HOUSTON, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Universal Compression Holdings,
Inc. (NYSE: UCO), a leading provider of natural gas compression services,
today announced that an estimated 35,000 horsepower of its 2.5 million
horsepower worldwide contract compression fleet is located in the path taken
by Hurricane Katrina. To date, the Company has been informed that two units
totaling approximately 3,000 horsepower have been lost due to storm damage,
but it is reasonable to expect that additional units may be lost or damaged.
With regard to the Company's southern Louisiana-area aftermarket services
locations: Lafayette/Broussard was not impacted and is open for business; the
Houma location suffered what is estimated to be minimal damage and has
partially resumed activities; while damage at the Belle Chasse location is
expected to be minimal, its status remains under assessment due to restricted
access to this area. The Company will continue to assess the impact of
Hurricane Katrina on its operations as additional information becomes
available, and will provide additional disclosure if warranted by that
assessment.
The Company maintains insurance coverage of up to $50 million for
windstorm, property and flood damage and expects to be adequately covered for
losses due to the hurricane, although it is difficult to predict the amount or
timing of any insurance recoveries at this time.
"Our top priority is the safety of our employees that were evacuated due
to the hurricane. Although I am relieved that we have not received any
reports of any serious employee injuries or deaths as a result of this
catastrophe, the effort to make contact with every affected employee
continues. We have established a toll-free hotline, (800) 221-8145, for
affected employees and to provide information for other employees," said
Stephen A. Snider, Universal's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We
remain deeply concerned about all individuals impacted by Hurricane Katrina,
and have announced that the Company will match cash donations made by our
employees to the American Red Cross to help support relief and recovery
efforts."
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements about Universal's outlook and all other statements in this
release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future
events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and factors, many of which
are outside Universal's control, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from such statements. While Universal believes that the assumptions
concerning future events are reasonable, it cautions that there are inherent
difficulties in predicting certain important factors that could impact the
future performance or results of its business.
Universal, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading natural gas
compression services company, providing a full range of contract compression,
sales, operations, maintenance and fabrication services to the domestic and
international natural gas industry.
SOURCE Universal Compression Holdings, Inc.
09/06/2005
CONTACT: David Oatman, Vice President, Investor Relations of Universal
Compression Holdings, Inc., 713-335-7460
4908 09/06/2005 08:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com