C. Liquidity &Financing Matters Immediately after the Petition Date, the Bankruptcy Court approved interim orders authorizing the use of cash collateral (the “Collateral Agreements”) to continue to operate on a going concern basis. Under the Collateral Agreements, all cash generated from operations subsequent to the Petition Date can be used by the Company to pay wages and generally conduct its business affairs so as to avoid immediate and irreparable harm to the Company. On February 28, 2003, the Bankruptcy Court approved the Debtor-In-Possession Financing Agreement (“DIP Agreement”) between the Company and the existing lenders on its credit facility. The Company retired its pre-petition secured credit facility in the amount of $18.6 million. In connection with this transaction, the Company wrote off $392,330 of deferred financing costs related to its old credit facility to reorganizing expenses and capitalized $497,480 in deferred financing cost on the DIP Agreement as other assets. The DIP Agreement, which has a twelve month term, is secured by inventory, receivables, and certain fixed assets previously unencumbered by other debt agreements, bears interest at prime plus 1% or LIBOR plus 3%. Based on the borrowing base criteria, as defined, approximately $20.2 million is available as of March 31,2003; however, the Company is required to maintain a minimum liquidity reserve of $12 million. This minimum effectively reduces availability to $8.2 million. The DIP Agreement requires, among other things, the Company to meet certain cash operating performance measures based on the Company’s weekly budget for a 13 week period ending April 26, 2003. The Company has been in compliance throughout the period. There are no other financial performance covenants. The maximum amount outstanding during the six-month period ended March 31, 2003 was $19.6 million. The average borrowings were $16.0 million and the weighted average interest rate was 4.86%. Based on the borrowing base criteria, as defined, approximately $20.4 million is available as of April 30, 2003; however, there is a required liquidity reserve of $12 million which reduced the effective availability to $8.4 million. Liquidity will be impacted by the uncertainty of the bankruptcy proceedings, including restructuring and settlement of pre-petition obligations and the Company’s ability to attain projected operating results. As a result of these uncertainties, there can be no assurance that existing or future sources of liquidity will be adequate. The Company’s failure to achieve its anticipated shipment levels, its cost reduction initiatives, or operating performance goals could also have a material adverse effect on the financial results or liquidity of the Company in the future. In addition, external factors affect the Company’s market and related production costs. Unfavorable price movements for outside purchases of scrap, and energy, among other things, could also have a material adverse effect on the financial results or liquidity of the Company. OTHER COMMENTSForward-Looking Information, Inflation and Other This document contains various “forward-looking” statements which represent the Company’s expectation or belief concerning future events. Statements regarding the Company’s ability to complete its bankruptcy reorganization proceedings timely, the outcome of the reorganization plan, the Company’s ability to sustain current operations during the pendency of the reorganization including its ability to maintain normal relationships with customers, the ability of the Company to establish normal terms and conditions with suppliers and vendors, costs of the reorganization process, the adequacy of financing arrangements during the reorganization period, future market prices, operating results, synergies, future operating efficiencies, future governmental actions and the results of such actions, cost savings and other statements which are not historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that a number of important factors could, individually or in the aggregate, cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. These include but are not limited to statements relating to future actions, prospective products, future dealings with the noteholders or senior credit lenders, future performance or results of current and anticipated new products, sales efforts, availability of raw materials, expenses such as fuel and scrap cost, the outcome of contingencies, the cost of environmental compliance and financial results. From time to time, the Company also may provide oral or written forward-looking statements in other materials released to the public. Any or all of the forward-looking statements in this report and in any other public statements may turn out to be wrong, and can be affected by inaccurate assumptions by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many factors mentioned in the discussion above will be important in determining future results. Consequently, no forward-looking statements can be guaranteed. Actual future results may vary materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures on related subjects in the Company’s other reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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