IEC Electronics : Announces Fiscal 2021 Third Quarter Results Revenue of $49.4 Million in the Quarter; Up 4.2% Quarter Over Quarter

Newark, New York, August 12, 2021 - IEC Electronics Corp. (Nasdaq: IEC) today announced results for the fiscal third quarter ended July 2, 2021 of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021 ('fiscal 2021'). Earlier today, IEC announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Creation Technologies Inc. ('Creation') under which Creation will acquire all outstanding shares of IEC for $15.35 per share in cash. For further information, please refer to the press release issued by IEC and Creation. In light of this announcement, IEC has determined that it will not host its earnings call previously scheduled for today, August 12, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

IEC reported revenues of $49.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of 4.2% as compared to revenues of $47.4 million for the third quarter of the year ended September 30, 2020 ('fiscal 2020'). Gross profit for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 was $5.2 million, or 10.6% of sales, compared to gross profit of $6.6 million, or 14.0% of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Operating profit was $1.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, compared to operating profit of $3.0 million for the same quarter in the prior fiscal year. The Company reported net income of $1.0 million or $0.10 per basic share and $0.09 per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, compared net income of $2.1 million or $0.20 per basic and diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal 2020.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2021, the Company reported revenues of $142.2 million, an increase of 4.4% compared to $136.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2020. Gross profit for the first nine months of fiscal 2021 was $14.3 million, or 10.0% of sales, compared to gross profit of $17.4 million, or 12.8% of sales in the same period in the prior fiscal year. Selling and administrative expenses were $10.4 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2021, or 7.3% of sales, compared to $10.2 million, or 7.5% of sales, in the first nine months of fiscal 2020. Operating profit was $3.9 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2021, compared to $7.2 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Due primarily to the investments in both the Company's new headquarters facility and incremental manufacturing equipment, operating profit for the first nine months of fiscal 2021 includes $1.0 million of additional depreciation expense as compared to the first nine months of fiscal 2020. The Company reported net income of $2.2 million, or $0.21 per basic share and $0.20 per diluted share for the first nine months of fiscal 2021, compared to net income of $4.8 million, or $0.46 per basic share and $0.45 per diluted share in the first nine months of fiscal 2020. As previously discussed, adjusted for the impact of a one-time inventory reserve in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, adjusted net income per common share would have been $0.54 per basic share and $0.52 per diluted share in the first nine months of fiscal 2020. Please see the reconciliation tables included in this release for further information regarding these non-GAAP measures.

Jeffrey T. Schlarbaum, President and CEO of IEC Electronics Corp. commented, 'We were pleased to have delivered solid revenue growth during the third quarter of fiscal 2021 of $49.4 million, despite headwinds that we, and many in our industry, are experiencing related to ongoing material shortages and labor constraints. During the fiscal quarter we continued to ramp multiple exciting new programs. As we noted last fiscal quarter, given the complexity of the programs we service, the ramping process is not linear and frequently includes process development adaptations which continue to impact profitability. However, once established, we anticipate that these programs will provide considerable long-term revenue and margin opportunity for IEC. As the economy moves beyond the pandemic, we are encouraged by the increased backlog as compared to year-end fiscal 2020 and a solid book to bill ratio of 1.76:1 in the third fiscal quarter, which included a contract extension valued at more than $45 million from a longstanding customer. We believe this recent contract extension serves as a strong endorsement of our capabilities and reliability and speaks to IEC's position in the marketplace as we pursue new customers and contracts.

'We believe we remain uniquely positioned to drive long-term growth for our shareholders. IEC is an established manufacturing partner with a proven record of success providing a vertically integrated portfolio of services to companies in attractive and growing sectors such as medical and aerospace and defense. Our 100% U.S.-based model positions IEC as the ideal partner for companies seeking the highest levels of intellectual property protection and supply chain management. We are pleased to have made solid progress throughout this challenging year to advance our leadership position and we are excited about the opportunities we are seeing to win new customers and programs as we move toward delivering an expected strong close to fiscal 2021.'

About IEC Electronics

IEC Electronics is a provider of electronic manufacturing services ('EMS') to advanced technology companies that produce life-saving and mission critical products for the medical, industrial, and aerospace and defense sectors. The Company specializes in delivering technical solutions for the custom manufacture of complex full system assemblies by providing on-site analytical testing laboratories, custom design and test engineering services combined with a broad array of manufacturing services encompassing electronics, interconnect solutions, and precision metalworking. As a full service EMS provider, IEC holds all appropriate certifications for the market sectors it supports including ISO 9001:2015, AS9100D, ISO 13485, and is Nadcap accredited. IEC Electronics is headquartered in Newark, NY and also has operations in Rochester, NY and Albuquerque, NM. Additional information about IEC can be found on its web site at www.iec-electronics.com.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

References in this release to 'IEC,' 'IEC Electronics,' the 'Company,' 'we,' 'our,' or 'us' mean IEC Electronics Corp. and its subsidiaries except where the context otherwise requires. This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'appears,' 'anticipates,' 'could,' 'intends,' 'targets,' 'forecasts,' 'projects,' 'contemplates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential' or 'continue' or the negative of these terms or other similar words or phrases. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future sales, revenues and operating results, future prospects, the capabilities and capacities of business operations, any financial or other guidance and all statements that are not based on historical fact, but rather reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events. The ultimate correctness of these forward-looking statements is dependent upon a number of known and unknown risks and events and is subject to various uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

The following important factors, among others, could affect future results and events, causing those results and events to differ materially from those views expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements: the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, including our supply chain, workforce and customer demand; business conditions and growth or contraction in our customers' industries, the electronic manufacturing services industry and the general economy; our ability to control our material, labor and other costs; our dependence on a limited number of major customers and suppliers; uncertainties as to availability and timing of governmental funding for our customers; the impact of government regulations, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations; unforeseen product failures and the potential product liability claims that may be associated with such failures; technological, engineering and other start-up issues related to new programs and products; variability and timing of customer requirements; the potential consolidation of our customer base; availability of component supplies; dependence on certain industries; the ability to realize the full value of our backlog; the types and mix of sales to our customers; litigation and governmental investigations; intellectual property litigation; variability of our operating results; our ability to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting; the availability of capital and other economic, business and competitive factors affecting our customers, our industry and business generally; failure or breach of our information technology systems; and natural disasters. Any one or more of such risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on us or the value of our common stock. For a further list and description of various risks, relevant factors and uncertainties that could cause future results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

All forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date indicated or as of the date of this release. We do not undertake any obligation to, and may not, publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or which we hereafter become aware of, except as required by law. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time and we cannot predict these events or how they may affect us and cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on our forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.