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Itronics Cuts Losses 8.36%

by Alan Fein Senior Staff Reporter

Itronics, Inc. (OTCBB: ITRO) year ending December 31, 2003 reflected a net income of (2,849,442) verses (3,109,931) in 2002, an 8.36% improvement.

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March 31, 2004 (AXcess News) Reno NV- Photochemical recycler, Itronics, Inc. (OTCBB: ITRO) year ending December 31, 2003 reflected a net income of (2,849,442) verses (3,109,931) in 2002, an 8.36% improvement.

The consolidated net loss for 2003 was $2,752,291 or $0.026 per share compared to a 2002 loss of $3,290,562 or $0.039 per share. The primary reasons for the decreased loss are reduced cost of sales and operating expenses combined with an increase in gain on sale of investments.

When asked about the Company's financial results Dr. John Whitney, President, Itronics, Inc. said, "Last year was a foundation building year which really set the stage for the sales increases we're seeing this year."

Itronics recently announced that it expected sales of its Nevada Silver Miner Bars to double in the first quarter. Itronics, through its subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc., is the only company in the world with the technology to extract more than 99 percent of the silver and virtually all the other toxic heavy metals from used photoliquid.

The beautifully crafted, 5 troy ounce, 99.9 percent pure Silver Nevada Miner bar is the only 5 troy ounce silver bar currently being manufactured and sold in the United States. With silver prices on the rise, Itronics has raised the price of its silver bars, pushing demand by collectors even higher.

On February 23, Itronics announced that it expected bulk sales of its GOLD'n Gro liquid fertilizers to double as well in the first quarter of 2004. "Our sales in January and February to date already exceed the entire first quarter of 2003 and could double last year's first quarter," said Dr. John Whitney, Itronics President.

Whitney attributed the anticipated results would be fulfilled when the first quarter figures were released. "Fertilizer sales are increasing because there is broader distribution with more people involved in product sales, both new accounts and existing distributors."

Whitney went on to say that, "After a substantial price increase in silver this year we're noticing increased demand for our Nevada Silver Miner Bars by collectors and investors alike."

With the boom in digital camera sales more photos are being printed by retail photo shops, such as Fuji (NASDAQ: FUJYI) who has seen robust growth in digital photo development.

Today's digital photos are produced on a variety of media, including silver-halide, which is a heavy-metal recovered by Itronics photochemical recycling process. Through agreements with retail photo development stores, Itronics collects the fluids, extracting silver and other heavy metals through its proprietary process and selling the remaining fluids as liquid fertilizer under the brand name GOLD'n GRO.

According to Lyra Research, total direct prints from consumer digital cameras will grow from 4.5 billion prints in 2001 to 11.8 billion prints in 2005 worldwide and that number may be low (See, "Low-cost digital cameras fueling photo-imaging industry").

That growth is fueling the amount of liquids being made available to Itronics. Whitney stated that supply growth was in parallel to the increase in photo development.

While Itronics recovers 99% of the silver from photochemical recycling, the Company noted that demand for its Silver Nevada Miner Bars exceeded that supply source, forcing the company to buy ingot on the open market to meet demand.

In prior years, Itronics had sold out its entire stock of limited edition 5 ounce silver bars, forcing collectors to pay as high as 200% over its retail price from other collectors. With current demand laying heavy on the Company AXcess News believes this year's limited edition manufacturing will be no different. Itronics had already increased the price of its silver bars once since January and if silver prices continue to push upward, as many Wall Street analysts predict, Itronics' Silver Nevada Miner Bars will most likely go up again.

Silver closed Wednesday at $7.74, up 13.9%.

Itronics closed Wednesday at $0.161, down $0.019 or 10.56%, as investors took profits following the company's year end results. Shares of ITRO had climbed 29.03% since AXcess News first reported on the company December 17, 2003. Wednesday's profit-taking volume put Itronics only 3.9% up over that initial news coverage's closing price.

With first quarter figures anticipated to reflect improved results investors may once again rally behind the photochemical recycler's shares.

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