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April April 15, 2002 | April 26, 2002 | April 29, 2002 April
15, 2002 AMERICAN ECOLOGY SETS FIRST QUARTER 2002 INVESTOR CONFERENCE CALL
Interested Parties Invited to Call in on Monday, April 29, 2002 at 10:00
am Mountain Time American Ecology Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides radioactive, PCB, hazardous, and non-hazardous waste services to commercial and government customers throughout the United States, such as nuclear power plants, steel mills, medical and academic institutions and petro-chemical facilities. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Company is the oldest radioactive and hazardous waste services company in the United States. April
26, 2002 AMERICAN ECOLOGY BOARD REVISES DIRECTORS SLATE BOISE, Idaho - American Ecology Corporation [NASDAQ: ECOL], today announced the slate of Directors that will stand for election to the Company's Board of Directors at its annual shareholders meeting May 30, 2002 in Chicago, IL. Current Directors Edward F. Heil, Paul F. Schutt, and Thomas A. Volini will stand for reelection. Roy C. Eliff, John M. Couzens, Roger P. Hickey, and President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Romano have been nominated to join the Board as new members. The new slate of Directors is disclosed in the Company's definitive Proxy on Form 14A filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2002. Roy C. Eliff is a consultant to solid waste and environmental companies in the area of acquisitions and mergers. Mr. Eliff has served as an officer, director, or CEO of publicly held companies, including 20 years as Vice President of Corporate Development/Acquisitions for Browning Ferris Industries. John M. Couzens is an executive with Anschutz Company where he is President and Chief Executive Officer for subsidiary Qwest Digital Media, LLC. Roger P. Hickey is President of Chicago Partners, a consulting firm where he specializes in finance, intellectual property, and business strategy. "American Ecology's Board slate offers our shareholders the experience of longstanding Board members combined with an injection of fresh ideas from a highly qualified group of new member nominees," Stephen Romano stated. American Ecology Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides radioactive, PCB, hazardous and non-hazardous waste services to commercial and government customers throughout the United States, such as nuclear power plants, steel mills, medical and academic institutions and petro-chemical facilities. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Company is the oldest radioactive and hazardous waste services Company in the United States. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, beliefs, and assumptions about the industry and markets in which American Ecology Corporation and its subsidiaries operate. Actual results may differ materially from what is expressed herein and no assurance can be given that the company can successfully implement its growth strategy or generate future earnings. For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations, please refer to American Ecology Corporation's Report on Form 10-K, and most recent Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. April
29, 2002 AMERICAN ECOLOGY POSTS BEST OPERATING PROFIT IN 10 YEARS, RECORD EARNINGS IN FIRST QUARTER 2002 Solid
Operating Performance, Cost Cutting and New Accounting Standard Fuel
Turn-Around First quarter 2002 implementation of SFAS No. 143, a new accounting standard, resulted in a one-time, cumulative effect gain of $16.3 million. Excluding the impact of the change in accounting, American Ecology posted net income of $2.8 million or $.19 per diluted share. Operating income for the quarter ending March 31, 2002 increased to $3.5 million compared to operating income of $1.3 million for the first quarter of 2001 and $234 thousand for the full year 2001. The first quarter operating profit, a key measure of financial performance, was the highest in almost ten years. The Company recorded first quarter 2002 revenue of $18.4 million, a 43% increase over the $12.9 million reported for the first quarter of 2001. Quarterly revenue reached its highest level since the first quarter of 1995, when the Company recorded $20.0 million in revenue. "Solid earnings and cash generation reflect the strength of our core waste treatment and disposal business," Baumgardner explained, adding "The major, positive impact of the new accounting standard further strengthens American Ecology's reported financial condition." In March 2002, the Board appointed Stephen Romano Chief Executive Officer, in addition to the President and Chief Operating Officer posts he has held since October 2001. Since that time, the new executive team has implemented a revitalized business plan centered on cutting overhead costs, streamlining management, divesting non-core assets, and creating a national sales force. "We believe American Ecology is now well positioned to grow earnings from its core business and take fuller advantage of the ongoing consolidation of the environmental services industry," commented Romano, who added "We will continue to pursue opportunities, like our Grand View, Idaho site acquisition in 2001, to expand our business, although the near term focus continues to be more volume at our existing facilities." The 43% increase in quarterly revenue reflects higher revenue at both disposal and processing facilities along with growth in the Company's remediation and field services group. During the quarter, the Company's Richland, Washington low-level radioactive waste disposal facility completed performance on a $3.85 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract. The Grand View, Idaho treatment and disposal facility posted another solid quarter. In addition, the Company's Field Services division recorded a $1.3 million increase in revenue from the