Cereplast Announces 2012 Second Quarter Financial Results

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Aug. 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cereplast, Inc. (Nasdaq:CERP), a leading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, sustainable bioplastics, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2012.

"Bringing liquidity into our company and controlling our costs has remained the focus of the entire management team," stated Cereplast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Frederic Scheer. "We continue to make progress with our partner in India to distribute the Cereplast Hybrid Resins® products. We remain excited about this relationship, as we believe it will resolve our receivables issue in the near term while opening the door to multiple revenue generating opportunities. I recently visited Hyderabad with key members from Cereplast's senior management team; we met with our partners in India to review the strategy and progress to date. Based on the trials that have been completed, several parties have been identified that are interested in purchasing up to 2000 tons per month depending on the application."

Mr. Scheer continued, "Although the financial constraints forced us to conserve our working capital, we have maintained our existing research and development capability, and as a result we have been awarded patent protection for high heat resistant polymer composition formulations having polylactic acid. This further improvement of our already valuable intellectual property portfolio, coupled with new distribution agreements with Albis to distribute bioplastic resins in the United Kingdom and Ireland, enables us to maintain our optimism for the future of Cereplast."

Second Quarter 2012 and Recent Highlights:

• The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Cereplast patent protection for high heat resistant polymer compositions having polylactic acid (PLA). PLA has limitations in terms of melt strength and heat resistance, which has restricted its use for high temperature applications. In contrast, Cereplast's high heat PLA compositions can be industrially compostable and can retain their structural properties at temperatures greater than 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).
• Entered into a distribution agreement with Hamburg, Germany-based ALBIS PLASTIC GMBH to supply Cereplast bioplastic resins to the United Kingdom and Ireland. Cereplast has shipped the first purchase order to ALBIS PLASTIC, who will distribute both Cereplast Compostables ^® resins, with an emphasis on blown film grades and blow molding grades, as well as Cereplast Sustainables ^® resins, including the Cereplast Hybrid Resins ^® product line. This contract signifies the growing demand in Europe for bioplastic resins, and expands Cereplast's foothold on the continent.

2012 Second Quarter and First Six Months Financial Results:

Net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2012 were approximately $190,000, compared to $7.6 million for the same period in 2011. Net sales for the first six months of 2012 totaled $293,000 as compared to $14.9 million for the first six months of 2011. The decrease in sales over the prior year was due to our planned transition of all our sales and marketing resources, as well as senior management's efforts toward recovery of past due accounts receivables from our customers and minimizing any additional exposure to our accounts receivable credit risk. Our current period sales were primarily to our established existing U.S. customers with low risk credit limits and prepaid shipments of sample material.

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