ERLY Industries reports strong fourth- quarter and year-end results.LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1997--ERLY Industries Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:ERLY) Tuesday reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 1997. Sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997 rose 17 percent to $162 million from $139 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1996. Net income for the quarter was $1.3 million, or 25 cents per fully diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. share, compared with net income of $124,000, or 2 cents per fully diluted share, for the same period a year ago. For the fiscal year, ERLY reported record sales of $614 million, up 26 percent from sales of $487 million in fiscal 1996. Net income was $7.4 million, or $1.46 per fully diluted share, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or 24 cents per fully diluted share, in fiscal 1996. This represents a 42 percent return on beginning shareholders' equity Shareholders' Equity A firms' total assets minus its total liabilities. Equivalently, it is share capital plus retained earnings minus treasury shares. Shareholders' equity is the amount by which a company is financed through common and preferred shares. for the year. Per-share figures for fiscal 1996 have been adjusted to reflect a 10 percent stock dividend declared in September 1996. Results reflect the consolidated operations of ERLY's two subsidiaries -- American Rice Inc. (ARI ARI Acute respiratory infection, see there ) (Nasdaq:RICE), a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. in which ERLY has an 81 percent voting interest Voting interest in business and accounting is a percentage of voting stock owned. This notion is different from economic interest that refers to a percentage of all the equity issued, including preferred stock, warrants, and so on. , and Chemonics Industries Inc., a wholly owned company with subsidiaries engaged in international consulting and the production and sale of forest-fire retardant re·tar·dant adj. Acting or tending to retard. Often used in combination: flame-retardant pajamas for children; a fire-retardant security chest. products. The growth in fourth-quarter revenues came from increased sales at ARI. ARI's fourth-quarter sales of $143 million were 24 percent higher than during the same period a year ago. Of the $27 million increase in sales, $17 million, or 63 percent, came from ARI's Early California Foods olive division, which was acquired in July 1996 from Campbell Soup Co. Gerald D. Murphy, chairman of ERLY Industries, said the company is especially pleased with the progress it has made in integrating the olive business with ARI's existing rice business. ``Our program to achieve low-cost producer status while exploiting our No. 1 brand position in ripe olives Noun 1. ripe olive - olives picked ripe and cured in brine then dried or pickled or preserved canned or in oil black olive olive - one-seeded fruit of the European olive tree usually pickled and used as a relish is going well,'' said Murphy, ``and already we have achieved significant logistical lo·gis·tic also lo·gis·ti·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to symbolic logic. 2. Of or relating to logistics. [Medieval Latin logisticus, of calculation and promotional synergies by adding olives to ARI's branded-rice business. ``Not only has the olive division been a significant contributor to ARI's revenues, but it has been instrumental in raising ARI's gross margins from 9.7 percent in fiscal 1996 to 11.9 percent in fiscal 1997.'' Douglas A. Murphy, president and chief executive officer of ARI, noted that the majority of the $10 million increase in rice sales during the fourth quarter was in exported rice, with the balance consisting of sales in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Canada. ``In the international markets,'' he said, ``the growth in revenues continues to be volume-driven, with sales especially strong in the Middle East and Africa. On the domestic side, rice sales were up due to higher average prices that were only partially offset by lower volume.'' For the year, ARI had net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight of $516 million -- an increase of $121 million, or 31 percent, over the prior year; of the increase, $68 million came from sales of the olive division. Gross profits of $61 million were 61 percent higher than in the preceding year, primarily because of strong sales in the olive division. For the year, Chemonics Industries' net sales increased 7 percent to $98 million. The increase was due to sales of Fire-Trol, the company's patented forest-fire retardant, which were up 49 percent to $21 million because of strong second-quarter sales reflecting a record number of forest fires This is a list of notorious forest fires: North America Year Size Name Area Notes 1825 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km²) Miramichi Fire New Brunswick Killed 160 people. in the United States. Chemonics International Inc.'s year-end backlog was $166 million, representing more than two years of operations. ERLY Industries, a diversified diversified (di·verˑ·s agribusiness agribusiness Agriculture operated by business; specifically, that part of a modern national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and byproducts. , operates in three industries. American Rice, a publicly traded company in which ERLY holds a controlling voting interest, is engaged in the processing, packaging and marketing of rice and olives. Wholly owned Chemonics Industries, through its subsidiary Chemonics International, a consulting corporation, provides public- and private-sector management and technical services worldwide. Through its Chemonics Fire-Trol Inc. and Chemonics Industries (Canada) Ltd. subsidiaries (collectively, ``Fire-Trol''), Chemonics Industries is also a major supplier in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. of fire-retardant products for the management of forest fires. -0- Safe-harbor 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: Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to such factors as product demand and development, ability to maintain customer relationships, technological advancements, impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, risks of foreign operations, and other information detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
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ERLY INDUSTRIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Summary of Financial Results
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per-share data)
Quarter ended Fiscal year ended
March 31, March 31,
1997 1996 1997 1996
Net sales:
Rice and olives $143,318 $115,574 $515,937 $394,838
Consulting 18,244 22,520 77,427 77,754
Fire-Trol 251 618 20,936 14,034
$161,813 $138,712 $614,300 $486,626
Gross profit:
Rice and olives $ 16,986 $ 10,487 $ 61,694 $ 39,113
Consulting 7,033 5,595 22,129 21,309
Fire-Trol (85) 123 5,942 3,770
$ 23,934 $ 16,205 $ 89,765 $ 64,192
Income (loss) before
minority interest (a) $ 2,035 $ (886) $ 6,637 $ (8,439)
Minority interest (748) 1,010 715 7,290
Net income (loss) $ 1,287 $ 124 $ 7,352 $ (1,149)
Net income (loss) per share
of common and common-
stock equivalents: (b)
Primary 26 cents 2 cents $ 1.51 (24 cents)
Fully diluted 25 cents 2 cents $ 1.46 (24 cents)
Weighted average common
and common-stock
equivalents outstanding: (b)
Primary 4,861 5,385 4,868 4,708
Fully diluted 5,198 5,721 5,123 4,708
(a) Includes $7.2 million provision for loss on disposal of property
held for sale in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1996.
(b) Retroactively adjusted to give effect to a 10 percent stock
dividend in September 1996.
CONTACT: ERLY Industries Inc., Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Gerald D. Murphy or Richard N. McCombs, 213/879-1480 or Silverman Heller Associates, Los Angeles Eugene G. Heller or Philip Bourdillon, 310/208-2550 |
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