Penford Corporation to Expand into Ethanol Production; Cedar Rapids Site to Extend into Bio-Fuels Market
28 June 2006 - 9:00PM
Business Wire
Penford Corporation (Nasdaq: PENX), a global leader in ingredient
systems for food and industrial applications, today announced plans
to invest $42 million for approximately 40 million gallons of
ethanol production capacity at its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, facility.
The Company expects the facility to be producing ethanol by the end
of 2007. "Penford's entry into ethanol will create value for our
shareholders from more complete utilization of existing facilities
and resources," said Tom Malkoski, Penford Corporation President
and Chief Executive Officer. "We will be able to process more corn
by utilizing existing assets more intensively and plan to convert a
portion of our current production to ethanol use. This initiative
also provides an attractive entry into this growing market through
a lower capital investment and shorter time to market compared with
many ethanol projects." Penford has much of the infrastructure
contained within the Cedar Rapids plant to participate in the
ethanol market with sufficient grain handling, separation
processes, utilities, and logistics capabilities. The factory is
centrally located near important rail and ground transport
arteries. The ethanol facility will occupy available space within
the existing site footprint. The construction will not interfere
with scheduled production for current customers. "Ethanol
production represents an important step in broadening the
utilization of our bio-processing assets," Malkoski added. "We
believe the fermentation process of ethanol production will also
provide a platform for future high value products derived from
renewable resources." The initial stages of the ethanol investment
will be funded through the existing bank facility. The Company's
banks have approved amending the current credit agreement to permit
additional capital expenditures related to this project. Penford
will be reviewing and evaluating all appropriate structures and
funding options for the optimal long-term financing of the
investment in ethanol capacity. Penford will host a conference call
to discuss the project today, June 28, 2006, at 1:00 p.m. Central
Time (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Please phone 1-877-407-9205 (toll
free) or 201-689-8054 (international) at 12:50 p.m. Central Time to
participate in the call. A replay will be available from June 28,
2006 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time until July 28, 2006 at 3:59 p.m.
Central Time. To access the replay, please dial 1-877-660-6853
(toll free) or 201-612-7415 (international). Enter account code 286
and conference ID code 207137. This call and replay is also
available in "listen only" mode through our Website at www.penx.com
under the section titled Investor Relations. Penford Corporation
develops manufactures and markets specialty natural-based
ingredient systems for various applications, including papermaking,
textiles and food products. Penford has nine locations in the
United States, Australia and New Zealand. The statements contained
in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements that represent management's beliefs and assumptions
based on currently available information. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as
"believes," "may," "will," "looks," "should," "could,"
"anticipates," "expects," or comparable terminology or by
discussions of strategies or trends. Although the Company believes
that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it cannot give any assurances that these
expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements by their
nature involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could
significantly affect expected results. Actual future results could
differ materially from those described in such forward-looking
statements, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are
the risks and uncertainties discussed in this release, and those
described from time to time in filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission which include, but are not limited to,
competition; the possibility of interruption of business activities
due to equipment problems, accidents, strikes, weather or other
factors; product development risk; changes in corn and other raw
material prices and availability; changes in general economic
conditions or developments with respect to specific industries or
customers affecting demand for the Company's products including
unfavorable shifts in product mix; unanticipated costs, expenses or
third party claims; the risk that results may be affected by
construction delays, cost overruns, technical difficulties,
nonperformance by contractors or changes in capital improvement
project requirements or specifications; interest rate and energy
cost volatility; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
changes in assumptions used for determining employee benefit
expense and obligations; or other unforeseen developments in the
industries in which Penford operates.
(MM) (NASDAQ:PENX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
(MM) (NASDAQ:PENX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024
Real-Time news about (MM) (NASDAQ): 0 recent articles
More Penford Corporation News Articles