000641 CFP Holdings Reports Results for the Fiscal Year

Philadelphia, PA - CFP Holdings Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of value-added meat and poultry products, announced the following financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000.

The company reported net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000 of $0.1 million, representing a significant improvement over the prior year's fiscal year net loss of $3.6 million. For the quarter ended March 31, 2000 the company reported a net loss of $0.5 million compared to a net loss of $0.7 million for the corresponding period of the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA was $25.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000 compared to $22.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, representing an increase of 15.1%. In addition, adjusted EBITDA was $6.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000 compared to $5.7 million for the prior year's same period, representing an increase of 6.4%.

“Once again we have achieved our expectations with continued strong EBITDA growth for the quarter and for our fiscal year. Our focus over the past year of investing in key management, growth and branding strategies, and building stronger business partnerships has come to fruition enabling us to grow the front end of the business. We are very pleased with our success this year and will continue the efforts for the year to come,” said William Del Chiaro, president and chief executive officer of CFP Holdings.

Del Chiaro continued, “Due to the growth of our business and the new facility that is planned for California, it was necessary for us to make key management changes to accommodate the business expansion. Eric W. Ek, the Company's former Chief Financial Officer, was promoted to Executive Vice President, and Ronald J. Gallo, formerly the Senior Vice President of Staff Operations, was promoted to the post of Chief Financial Officer. Eric's immediate focus in his new role will be to oversee the development of the Company's new California facility.”

“We are very pleased with the growth we achieved in EBITDA for both the quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. EBITDA increased 6.4% for the quarter and 15.1% for the fiscal year when compared to prior year's same periods. Our growth has been primarily driven by the success of our sales initiatives. Going forward we will continue our efforts in sales with an increased focus on manufacturing, including the reengineering of our production processes. This will allow us to stay ahead of the capacity curve as well as improve the financial results of the business,” said Del Chiaro.

“As a result of the Company's growth and future working capital needs, we entered into a sale and lease back arrangement which provided the Company with $2.6 million of liquidity. We have also secured an increase in the Company's Credit Facility to $45 million, from its previous limit of $40 million. This is an important strategic move, and is consistent with the continued growth of the business. This will also allow us to execute our raw material purchasing strategies in Fiscal 2001,” said Ronald J. Gallo, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

CFP Holdings Inc. is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of value-added meat and poultry products sold to the food service industry and manufacturers of packaged foods.

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