Pennzoil-Quaker State Company Announces Earnings Release Date, Charges Related To K-Mart & Argentina, and Comfort With Analysts Expectations

HOUSTON, Jan. 23 Pennzoil-Quaker State Company announced today that it will release fourth quarter and full year 2002 results before the market opens on Tuesday, February 5, 2002. The company will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. CST that same day to discuss the earnings release and other matters of interest to the financial community. The conference call can be heard live at www.pennzoil-quakerstate.com and will be available for replay two weeks thereafter.

The company also announced today that it will incur a pretax charge of up to $20 million in the fourth quarter, in addition to the restructuring expenses previously announced in June. The new charges are asset impairments resulting from the write-off of certain receivables related to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of K-Mart, and charges related to the company's operations in Argentina due to that country's currency devaluation.

Excluding special charges, the company reiterated its comfort with the current fourth quarter and full year 2001 consensus earnings estimates of 17 cents per share and 64 cents per share, respectively, for its recurring, continuing operations.

``Obviously, the additional charges announced today are in light of very recent developments and are the appropriate, conservative actions to implement. We are hopeful that K-Mart is successful in its reorganization and expect to maintain a relationship with them,'' said James J. Postl, president and chief executive officer of Pennzoil-Quaker State Company. ``Regarding 2002, we are positive about our prospects. I expect that our earnings will exceed $1 per share for the full year under the new accounting standards and that cash flow will be strong.''

Pennzoil-Quaker State Company is a leading worldwide automotive consumer products company, marketing over 1,300 products with 20 leading brands in more than 90 countries. The company markets Pennzoil® and Quaker State® brand motor oils, the number one and number two selling motor oils in the United States. Jiffy Lube, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, is the world's largest fast lube operator and franchiser.