EMRISE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES 2010 THIRD QUARTER AND NINE-MONTH FINANCIAL RESULTSNet Sales Up 20% from 2010 Second Quarter; Liquidity Improves by Significant Reduction in Total Debt, Working Capital, and Cash; Backlog Increases; Outlook for Q4 and 2011 Trending UpDURHAM, NC - November 15, 2010 - EMRISE CORPORATION (NYSE Arca: ERI), a multi-national manufacturer of defense, aerospace and industrial electronic devices and communications equipment, today announced its financial results for its third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2010. EMRISE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carmine T. Oliva said that in addition to the promising trends in sales, backlog and overall expense reductions, the third quarter of this year was a positive transitional period for the Company that helped establish the financial and operational platforms upon which EMRISE plans to build for the future. Net sales in this year's third quarter increased sequentially by 20 percent from the 2010 second quarter and there was a substantial improvement in the Company's financial performance. Of particular importance in the quarter was the significant decline in the Company's non-GAAP adjusted loss from continuing operations to $192,000compared to $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2010 and $1.5 million in the third quarter of 2009. "During the 2010 third quarter we achieved a number of significant strategic milestones. We changed the shape of the Company and delivered on our commitment to our stockholders to eliminate nearly all of the Company's outstanding debt with our principal lender through the sale of assets. We also improved the strength of our balance sheet, realigned our finance and administration organization and launched the initial phase of our strategy to grow the Company and enhance stockholder value through potential acquisitions and mergers," Oliva added. The more significant strategic milestones reached during the 2010 third quarter included: "I am also very pleased that as a result of the substantial improvements in our liquidity, the strength of our balance sheet and improvements in our backlog in this year's third quarter, EMRISE is no longer considered a going concern risk, which we believe is very important in our efforts to improve the Company's credit rating and improving how we are perceived," Oliva said. "In addition to this very important accomplishment and the other critical strategic milestones achieved in the 2010 third quarter, EMRISE also made significant operational and sales progress in the quarter, which is traditionally a slower quarter due to the July and August vacation periods in Europe." Operational and sales highlights of the third quarter of 2010 included: Consistent with prior periods, the financial results for the Company's Digitran division and XCEL Japan, Ltd. (or Digitran Operations), both of which were sold in March 2009, the financial results for RO Associates, Inc. (or RO Operations), which was sold in March 2010, and the financial results for the ACC Operations, which was sold in August 2010, are presented as discontinued operations for all periods reported. Overall net sales from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2010 were $7.8 million, up more than 20 percent from $6.5 million in the 2010 second quarter. The 2010 third quarter increase in overall net sales, when compared to overall net sales in the second quarter of 2010, was driven by third quarter increases in net sales of approximately 8 percent in electronic devices and 39 percent in communications equipment. Net sales from continuing operations in the 2009 third quarter were $9.3 million. When compared to the 2009 third quarter, the decline in net sales in this year's third quarter is primarily due to the externally-caused, temporary delay, which started in late 2009, in the Eurofighter Typhoon program. The program is now scheduled to recommence in late 2011. Additionally, there have been slow startups by the military in other programs and there was a fire at the Company's French subsidiary facility at the end of September that impacted 2010 third quarter sales by an estimated $0.3 million. Overall sales volumes at the Company are expected to improve during the fourth quarter of 2010 from the third quarter of 2010 due to an anticipated increase in In Flight Entertainment (IFE) orders and shipments against a strong backlog for electronic devices and communications equipment. The year-over-year declines in sales volumes at each of the electronic devices subsidiaries were further affected by the negative impact of exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the British pound sterling. The Company's electronic This year's third quarter net sales in the communications equipment segment increased slightly from the 2009 third quarter as net sales for timing equipment at the Company's U.S. subsidiary improved and it continued to ship test equipment to the FAA and U.S. military. The Company's French subsidiary also experienced increases in orders and resulting shipments for networking equipment, which was partially offset by the effect of exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the euro and the fire at the French subsidiary's facility. Both of the Company's communications equipment subsidiaries have a strong backlog going into the fourth quarter of 2010. While the Company expects sales from the French subsidiary to be lower in the fourth quarter as a result of the damage sustained from the fire in late September, EMRISE expects sales at the U.S. subsidiary to be higher and insurance proceeds to cover business interruption in France. Overall backlog from continuing operations increased to $18.6 million as of September 30, 2010, compared to $16.9 million as of December 31, 2009 and $17.0 million as of June 30, 2010. As of September 30, 2010, approximately 86 percent of the backlog was related to the Company's electronic devices business, which business tends to have long lead-times for manufacturing processes due to the custom nature of the products, and approximately 14 percent related to the communications equipment business, which business tends to deliver standard or modified standard products