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Worldwide Equipment Corp. Reports Fiscal 1998 Results

18 January 1999

Worldwide Equipment Corp. Reports Fiscal 1998 Results; CFO Becomes Interim President

    ARDSLEY, N.Y.--Jan. 15, 1999--Worldwide Equipment Corp. (OTC/BB:WWDE) and its subsidiaries Aro of America, Inc., and International Tractor Co. Inc., today released its financial results for the fiscal year ended August 31, 1998. The company reported a net loss of $11,271,051 with an imputed non-cash preferred stock dividend (attributed to its February, 1998 private placement) bringing the net loss used in the earnings per share calculation to $14.871,061, or $5.75 loss per share on revenues of $7,844,767, versus a net loss of $1,693,913, or $1.06 loss per share for the year ended August 31, 1997. The results of both periods include losses for discontinued operations.
    Worldwide Equipment attributed the majority of the loss for fiscal 1998 to poor operating performance and the write-down of assets of Worldwide's International Tractor Division as well as to non-cash financing costs associated with Aro's investment in the ARO 4X4 SUV project.
    The company also announced a change in its chief executive. Eliat Lev will resign as president and chairman of the board of directors to concentrate on rebuilding International Tractor. Mitchell Hymowitz, the company's Chief Financial Officer, will act as interim president and chairman. Worldwide. is currently seeking additional debt and equity financing and has implemented cost reductions. Worldwide is also in the process of analyzing potential business acquisitions to complement its Aro investment.
    Interim President Mitchell Hymowitz stated, "Miami-based East European Imports, our partially-owned subsidiary, is presently in the most critical stage of the ARO project's history. Management is optimistic that the remaining critical elements relating to the production of the vehicle can be resolved. If so, the upside potential for this attractively-priced niche vehicle in the U.S.A. and other Western Hemisphere markets remains very strong. Unfortunately, to accomplish this it is necessary to first go through tremendous growing pains, enduring substantial risk to achieve our goals."

    (Table Follows)

                       Worldwide Equipment Corp.
                           Financial Summary
                         year ended August 31
                                         
                                        1998              1997
                                        ----              ----
Revenues                             $7,844,767       $14,458,795
Net Loss (after taxes             
  & fully diluted)                 $(14,871,051)      $(1,693,913)
Per-share loss                           $(5.75)           $(1.06)
Shares Outstanding:
      common                          4,001,041         2,096,374
      Preferred Convertible             900,000                -0-

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    When used in this release, the words "should", "expect", "anticipate", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements express certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements.