit board fabrication business. As a result, we had essentially zero sales to Delco in the second quarter. As we also previously reported, we have sued Delco and its sister-company, Delphi Automotive, in connection with these actions for damages of not less than $170 million. Delco’s actions, which we believe were in violation of our contract and our rights, have resulted in significant losses at our Arizona operation which essentially was designed to service Delco. These losses very negatively affected our second quarter performance and earnings.”

Brian Shore continued, “We have taken a number of steps in response to these problems. These steps include reducing our organizational costs and working more closely and effectively with our preferred suppliers in order to reduce our raw material costs. In addition, we have been given the opportunity to do significant amounts of additional business with certain of our key customers. Unfortunately, the positive financial impact of most of these actions will not be felt until the third quarter. Accordingly, the second quarter suffered with a very weak market and the significant losses of our Arizona operation without the offsetting benefits of our reduced costs and our increased market share.”

Brian Shore concluded, “Because of the actions we have put in place, we expect to see improvements in our financial performance in both the third and fourth quarters of this year. As we proceed through these difficult times, we also have not lost sight of our very exciting future, as we continue to develop opportunities to enhance our position as a leader in the electronics materials industry. We continue our evaluation of the continuous lamination technology utilized at our Dielektra business, and we believe the prospects for introducing that technology at certain of our other locations are very good.”

Certain portions of this press release which do not relate to historical financial information 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, 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 March 1, 1998.

Park Electrochemical Corp. is a leading designer and producer of advanced electronic materials used to fabricate complex multilayer printed circuit boards and interconnection systems. Park’s electronic materials business is operated by its “Nelco” group of companies. Park also manufactures specialty adhesive tapes and advanced composite materials for the electronics, aerospace and industrial markets.

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Park Electrochemical Corporation48 So. Service Road, Suite 300MelvilleNY11747

(631) 465-3600Fax: 465-3100

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