PLB American Italian Pasta

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Italian Pasta Company (NYSE:PLB) announced today that it has determined that certain of the Company's historical financial statements should no longer be relied upon. The Company also announced that as soon as practical after conclusion of its ongoing Audit Committee investigation, the Company anticipates filing restated financial statements for the affected periods. On August 9, 2005 the Company announced that it had identified impairment charges and other adjustments that would be recorded in the Company's financial statements. The Company announced at that time that it would continue to review its financial statements and would assess whether and to what extent these adjustments corrected errors in prior reporting periods. Since the August 9th announcement, the Company has continued to identify information and undertake analyses that have led it to conclude that its previously issued audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended October 1, 2004, October 3, 2003 and September 27, 2002, and its unaudited consolidated financial statements for each of the fiscal quarters during such years, should no longer be relied upon. In addition, the Company has concluded that its unaudited financial statements for the first two quarters of fiscal year 2005 (ended December 31, 2004 and April 1, 2005) should also no longer be relied upon. The Company's determination results from its conclusion, based on its ongoing review, that errors relating to the accrual of allowances for product promotions and capitalization of certain overhead costs (in both cases, as disclosed in the August 9th announcement), when combined with certain uncorrected immaterial errors, had a material impact on the Company's historical financial statements. The Company continues to review its historical financial statements, including with respect to the matters disclosed on August 9, 2005, and the Audit Committee's investigation is ongoing. The Company's restated financial statements may also reflect other adjustments for errors in addition to those identified above. The Company has discussed the determination that these historical financial statements should not be relied upon with its independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, which concurs with this determination. The Company is continuing to gather information and may determine in the future that the consolidated financial statements for fiscal periods prior to 2002 cannot be relied upon. As soon as practical following completion of the Audit Committee's investigation, the Company expects to prepare restated financial statements for the periods in question and file appropriate corresponding amendments to its periodic and annual reports previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As previously disclosed the Company has not yet filed its Form 10-Q for the third fiscal quarter of 2005, which was due on August 10, 2005. Founded in 1988 and based in Kansas City, Missouri, American Italian Pasta Company is the largest producer and marketer of dry pasta in North America. The Company has five plants that are located in Excelsior Springs, Missouri; Columbia, South Carolina; Tolleson, Arizona; Kenosha, Wisconsin and Verolanuova, Italy. The Company has approximately 600 employees located in the United States and Italy. DATASOURCE: American Italian Pasta Company CONTACT: George Shadid, EVP & Chief Financial Officer of American Italian Pasta Company, +1-816-584-5621, Web site: http://www.aipc.com/

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