year
OPG and Tackle Share help kids learn about fishing and safety
Tackle Share Day at Toronto Island is July 11 TORONTO, July 7 /CNW/ – Summer in Ontario brings countless opportunities to get out on the water and this year – for the first time – Ontario Power
Hybrid Energy Signs 5 Year Distribution and Co-Development Agreement Adding Projected $25,000,000 Income
RENO, NV–(Marketwire – July 7, 2010) – Hybrid Energy Holdings, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HYBE) reports today the signing of formal Development and Distribution Agreement wherein KS IP Holdings, LLC (KS-IPH) acquired exclusive development and distribution rights for specific consumer applications of the Photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Thermal technology Intellectual Properties (IP) previously acquired by HYBE.
The five year agreement calls for the payment to the Company of a minimum of $25 million over the first five year term, in a combination of fees and royalties.
The Fraser Institute: South Dakota Named Best Place in the World for Oil and Gas Investment; Colorado, Alaska Improve Rankings in Global Petroleum Survey
CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwire – June 24, 2010) – South Dakota is the No. 1 place in the world for oil and gas investment, according to an international survey of petroleum executives and managers released today by the Fraser Institute, one of the world’s leading free-market think-tanks.
South Dakota, which was ranked seventh out of 143 jurisdictions in 2009, vaulted into the No. 1 spot out of 133 jurisdictions included in the Fraser Institute’s Global Petroleum Survey 2010.
Along with South Dakota, American states claimed eight of the top 10 spots this year:Â Texas (second), Illinois (third), Wyoming (fourth), Mississippi (sixth), Utah (seventh), Oklahoma (ninth), and Alabama (10th).
Austria, ranked fifth, is the only jurisdiction outside North America to make the top 10. Manitoba is the highest ranked Canadian jurisdiction, placing eighth.
The Global Petroleum Survey is administered each year to petroleum industry executives to help measure and rank the barriers to investment of oil- and gas-producing regions. The exploration and development budgets of participating companies totaled about $161 billion in 2009, representing more than 60 percent of global upstream expenditures last year.
“American states are perennial favorites for oil and gas investment because they offer the stability and clear, transparent regulatory framework that investors value most,” said Gerry Angevine, Fraser Institute senior economist in the Global Resource Center and coordinator of the survey.
After being ranked as the worst state for oil and gas investment in 2009, Colorado showed signs of regaining investor’s favor, vaulting to 61st in this year’s survey from 81st last year.
“Colorado is improving its reputation among industry executives, but the state still has a long way to go. In 2007, the state was ranked No. 1 in the world, but environmental regulations introduced since then continue to discourage investors,” Angevine said.
Alaska, which respondents ranked the third least attractive state for oil and gas investment in 2009, climbed to 68th from 78th this year, but respondents remain critical of Alaska’s fiscal regime and environmental policy.
“Jurisdictions known for high royalty fees and tax rates, inadequate infrastructure, price controls, labor shortages, and uncertain environmental regulations are the places petroleum investors say they most want to avoid,” Angevine said.
“Regions offering competitive tax and regulatory regimes, on the other hand, attract highly positive attention, fostering investment and economic benefits for years to come.”
The survey, which was conducted before the recent oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, shows that region in 11th place overall, up from 14th in 2009, and the most attractive of all the purely offshore regions ranked in the 2010 survey.
“Until now the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been seen as having a relatively attractive regulatory climate. But if more stringent, and therefore costlier, regulatory requirements are imposed in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil leak, the U.S Gulf of Mexico is likely to lose ground to other jurisdictions in next year’s survey,” Angevine said.
New York is the worst ranked state, plummeting to 102nd after placing 29th last year. Respondents cited the increasing cost of regulatory compliance, as well as issues of regulatory duplication and inconsistency, as strong barriers to investment in New York.
“New restrictions on natural gas shale drilling, based on fears of water supply contamination, are also major deterrents to investment in New York,” Angevine said.
Globally, three Australian jurisdictions (South Australia, Northern Territory, and Victoria) ranked in the top 20, along with New Zealand and 12 U.S. jurisdictions.
The lowest ranked jurisdictions are: Bolivia, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Turkmenistan, Ecuador, Nigeria, Iraq, and Kazakhstan.
A total of 645 respondents completed the survey questionnaire this year, providing sufficient data to evaluate 133 jurisdictions.
