COPPELL, Texas--Nov. 5, 2001--Impreso, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap:ZCOM): In a United States class action lawsuit involving international and domestic manufacturers' attempt to fix jumbo roll thermal facsimile paper prices in the United States, Impreso, Inc. was awarded over $1 million. After years of litigation against large paper manufacturers in the United States and Japan, the plaintiff class settled with the defendants on the eve of the trial in February of 2001 for over $16 million. Impreso, Inc. did not participate in the ongoing litigation, but was awarded over $1 million as its share of the settlement by the courts. The award will be reported as other income in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending August 31, 2002.
In the Company's Form 10-K for fiscal 2001, which will not include the settlement and will be filed in late November, management expects to report that net income improved approximately 35% in FY2001, to approximately $1.25 million, or $0.24 per share, compared with net income of $931,000 or $0.18 per share in the previous fiscal year. Net sales for the twelve months ended August 31, 2001, which represents an all-time record for Impreso, Inc., increased by 30% to approximately $96.2 million, from approximately $74.1 million in FY2000. Gross profits increased 21% to approximately $11.5 million in FY 2001, versus approximately $9.5 million in the year ended August 31, 2000.
Cash flow generated from operations, as measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), increased more than 30% to approximately $4.5 million in Fiscal 2001. The $1 million plus settlement will add momentum to an already strong bottom line.
Impreso, Inc. is a holding company for TST/Impreso, Inc. and HotSheet.com, Inc. TST/Impreso, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of hard copy imaging products for commercial and home use in domestic and international markets. HotSheet.com, Inc. primarily owns HotSheet.com, a single-page, online Internet directory with categorized links to premier Web destinations. The Company's Web site domains are www.hotsheet.com, www.impreso.com, www.shopsheet.com, and www.tstimpreso.com.
Impreso, Inc. is headquartered in Coppell, Texas, and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market under the symbol ``ZCOM.''
This press release may include statements that constitute ``forward-looking'' statements, usually containing the words ``believe,'' ``estimate,'' ``project,'' ``expect'' or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company's products in the marketplace, competitive factors, new products and technological changes, paper prices and raw material costs, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.
Impreso, Inc., Coppell
Marshall Sorokwasz, 972/462-0100 ext. 103
or
Tammy Yahiel, 972/462-0100 ext.117