XI’AN, China, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ – Sino Clean Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: SCEI – News) (“Sino Clean Energy,” or the “Company”), a leading producer and distributor of coal-water slurry fuel (“CWSF”) in China, today announced that Thornhill Capital LLC (“Thornhill”) recently completed its Asset and Cash Verification Reports for the Audit Committee of the Company.
As previously noted, the Audit Committee engaged Thornhill, an independent third-party evaluation agency, to conduct certain analyses to assist the Audit Committee and its professionals to investigate allegations made by short sellers. Last November, the Company announced Thornhill’s reconciliation of the Company’s tax returns filed with the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and its filings with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) against audited financial information filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission under US GAAP. Since that time, the Audit Committee requested Thornhill to do additional work, and provide additional reports, regarding verification of fixed assets and cash. Thornhill has now completed its analysis and provided its reports on these two additional matters.
With regard to verification of fixed assets, Thornhill based its conclusions on a review of relevant original purchase, bank, and accounting documentation regarding the Company’s fixed assets and a physical viewing of the facilities’ assets. As a result, and based on the scope of its verification, Thornhill concluded in its report dated January 2, 2012 that it is unlikely that the Company’s fixed asset balances as described in the Company’s Form 10-K as of December 31, 2010, and Form 10-Q as of September 30, 2011, are materially misstated.
With regard to verification of the Company’s cash balance Thornhill undertook to make its verifications at December 31 2011 and January 18, 2012 (the date on which it conducted the verification), Thornhill, in its report dated February 1, 2012, reported that it was able to verify over 95% of the Company’s consolidated cash balance as of December 31, 2011, and January 18, 2012, respectively. These verifications were based on bank statements obtained directly by Thornhill staff from the relevant banks on January 18 2012 and confirmed and reconciled to the Company’s December 31, 2011 cash balance.
Baowen Ren, chairman and chief executive officer of Sino Clean Energy, commented, “We welcome the internal investigation being conducted by the Audit Committee generally and, specifically, the completion of Thornhill’s verifications. These positive reports should adequately address any reasonable concerns raised about the Company’s credibility and profitability in the pertinent areas and help put the short sellers’ claims in proper perspective. We look forward to providing other updates at the Company’s next earnings call.”
About Sino Clean Energy
Sino Clean Energy is the third largest producer of coal-water slurry fuel (“CWSF”) by sales in China, according to data provided in Frost & Sullivan’s 2010 Chinese CWSF market report. A leader in developing CWSF as a cleaner alternative to burning coal aggregate in heating, industrial and power generation for residential and industrial applications, the Company has seven production lines located in Shaanxi, Liaoning, and Guangdong provinces. For more information about Sino Clean Energy, please visit http://www.sinocei.net.
Contact Information
Sino Clean Energy Inc. Jing Li, Assistant to the CEO Phone: +86-29-8844-7960 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +86-29-8844-7960 end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext. 802 Email: Jing.Li@sinocei.net
ICR Inc. Rob Koepp Phone: +86-10-6583-7516 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +86-10-6583-7516 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or +1-646-328-2526 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1-646-328-2526 end_of_the_skype_highlighting E-mail: SCEI@icrinc.com