The survey questionnaire sought the opinions of senior executives and managers on a range of issues, including royalties and licensing agreements, taxation, the cost of regulatory compliance, trade and labor regulations, legal process, and political stability, among others.
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 75 think tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraseramerica.org.
GRFA Urges G20 to Phase Out Oil Subsidies: Oil Subsidies to Reach $500b in 2010
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – June 21, 2010) – The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) called on the G20 Leaders today to follow through on their commitment to phase out oil industry subsidies. In an open letter to the twenty Heads of State from the G20, the GRFA called for countries to immediately begin a phase out oil industry subsidies through domestic legislation.
“At a time when countries are struggling to reduce their budget deficits, the first cuts should be to the billions of dollars in subsidies to oil companies,” said GRFA spokesperson Bliss Baker.
The G20 is poised to meet in less than 5 days in Canada and the issue of oil subsidies is on the agenda following a commitment made at the G20 meeting in Pittsburg in September 2009. Leaders are expected to provide implementation plans at the forthcoming meeting this June, however, the G20 stopped short last year of providing any timelines for the removal of these subsidies. The International Energy Agency has recently estimated global oil subsidies to be over $500 billion USD.
“It seems almost farcical that we continue to provide corporate welfare to some of the most profitable companies on the planet while leaders of the free world are preparing to gather in Canada to discuss rescue plans for the global economy,” said Mr. Baker. “There are a host of production subsidies available to oil companies today in various countries through complicated tax mechanisms that add up to billions of dollars per year,” added Mr. Baker.
Estimates of these global subsidies vary in large part because of a lack of transparency in some of these tax rules and the shear complexity of these subsidies but according to the Global Subsidies Initiative in Geneva, latest estimates put global production subsidies at close to $100 billion annually. At the international level, oil companies also continue to receive subsidies through various federal agencies and international bodies such as the World Bank.
“It is somewhat absurd that the World Bank has provided over $8 billion in support to international oil projects in recent years but still has not developed a sound policy on supporting alternatives to oil such a biofuels,” said Mr. Baker. “The G20 must show leadership on this issue at the upcoming G20 meetings.”
The GRFA’s open letter also highlighted the fact that many wealthy countries with profitable oil industries continue to provide domestic subsidies at alarming rates. The Canadian oil industry for example continues to make record profits yet it is estimated that this industry receives over $2 billion per year in special subsidies. Similarly, the U.S. industry received over $72 billion in subsidies between 2002 and 2008 according to a Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
“It is time for the G20 to show leadership and reverse this practice of never-ending subsidies to big oil. It is time to move beyond oil to a world with sustainable alternatives to crude oil such as biofuels and other renewable forms of energy,” concluded Mr. Baker.
ET Water Systems Named a Finalist for the 2010 Red Herring 100 North America Award
NOVATO, CA–(Marketwire – June 21, 2010) – ET Water Systems, Inc., the company that is redefining green technology with the world’s most advanced and efficient irrigation management systems for landscapes, today announced it has been named a Finalist for the Red Herring 100 North America Award, a prestigious recognition honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures in North America. ET Water Systems is scheduled to present its award-winning smart irrigation technology at the Red Herring North America 2010 conference on Wednesday, June 23 at 1:30 p.m. EST at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California.
The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of hundreds from across North America. The nominees are evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. During the several months leading up to the announcement, hundreds of companies in the telecommunications, security, Web 2.0, software, hardware, biotech, and clean tech industries sent in their submissions to qualify for the award. The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony on June 24 at the event.
This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.
“We are honored to be selected as a finalist for this year’s Red Herring 100 North America Award,” said Pat McIntyre, CEO of ET Water Systems. ”This award further validates our leadership in this important and growing market, and recognizes the innovative ways we integrate web services and mobile communications with smart irrigation controllers to conserve our limited water resources.”
“This year was especially difficult,” said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. ”Despite the global economic situation, there were so many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. ET Water Systems shows great promise and therefore deserves to be among the Finalists. Now we’re faced with the difficult task of selecting the Top 100 winners of the Red Herring North America award. We know this year’s crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to go far.”
About ET Water Systems, Inc.
Since 2002, ET Water has been at the forefront of “green” technology solving one of the world’s most important environmental challenges through intelligent irrigation management. By integrating the power of the internet with the state-of-the-art in software, database technology, horticulture science and weather data, ET Water is perfecting the science of landscape irrigation with systems that reduce water consumption by 20 to 50 percent or more, simplify administration, improve landscape quality, and reduce runoff pollution. To discover why some of the largest commercial and municipal properties in the world entrust their landscapes to ET Water visit www.etwater.com.
