PITTSBURGH, June 2, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Industrial Enterprise of America, Inc. (Other OTC:IEAM), an automotive aftermarket packager and supplier, today provided a shareholder update.
Industrial Enterprises continues to produce and ship its products, although utilizing a limited working capital base. In an effort to increase available liquidity, Industrial Enterprises is working with its current lenders to restructure its debt as well as talking to potential new lenders to secure additional working capital.
On May 23, 2008, the Company entered into a Forbearance Agreement with Sovereign Bank, pursuant to which Sovereign agreed to forbear from further exercising its rights under the Loan Documents until October 30, 2008, or earlier in the event of a default under the Forbearance Agreement. The Forbearance Agreement is detailed in the Company's most recent Form 8-k.
Although the Company currently maintains insufficient liquidity levels to achieve its desired results, operational improvements at Pitt Penn remain on-track. Shorter, more frequent production runs have enabled the Company to lower both finished goods and raw material inventories consistent with a LEAN Manufacturing focus. Additionally, "Overall Equipment Effectiveness" metric continues to improve from 31.8% when implemented last October to 53.1% in April. This represents a 67% improvement in Pitt Penn's demonstrated ability to produce at a targeted Rate, Quality & Uptime. Concurrently, "Units Produced Per Employee" metric has also made significant improvement over that same time period, up over 50%.
Industrial Enterprises' management continues to work with its auditor for the filing of the June 2007 annual report, and management remains focused on reducing SG&A (Selling, General & Administrative) expenses. Salaries have been reduced via continued restructuring efforts by 22% since Jan 1, with full effect expected during our fourth quarter. Dan Redmond, President of Industrial Enterprises, stated, "I remain confident in our Operational and Sales Team's ability to grow this business. We simply lack the working capital to have best-in-class customer service and delivery."
About Industrial Enterprise of America
Industrial Enterprise of America, Inc. is an automotive aftermarket packager and supplier that specializes in the sale of anti-freeze, auto fluids, charcoal fluids, and other additives and chemicals. The Company has distinct proprietary brands that collectively serve the retail, professional and discount automotive aftermarket channels. For more information please visit www.industrialenterprisesinc.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of Industrial Enterprises of America set forth herein and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are "forward-looking statements." Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated, including: (i) the Company's history of ongoing operating losses; (ii) the overall marketplace and clients' usage of products, including demand therefore, the impact of competitive technologies, products and pricing, particularly given the substantially larger size and scale of certain competitors and potential competitors, control of expenses, and revenue generation by the acquisition of new customers; Other risks are detailed from time to time in the Company's 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, as amended, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-QSB, and in its other Securities and Exchange Commission reports and statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.