ALPHARETTA, GA -- Exide Technologies has announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2006, which ended December 31, 2005.

Consolidated net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 increased slightly to $733.4 million from $727.9 million during the same period a year ago. Higher sales volumes in the company's Industrial Energy business and the favorable impact of lead surcharges and other pricing actions were largely offset by changes in currency rates, which negatively impacted the company's net sales for the quarter by approximately $35.9 million.

Consolidated net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 was $27.7 million, including $6.5 million in restructuring costs and $1.3 million in bankruptcy-related costs. During the same period in fiscal 2005, the company recorded a net loss of $439 million, including a $399 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge and a tax valuation charge of $35.4 million.

"Although we are far from satisfied with our performance during the third quarter, there were clearly some bright spots for Exide," said Gordon Ulsh, president and CEO. "First, the motive and network power segments in both Industrial Energy divisions continue to provide profitable growth. Second, the reorganization that we launched last spring and the Take Charge! program initiated in late summer are providing tangible benefits in terms of reduced costs and improved efficiency. Third, we continued on a disciplined review of our customer contracts to determine which business meets our profitability requirements and which business we should discontinue if it no longer contributes to our profitable growth. Fourth, the payback from price increases and lead escalators that we began implementing months ago in response to rising commodity costs are now showing up on our bottom line."

The price of lead on the London Metal Exchange (LME) averaged $976 per metric tonne during the third quarter of fiscal 2006 compared with $893 during the previous quarter and an average of $901 during the third quarter of fiscal 2005. In the fourth quarter, the company is dealing with lead prices that have risen as high as $1,414 per metric tonne on the LME.

Exide uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of the company's operational and financial performance because the company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a useful adjunct to net income (loss) and other measurements under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") because it is a meaningful measure of the company's performance, as interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization can vary significantly between companies due in part to differences in accounting policies, tax strategies, levels of indebtedness, capital purchasing practices and interest rates. Adjusted EBITDA also assists management in evaluating operating performance, is used to evaluate performance under the company's senior secured bank facility, and is sometimes used to evaluate performance for executive compensation. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and restructuring charges.

The company's Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $41.1 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2006 from $52 million during the same period a year ago. The results were driven principally by lower sales in the European Transportation business, as well as the absence of some one-time items that benefited the company during the prior-year period. The results also include negative currency impacts of $2.6 million.

On a comparative basis, the results reported during the third quarter of fiscal 2005 included a $7.5 million benefit associated with an insurance payment following a fire at the company's Bad Lauterberg manufacturing plant in Germany, a portion of which was related to property damage. In addition, the prior-year third quarter benefited from the recognition of $3 million of previously deferred income on a customer contract that ended and the company had fulfilled its obligations in the period.

A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income reported under GAAP has been included in the financial supplements of this earnings release.

For more information about Exide, go to: www.exide.com .

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