IMPCO Technologies Reports Record Quarter Revenues

IMPCO Technologies Inc. (Cerritos, CA) reported record revenues for its first quarter ended July 31, 2000. For the first quarter of fiscal 2001, ended July 31, 2000, IMPCO reported a net loss of $608,000, or $0.07 per share, on revenues of $29.3 million, a three-percent revenue increase from the prior year's first-quarter results. This compared to net income of $1.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the first quarter in fiscal 2000 on revenues of $28.4 million. During the current year quarter, IMPCO invested a record $6.0 million (20 percent of revenue) in research and development, nearly a 100-percent increase from fiscal 2000 first-quarter levels. First-quarter product revenues, compared to the prior year first quarter, decreased $458,000 or 1.7 percent. This decrease is primarily due to an end in the short-term increase in small engine sales related to Y2K and a slow-down in after-market automotive sales in Mexico. Chairman and CEO Robert Stemmler stated, "The recent successful follow-on equity offering, provided the company $53.5 million in capital and has allowed us to expand and accelerate our research and development in fuel cell propulsion technologies as evidenced in the current quarter research and development and other operating expenditures. We have also opened additional facilities in Lake Forest, CA, and Sterling Heights, MI, to expand our testing capabilities and vehicle integration capacity to meet anticipated increased OEM activity in developing alternate fuel and fuel cell vehicles. The OEM interest in IMPCO's fuel storage and delivery systems remains robust as evidenced by our recent announcement with Hyundai to provide fuel storage and delivery for their fuel-cell-powered Santa Fe SUV, which will be demonstrated this fall in conjunction with the California Fuel Cell Project. Additionally, we have extended our alternative fuel OEM production program with GM to continue past the middle of the decade. We are aggressively pursuing alternative fuel and fuel-cell-related programs with other OEMs at the present time."