NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Contact: Larry W. Sayre
March 2, 2005 Vice President-Finance & CFO
(620) 663-5551
Collins Industries Announces Restatement of Financial Information
Hutchinson, Kansas, March 2, 2005 ........... Collins Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:
"COLL-E") announced that, as a result of the Company's previously disclosed
review of its self-insured reserves for estimated worker compensation claims in
the states of Florida and Kansas, the Company will restate its previously issued
financial statements for the 2002 and 2003 fiscal years to correct the manner in
which the Company had established and recorded these reserves. In addition, the
Company's previously released financial information for fiscal 2004 will also be
restated. Accordingly, the previously issued financial statements and financial
information for the above periods should no longer be relied upon.
The Company has discovered issues with workers compensation claims for injuries
dating back to 1992. The preliminary unaudited adjustments are expected to
increase annual net income by $50,000 to $200,000 in each of the fiscal years
ended 2002, 2003 and 2004. In addition, the adjustments are expected to result
in a decrease to shareholders' equity at October 31, 2001 of $650,000 to
$850,000. These adjustments have not been finalized and are subject to audit by
the Company's outside auditors KPMG LLP. The final adjustments may differ
materially from these estimates and may be greater or less than these estimates.
The Company will amend the appropriate filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission to include the restated financial statements. The decision to restate
prior financial statements was made with the concurrence of the Company's
independent auditors.
The Audit Committee has hired an independent third party administrator and
independent legal counsel to assist in its investigation of the reserves, and
the investigation is ongoing. Until the review is complete, the Company will not
be able to fully assess the impact of these actions on the Company. The Company
is working diligently to complete this investigation.
Collins Industries, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of ambulances (including
medical attack vehicles, rescue vehicles and fire emergency vehicles), North
America's largest producer of Type "A" small school buses, the nation's second
largest manufacturer of terminal trucks and a leader in the road construction
and
industrial sweeper markets. Since 1971, the Company has grown to approximately
900 employees in six plants comprising over one million combined square feet of
manufacturing space. The Company sells its products throughout the United States
and abroad.
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