same quarter last year on the strength of a completed contract with the State of Tennessee and new clean-up contracts with British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd. and a Texas Superfund site. "This quarter continues the trend of steadily increasing quarterly revenue since the purchase of our Idaho facility," commented Baumgardner, adding, "Second quarter revenue and earnings are expected to be somewhat lower than the first quarter, following the positive impact of the Army Corps of Engineers project's completion at Richland." During the first quarter of 2002, Selling, General & Administrative expenses (SG&A) increased to $5.7 million, or 31% of sales, compared to $4.8 million, or 37% of sales in the same quarter of 2001. Higher SG&A was partially the result of $883 thousand in state site usage tax paid by the Richland facility for the Army Corps of Engineers project. Also, first quarter 2001 SG&A only reflected 2 months of SG&A from the Idaho facility, purchased on February 1, 2001. SG&A was also pushed higher by legal expenses associated with pre-trial discovery for the proposed Ward Valley, California and Butte, Nebraska disposal projects, defending a longstanding patent infringement suit, and settlement negotiations on other pending legal matters in the first quarter of 2002. Adjusting for the unusual items, normalized SG&A was $4.5 million or 6% lower than the same quarter the previous year, and 19% lower than the fourth quarter of 2001. "Our current normalized overhead spending is much lower than 2001, demonstrating the success of our previously announced cost-cutting initiatives," Baumgardner stated, adding, "The resolution and settlement of long-standing legal matters during the quarter eliminates future legal expenses for those cases, while freeing up management to focus on growing the business." In June 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations." This accounting pronouncement materially changes the way the Company must account for its long-term obligations for closing and maintaining its landfills. The net result of SFAS No. 143 implementation reduces liabilities by $11.1 million, creates an asset representing future value of the landfills of $5.2 million and increases retained earnings by $16.3 million. "SFAS 143 implementation materially strengthens our balance sheet and diminishes the potential impact of failure to realize a return or recover monetary damages on deferred site development assets booked for the California and Nebraska disposal projects," stated Baumgardner. "We also believe the implementation of this accounting pronouncement more accurately reflects the intrinsic value of our disposal assets and their associated liabilities," Baumgardner added. Other highlights for the quarter included:
The Company's Oak Ridge low-level radioactive waste processing facility continued its focus on removing non-revenue producing material, improving production cost knowledge, increasing waste throughput and raising prices. While these and related initiatives are bearing fruit, the Oak Ridge facility continues to operate at a loss. Management is evaluating the effect of these initiatives to determine if the Oak Ridge facility is capable of meeting the Company's profit expectations. At the Company's Beatty, Nevada hazardous waste disposal facility, lower than expected thermal processing throughput and disposal volumes produced a loss for the quarter. However, the successful negotiation of an operating agreement with the original equipment manufacturer is expected to increase waste throughput in the coming quarters. This, combined with increased direct disposal volumes, is expected to return Beatty to profitability in the second quarter. "Subcontracted thermal processing at Beatty and higher throughput of revenue-producing material at Oak Ridge should improve operating results at these sites in the second quarter," Romano stated. "While challenges remain, our record first quarter results underscore the strength of American Ecology's core hazardous and low-level radioactive waste disposal business," Romano said, concluding "The significant cost controls and organizational changes implemented since October have positioned American Ecology to generate solid earnings and cash flow going forward." The Company's first quarter 2002 investor conference call will be held Monday, April 29, 2002 at 10:00 am Mountain Time. President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Romano, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer James Baumgardner, and Controller Michael Gilberg will host the call. Interested parties may submit questions in advance to info@americanecology.com, or by facsimile to 208.331.7900. To join the call, dial 1.877.679-9055. Participants will be asked to provide their name and affiliation. American Ecology Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides radioactive, PCB, hazardous, and non-hazardous waste services to commercial and government customers throughout the United States, such as nuclear power plants, steel mills, medical and academic institutions and petro-chemical facilities. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Company is the oldest radioactive and hazardous waste services company in the United States. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, beliefs, and assumptions about the industry and markets in which American Ecology Corporation and its subsidiaries operate. Actual results may differ materially from what is expressed herein and no assurance can be given that the company can successfully implement its growth strategy, generate improved earnings or revenue, achieve profitability at its Oak Ridge facility or prevail in pending litigation. For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations, please refer to American Ecology Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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