FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2016
ART’S WAY MANUFACTURING ANNOUNCES DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS OF VESSELS BUSINESS SEGMENT
ARMSTRONG, IOWA, August 11, 2016 – Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: ARTW), a diversified, international manufacturer and distributor of equipment serving agricultural, research, water treatment and steel cutting needs, announces it will be discontinuing the operations of its Art’s Way Vessels segment in the third quarter of its 2016 fiscal year.
Art’s Way Vessels, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc., specializes in ASME code and non-code pressurized vessels and storage tanks for water treatment, petroleum, agriculture, food & beverage, marine and mining industries.
We plan to focus our efforts and resources on the parts of our business where we have historically been more successful and where we see greater opportunity for meaningful long-term shareholder return going forward. We will complete our current backlog to fulfill our commitment to customers and subsequently pursue an orderly sale of the assets associated with this segment including real estate, equipment, and inventory. We anticipate incurring charges associated with this divestiture until the process is complete, likely in fiscal 2017.
Chairman of the Art’s Way Board of Directors, Marc H. McConnell reports, “After careful consideration of the possible outcomes for the Vessels segment that would serve our business and shareholders best, the decision was ultimately made to discontinue the operations of Art’s Way Vessels. We would like to thank our Vessels employees for their work over the past eleven years and regret that this decision impacts them negatively. This decision was difficult but is a necessary step in positioning our business for the long-term stability and profitability we are pursuing. Our focus on the activities that have made Art’s Way a strong, enduring, and profitable company for the past 60 years will help ensure that we remain in a position to benefit from the opportunities we see coming forth in the Agricultural, Modular Building, and Tool segments.”
About Art’s Way Manufacturing, Inc.
Art’s Way manufactures and distributes farm machinery niche products including animal feed processing equipment, sugar beet defoliators and harvesters, land maintenance equipment, crop shredding equipment, round hay balers, plows, hay and forage equipment, manure spreaders, reels for combines and swathers, and top and bottom drive augers, as well as pressurized tanks and vessels, modular animal confinement buildings and laboratories and specialty tools and
inserts. After-market service parts are also an important part of the Company’s business. The Company has four reporting segments: agricultural products; pressurized tanks and vessels; modular buildings; and tools.
For more information contact: Carrie Majeski, Chief Executive Officer
712-864-3131
investorrelations@artsway-mfg.com
Or visit the Company’s website at www.artsway-mfg.com/
Cautionary Statements
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements made in this release that are not strictly statements of historical facts, including our expectations regarding: (i) our business position; (ii) the impact of cost-cutting measures; (iii) future results; and (iv) the benefits of our business model, are forward-looking statements. Statements of anticipated future results are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: customer demand for our products; credit-worthiness of our customers; our ability to operate at lower expense levels; our ability to complete projects in a timely and efficient manner in accordance with customer specifications; our ability to renew or obtain financing on reasonable terms; domestic and international economic conditions; factors affecting the strength of the agricultural sector; the cost of raw materials; unexpected changes to performance by our operating segments; and other factors detailed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Actual results may differ markedly from management’s expectations. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update forward-looking statements other than as required by law.
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