Consolidated Container Company LLC Reports Financial Results for the First Quarter 2004

Business Wire, April 29, 2004

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2004

Consolidated Container Company LLC announced today that it reported first quarter revenues of approximately $185.4 million, net loss of $3.1 million and Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) of approximately $21.3 million. This compares to revenues of $184.5 million, net loss of $5.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $19.3 million for the same period a year ago. After adjusting for higher average resin prices during the first quarter of 2004 (which higher prices typically increase the Company's revenue as they are passed through to customers), we estimate that revenues would have been approximately $6.8 million less than the first quarter of 2003. The $2.8 million improvement in net loss and the increase in Adjusted EBITDA were both driven primarily by lower direct labor and delivery costs, and lower selling, general and administrative expenses.

The company is reporting Adjusted EBITDA, which it defines as net income (loss) plus interest expense (net of interest income), income taxes, depreciation, amortization (related to lump sum payments on customer contracts, non-compete agreements, and acquired contracts), and other non-cash items such as goodwill impairment, stock compensation expense, and (gain) loss on sale of assets. Adjusted EBITDA is presented because we believe that it provides meaningful additional information concerning our operating results and our ability to service our long-term debt and to fund our growth, and we believe measures similar to Adjusted EBITDA are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of GAAP results, to evaluate the performance of our Company and of other companies in the rigid plastic packaging industry. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities or as a measure of liquidity or an alternative to net income as indicators of our operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. Our method of computation may or may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies.

A reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA is as follows:

                                             Three Months Ended
                                      --------------------------------
                                         March 31,       March 31,
                                           2004             2003
                                      --------------- ----------------

Net loss                              $       (3,096) $        (5,895)
Interest expense                              13,997           14,607
Depreciation                                   9,312            9,542
Amortization                                     317              949
Stock compensation expense (a)                   110              200
Loss (gain) on disposal of assets                705             (135)
                                      --------------- ----------------
Adjusted EBITDA                       $       21,345  $        19,268
                                      =============== ================

(a) Stock compensation expense resulted from our 2002 adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 123.

With regard to the company's release of first quarter results, Steve Macadam, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We continue to see signs of the financial and operational turnaround in the company in our first quarter results. We have seen significant quarter-over-quarter improvements for the last two quarters, and believe this is a result of not only the significant efforts we have put into rebuilding customer relationships and improving our operational performance, but also the fact that we have been successful in securing a significant amount of new business. Based on our expectations for continued improvements in operational performance and continued success in securing new business, we are optimistic that we will continue to see improved results going forward."

Consolidated Container Company LLC, which was created in 1999 through the merger of Reid Plastics Inc. with the domestic plastic packaging operations of Suiza Foods Corporation (a predecessor to Dean Foods Company), is a leading North American developer, manufacturer, and marketer of rigid plastic containers for many of the largest branded consumer products and beverage companies in the world. We have long-term customer relationships with many blue-chip companies including: Dean Foods, DS Waters of America, Kroger, Nestle Waters North America, National Dairy Holdings, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola North America, Quaker Oats, Scotts and Colgate-Palmolive. We serve our customers with a wide range of manufacturing capabilities and services through a nationwide network of 61 strategically located manufacturing facilities and a research, development and engineering center located in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, we have four international manufacturing facilities in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.