Frozen Food Express to Sell Non-Freight Business

Frozen Food Express Industries Inc. (FFEX), Dallas, Texas, announced it has agreed to sell the operating assets of AirPro, its remaining non-freight business.

The assets include accounts receivable, trade names, inventory and equipment.
According to a letter of intent signed yesterday, the assets will be purchased by AirPro Mobile Air LLC, a newly formed limited partnership, which is controlled by two members of AirPro's senior management team. After the transaction closes later this month, FFEX will continue to own 20% of the new limited partnership. AirPro is a distributor of motor vehicle air conditioning parts and systems with headquarters in Mesquite, Texas. Its web site is
www.airproair.com.
The transaction is not expected to have a significant impact on FFEX's 2005 operating results. For the three months ended March 31, 2005, AirPro's operating income was negligible. During 2004, AirPro accounted for 2% of FFEX's consolidated revenue. The sales price approximates net book value of the assets being sold.
Stoney M. (Mit) Stubbs, Jr., chairman and CEO of FFEX, said the sale will conclude an ongoing program to realign the company's operations in light of changes in the market for refrigerated trucking services.
"For some time now we have been working to focus our operations more closely with changing demands of our marketplace. To accomplish this, we directed our attention and our capital more closely to our core business, where we believe we can earn the greatest return on invested capital. The sale of AirPro is an important part of that effort, which began when we sold the largest component of our non-freight operation in December of 2001," Stubbs explained. "When we sold W&B Refrigeration Service Company in 2001, we also retained a minority interest in the acquiring company. As with the current transaction, the former management of W&B was the buyer. The W&B transaction has turned out to be quite beneficial to both the purchaser and to FFEX. We expect to repeat the experience with the AirPro deal."
Separately, FFEX said that it expects to announce its first quarter 2005 operating results in advance of the annual meeting of shareholders, scheduled for May 5, 2005.
FFEX is the largest publicly-owned, temperature-controlled carrier of perishable goods on the North American continent. Its services extend from Canada, throughout the 48 contiguous United States, into Mexico. The refrigerated trucking company is the only one serving this market that is full-service -- providing full-truckload, less-than-truckload and dedicated fleet transportation of refrigerated and frozen products. Its refrigerated less-than-truckload operation is also the largest on the North American continent. The company also provides full-truckload transportation of non-temperature-sensitive goods through its non-refrigerated trucking fleet, American Eagle Lines. For more information, go to www.ffex.net.