Tennant Earnings Buoyed By New Cleaning Technology

Minneapolis, MN, July 30, 2009--Tennant Company reported net earnings of $3 million, or $0.16 per share, on second quarter net sales of $148.6 million

Last year, Tennant reported net earnings of $8.3 million, or $0.44 per share, on net sales of $193.6 million.

"Although the global economic climate remained difficult in the second quarter, affecting sales across all of our geographies, we are pleased with the sequential quarter increases the company posted in revenues and also in operating profit margin, driven by our successful efforts to lower our cost structure," said CEO Chris Killingstad.

For the six months ended June 30, Tennant reported a net loss of $38.7 million, or a loss of $2.10 per diluted share, on net sales of $277.2 million.

The loss included a non-cash pretax goodwill impairment charge of $43.4 million, or a $2.32 loss per share, and a $1.3 million pretax benefit, or a gain of $0.07 per share.

Excluding the charges, the company's net earnings would have been $2.4 million, or $0.15 per share.

Tennant continued to focus on leveraging awareness and sales of its breakthrough ec-H2O(TM) chemical-free cleaning technology in the second quarter.

Tennant's ec-H2O technology converts plain tap water into a powerful cleaning agent without any added chemicals.

"Sales of our proprietary ec-H2O technology are growing and exceeding our expectations, despite the weak economy, as customers are looking for environmental solutions that also make good business sense," said Killingstad.
"We are pleased that ec-H2O is opening doors to entirely new accounts for Tennant."

In the 2009 second quarter, Tennant announced the availability of its ec-H2O technology in a hand-held spray device.

The company said it plans to introduce this technology on a total of five rider-scrubbers this year.

Sales of new products introduced in the past three years generated approximately 47 percent of equipment sales during the 2009 second quarter and 46 percent in the 2009 first half. The company expects to maintain its spending on research and development at its current targeted level of 3 percent to 4 percent of net sales annually.