SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eco Building Products, Inc., (PINK:ECOB) announced today it has filed its 2016 Annual Report to Shareholders.
To Our Shareholders,
2016 proved to be a year of transformative change for Eco Building Products. Difficult, sometimes painful decisions, had to be made, but the Company was up to the task and steadfast in its mission to disrupt the wood preservation Industry. We have been very deliberate and methodical in transforming Eco from a treated wood products supplier to a developer and manufacturer of cutting edge, environmentally friendly wood preservation chemistry and technology.
In the first quarter, we rationalized our product line in order to drive focus and cohesion across operations and simplicity of the Company’s messaging in the marketplace. Separating Eco Red Shield™ into three levels of protection allowed customers a new menu of options and price points: Eco Red Shield SP™, Eco Red Shield AFL™ and Eco Red Shield FT™. At the same time, we discontinued all confusing and distracting line extensions.
The Company reached an important milestone in the second quarter when its products were certified code compliant by an independent third party, ANSI ISO/IEC 17065 accredited certification body. TERs (technical evaluation reports) have been issued, certifying that our core products Eco FT™ (Fire Treated), Eco Red Shield AFL™ (Advanced Framing Lumber) and Eco Red Shield SP™ (Sill Plate) are fully compliant with 2009, 2012 and 2015 versions of the International Building Code and International Residential Code. Passing the rigorous evaluations required for certification was an important step in establishing Eco as a fully credible leader in the Wood Preservation Industry.
By mid-year and just six months into the new Management Team’s tenure, we were ready to transform the Company’s business model, repositioning Eco to focus on new product development and chemical manufacturing. In January, we took the bold step of closing all of our treating facilities; we moved our headquarters and cut salaried staff by 64%, but this was not draconian – it was transformative and the results are nothing short of impressive.
By April, the new focus delivered the important new product, Spruce Eco Red Shield FT™, expanding our Class “A” fire treated lumber suite. We introduced two new variations of our Eco D-Fence™ wood fencing preservative – in seven new colors. We improved, refined and ultimately reformulated our core wood preservation chemistry WSFC™ (Wood Surface Film Concentrate™) which is now patent pending. And as our crowning achievement to-date, we announced the breakthrough new fire retardant chemistry for fire rated structural sheathing and engineered wood products - Eco FRC EWP™.
Having completely transformed the Company, today we are essentially pre-revenue with a stable of cutting edge new products and more in development. We are in the testing phase with very large national OEM customers, and in final negotiations with others. Our chemistry is proven and certified, and our business model sustainable and scalable. Our Team is focused and driven by very clear direction and inspired by the mission to disrupt the $6 billion Wood Preservation Industry, and more importantly, the over $20 billion Wood Products Industry.
On October 5th, our Shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of a reverse stock split of up to 1:500. Yesterday, October 19th, the Eco Board of Directors passed a 1:100 split. This was not an easy decision for Management or the Board, but one that we believe is a necessary step in Eco’s turnaround and path to recapitalization. Eco is now in position to effectively use the additional stock liquidity to raise the working capital required to commercialize its stream of new products.
Management is humbled by the support of our Shareholders, customers and our people. We are committed to protecting their interests and creating long term, shareholder value. Eco is in perhaps the best position ever, in the history of the Company to do so.
Respectfully,
Tom Comery
President and CEO
About Eco Building Products, Inc.
Eco Building Products, Inc. (Eco) is a manufacturer of proprietary, environmentally conscientious chemistry utilizing patent pending ECOB WoodSurfaceFilm™ and FRC™ technology (Fire Retardant Chemistry). Eco’s products protect against fire, mold/mycotoxins, fungal-decay, wood ingesting insects and termites. Eco is headquartered in San Diego, CA and goes to market through licensed Affiliates nationwide.
Safe Harbor Statement: This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance that may be suggested in this release. ECOB takes no obligation to update or correct forward-looking statements, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties.