FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMEX: WOC
Wilshire Enterprises, Inc. Announces Results
for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2004
JERSEY CITY, N.J., November 12, 2004 -- Wilshire Enterprises, Inc. (“Wilshire” or the “Company”)
(Amex: WOC) announced today the results for the quarter ended September 30, 2004 (“Q3-2004”) and the nine month
period ended September 30, 2004.
Three Month Results: Revenues from Operations and Income from Operations were $2,963,000
and $48,000 for Q3-2004, respectively, as compared to $2,869,000 and $193,000, respectively, for the quarter ended September
30, 2003 (“Q3-2003”). Operating expenses were $1,745,000 in Q3-2004,
nearly equivalent to operating expenses of $1,755,000 in Q3-2003. Operating expenses
in Q3-2004 included increased expenditures for capital and maintenance items to reposition and strengthen the properties within
their targeted markets. General and administrative expenses increased by $268,000
in Q3-2004 as compared to Q3-2003 due in part to severance expense of $57,000 and an “odd-lot” stock repurchase
program expense of $40,000 that enabled stockholders owning less than 100 shares to sell their stock to the Company.
Sherry Wilzig Izak, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of the Company, commented: "In the third quarter the Company began the critically important but challenging
task of creating a new senior management team with Dan Pryor as President and Chief Operating Officer effective July 1, 2004
and Seth
Ugelow as Chief Financial Officer. Under Dan’s leadership the Company in
Q3-2004 has strengthened its management team while reducing the headcount in the corporate office. The corporate payroll reduction is continuing in the fourth quarter of 2004.
“I am pleased to report the growth in
the Company’s Revenues from Operations increasing in the Q3-2004 over Q3-2003 by 3.3%. In general we are seeing an improvement
in revenues from our core operating properties. Real estate operating expenses
were impacted in Q3-2004 by the Company’s focus on repositioning and improving certain properties.”
Income from Operations was a loss of $146,000
in Q3-2004 compared with income of $1,244,000 in Q3-2003. The latter quarter
included a pre-tax gain of $2,360,000 from the sale of marketable securities.
The Company had a loss of $375,000 from Discontinued
Operations, net of tax, in Q3-2004, as compared to income from Discontinued Operations of $503,000 in Q3-2003. Overall, Wilshire reported a net loss of $521,000
or $0.07 per diluted share in Q3-2004, as compared with net income of $1,747,000, or $0.22 per diluted share in Q3-2003. The results from discontinued operations reflected gains from the sale of real
estate properties and the oil and gas business and the operating results of these operations for the quarter.
Nine Month Results: Revenues from Operations and Income from Operations were $8,904,000
and $799,000 for the first nine months of 2004, respectively, as compared to $8,526,000 and $685,000, respectively, for the
first nine months of 2003. Income from Continuing Operations was
a loss of $252,000 for the first nine months of 2004 compared with income of $1,543,000 for the first nine months of 2003. The first nine months of 2003
included pre-tax gains of $2,621,000 from the sale of securities and $1,000,000 in insurance proceeds received by the Company
as beneficiary of life insurance policies on the life of the Company’s former consultant, Chairman and President, Siggi B. Wilzig.
The Company earned $3,353,000 from Discontinued
Operations, net of tax, in the first nine months of 2004, as compared to $1,483,000 in the first nine months of 2003. Overall,
Wilshire reported net income of $3,101,000 or $0.39 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2004, as compared with net income of $3,026,000,
or $0.38 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2003.
Stock Purchases: During Q3-2004, the Company purchased 30,431 shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $154,000. The majority of the
shares acquired were from stockholders who at the time owned less than 100 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company believes that due to this share repurchase program, in which it retired
more than 1,600 accounts, it will benefit from savings in various recurring stockholder costs such as stock transfer agent
fees, and the mailing of annual reports and proxy statements. In October 2004, the Company purchased an additional 6,800 shares of its common stock in the open market at an aggregate cost
of $35,000.
ABOUT WILSHIRE ENTERPRISES:
Wilshire is an American Stock Exchange
listed corporation engaged primarily in the acquisition, ownership and management of real estate investments in the United States including Arizona, Florida,
Texas and New Jersey.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT:
The non-historical statements in this
press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from such projections. Such risks and uncertainties include uncertainties inherent in any attempt to purchase or sell one
or more real estate properties at an acceptable price, environmental risks relating to the Company’s real estate properties,
competition, the substantial capital expenditures required to fund the Company’s real estate operations, market and
economic changes in areas where the Company holds real estate properties, interest rate fluctuations, the possibility that
business or market factors cause the Company to vary from its current plans, the impact of changing economic conditions, and
other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's 2003 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For stockholder inquiries: please contact
Dan Pryor at 201-420-2796.
SOURCE: Wilshire Enterprises (WOC)
