Aura Releases Message to the Shareholders.Business Editors EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2002 AURA SYSTEMS, INC inc - /ink/ increment, i.e. increase by one. Especially used by assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have an "inc" mnemonic. Antonym: dec. . (OTC OTC See: Over-the-counter. OTC See over-the-counter market (OTC). BB: AURA) has made available a message to the shareholders from Joshua Hauser, 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. regarding the fiscal year ending February 28, 2002. Dear Shareholders: The conclusion of Fiscal 2002 brought the end of an era for Aura Systems, Inc. The founders and long-time management team left the company on February 28, 2002. I join with the rest of the management team and the Board of Directors in recognizing that the technology they developed has made the AuraGen(R) product line possible. We remain convinced that this technology will change the way people think about and use mobile power. Aura entered Fiscal 2002 with high expectations. Revenue for the year was essentially all from the sales of AuraGen systems and increased by 24% to $3.1 million from $2.5 million in Fiscal 2001. This growth was not near the levels that had been anticipated. The gross margin was a strong 52%, unchanged from Fiscal 2001. Operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. decreased from $21.9 million to $17.3 million. Total expenses increased from $22.2 million to $28.5 million. The expenses recognized in Fiscal 2002 include $10.6 million of one-time charges taken to more accurately reflect the current value of the Company's assets and future liabilities. Also reflected are costs associated with the settlement of all of the Company's material pending litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . The gross interest expense was slightly higher at $2.5 million. Significant improvements to the Balance Sheet were made as current and long term notes payable and other liabilities other liabilities Small and relatively insignificant liabilities. For financial reporting purposes, firms often combine small liabilities into this single category rather than listing each liability separately. were reduced from $38.5 million to $10.9 million. Operating cash flows Operating cash flow Earnings before depreciation minus taxes. Measures the cash generated from operations, not counting capital spending or working capital requirements. improved from ($13.3 million) to ($8.7 million). This cash usage was financed by the sale of additional equity. During the year, the product line was greatly expanded with the introduction of the Inverter (1) A logic gate that converts the input to the opposite state for output. If the input is true, the output is false, and vice versa. An inverter performs the Boolean logic NOT operation. (2) A circuit that converts DC current into AC current. Contrast with rectifier. Charger System (ICS (1) (Internet Connection Sharing) A Windows feature that enables two or more computers to share one Internet connection. First introduced in Windows 98 Second Edition, sharing is accomplished with network address translation (NAT), which is the common method. ) and a selection of DC output systems to complement the AC output systems. The ICS allows operation from batteries when the vehicle engine is turned off. This is important in a range of applications including "silent watch" in military situations or evening maintenance work in residential areas where vehicle noise is objectionable. Several exciting announcements were made in the past year that validated the AuraGen(R) product concept. General Motors recognized the AuraGen(R) by including it in two programs associated with their commercial vehicle sales, "2002 Fit for Profit," and "2002 Commercial Customer's Choice." AuraGen(R) equipped vehicles played a key role in the Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States efforts at the Salt Lake City Olympics. The U.S. Army Europe Command successfully deployed AuraGen(R) VIPERS, the military version of the AuraGen(R). The South Korean Army The phrase Korean Army can refer to:
abbr. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. NOAA - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; ) selected the AuraGen(R) for use on an ocean research vessel A research vessel (R/V) is a ship primarily constructed to carry out scientific research at sea. Role of research vessels Research vessels carry out a number of roles at sea. Some of these can be combined into a single vessel, others require a dedicated vessel. . Schlumberger, a leader in oil field services, approved the AuraGen(R) for use on new trucks. Ford Motor Co. exhibited two F-Series trucks with AuraGen(R) /ICS systems installed at the International Truck and Bus Meeting and Exposition. Work done with Pierce Manufacturing Pierce Manufacturing is an Appleton, Wisconsin based manufacturer of custom fire and rescue apparatus and a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation. Pierce was acquired by Oshkosh in 1996. , the fire engine division of Oshkosh Truck Oshkosh Truck NYSE: OSK, is a manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for defense, industrial and fire emergency applications. It is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and employs about 7,000 people worldwide in five countries. Corporation, led to an agreement to supply the AuraGen(R) for use in firefighting apparatus. Although the sales in Fiscal 2002 showed substantial increase over the prior period, the trend throughout the year was disappointing. Sales declined in each quarter