September 23, 2002 - ZTEST ANNOUNCES MANUFACTURING CONTRACT
NORTH YORK, September 23, 2002 - ZTEST Electronics Inc. ("ZTEST" or the "Corporation") (TSXVE - "YZT") is pleased to announce that its operating subsidiary Permatech Electronics Corporation ("Permatech") has entered into a long term manufacturing agreement with a leading provider of point-of-sale terminals. The terms of this agreement provide for Permatech to manufacture, including component procurement and test the client's product. The contract is estimated to be in the $800,000 range for the first year of the agreement, with expected increase thereafter.
The Corporation is also pleased to confirm that in spite of a general slowdown in the electronics manufacturing industry, Permatech's orders remained stable, and are now beginning to increase. As of the end of the second calendar quarter of 2002, the company increased its number of actively serviced accounts by 35% compared to the first calendar quarter. Permatech has been actively marketing itself as the vendor of choice for customers that require high quality, quick-turn, small and medium size production runs for both turnkey and consignment orders. This increased marketing activity has provided the opportunity for the company to bid on a number of new orders.
"I hope this update provides our stakeholders with some more insight into the state of the company's operations. While we have been relatively quiet with announcements lately, it is not because activity at the company has slowed" commented Ted Drzazga, company CEO. "The overall sentiment in the electronics market is still cautious but customers are actively looking at ways to cut costs through outsourcing. We are very pleased with the number of new potential customers in our pipeline, the industry diversity of the customer base and overall size of the potential orders."
In an effort to keep stakeholders better informed of its activities and progress, ZTEST will start posting corporate updates on its website at www.ztest.com on a regular monthly basis. The first update will be available by October 8, 2002. Henceforth, only material changes will be communicated via press release in accordance with securities laws and the TSX Venture Exchange disclosure policies. Interested parties should check ZTEST's website or contact Investor Relations (details below) to receive future updates by e-mail, mail or fax.
About Permatech Electronics Corp.
Permatech Electronics Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZTEST Electronics Inc. (TSXVE:YZT), is an ISO 9002 certified Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider founded in 1982. Permatech offerings includes Materials Management, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly, Testing and Design services. Permatech operates from a 20,000 square foot facility in North York, Ontario, Canada. The company serves customers in the Medical, Power, Computer, Telecommunication, Wireless, Industrial and Consumer Electronics markets requiring high quality, quick-turn, small and medium size production runs.
For more information contact Investor Relations:
Flora Wood or Philip Williams
(416) 366-0012 or 1 (866) 505-5035
email: info@ztest.com
The current issued and outstanding capital of ZTEST is 31,772,210 common shares.
The Canadian Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.