Excelsior Energy Grants Incentive Stock Options
CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwire – June 18, 2010) – Excelsior Energy Limited (TSX VENTURE:ELE) (“Excelsior” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that pursuant to the terms and conditions of its stock option plan, it has granted, in the aggregate, 4,083,615 incentive stock options to purchase common shares of Excelsior (the “Options”) to directors. The Options are exercisable over a five year period at $0.27 per common share, which Options shall vest as to 1/3 per year starting from the date of grant.
About Excelsior Energy
Excelsior is an early stage, oil sands company with 58 operated sections on two contiguous blocks in the Hangingstone and West Surmont areas of the Athabasca Oil Sands Region near Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Company has developed a proprietary in situ combustion technology (“Combustion Overhead Gravity Drainage” or “COGD”) which has potential to improve economic and environmental impact in the development and recovery of heavy oil and bitumen. An application for an experimental pilot project to field demonstrate the COGD technology was submitted in the second quarter of 2009. Project approval is expected in the latter half of 2010 with subsequent implementation and commissioning in early 2011. Excelsior’s strategy is to capture oil and gas appraisal and development opportunities where we can leverage Management’s diverse international operating, heavy oil and field development expertise with developing technologies to produce oil and gas.
Reliable Energy Ltd. Announces Refiling of MD&A
CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwire – June 17, 2010) –
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Reliable Energy Ltd. (“Reliable” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:REL) announces that it has filed an amended MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2009 and an amended MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2010. It has also filed an amended 2009 Annual Report since the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2009 forms part of the Annual Report.
The amendments to the MD&A were all due to deficiencies in presentation or typographical errors and had no impact on the Company’s financial statements. The changes are as follows:
MD&A for the Year Ended December 31, 2009
Page 29 – Under “Depletion, Depreciation and Accretion”, total DD&A for the three months ended December 31, 2008 now states “$78,826″ (instead of “$31,026″) and total DD&A for the year ended December 31, 2008 now states “$218,206″ (instead of “$170,406″). This change resulted from the omission of $47,800 of stock based compensation for those periods.
Page 30 – Under “Cash Flow and Net Income (Loss)”, the first sentence of the last paragraph now states “The Company recorded a net loss of $67,476 .” (instead of “The Company recorded net income of $7,854 .”). In addition, the last sentence of the last paragraph now states “For the year ended December 31, 2009, Reliable recorded net income of $25,730 .” (instead of “For the year ended December 31, 2009, Reliable recorded net income of $101,060 .”). This change resulted from an adjustment to the financial statements that was not updated in the MD&A narrative.
Page 38 – Under “Supplemental Quarterly Information”, Net Income Per share – basic for the three months ended June 30, 2008 now states “($0.013)” (instead of “($0.08)” and for the three months ended March 31, 2008 now states “($0.009)” (instead of “($0.054)”).
MD&A for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2010
Page 8 – Under “Financial and Operating Results of Oil and Gas Activities”, Net operating revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2010 now states “$1,451,422″ (instead of “$1,784,473″). This change resulted from the inclusion of operating expense of $333,051 in the “Production, Revenue and Price” table that was not reflected in the “net operating revenue” total.
Page 10 – Under “General and Administrative (“G&A”) Expenses”, total G&A Expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2009 before recoveries now states “$449,394″ (instead of “$499,394″). This change resulted from a transposition error.
Page 13 – Under “Sources and Uses of Cash”, Cash flow from (used in) operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009 now states “($402,559)” (instead of “($395,096)”).
Page 17 – Under “Supplemental Quarterly Information”, Shareholders’ equity at March 31, 2010 now states “$17,042,525″ (instead of “$17,042,993″).
ABOUT RELIABLE
Reliable Energy Ltd. is an Alberta based junior oil and gas company with a strong exploration component that commenced operations in 2005. Reliable’s activities are primarily focused in the Kirkella area situated on the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border. Kirkella is a Bakken oil rich prospect area that possesses high operating margins and multiple formation potential, while cost effective high impact exploration yields significant low risk exploitation and development opportunities.
