Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMERICAN VANGUARD REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER & FULL-YEAR 2008 RESULTS
Performance reflects continued increases in revenue, profit and shareholder equity driven by diverse market positions, international expansion, specialty product strength and conservative financial management
Newport Beach, CA – March 9, 2009 – American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and twelve month period ended December 31, 2008.
Fiscal 2008 Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights – versus Fiscal 2007 Fourth Quarter
• | Net sales increased 3% to $71.1 million. |
• | Net income grew 5% to $ 7.9 million. |
• | Earnings per diluted share were $0.29, up from $0.28 in the prior year period. |
Fiscal 2008 Twelve Month Financial Highlights –versus Fiscal 2007 Twelve Month performance
• | Net sales increased 10% to a record $237.5 million. |
• | Net income rose 7% to a record $ 20.0 million. |
• | Earnings per diluted share were $0.73, compared with $0.68 earned during the prior year. |
Eric Wintemute, President and CEO of American Vanguard, stated: “Our 2008 fourth quarter and full year performance has been driven by our participation in diverse domestic and international crop markets, the excellent performance of our non-crop specialty products segment and a continued emphasis on prudent operational and financial management. We continue to pursue a variety of initiatives to gain larger positions in key markets and geographic regions. We have maintained our traditionally high profit margins despite higher raw material costs by raising product prices where feasible and by continuing to focus on improving internal efficiencies and increasing capacity utilization at our domestic manufacturing facilities.”
Among the most important performance highlights of 2008:
• | International sales continued to grow, led by significant gains in Canada, Mexico and Central America. |
• | Metam soil fumigantsales grew due to strong market demand, expanded coverage of the Southeast region and price increases needed to cover the higher cost of raw materials. |
• | New brand-name additions, such as Terraclor® fungicides and Orthene® insecticides, broadened our product offering and helped us further expand our participation in several key market segments. |
• | Non-crop specialty products improvement was aided by increased use of our mosquito adulticide Dibrom®, following the strong hurricane activity that impacted several Gulf Coast states including Texas. |
Mr. Wintemute concluded, “We are pleased that our quarterly and full year results continue to demonstrate the success of the American Vanguard business model. Our ability to acquire important product lines at reasonable prices and expand their usage is a proven contributor to our steady growth. We continue to seek attractive opportunities to acquire new product lines and expand our offerings. Our careful, step-wise expansion in international markets carries our expertise abroad without undue risk. Our outstanding domestic manufacturing capability affords excellent quality control, cost competitiveness and timely customer response. Given the many challenges of the current economic environment, we reiterate our intention to remain diligent in cost control, conservative in our investment outlays and collaborative with other industry participants to facilitate expansion of our established market position. Despite widespread economic uncertainty, we believe that the significant benefits we provide for enhancing agricultural productivity and improving crop quality will continue to be in demand and should fuel our growth potential in 2009 and beyond.”
Conference Call
Eric Wintemute, President and CEO and David Johnson, CFO, will conduct a conference call focusing on the financial results at 12:00 pm EDT / 9:00 am PDT on Monday, March 9, 2009. Interested parties may participate in the call by dialing 706-679-3155 – please call in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin, and ask for the American Vanguard call (conference ID # 86429090). The conference call will also be webcast live via theNews and Media section of the Company’s web site at
www.american-vanguard.com. To listen to the live webcast, go to the web site at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. If you are unable to listen live, the conference call will be archived on the Company’s web site.
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management and public and animal health. American Vanguard is included on the Russell 2000® & Russell 3000® Indexes and the Standard & Poors 600 Index. To learn more about American Vanguard, please reference the Company’s web site atwww.american-vanguard.com.
The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in the conference call referenced in this release, all forward-looking statements are estimates by the Company’s management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management’s current expectations. Such factors include weather conditions, changes in regulatory policy and other risks as detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company’s judgment as of the date of this release.
