Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Income Fund Reduces Distribution for the Month Ending September 30, 2004.LENNOXVILLE, Quebec Lennoxville, population 4,963 (2001), is a borough (Fr. arrondissement) of the City of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It was originally a town, but was amalgamated into the larger city of Sherbrooke in 2002. -- Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Income Fund (TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension :AFT.UN) announces that it has declared a cash distribution of $0.05 per unit payable on October 15, 2004 to unitholders of record at the close of business on September 30, 2004. The market environment in which AFT operates has become very competitive in the last nine months and management has had to respond to pricing pressures in order to preserve AFT's market leadership position. AFT also had to absorb increases in steel costs as well as the negative impact of the Canadian dollar Noun 1. Canadian dollar - the basic unit of money in Canada; "the Canadian dollar has the image of loon on one side of the coin" loonie dollar - the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents appreciation. Furthermore it has become apparent that these market conditions in AFT's core business will be longer lasting. As a result, the Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. has decided to reduce monthly cash distributions to $0.05 per unit, beginning with the September distribution. Concurrently, AFT has negotiated certain amendments to its Credit Facility and Trust Indenture for its outstanding indebtedness, which will provide AFT with the additional financial flexibility required under these new business conditions. "Management is committed to pursuing its long-term strategy," said Mr. Roch Leblanc, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of AFT Income Fund. "We will continue to monitor this situation closely in order to continually grow our sales and market share in a profitable manner. We are confident that we can compensate for this setback as AFT's recent cost reduction initiatives are fully implemented and complementary product lines become a more important portion of our business. In addition, the general upturn in the pulp and paper industry The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American (United States, Canada), northern European (Finland, Sweden) and East Asian countries (such as Japan). Australasia and Latin America also have significant pulp and paper industries. should ultimately have a positive impact on our business." Unitholders who are non-residents of Canada will be required to pay all withholding taxes payable in respect of any distributions of income by the Fund. About AFT Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Income Fund is a limited purpose trust established to hold the securities of Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Trust. AFT is one of the oldest and largest producers of pulp screening components, having celebrated its 100th year of operations in March 2003. AFT's product portfolio is comprised of three distinct but complementary technologies: pulp screening, pulp refining and pulp dewatering Dewatering (dē′wöd·ər·iŋ) is the removal of water from solid material or soil by wet classification, centrifugation, filtration, or similar solid-liquid separation processes. . Pulp screening components are used to separate contaminants from pulp, a process that is critical to ensuring the quality of the pulp and the quality of the resulting paper products. Pulp refining is adjacent to the pulp screening process and is mostly used to enhance pulp properties. Dewatering is a process used to thicken thick·en tr. & intr.v. thick·ened, thick·en·ing, thick·ens 1. To make or become thick or thicker: Thicken the sauce with cornstarch. The crowd thickened near the doorway. 2. pulp or to increase consistency of sludge before disposal. Forward-looking Information Forward-looking statements contained herein, are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to the dependence on certain key suppliers, competitive pressures and changes in market activity, risks associated with international operations and foreign exchange, legal proceedings All actions that are authorized or sanctioned by law and instituted in a court or a tribunal for the acquisition of rights or the enforcement of remedies. , environmental, health and safety and other regulatory requirements. Further information can be found in the disclosure documents filed by Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Income Fund with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. ADVANCED FIBER TECHNOLOGIES (AFT) INCOME FUND (TSX:AFT.UN) |
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