Reliable’s goal is to become a low cost, value added growth company. The Company’s strategy is to concentrate on exploration and development drilling activities in oil rich core areas. Reliable will continue to build on its highly prospective light oil land position in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and, through prudent development, add to its reserves and production base with the objective of providing sustained future growth and superior returns to shareholders.
Common shares of Reliable Energy Ltd. are listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol REL.
ADVISORY: This press release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, all statements in the first two paragraphs of “About Reliable” are forward-looking statements. Although Reliable believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Reliable can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Reliable undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy the securities in the United States. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements of such Act.
Megola Inc. Provides Shareholder Update
POINT EDWARD, ON–(Marketwire – June 15, 2010) – Megola Inc. (OTCBB: MGON) provides shareholders with the following commentary subsequent to the filing of its financial statements for the 3rd Quarterly period ended April 30, 2010.
With the recent filing of the financial report for the first three quarters of the 2010 fiscal year, Megola remains fully compliant in all SEC requirements. As the North American Supplier of the Hartindo Anti-FireT line of products Megola maintains a significant investment in inventory essential to support all short term order requirements. Megola has also resumed making direct sales and customer contact to ensure that any prospect gaps that have not been addressed by our distribution groups are filled. Most recently, Megola has updated its website Media Center and created its own YouTube page with various videos displaying the unique attributes and properties of the Hartindo Anti-FireT products.
“Throughout the past year, we have focused our efforts on fully supporting all supply chain, technical requirements and certification processes in order to enable our distribution groups to penetrate a wide range of vertical markets for our Hartindo Anti Fire product line,” commented Joel Gardner, CEO for Megola. “While sales to date are disappointing and are much less than originally forecasted by our distribution groups, many of these initial opportunities are close to fruition after experiencing delays due to product demonstrations, ongoing advanced testing and technical trials. Meanwhile, we continue to remain excited about the positive news coming from EcoBlu Products and other developments and fully expect to increase sales as hurdles continue to be cleared.”
For more information please visit www.megola.com
Shareholders and investors are strongly cautioned against placing undue reliance on information set forth in these communications in making any investment decisions concerning our securities.
The matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These risks are detailed from time to time in the company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the company’s Annual Report, Quarterly Reports and other periodic filings. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Mid-Year Letter to Shareholders From Doug Newton, CEO
NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 11, 2010) – The year 2009 presented our company (Real American Brands) (PINKSHEETS: RLAB) with significant challenges owing to the ongoing unprecedented global recession.
On the retail front, 2009 revenues at our Billy Martin’s flagship boutique declined by 36% versus a year ago. Although sales through May 2010 continue to be weak, the company has taken steps to successfully manage our rent and other overhead obligations allowing us to continue our streak of operating in New York City for an uninterrupted 31+ years.
Previously, RLAB set sales goals across seven new revenue sectors for the 2-year period 2009-10. To date, we made progress with none of these sectors, with the notable exception of our new wholesale apparel and fragrance divisions.
In brief, we recently obtained a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Trademark Office for “Green Blues,” the name of our proposed American-made, environmentally friendly wholesale blue jean brand. The trademark covers denim jeans, pants, jackets, coats, shirts and other apparel.
We believe “Green Blues” is the right name at the right time for a fashion-forward, American-made, universally appealing staple product that is priced-right for growth in the global marketplace both now and in the years ahead.
In other “green” developments, we have secured an agreement with a leading global developer of ingredients for some of the world’s best known fragrance, household and personal care products. The developer’s name, to be announced soon, is on the short list of core supplier companies who work closely with the mass-marketing giants we want to reach.
In addition to trademarks for Lasso, Lariat, and Riata (the Spanish word for lasso), we are seeking to register and launch a new brand in the perfume and/or personal care categories, to be named “Pride.”
We believe these intellectual property assets, including our own signature “Born & Bred in the USA” mark, will stand the company in good stead in the recovery that history tells us will eventually come.
Although our ongoing options, capabilities and future growth plans will continue to be constrained by the economy and our current limited financial resources, we are dedicated to the proposition that basic worldwide demand fundamentals — especially for high quality American-made goods — will be re-established and grow significantly in the years ahead.
Forward-Looking Statements
N. B. Statements about RLAB’s future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this news release other than historical facts are “forward-looking statements.” Since these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company’s actual results may differ materially from the company’s plans if its assumptions prove to be incorrect or for a variety of other reasons.
