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Non-Tech : Neff (NFF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jas cooper who wrote (170)	11/12/1999 3:08:00 PM
From: jas cooper	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 183

Neff Corp. Announces the Sale of Neff Machinery, Inc., and Third Quarter Operating Results Business Wire - November 12, 1999 14:26 MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1999--Neff Corp. (NYSE:NFF), announced today that is has signed a definitive agreement to sell Neff Machinery Inc., its wholly owned construction dealership business, to NORTRAX. Neff Machinery had aggregate 1998 revenues of approximately $103 million. John Deere Construction Equipment will own a minority interest in NORTRAX. Neff Corp. will receive approximately $91 million from the sale of Neff Machinery. The closing of this transaction is expected to occur prior to December 31, 1999. The Company will use the proceeds from the sale to repay debt under its revolving credit facility. In this regard, Neff Corp. announced today that it has amended its revolving credit agreement to allow for the sale of Neff Machinery and Sullair Argentina. After the sale of Neff Machinery and Sullair Argentina, Neff Corp. will have approximately $321 million of consolidated debt with approximately $121 million of revolving debt outstanding. Neff Corp. also announced its results from operations for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 1999. The Company reported a 15.5% increase in revenues to $103.8 million for the third quarter of 1999, compared to $89.9 million for the same quarter last year. For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, the Company reported a 32.3% increase in revenues to $298.5 million, compared to $225.6 million for the same period last year. Net income for the third quarter of 1999 was $0.3 million or $0.02 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $1.7 million or $0.08 per diluted common share for the same quarter of 1998. The reported net income for the third quarter of 1999 includes a pre-tax charge of $1.4 million or $0.04 per diluted common share after tax, to writedown certain assets located in the Company's Gulf Region to estimated fair market value. For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, the Company reported net income of $5.3 million, or $0.24 per diluted common share, compared to a net loss of $(4.1) million, or $(0.58) per diluted common share, for the nine months ended September 30, 1998. Excluding the asset writedown charge taken in the third quarter, the Company would have had net income of $6.1 million or $0.28 per diluted common share, for the nine months ended September 30, 1999. The Company reported that earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), increased 2.7% for the third quarter of 1999 to $30.5 million from $29.7 million for the same period last year. EBITDA increased 27.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999 to $91.1 million from $71.4 million in the same period last year. Mr. Kevin P. Fitzgerald, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The sale of our dealership operations and repayment of debt are important steps in our previously stated objective of increasing shareholder value through the strategic evaluation process we initiated earlier this year. Neff Corp. will now be a pure rental company. In this regard, we are continuing to evaluate other strategic alternatives including a sale or merger." Mr. Fitzgerald further added: "Our third quarter results show continued revenue and cash flow growth although our earnings were less than anticipated. Earnings were negatively impacted by rental rate pressures, our Gulf Region stores performance, short term store closures in the southeast due to several hurricanes, an extraordinary equipment sale in the Gulf Region stores, and expenses related to our strategic evaluation process. Nonetheless, we are very confident in the ability of our core rental stores to continue to mature and grow earnings." Neff Corp. is one of the largest and fastest growing equipment rental companies in the United States, with 96 locations in 18 states. Its headquarters are in Miami, Florida.