LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- New Century Companies, Inc. (OTCBB:NCNC), a leading re-manufacturer of vertical boring mills and large lathes, today announced that it is now also manufacturing Quilite(r) brand lightweight sound-absorbing modules for transportation and other uses.
The Quilite production, in which New Century assembles Quilite blocks into modules for shipment to job sites, uses existing spare manufacturing capacity at the Company's California plant and requires no additional outside capital. It is expected to add an approximately additional $0.05 per share in net earnings during 2005 for the Company. Quilite expects to generate a minimum of $10 million in revenue in 2006, with gross margins of about 30%.
Quilite, a product developed by Los Angeles-based Quilite International, is a material that is much lighter than concrete, graffiti-resistant and up to 10 times faster to install in wall form, with superior sound blocking. Quilite is already being used in a number of different noise-proofing applications, including freeway noise walls and sound barriers around other noise sources, from sports stadiums to transformers.
So far this year, Quilite has booked nearly $2 million in revenue for a number of projects. The largest of these was a roadway sound wall in Las Vegas, which accounted for $600,000 in revenue. Roughly the same amount of revenue has been raised in smaller projects. Upcoming projects using Quilite are scheduled California, Washington and Canada.
New Century CEO Sees Rising Demand for Both Product Lines
"We are pleased to see our new manufacturing agreement with Quilite International producing such rapid, high-margin net earnings growth," said New Century CEO David Duquette. "The production of Quilite is proving to be an ideal way to leverage our existing capital investment in plant and equipment while maintaining steady growth in our core business of re-manufacturing large machine tools."
Duquette added, "Both of these product lines, Quilite blocks and machine tools, are extra-timely right now. The new $286.4 billion Federal Surface Transportation Act should produce a wave of new highway and mass-transit construction, which in turn will boost demand for Quilite, a superior product for sound walls. The prospects for Quilite also have been enhanced by the soaring price of concrete. Quilite sound walls are already much faster to install than those made of concrete blocks. It is now starting to beat concrete on the material-price front as well as on labor costs.
"Meanwhile, we expect the new Federal Energy bill to have a similar effect on the market for our machine tools, which are used by manufacturers of power-generating equipment such as turbines," concluded Mr. Duquette.
About New Century Companies Inc.
New Century, under its brand name Century Turn, specializes in manufacturing, remanufacturing and retrofitting machine tools, primarily vertical boring mills and large lathes. By offering remanufactured vertical boring mills, the Company saves or conserves millions of dollars per year in energy costs by reutilizing the major castings of each mill. These savings, generally in the range of 40% to 60%, allow New Century to be the most price-competitive manufacturer of vertical boring mills in the U.S. These cost savings are passed on to New Century customers and afford them the opportunity to manufacture rotating turbine components for power generation at lower cost. New Century machines are also used by manufacturers of jet engine components, airplane landing gear parts and oil and gas components, to name a few. New Century currently manufactures its machines in state-of-the-art facilities in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. New Century maintains a website at www.newcenturyinc.com
Forward-looking statement: Except for historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changing market conditions, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's ongoing quarterly filings, annual information form, and annual reports. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events in this press release might not occur.