CONTACT: | -OR- | AVD’S INVESTOR RELATIONS FIRM | ||
American Vanguard Corporation | The Equity Group Inc. | |||
William A. Kuser, Director of Investor Relations | www.theequitygroup.com | |||
(949) 260-1200 | Lena Cati | |||
williamk@amvac-chemical.com | Lcati@equityny.com | |||
(212) 836-9611 |
AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(In thousands except earnings per share data)
For the Three Months ended December 31 | For the Year ended December 31 | |||||||||||||||
2008 | 2007 | 2008 | 2007 | |||||||||||||
Net sales | $ | 71,060 | $ | 69,087 | $ | 237,538 | $ | 216,662 | ||||||||
Cost of sales | 40,063 | 38,162 | 136,407 | 120,932 | ||||||||||||
Gross profit | 30,997 | 30,925 | 101,131 | 95,730 | ||||||||||||
Operating expenses | 17,494 | 18,096 | 64,987 | 59,717 | ||||||||||||
Operating income | 13,503 | 12,829 | 36,144 | 36,013 | ||||||||||||
Interest expense | 955 | 923 | 4,300 | 5,731 | ||||||||||||
Interest income | — | (111 | ) | (75 | ) | (214 | ) | |||||||||
Interest capitalized | (83 | ) | — | (254 | ) | (30 | ) | |||||||||
Income before income tax | 12,631 | 12,017 | 32,173 | 30,526 | ||||||||||||
Income tax expense | 4,716 | 4,453 | 12,154 | 11,798 | ||||||||||||
Net income | $ | 7,915 | $ | 7,564 | 20,019 | $ | 18,728 | |||||||||
Earnings per common share | $ | 0.30 | $ | 0.29 | $ | 0.75 | $ | 0.71 | ||||||||
Earnings per common share - assuming dilution | $ | 0.29 | $ | 0.28 | $ | 0.73 | $ | 0.68 | ||||||||
Weighted average shares outstanding | 26,803 | 26,409 | 26,638 | 26,307 | ||||||||||||
Weighted average shares outstanding - assuming dilution | 27,418 | 27,465 | 27,469 | 27,436 | ||||||||||||
AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
ASSETS
Dec. 31, 2008 | Dec. 31, 2007 | |||||
Current assets: | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,229 | $ | 3,201 | ||
Receivables: | ||||||
Trade | 51,405 | 55,925 | ||||
Other | 563 | 645 | ||||
51,968 | 56,570 | |||||
Inventories | 90,626 | 63,455 | ||||
Prepaid expenses | 1,688 | 2,214 | ||||
Total current assets | 145,511 | 125,440 | ||||
Property, plant and equipment, net | 41,241 | 31,780 | ||||
Intangible assets | 93,179 | 85,318 | ||||
Other assets | 7,006 | 6,043 | ||||
Total Assets | $ | 286,937 | $ | 248,581 | ||
AMERICAN VANGUARD CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Dec. 31, 2008 | Dec. 31, 2007 | |||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Current installments of long-term debt | $ | 7,706 | $ | 4,106 | ||||
Accounts payable | 14,621 | 13,796 | ||||||
Accrued program costs | 16,204 | 24,191 | ||||||
Accrued expenses and other payables | 6,767 | 6,355 | ||||||
Income taxes payable | 3,332 | 1,848 | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 48,630 | 50,296 | ||||||
Long-term debt, excluding current installments | 76,273 | 56,155 | ||||||
Deferred income taxes | 6,091 | 2,391 | ||||||
Total liabilities | 130,994 | 108,842 | ||||||
Commitments and contingent liabilities | ||||||||
Stockholders’ Equity: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $.10 par value per share; authorized 400,000 shares; none issued | — | |||||||
Common stock, $.10 par value per share; authorized 40,000,000 shares; issued 29,209,863 shares at December 31, 2008 and 28,650,829 shares at December 31, 2007 | 2,920 | 2,865 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 38,873 | 36,551 | ||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) | (3,593 | ) | 64 | |||||
Retained earnings | 120,896 | 103,004 | ||||||
159,096 | 142,484 | |||||||
Less treasury stock, at cost, 2,260,996 shares at December 31, 2008 and 2,226,796 at December 31, 2007 | (3,153 | ) | (2,745 | ) | ||||
Total stockholders’ equity | 155,943 | 139,739 | ||||||
Total liabilities and shareholder’s equity | $ | 286,937 | $ | 248,581 | ||||