from stock as orders are received. Management believes that the backlog remains strong and the majority of the current backlog will be shipped within the next 12 months. Overall gross profit, as a percentage of sales from continuing operations, was 29.8 percent in this year's third quarter, compared to 30.0 percent in the 2010 second quarter and 34.0 percent in the third quarter of 2009. The 2010 third quarter decrease in gross profit, as a percentage of sales from continuing operations from prior year results, was primarily due to the decline in gross margins within both the Company's electronic devices segment and its French communications equipment subsidiary associated with lower sales volumes, which was partially offset by improvements in gross profit, as a percentage of sales, within the U.S. communications equipment subsidiary. Gross profit, as a percentage of sales, for the Company's electronic devices segment in this year's third quarter was 23.8 percent, compared to 24.7 percent in the 2010 second quarter and 32.0 percent in last year's third quarter due primarily to decreases in sales volume and also due to changes in product mix and the negative impact of exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the British pound sterling. The Company expects that gross profit, as a percentage of sales, in the fourth quarter of 2010 will be slightly above those levels achieved in the third quarter of 2010 as a result of expected changes in product mix to higher margin products and the improvement of sales volume. Loss from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2010 was $1.4 million compared to $1.3 million in the 2010 second quarter and $1.5 million in the 2009 third quarter. Non-GAAP adjusted loss from continuing operations, as described below, was $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2010 compared to $1.1 million in the 2010 second quarter and $1.5 million in the 2009 third quarter. The significant improvement in adjusted loss from continuing operations over the 2010 second quarter was the result of increased sales and an 8 percent reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses associated with headcount and other cost reductions subsequent to the sale of the ACC operations and overall reductions at each of our subsidiaries. Additionally, the Company had a 59 percent reduction in interest expense associated with the repayment of debt during the 2010 third quarter, which only included one month of reduced interest expense. The Company expects that in future quarters, adjusted loss from continuing operations will improve due to a decrease in interest expense as a result of significantly lower debt balances and lower interest rates from new financing arrangements. Net loss for the third quarter of 2010 was $1.1 million, or $0.11 loss per basic and diluted share, which included the more than $1.2 million of non-recurring charges stemming from transaction activities during the quarter, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.18 loss per basic and diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009. Net loss in the 2010 second quarter was $0.8 million, or $0.08 per basic and diluted share. Third quarter results for 2010 included net income from discontinued operations of $0.3 million, net of tax, and the third quarter of 2009 had a net loss from discontinued operations of $0.3 million, which includes operating results during the respective quarters from discontinued operations. As of September 30, 2010, EMRISE's cash and cash equivalents were $5.8 million, compared to $4.0 million at December 31, 2009, primarily due to cash retained from the proceeds of the sale of ACC. The Company owed approximately $4.2 million in total debt at September 30, 2010, down from $20.3 million at December 31, 2009, primarily as a result of the repayment of a significant portion of the total debt with the proceeds from the sale of ACC. Total debt includes the Company's term loans, notes payable to stockholders, capital lease obligations and notes payable to the former ACC shareholders. Working capital was $10.8 million compared to negative working capital of $3.5 million at December 31, 2009 due to the repayment of debt noted above, which was all current. Nine-Month Results: Net sales from continuing operations for the first nine months of this year were $21.4 million compared to $26 million in the first nine months of 2009. The year-over-year decrease in net sales in the third quarter and first nine months of this year reflected declines in the net sales of the Company's electronic devices subsidiaries, primarily due to the gap in the Eurofighter Typhoon program discussed above and continuing global economic weakness. Overall gross profit, as a percentage of sales from continuing operations for the first nine months of 2010, was 29.1 percent compared to 33.8 percent for the first nine months of 2009. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, net loss was $2.9 million, or $0.28 loss per share, compared to a net income of $2.5 million, or $0.25 per share, in the same period of 2009. The first nine months of 2009 included income from discontinued operations of $7.5 million net of tax. Non-GAAP adjusted loss from continuing operations was $2.9 million in the nine months of 2010 compared to $5.0 million for the same period of 2009, reflecting a 23 percent reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses associated with headcount and facility restructuring in 2009 and a 39 percent reduction in interest expense related to lower outstanding debt balances. Adjusted EBITDA for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, was negative $2.7 million, compared to a negative Adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 million in the same period last year. The primary cause of the reduction in Adjusted EBITDA year-over-year is due to lower sales volumes and gross profits and the non-recurring operating expenses incurred related to the transaction activities during 2010 of $1.4 million. Non-GAAP Financial Measures - Reconciliation of Non GAAP Measures Conference Call and Webcast Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Click Here to View and download tables
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