from the prior quarter. This sales trend was a result of ineffective sales and marketing efforts as well as some delay in introduction of new products. The shortfalls in the marketing programs occurred both in the level of support given to the distributor network and the focus of activities related to developing OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and sales opportunities. The result was a drop in the sales to our distributors who are adjusting inventories to reflect their current needs. In addition, the regular OEM shipments that were forecast in last year's Shareholder Letter did not materialize. As Fiscal 2002 marked the end of an era, Fiscal 2003 is a new beginning for Aura. First and foremost, new management has been put into place to focus on growing the revenue and improving the operations of the company. The recent sales trends will take time and resources to improve. The process of strengthening sales and marketing resources of the company has begun. Mr. Craig Lipus, a seasoned sales and marketing professional, will join the Company in June. The support of the distribution channel has been assigned a high priority. A complete review of our promotional activities is taking place. We will narrow the industry focus of our efforts in the coming year. We have concluded that it is impractical at this point in time for Aura Systems to support simultaneous penetration of the broad range of market segments that have use for the AuraGen(R). We believe that the best strategies for some of these segments will include strategic partnerships and technology licensing. Several steps have been taken since the beginning of the year to properly position the company for the future and address the negative cash flow situation. Some of these were described above and related to recognizing the appropriate value of assets based on the current state of the business. The major efforts going forward must be related to increasing the sales of our existing product line. This required a reassessment of the resources that we had in place. Unfortunately, we have had to make a substantial reduction in employment levels. The current number of employees is down 29% from the February 28, 2002 level. In addition to this step, other steps are being taken to control costs and monetize non-productive assets. There will be some modest increases in employment levels throughout the year as more efforts are devoted to sales and marketing. Although we believe that AuraGen(R) sales will continue to grow, Fiscal 2003 will be a year for positioning the company. We began the year with a minimal order backlog. Orders and revenue are not expected to show improvement over recent trends in the first half of the year. The planned revenue increases and expense reductions in Fiscal 2003 should lead to losses in the current fiscal year lower than those experienced in Fiscal 2002. Operating cash flow is expected to remain negative, but should show improvement. Expenses in Fiscal 2003 should be lower as a result of the reduction in labor costs, the elimination of the depreciation and amortization costs relative to the non-performing assets that were written off, reduced legal and litigation expenses, and reduced interest expense due to the debt reduction that took place last year. The marketing and sales efforts in the coming year will be designed to support our distributor network and develop OEM opportunities. There are currently ongoing discussions with several potentially large users of AuraGen(R) which will be nurtured throughout the year. We are committed to provide our shareholders and our employees with as much accurate and timely information as possible in the coming year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the loyal shareholders and employees who have supported Aura Systems, Inc. through the past difficulties. I believe that with your continued support we will be successful. Joshua A. Hauser President & CEO ABOUT AURA SYSTEMS, INC. Aura Systems Inc., a technology leader in mobile power, develops and sells AuraGen(R) Mobile Induction Power systems to the industrial, commercial and defense mobile power generation markets. The Company's unique and patented energy solution is the only proven, commercially available pure sine wave A continuous, uniform wave with a constant frequency and amplitude. See wavelength. A Sine Wave _title> Sine wave power system that can continuously provide thousands of watts of power at low engine speed, and is fully integrated under the vehicle hood. The AuraGen(R) is capable of generating full power up to 8,500 watts at all engine speeds, including enhanced engine idle speed Idle speed is the minimum operating speed (generally measured in revolutions per minute, or rpm, of the crankshaft) of a combustion engine. At idle speed, the engine generates enough power to run reasonably smoothly and operate its ancillaries (water pump, alternator, and, if for gasoline engines and at idle speed for bigger diesel engines. The AuraGen(R) combines sophisticated mechanical and electronics design, advanced engineering and break-through electromagnetic technology to produce a highly reliable and flexible mobile power generating system that creates alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) electricity, both with and without the engine on. For more information about the Company's AuraGen(R) product visit the company's website at http://www.aurasystems.com. "Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks are described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. |
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