STEN Corp. Reports 2008 Second-Quarter Revenue of $4.3 Million and Improved Results From Operations

MINNEAPOLIS, -- STEN Corporation , a Minneapolis-based diversified business, today reported results for its second fiscal quarter comprised of the thirteen week period ended March 30, 2008. The Company reported a net after-tax loss of $502,273 or $(.20) per diluted share for the second quarter period ended March 30, 2008. Revenues from continuing operations for the thirteen week period ended March 30, 2008 were $4,298,816, an increase of approximately 340 percent, or $3,343,120 from $955,696 for comparable period one year ago. The second quarter loss per share represented an improvement of $.15 per share from the first quarter of fiscal 2008. The Company's Stencor business accounted for $629,289, or 14.5%, of total revenue and the STEN Financial unit, including retail vehicle sales, contributed $3,669,527 in revenue for the period ended March 30, 2008. The Company reported a net loss of $1,303,857 or $(.61) per diluted share for the twenty-six weeks ended March 30, 2008. The loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2008 represented financial performance below the Company's previously disclosed plan. The short-fall from our plan resulted from a greater than anticipated number of loan defaults and repossessions from third-party dealer finance contracts and the impact of a delay in shipping certain product at Stencor. The Company has adjusted the approach to its business in the finance area to place a greater emphasis on financing sales from its own locations where it has a greater control of the underwriting process, and in addition it has reduced the level of purchases of finance contracts from third-party auto-dealers where credit performance has been below expectations.

Commenting on the second quarter results and the current outlook, Kenneth Brimmer, CEO, noted, "We are disappointed that we did not achieve our profitability goal in the second quarter and we see this mainly the result of reserves and write-offs related to third-party dealer customers that we no longer are doing business with and where we concluded we needed to recognize additional allowances for credit losses at the end of the period. We continue to make progress in all areas of our businesses. The increased emphasis on our company-initiated financing contracts will be a positive factor in our performance. Building on our recent initiatives, and considering the current trends, we now see revenue in the second half of fiscal 2008 ending September 30, exceeding $10 million and are forecasting after-tax earnings per share from continuing operations for the six month period to be in the range of $.20 per share. As we look ahead to fiscal 2009, we believe that we have improved on our basic business model and see total revenue for the year exceeding $25 million and are forecasting earnings of $.50-$.60 per share."

STEN Corporation and Subsidiaries, headquartered in Minnesota, is a diversified business, primarily focused on its financing business and buy-here pay-here retail vehicle sales business through STEN Financial Corporation. The Company's Stencor business is a contract manufacturing business and distribution business. In addition to manufacturing medical and industrial products, the company manufactures and distributes ZERO BUG ZONE(TM) an environmentally-friendly pest-eliminator and Stencor also distributes Liquid Filter(TM) a unique product which enhances indoor air quality. These products are available at GOBIZ.