Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq:AMPL), a holding company with
experience in acquiring interests in various businesses with emphasis in
recent years on energy and related fields, today announced financial
results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2008, revenues increased to $128.7
million, compared to revenues of $1.1 million for the same period of
2007.
Net loss for the quarter was ($10.3) million, or ($0.18) per basic and
diluted share compared to a net loss of ($5) million, or ($0.11) per
basic and diluted share, for the comparable period in 2007.
Weighted average shares outstanding used in the calculation for the
periods were approximately 57.7 million and 45.8 million shares,
respectively.
As of March 31, 2008, the Company had cash and cash equivalents,
including short-term investments, of $52.6 million. Ampal ended the
quarter with total assets of $820.1 million and shareholders' equity of
$255.9 million, as compared to $400 million and $204.2 million,
respectively at March 31, 2007.
Yosef Maiman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ampal
said, “The first quarter of 2008 emphasized
the growing diversity of our investment portfolio, notably our
acquisition of a 65.5% stake in Gadot Chemical Tankers, which in its
first full quarter contributing to our growth accounted for nearly all
of the increase in revenue that we saw this quarter."
"The EMG Pipeline, which declared commercial operation on May 1, 2008 is
expected to transport approximately 7.0 BCM per annum of natural gas
from El-Arish, Egypt to Ashkelon, Israel. This is a landmark project
that opens a new source of gas supply that will help to meet the region’s
growing demand for natural gas."
“Progress continues to be made with our other
strategic investment opportunities; particularly our wind and ethanol
clean fuel technology projects,” added Mr.
Maiman.
Mr. Maiman concluded, “We look forward to
building on our successes over the course of the year and we are
committed to expanding our investment portfolio to achieve long-term,
profitable growth. Heading into the second quarter, Ampal is even better
positioned to support its broader growth initiatives and pursue a
strategy and to develop and acquire significant interests in profitable,
cash generating businesses.”
About Ampal:
Ampal and its subsidiaries acquire interests primarily in businesses
located in the State of Israel or that are Israel-related. The Company
is seeking opportunistic situations in a variety of industries, with a
focus on energy and related sectors. The Company’s
goal is to develop or acquire majority interests in businesses that are
profitable and generate significant free cash flow that Ampal can
control. For more information about Ampal please visit our web site at www.ampal.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain information in this press release includes forward-looking
statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) and
information relating to Ampal that are based on the beliefs of
management of Ampal as well as assumptions made by and information
currently available to the management of Ampal. When used in this press
release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "plan," and similar expressions as they relate to Ampal or
Ampal's management, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements
reflect the current views of Ampal with respect to future events or
future financial performance of Ampal, the outcome of which is subject
to certain risks and other factors which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking
statements, including among others, the economic and political
conditions in Israel, the Middle East, including the situation in Iraq,
and the global business and economic conditions in the different sectors
and markets where Ampal's portfolio companies operate. Should any of
these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcome may vary from
those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected,
intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking
statements attributable to Ampal or persons acting on its behalf are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in
this paragraph. Please refer to the Ampal's annual, quarterly and
periodic reports on file with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of
these and other risks that could cause results to differ materially.
Ampal assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements.
