Polaris announces 2010 second quarter financial results and conference call

VANCOUVER, Aug. 9 /CNW/ - Polaris Minerals Corporation (TSX:PLS) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. All financial results are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

Sales in the second quarter of 2010 were 344,000 tons generating revenue of $4.72 million, compared to sales of 487,000 tons and revenue of $6.22 million in the comparable prior year quarter. Sales for the first six months of 2010 increased by 3.9% to 720,000 tons compared with sales of 693,000 tons for the prior year with revenue increasing by 5% to $9.61 million from $9.14 million in 2009. Underlying prices for the Company's construction aggregates products, net of fuel cost adjustments, remain stable.

The Company incurred a net loss in the quarter of $3.24 million ($0.06 loss per share) compared with a net loss of $3.34 million ($0.06 loss per share) in the second quarter last year. The primary reason for the ongoing losses is the low volume of sales. The net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2010 was $9.74 million ($0.18 per share) compared to a loss of $4.73 million ($0.09 per share) in the comparative quarter in 2009, however, the loss for the six month period was negatively impacted by a one-time net charge of $4.49 million as a result of restructuring the Company's two long-term shipping contracts.

At June 30, 2010, the Company had working capital of $7.09 million including cash of $2.7 million.

The Company had an Adjusted EBITDA loss for the quarter of $1.44 million ($0.03 loss per share) compared with $1.81 million ($0.03 loss per share) in the prior year. For the six month periods ended June 30, 2010 and 2009, the Adjusted EBIDTA was consistent at a $0.04 loss per share.

Herb Wilson, President and CEO, commented: "We increased sales for the first half year despite US government statistics recording a further drop in demand in California of 13% in the first quarter. However, we have been disappointed that the various infrastructure economic stimulus programs have yet to create the turnaround in prospects that had been widely anticipated and slightly reduced customer requirements for the third quarter have now given rise to a prudent provision for deadfreight charges arising against the annual total shipments". He continued: "We were pleased to secure a lease on the Berth D-44 terminal site in the Port of Long Beach which allows us to continue with the sale process for the freehold land jointly owned on Pier B. This land sale will provide a significant cash boost to treasury but is unlikely to be completed before the first quarter of 2011, therefore the Company's immediate focus is on liquidity. We remain committed to the long term business plan and are exploring a number of avenues to protect our position while awaiting the eventual effects of the stimulus plans and economic recovery".

This financial summary should be read in conjunction with the Company's June 30, 2010 Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, both of which are available on www.sedar.com as well as the Company's website, www.polarmin.com.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call Tuesday August 10, 2010 at 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time. Details to access the call live are as follows:

    
    -   Via telephone by calling 888-231-8191 in North America or
        647-427-7450 internationally.

    - Via webcast at:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=3167120
    

The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the call at the above noted link. The conference call will also be recorded and available for replay at 11:00 am PDT and will be available until August 24, 2010. To access the replay, dial 1-800-642-1687 or 416-849-0833 and use access code 90420809 to hear the recording.

Polaris Minerals Corporation is exclusively focused on the development of quarries and the production of construction aggregates in British Columbia for marine transport to urban markets on the Pacific coasts of North America to meet growing local supply deficits. In 2007, Polaris began shipping sand and gravel from the Orca Quarry to San Francisco Bay, Vancouver and Hawaii.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements and information appear in this document and include estimates, forecasts, information and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things the future financial or operating performance of the Company, costs and timing of the development of the construction aggregate quarry, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital and operating expenditures, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of quarrying operations, environmental risks, reclamation expenses, and title disputes. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "should", "plans", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "budget", and "scheduled" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Annual Report and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form (AIF) in respect of its financial year-ended December 31, 2009, both of which are filed with Canadian regulators on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.

For further information: Herb Wilson, President and CEO, or Lisa Dea, VP Finance and CFO, Polaris Minerals Corporation, Tel: [phone], [email protected]