MFRI Announces Results for First Quarter Ended April 30, 2010
NILES, IL–(Marketwire – June 11, 2010) – MFRI, Inc. (NASDAQ: MFRI) announced today sales
and earnings for the quarter ended April 30, 2010. The Company’s net sales
in the first quarter were $49.9 million, 26.2% less than $67.6 million in
the corresponding quarter of the prior year; net loss was $484 thousand or
($0.07) per diluted share, compared to net income of $6.0 million or $0.88
per diluted share, in the prior-year’s quarter.
FIRST QUARTER
SALES — Sales were $49.9 million, 26.2% less than $67.6 million for the
prior-year’s quarter and essentially the same as the previous quarter. The
prior-year quarter included sales related to the India pipeline project,
which was completed in the fall of 2009, and activity in the heating,
ventilation and air conditioning systems (“HVAC”) business included in
Corporate and Other.
GROSS PROFIT — Gross profit for the quarter decreased to $10.8 million or
21.6% of sales from $18.7 million or 27.7% of sales in the corresponding
prior-year quarter, which included gross profit related to the India
pipeline project. Excluding the effects of the India pipeline project and
HVAC activity, gross profit was in line with prior year and substantially
higher than the $6.1 million of the previous quarter.
EXPENSES — Operating expenses decreased to $10.9 million or 21.9% of sales
from $11.9 million or 17.5% of sales in the prior-year period. The
decrease in expenses was primarily due to staffing reductions and decreased
profit-based incentive expense.
NET (LOSS) INCOME — Net loss was $484 thousand or ($0.07) per diluted
share, compared to net income of $6.0 million or $0.88 per diluted share in
the prior-year’s quarter. This decrease was primarily due to the absence
of sales and profits related to the India pipeline project and HVAC
activity that occurred in the prior-year first quarter. The effective
income tax rate of 11.1% was less than the statutory U. S. federal income
tax rate mainly due to the impact of tax-free foreign income in the United
Arab Emirates (“U.A.E.”).
BACKLOG — The Company’s backlog on April 30, 2010 was $86.1 million, up
$12.8 million or 17.4% from January 31, 2010. The principal factors
driving this increase are bookings in domestic piping systems activity,
addition of an HVAC project, and the highest level of bookings in
industrial process cooling since October 2008.
PIPING SYSTEMS — The first quarter net sales and profit were significantly
below the record first quarter last year. In the prior year, the Company
was working actively on a 600 Kilometer (370 mile) India pipeline project.
Since the initial project was completed in the fall of 2009, no work was
performed in the fourth quarter of 2009 or first quarter of 2010 at the
India facility. However, in January 2010, the Company received an order to
insulate and jacket at least an additional 150 kilometers (93 miles) of
pipeline for this project. The new work will begin in the second quarter
of 2010 and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. With
backlog up by 8% from the beginning of the fiscal year, the Company is off
to a good start considering the generally poor economic climate
particularly in the Dubai market.
FILTRATION PRODUCTS — Industrial markets for filters continue to be
constrained, and this was reflected in an 18.0% decrease in net sales from
the prior-year’s first quarter. Even so, the filtration products business
maintained a level gross profit and improved gross margin by 2.4 percentage
points compared to the prior-year period. Foreign exchange loss and
increased product development, selling and advertising expenses produced a
bigger operating loss than last year’s first quarter. However, when
compared to the previous quarter, the loss was substantially reduced on
lower sales due to improved margins. The Company will continue to invest
in new product development and geographic expansion of sales activity to
improve its competitive position in this very challenging market.
INDUSTRIAL PROCESS COOLING — Market conditions for industrial process
equipment continue to be difficult although the market is showing some
signs of improvement. Net sales were slightly higher than the same quarter
last year and essentially flat with last quarter. Gross profit margin
improved 4.0 percentage points from the prior year and 2.4 percentage
points from last quarter. This improvement, coupled with good expense
control, resulted in a small loss for the quarter compared to much larger
losses in the prior-year’s quarters. Quoting activity and orders have
shown increased strength over the past several months, both domestically
and internationally. Several large orders were secured and the base
business seems to be solidifying with backlog at the highest level since
October 2008.
HVAC CONTRACTING — The market for new HVAC projects remained constrained
by economic conditions. Quoting activity for HVAC projects has maintained
reasonably high levels and in early 2010, an $8 million contract was
obtained for a Chicago project. Fieldwork on this new project is expected
to begin late in the second quarter of 2010.
