American Italian Pasta Company Provides Updates on Restatement Process, NYSE Compliance, Liquidity and Durum Cost and Pricing
15 12월 2006 - 10:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American
Italian Pasta Company (NYSE:PLB), the largest producer and marketer
of dry pasta in North America, today provided an update on the
progress of the restatement of its historical financial statements
and its compliance with NYSE requirements. The Company also updated
its liquidity and its response to increasing durum costs.
RESTATEMENT PROCESS As previously announced, the Audit Committee's
legal advisors completed their fact finding investigation and, with
the forensic accountants, are reviewing the information obtained in
the investigation. The Company has also substantially completed its
review of historical accounting matters and is finalizing its
conclusions and preparing its fiscal year 2005 financial statements
and restatements of its financial statements for fiscal year 2004
and prior periods. The information is being reviewed by the
Company's independent registered public accounting firm. The
Company is continuing to marshal all available resources and
anticipates it will file its annual report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 by the end of January 2007.
The Company filed with the SEC yesterday a Form 12b-25 stating that
the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
September 29, 2006, was not filed by its due date of December 31,
2006. The Company continues to believe that its 2006 Form 10-K will
be completed and filed by the end of March 2007. NYSE COMPLIANCE On
June 23, 2006, the Company received a trading extension from the
New York Stock Exchange of up to six months, through December 31,
2006, to complete and file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended September 30, 2005 with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The extension was subject to review by the NYSE on an
ongoing basis. The Company has notified the NYSE that it will not
meet the extended date of December 31, 2006. The NYSE has notified
the Company that it will suspend trading in the Company's shares
prior to the opening of trading on Wednesday, December 20, 2006,
and that under NYSE Rule 802.01E the NYSE will move forward with
the initiation of suspension and delisting procedures. The Company
will appeal that decision through the process provided under the
NYSE rules. The Company has been advised that its shares are
immediately eligible for quotation on the Pink Sheets, an
electronic quotation service for securities traded
over-the-counter, effective with the open of business on Wednesday,
December 20, 2006. As a result, we expect no interruption of
trading in our shares. The NYSE procedures will have no impact on
the Company's $295 million, five-year credit facility or covenants
attendant thereto. "AIPC has been working diligently with our
independent auditors to thoroughly review all of the Company's
financial statements for certain periods," said Jim Fogarty, AIPC's
CEO. "We have made substantial progress toward concluding this
intensive review process and are doing everything possible to
ensure both a prompt completion and the accuracy and credibility of
the historical balance sheet we will move forward with. As to
changes in our stock trading venue, we will continue to pursue
appropriate alternatives for the trading of our common shares, but
more importantly we are focused on returning to timely filing
status and continuing to improve our business." LIQUIDITY As we
previously announced, as of fiscal year end September 29, 2006, the
Company had total debt outstanding on September 29, 2006 of $262.3
million. Total debt, net of cash, was $239.3 million; reflecting a
reduction in net debt of $28.2 million during fiscal 2006. Total
debt outstanding on December 13, 2006 was $254.3 million. Total
debt, net of cash was $229.7 million, reflecting a further
reduction in net debt of $9.6 million from fiscal year end
September 29, 2006. We note that this included our receipt of
anti-dumping income of approximately $3.0 million from the U.S.
government under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of
2000. As of December 13, 2006, the Company had total liquidity
resources of $52.3 million, consisting of cash on hand of $24.6
million and $27.7 million in availability under the Company's $30
million revolving credit facility. DURUM COST IMPACT As previously
reported, durum costs have risen dramatically in recent months. The
price of durum, which constitutes approximately one-third of the
Company's cost of goods sold, has risen approximately 34% since
December 2005. To address these substantial cost increases, the
Company has been implementing price increases in its non-branded
business and recently has advised its branded customers that it
will implement price increases in its retail branded products
effective February 2007, consistent with the competitive market in
which the Company operates. The Company believes price increases
will not fully offset the negative impact of increased durum costs
on the Company's cost of goods sold during the fiscal year 2007,
but believes it will achieve that goal on a longer term basis. In
addition to pricing, the Company also is pursuing business growth,
further improvements in its cost structure, and other business
enhancements to assist in the offset of this durum inflation. "AIPC
has made significant strides over the past year," Mr. Fogarty
added. "We have been executing our strategic business plan,
improving our operations and continuing to provide outstanding
service to our customers. We obtained a new credit facility,
stabilized our revenue base, reduced our net debt, strengthened our
liquidity, produced strong cash flow and have been able to respond
to durum inflation by beginning to introduce price increases in
line with the competitive market. With the support of our
leadership team, dedicated employees, lenders, customers and
suppliers, we are looking to the future." ABOUT AIPC 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 four plants that are located in Excelsior
Springs, Missouri; Columbia, South Carolina; Tolleson, Arizona and
Verolanuova, Italy. The Company has approximately 600 employees
located in the United States and Italy. When used in this release,
the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," and "expect" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying these
statements. The statements by the Company regarding the timing of
filing of its 2005 and 2006 Forms 10-K, future compliance with NYSE
listing requirements, and durum costs and pasta price increases are
forward-looking. Actual results or events could differ materially.
The differences could be caused by a number of factors, including,
but not limited to, the completion and findings of the Audit
Committee investigation, the Company's review of its financial
statements, a review and/or audit of the Company's financial
statements by its independent registered public accounting firm,
the SEC staff review, the conclusions reached regarding financial
reporting, and durum market prices and pasta market competitive
factors. The Company will not update any forward- looking
statements in this press release to reflect future events.
DATASOURCE: American Italian Pasta Company CONTACT: Paul Geist,
Vice President & Corporate Controller, +1-816-584-5611 Web
site: http://www.aipc.com/
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American Italian Pasta (NYSE:PLB)
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