Jones Soda Sees Revenue Decrease of 18% in Q3

Seattle, Nov. 5 - Jones Soda Co., a leader in the premium soda category and known for its unique branding and innovative marketing, today announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. The Company reported a net loss of $1.5 million, or ($0.06) per share, for the third quarter 2009, an improvement of 72% over the third quarter 2008 net loss of $5.3 million, or ($0.20) per share.

“Our third quarter bottom-line results show meaningful improvement over the same period last year and represent our best performance in the last nine quarters, underscoring the positive progress we have made during the past 12 months to streamline our business,” commented Joth Ricci, President & Chief Executive Officer.

Third Quarter Review

• Revenue decreased 18% to $7.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, compared to $8.7 million in the third quarter of 2008.
• Gross profit increased 57% to $1.5 million or 21% of sales for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, compared to $966,000, or 11% of sales in the corresponding period a year ago.
• Operating expenses decreased 51% to $3.0 million, compared to the corresponding period a year ago and were benefited by cost containment measures undertaken over the last year, including an additional reduction in workforce during the third quarter of approximately 30%.
• Cash used in operations during the quarter decreased significantly to $823,000, versus cash used in operations of $3.8 million during the prior year period.

“With emphasis on higher margin sales opportunities for our Jones Soda glass bottles along with the restructuring of our sales and marketing platform, we have been able to drive improved bottom-line results on planned lower case volumes,” continued Mr. Ricci. “Importantly, several new product extensions within our core glass business have performed well at retail, including Jones Jumble and Jones Refresco de Caña Pura. Additionally, our gross margin and operating expenses are both dramatically improved versus a year ago, and as a result, we significantly reduced our use of cash in the quarter.”

Mr. Ricci, concluded, “We are proud of our year-over-year performance and are encouraged by a number of recent distribution wins. With the upcoming launch of new packaging and products, we are striving to generate top-line momentum as we head into next year.”

Balance Sheet

As of September 30, 2009, the Company had cash and cash-equivalents of approximately $6.1 million and working capital of $11.3 million. Cash used in operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 totaled $6.2 million, of which $823,000 was used in the quarter ended September 30, 2009. The Company traditionally uses more cash in the first half of the year as inventory is built to support the historically seasonally-stronger shipping months of April through September, and expects the amount of cash used by operating activities to decrease in the second half of the year as receivables generated during its stronger shipping months are collected. As of September 30, 2009, inventories were $3.9 million compared to $6.8 million as of September 30, 2008; the $3.9 million does not include the long term portion of GABA raw materials purchased in conjunction with the Company’s Pharma GABA supply agreement which is classified in other assets.

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