David Unger, CEO, said, “Maintaining our diversified product mix and
geographic view has helped mitigate the effects of a difficult global
economic climate. We believe market conditions will remain challenging for
some time. We plan to continue to make strategic investments that are
necessary to maintain growth in the long term. An example of that is our
recently announced initiative to establish a pipe insulation facility in
Saudi Arabia designed to capture a greater share of the growing market in
that country and nearby Gulf Cooperation Council countries.”
Brad Mautner, President and COO, said, “Although the quarter produced a net
loss, each of the businesses worked diligently to maximize their results
from the opportunities that were available. This is certainly evident when
comparing sequential quarters. Net sales were essentially flat from last
quarter; however, the Company increased gross profit substantially and
reduced the net loss from $0.85 to $0.07 per diluted share. Balancing new
initiatives with the day-to-day challenges of reduced market demands will
continue to test our Company; however we are prepared to face this reality
and leverage our strengths to improve results even more.”
MFRI, Inc. is a multi-line company engaged in the following businesses:
pre-insulated specialty piping systems for oil and gas gathering, district
heating and cooling and other applications; custom-designed industrial
filtration products to remove particulates from dry gas streams; industrial
process cooling equipment to remove heat from molding, printing and other
industrial processes; and installation of heating, ventilation and air
conditioning for large buildings.
Form 10-Q for the period ended April 30, 2010 will be accessible at
http://www.sec.gov/. For more information visit the Company’s website
www.mfri.com or contact the Company directly.
Statements and other information contained in this announcement which can
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
“anticipate,” “may,” “will,” “expect,” “continue,” “remain,” “intend,”
“aim,” “should,” “prospects,” “could,” ” position,” “future,” “potential,”
“believes,” “plans,” “likely,” “seems,” and “probable,” or the negative
thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, constitute
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 as amended and are subject to the safe harbors created
thereby. These statements should be considered as subject to the many
risks and uncertainties that exist in the Company’s operations and business
environment. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
economic conditions, market demand and pricing, competitive and cost
factors, raw material availability and prices, global interest rates,
currency exchange rates, labor relations and other risk factors.
MFRI, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Statements of Operations and Related Data (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
(In 000's except per share data) April 30, January 31, April 30,
Operating Statement Information 2010 2010 2009
--------- ----------- ---------
Net sales
Piping Systems $ 25,216 $ 20,778 $ 32,627
Filtration Products 19,114 21,598 23,305
Industrial Process Cooling 5,191 5,268 5,053
Corporate and Other (1) 329 1,466 6,594
--------- ----------- ---------
Total 49,850 49,110 67,579
--------- ----------- ---------
Gross profit:
Piping Systems 7,002 4,011 14,148
Filtration Products 2,637 726 2,646
Industrial Process Cooling 1,289 1,178 1,051
Corporate and Other (176) 185 882
--------- ----------- ---------
Total 10,752 6,100 18,727
--------- ----------- ---------
Income (loss) from operations
Piping Systems 3,436 185 9,952
Filtration Products (519) (2,306) (285)
Industrial Process Cooling (184) (681) (495)
Corporate and Other (2,895) (1,466) (2,300)
--------- ----------- ---------
Total (162) (4,268) 6,872
(Loss) income from joint venture (97) 87 0
Interest expense, net 285 323 688
--------- ----------- ---------
(Loss) income before income taxes (544) (4,504) 6,184
Income tax (benefit) expense (60) 1,277 178
--------- ----------- ---------
Net (loss) income $ (484) $ (5,781) $ 6,006
========= =========== =========
Weighted average common shares
outstanding
Basic 6,837 6,835 6,816
Diluted 6,837 6,835 6,852
(Loss) earnings per share:
Basic $ (0.07) $ (0.85) $ 0.88
Diluted $ (0.07) $ (0.85) $ 0.88
April 30, January 31,
2010 2010
Backlog: ---------- -----------
Piping Systems $ 52,564 $ 48,770
Filtration Products 21,271 21,397
Industrial Process Cooling 4,021 2,377
Corporate and Other 8,223 788
---------- -----------
Total $ 86,079 $ 73,332
========== ===========
(1) Corporate and Other includes activity for the installation of heating,
ventilation and air conditioning systems.
See the Company’s Form 10-Q for the period for notes to financial
statements.
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