FREMONT, Calif., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
ESS Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESST), the world's leading provider of DVD and
VCD chips today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the
company to repurchase, at market prices and as market conditions warrant, up
to 5,000,000 shares of ESS common stock. The stock will be repurchased on the
open market from time to time at management's discretion. The 5,000,000 shares
authorized for repurchase today are in addition to approximately
600,000 shares that remain available for repurchase under ESS's previously
announced repurchase plan of May 7, 2002, whereby ESS announced a share
repurchase of 3,000,000 shares, of which approximately 2,400,000 were
repurchased prior to June 30, 2002.
Robert Blair, president and chief executive officer of ESS Technology
commented, "We believe that ESS is succeeding in achieving our strategy and
objectives, including becoming the number one supplier of DVD and VCD chips
worldwide. We believe our stock is very undervalued and provides an attractive
opportunity to reduce the outstanding shares and enhance shareholder value."
Mr. Blair concluded, "ESS is a solid company with a strong balance sheet
and holds the leading position in the fast-growing digital video market
worldwide. We believe our strategy of becoming the leading consumer digital
entertainment supplier is working. We are comfortable with the revenue and
earnings guidance given at our July 24th conference call, when we reiterated
our previous third quarter guidance of $86 - $90 million, and as we stated at
that time, we expect to continue to grow our DVD shipments during this
quarter. We believe our market leadership position, our strong technology, and
the new products scheduled for introduction during the coming year will enable
our company to continue to be a leading player in the growing consumer digital
entertainment market."
About ESS Technology
ESS Technology, Inc., is a leading supplier of high-performance
feature-rich products for the rapidly growing DVD and digital entertainment
markets. The company is also a leading provider of products that enable the
emergence of digital home systems delivering and managing entertainment and
information in the home.
ESS, headquartered in Fremont, California, has R&D, sales, and technical
support offices worldwide. ESS Technology's common stock is traded on the
Nasdaq under the symbol ESST. ESS Technology's web site address is:
http://www.esstech.com .
The matters discussed in this news release include certain forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely availability
and acceptance of the Company's new products, the dependence on continued
growth in demand for consumer multimedia products, and the other risks
detailed from time to time in the SEC reports of ESS, including the reports on
Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results could differ materially from those
projected in the forward-looking statements.
NOTE: All product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of
their respective owners.
SOURCE ESS Technology, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.esstech.com
CONTACT:
Investor Relations of ESS Technology, Inc.,
+1-510-492-1180; or media, Rebecca Mack of Fleishman-Hillard,
+1-213-489-8221, for ESS Technology, Inc.
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