Aviation Sales Company Reports 2000 Results And Amendment To Senior Credit Facilities.

Business Editors

MIRAMAR, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2001

Aviation Sales Company (NYSE:AVS) today announced its results for the year ended December 31, 2000.

Revenues from continuing operations for the 2000 fiscal year were $338.1 million, compared to $371.8 million for 1999. The Company's net loss for 2000 was $211.6 million ($14.09 per diluted share), compared to 1999 net loss of $21.7 million ($1.56 per diluted share). Included in the operating results are net losses from discontinued operations of $95.8 million ($6.37 per diluted share) for the 2000 year and $24.7 million ($1.77 per diluted share) for 1999. These losses relate to the results of operations and losses on disposal associated with the Company's redistribution, new parts distribution and manufacturing operations, all of which were sold during 2000. Operating results from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2000 was a loss of $115.8 million ($7.72 per diluted share) as compared to income of $3.0 million ($0.21 per diluted share) for the year ended December 31, 1999.

Dale S. Baker, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "During the May through December 2000 time period, we completed sales of our manufacturing, redistribution and new parts distribution operations. These sales, combined with the sale of three of the A-300 aircraft that we owned, were part of our plan to rapidly reduce our debt and focus on our core business of maintenance and modification of aircraft and aircraft components. While we incurred substantial losses on these sales, they allowed us to rapidly and substantially reduce our senior debt from $283.5 million at March 31, 2000 to $51.5 million at December 31, 2000 and position the Company to move forward."

Ben Quevedo, the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer, commented: "We are currently actively pursuing the sale of one or more of our operations which will provide additional working capital to support our core airframe maintenance and modification business, and expect to collect significant additional funds from the sale of other assets that should continue to reduce our debt. While no agreements have been entered into to date, we expect to complete one or more sales of assets and/or businesses in the next 90-120 days. We have also taken steps to reduce our operating expenses, including headcount reductions in each of our businesses, the temporary closure of our Oscoda, Michigan heavy airframe maintenance facility and the consolidation of the operations of one of our component repair operations from two facilities to one. In total, we have reduced our headcount by approximately 400. All of these initiatives are expected to reduce our operating expenses by approximately $12.0 million on an annual basis.

Michael C. Brant, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, also commented: "We have now completed the filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We are also pleased to report that we have entered into amendments with our senior lenders regarding modifications to our senior credit facilities. These amendments included an agreement with our lenders that we view very positively as it will enable the Company to not only continue to reduce its senior debt but also provide cash for working capital purposes. The agreement will allow us to utilize a portion of the proceeds from the future sales of additional operations and cash collections from non-operating sources to bring our trade creditors and suppliers, who have supported the Company and provided credit while we worked to reduce our senior debt, back to more normal terms. We expect to accomplish these objectives within the next 120 days as we proceed with our sales and collections. We believe these amendments and the related asset sales will be an important step in our efforts to return our company to financial health."

Aviation Sales Company is a leading independent provider of fully integrated aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MR&O) services for major commercial airlines and maintenance and repair facilities. The Company currently operates six MR&O businesses: TIMCO, which, with its five locations, is one of the largest independent providers of heavy aircraft maintenance services in North America; Aerocell Structures, which specializes in the MR&O of airframe components, including flight surfaces; Caribe Aviation, which specializes in the MR&O of hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical and electromagnetic aircraft components; Aircraft Interior Design, which specializes in the refurbishment of aircraft interior components; TIMCO Engine Center, which refurbishes JT8D engines; and TIMCO Engineered Systems, which provides engineering services to our MR&O operations and our customers.

Aviation Sales Company Safe Harbor Statement:

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. A number of factors, including those identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and those identified below, could adversely affect the Company's ability to obtain these results: the Company's ability to continue to generate sufficient working capital to meet its operating requirements, the Company maintaining good working relationships with its vendors and customers, the Company's ability to achieve gross margins at which it can be profitable, including margins on services the Company performs on a fixed price basis, competition in the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul market, the Company's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel in its business, utilization rates for its MR&O facilities, the Company's ability to effectively manage its business, competitive pricing for the Company's products and services, economic factors which affect the airline industry, and changes in government regulations. Certain of these risks are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of the Company's SEC filings are available from the SEC or may be obtained upon request from the Company. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update the information contained herein, which speaks only as of this date.