BEIJING, April 30 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: FFHL) ("Fuwei Films" or "the Company"), a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality BOPET plastic films located in China, today announced its expectations regarding preliminary financial results of its first quarter of 2009 ended March 31, 2009.
Revenues for the first quarter of 2009 are expected to be approximately $11 million, compared with $15.2 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net loss for the first quarter of 2009 is expected to be around $2.6 million, compared with a net income of $1.2 million in the first quarter 2008. The loss was primarily due to the continuous decline in the sales of its high value-added specialty films caused by a decrease in demand, as well as a decrease in the price of its products due to the weak economy.
"Given the decline in demand for our products in this weak economy, we took immediate action to control costs in the first quarter, such as reducing the number of employees, reducing management's compensation and closing the Company's leased production line," said Mr. Xiaoan He, Chairman and CEO of Fuwei Films. "Since the middle to late March of 2009, we have seen some initial signs of economic recovery in China as a result of the relatively fast implementation of the Chinese government's stimulus package. In addition, the increase of the export tax rebate for BOPET films from 5% to 11% could help us raise the competitiveness of our products in foreign markets. We believe that the economic situation will improve in the near future and the demand for our products, both in domestic and international markets, will increase as a result."
About Fuwei Films
Fuwei Films conducts its business through its wholly owned subsidiary Shandong Fuwei Films Co., Ltd. ("Shandong Fuwei"). Shandong Fuwei develops, manufactures and distributes high-quality plastic films using the biaxial oriented stretch technique, otherwise known as BOPET film (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate). Fuwei Films' BOPET film is widely used to package food, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco and alcohol, as well as in the imaging, electronics, and magnetic products industries.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Risk factors include, among other things, both the short and long term effects of the global financial crisis on the Company and the BOPET film industry, competition in the BOPET film industry; growth of, and risks inherent in, the BOPET film industry in China; uncertainty as to future profitability and our ability to obtain adequate financing for our planned capital expenditure requirements; uncertainty as to our ability to continuously develop new BOPET film products and keep up with changes in BOPET film technology; risks associated with possible defects and errors in our products; uncertainty as to our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; uncertainty as to our ability to attract and retain qualified executives and personnel; and uncertainty in acquiring raw materials on time and on acceptable terms, particularly in view of the volatility in the prices of petroleum products in recent years. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Actual results of our operations may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors.
For further information, please contact:
In China:
Maggie Huang
Investor Relations Manager
Tel: +86-10-8518-5620
Email: fuweiIR@fuweifilms.com
In the U.S.:
Leslie Wolf-Creutzfeldt
Investor Relations
Grayling
Tel: +1-646-284-9472
Email: leslie.wolf-creutzfeldt@us.grayling.com
