USA: Liqui-Box Announces 3rd Quarter Results

Citing a generally down year in certain customer segments of the bottled water market compared to last year, as well as continued high raw material prices, Liqui-Box Corporation (Nasdaq:LIQB) today announced earnings of $4,449,000 for the third quarter of 2000 compared to $5,811,000 for the same period in 1999 on sales of $43,440,000 vs. sales of $44,327,000 a year ago. Earnings per share decreased to $1.01 from $1.29, a 22% decrease. S. B. Davis, Chairman and CEO said that although the results may reflect some industry conditions, he was not happy with the performance for the year, and that appropriate operational changes will be made to improve the situation. "We have a history of growth and improvement, and it is our job to continue that trend regardless of market conditions," Davis said. "While we have made some changes already, it is clear we need to make some more, and we will do so." "While the figures don't indicate it yet, we have made a good deal of progress in improving the operations. However, I am not happy with the top line, and it is time to address that aggressively," Davis said. Liqui-Box is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol LIQB.