Alliance Imaging Issues 2006 Financial Guidance.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Alliance Imaging, Inc. (NYSE:AIQ), a leading national provider of diagnostic imaging services, announced financial guidance for full year 2006.

Full Year 2006 Guidance

For full year 2006, the company expects revenue to range from $428 million to $438 million and Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, net of interest income; income taxes; depreciation expense; amortization expense; minority interest expense; and non-cash stock-based compensation) to range from $138 million to $146 million.

Paul S. Viviano, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Alliance's 2006 performance will continue to be impacted by several industry-wide factors. Scan volumes are projected to continue to experience soft same store growth as acute care hospital volumes remain weak. Utilization management efforts by payers and insurers and increasing patient-related cost sharing programs are likely to persist through 2006 and will continue to impact demand. Further, Alliance's business will also continue to be impacted by overcapacity of imaging equipment in the marketplace, especially related to medical groups adding imaging capacity in their practice setting and to a lesser extent, the lingering effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Ongoing inflation pressures, including rising fuel costs and technologist transportation costs also impact our performance."

Mr. Viviano also stated, "Alliance will continue to focus on efficiently operating our core mobile MRI business, expanding our national leading presence in providing PET and PET/CT services and adding new fixed site imaging centers. Alliance will continue to invest in clinical quality improvement programs and addressing the imaging related needs of our hospital partners and their medical staffs."

Effective January 1, 2006, Alliance will record stock option expense under the provisions of FAS 123(R). The Company estimates that net income will be reduced by approximately $0.03 per diluted share for non-cash stock-based compensation expense.

Alliance expects 2006 capital expenditures to total approximately $75 million to $80 million. The 2006 capital expenditures guidance includes 10 to 15 fixed-site openings in 2006, a portion of which are planned to replace mobile service to the Company's current customers. In 2006, Alliance expects to purchase approximately 12 to 14 PET/CT systems, most of which will upgrade PET systems currently in service.

In 2006, the Company expects to decrease long-term debt by approximately $40 million and decrease its cash and cash equivalents balance by approximately $13 million to $20 million.

The Company's income tax rate for 2006 is expected to total approximately 42% of pretax income.

Alliance's weighted average shares of common stock and common stock equivalents outstanding for 2006 is expected to be approximately 50.5 million shares.

Reaffirm Full Year 2005 Guidance

The Company reaffirms its financial guidance for full year 2005. Full year 2005 revenue is expected to range from $424.5 million to $428.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range from $156.5 million to $161.0 million; and earnings per share to range from $0.34 to $0.40 per share. Capital expenditures are expected to range between $70 million and $75 million. The Company expects to open approximately 10 to 12 new fixed-sites during 2005. This guidance includes revenue and Adjusted EBITDA from the fixed-site center acquisitions in September 2005 and the PET Scans of America acquisition in October 2005.

Conference Call

Investors and all others are invited to listen to a conference call discussing full year 2006 guidance. The conference call is scheduled for Monday, December 5, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The call will be broadcast live on the Internet and can be accessed by visiting the Company's website at www.allianceimaging.com. Click on Audio Presentations in the Investor Relations section of the website to access the link. The conference call can also be accessed at 888-874-9713 (United States) or 973-582-2706 (International). Interested parties should call at least five minutes prior to the conference call to register. A replay of the call can be accessed until March 5, 2006, by visiting the Company's website or by calling 877-519-4471 (United States) or 973-341-3080 (International). The conference call identification number is 6771118.

About Alliance Imaging

Alliance Imaging is a leading national provider of shared-service and fixed-site diagnostic imaging services, based upon annual revenue and number of systems deployed. Alliance provides imaging services primarily to hospitals and other healthcare providers on a shared and full-time service basis, in addition to operating a growing number of fixed-site imaging centers. The Company had 497 diagnostic imaging systems, including 350 MRI systems and 58 PET or PET/CT systems, and over 1,000 clients in 44 states at September 30, 2005.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. For a complete list of risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Risk Factor section of the Company's Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2004, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

ALLIANCE IMAGING, INC.

ADJUSTED EBITDA

EBITDA represents earnings before interest expense, net of interest income; income taxes; depreciation expense and amortization expense. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted for non-cash stock-based compensation and minority interest expense. Adjusted EBITDA is not a presentation made in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income, cash flows from operating activities and other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or as a measure of profitability or liquidity. Adjusted EBITDA is included because the Company's amended credit agreement uses a measure similar to this to calculate the Company's compliance with covenants such as interest coverage ratio (as defined in Section 7.6A of the Company's amended credit agreement) and leverage ratio (as defined in Section 7.6B of the Company's amended credit agreement). The Company's failure to comply with these covenants could result in the amounts borrowed under these instruments, together with accrued interest and fees, becoming immediately due and payable. If the Company is not able to refinance this debt when it becomes due, the Company could become subject to bankruptcy proceedings. While Adjusted EBITDA is used to measure the Company's compliance with its debt covenants, it is not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to differences in methods of calculation. The calculation of Adjusted EBITDA in accordance with the Company's amended credit agreement is shown below:

2006 Full Year
            (in millions)                           Guidance Range
                                                  ------------------
            Net income                              $0.8      $4.7
            Income tax expense                       0.5       3.4
            Depreciation expense; amortization
             expense; interest expense, net of
             interest income; minority interest;
             and non-cash stock-based
             compensation                          136.7     137.9
                                                  ------------------
            Adjusted EBITDA                       $138.0    $146.0
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