WASHINGTON, NC -- 10/01/08 --
In accordance with Section 610(b) of the
American Stock Exchange Company Guide, Fountain Powerboat Industries, Inc.
(AMEX: FPB) (the "Company") today announced that the audit report of its
independent registered public accounting firm, Gregory & Associates LLC,
included in Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 2008, while expressing an unqualified opinion regarding the
Company's audited financial statements, identified matters which the audit
report stated raised substantial doubt about the Company's ability to
continue as a going concern. The Company discussed its plans to address
those matters in Note 15 to the financial statements included in the Form
10-K.
The Company's announcement was required by the American Stock Exchange's
rules and does not represent any change or amendment to the Company's
fiscal 2008 financial statements or to its Annual Report on Form 10-K,
which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September
29, 2008.
About Fountain Powerboat Industries, Inc.
Fountain Powerboat Industries, Inc. has its executive offices and
manufacturing facilities along the Pamlico River in Beaufort County, North
Carolina. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fountain
Powerboats, Inc., designs, manufactures and sells offshore sport boats,
sport fishing boats and express cruisers that target the segment of the
recreational power boat market where speed, performance, safety and quality
are the main criteria for purchase. These recreational boats are based
upon an innovative, award-winning design enabling world class performance
while using standard reliable power. There are currently 12 buildings
located on 65 acres totaling over 237,000 square feet, accommodating 40 to
45 boats in various stages of construction at any one time. The present
plant site can also accommodate up to 300,000 square feet of additional
manufacturing space. The land and buildings are wholly owned by Fountain
Powerboat Industries, Inc. and its subsidiary, Fountain Powerboats, Inc.
For more information, visit www.fountainpowerboats.com.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report contains forward-looking as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
statements concerning our plans, strategies, economic performance and
trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments,
expectations or beliefs about future events or results, and other
statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, and they may
include words such as "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "intend," "believe,"
"may," "should," "could" or "estimate," or similar terms or the negative of
these terms, or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of our
management about future events. These statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our
historical results or expectations expressed or implied by the statements
as of the date of this filing. The potential risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to: our inability to fully implement plans and
strategies to restore the Company's profitable operations and continue as a
going concern or in the Plan that, as previously reported, we submitted to
the American Stock Exchange to regain compliance with requirements for the
continued listing of the Company's common stock; delays and unexpected
costs for beginning construction of Baja boats; higher than expected costs
to build boats; defects in acquired assets; lower than expected future
market demand for Baja and Fountain boats; the volatile and competitive
nature of the industry; the level of market interest rates; changes in
general economic conditions and in the marine industry; and changes in
domestic and international market conditions, foreign exchange rates and
pressures on lenders related to current and future problems in credit
markets. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements in this report are reasonable, they represent
our management's judgments only as of the date they are made. Caution
should be taken not to place undue reliance on the Company's
forward-looking statements because we cannot guarantee future results,
events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly
qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph.
Further information on the factors and risks that could affect our
business, financial condition and results of operations are discussed in
reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission which are
available at (http://www.sec.gov).
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Irving L. Smith
Chief Financial Officer
252.975.7004
ismith@fountainpowerboats.com
