Montréal, Québec and Bradenton, Florida – February 28, 2006 – Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (NYSE, TSX: ITP) today released results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2005.

"During the course of 2005, we successfully met the multiple challenges presented by both the rising costs and supply shortages of raw materials," said Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (IPG) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne F. Yull. "Despite these difficult market conditions, we achieved significant revenue growth, increased our overall gross profit and improved our adjusted net earnings. During this period of rising prices and material shortages, we took advantage of market conditions to improve the mix of products we are selling. While the acquisition in October of Flexia Corporation ("Flexia") and Fib-Pak Industries Inc. ("Fib-Pak") contributed positively to our fourth quarter sales and earnings, the lower margins of these products had a dampening effect on our overall gross margin. However, we expect to see improvements on this front as the integration of the operations advances during the course of 2006. "

Operating Results
Sales for the year were $801.8 million, up 15.8% compared to 2004. Excluding revenues related to the Flexia and Fib-Pak acquisition that occurred in 2005, sales were up about 12.5% from $692.4 million for 2004 to approximately $780 million in 2005. Sales for the fourth quarter were $222.7 million, up 23.2% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. These sales were negatively impacted by $2.8 million as the result of an increase in the provision for doubtful accounts relating to outstanding claims and short payments by existing customers, principally in the retail distribution channel. Selected customers have the contractual right to perform post-audits on prior years’ sales and related incentive activities. Included in the $2.8 million of additional allowance for doubtful accounts are customer post-audit claims submitted to the Company in 2005 for periods as far back as 2000.

Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $30.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2005, compared to $25.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. Much of the increase was attributable to the SG&A costs of Flexia and Fib-Pak, expenses incurred to support sales activities, increased variable selling costs as a result of higher sales, and approximately $1.2 million in performance bonuses. "While SG&A expenses increased in certain areas compared to the same period last year, as a percent of sales for the quarter, they were down from 14.3% in 2004 to 13.5% in 2005," said IPG’s Chief Financial Officer, Andrew M. Archibald, C.A. SG&A expenses were $104.8 million, or 13.1% of sales, for the year, compared to $94.2 million, or 13.6% of sales, for 2004.

Financial expenses in the fourth quarter were $6.7 million, a 54.7% increase compared to $4.3 million for the fourth quarter last year. The increase was principally because of the increase in borrowings at the end of September 2005 to fund the acquisition of Flexia and Fib-Pak and the higher interest rates in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to the fourth quarter of 2004, reflecting the numerous increases in the U.S. prime rate over the course of this period. "During 2005, interest rates rose steadily throughout the year, reducing the benefit of the Company’s 2004 refinancing. In response to the rising interest rate environment, in June and July 2005, IPG entered into interest-rate swap agreements that effectively fixed the interest rate on $75.0 million of bank debt for five years," commented Mr. Archibald. Financial expenses for the year were $23.8 million compared to $24.3 million, excluding the $30.4 million cost of refinancing, for last year.

For the year, the Company recorded an income tax expense of $1.5 million, compared to an income tax recovery of $29.8 million for the year 2004, this latter amount reflecting primarily the impact of the valuation allowance adjustment in the fourth quarter of 2004 and the tax effect of the $30.4 million of refinancing expenses incurred in the third quarter of 2004. For both the fourth quarter of 2005 and 2004, the Company recorded income tax recoveries, which reflected reductions to the Company’s valuation allowance for future income tax benefits of $4.1 million and $19.0 million respectively. These adjustments were a result of the Company’s periodic assessment of its ability to realize future income tax assets.

The Company is including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") and Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP financial measures, in this discussion of results because it believes these measures permit more meaningful comparisons of its performance between the periods presented. In addition, the Company’s covenants contained in the loan agreement with its lenders require certain debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratios be maintained, thus EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are used by management and the Company’s lenders in evaluating the Company’s performance. The terms EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not have any standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. A reconciliation of the Company’s EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP financial measures, to GAAP net earnings (loss) is set out in the EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation table below. The Company’s EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $21.8 million compared to $9.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. The adjusted EBITDA was $21.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 as compared to $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. EBITDA was $82.8 million for 2005 compared to $65.0 million for 2004. The adjusted EBITDA was $84.2 million for 2005 compared to $72.4 million in 2004.

As announced in December 2005, the Company intends to sell a portion of its interest in the combined coated products operation and flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) business through an initial public offering of the combined business using a Canadian Income Trust. The Company’s announced plan was to file a prospectus in the first quarter of 2006. While it is now unlikely that the Company will file a prospectus during the first quarter of 2006, the Company’s intention remains to file a prospectus at the earliest opportunity.

Cash Flows
From a cash perspective, free cash flow for the year was $8.3 million, an increase of $30.8 million compared to 2004. The Company generated $3.8 million of free cash flow in the quarter, an increase of $7.0 million compared to the same quarter last year. Free cash flow is defined by the Company as cash flows from operating activities less expenditures for plant, property and equipment (capital expenditures). The Company is including free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, because it is used by management and the Company’s investors in evaluating the Company’s performance. Free cash flow does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. A reconciliation of free cash flow to cash flows from operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, is set forth below.

"Our cash flow was favourably affected by increased sales and profitability," commented Mr. Archibald. "However, the improvement in free cash flow for 2005 was not as substantial as anticipated, particularly in the fourth quarter, as the rapid escalation in raw material costs and the resulting increase in inventory values, offset the inventory unit reduction achieved in the fourth quarter." The decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses was due to lack of inventory pre-buying at December 31, 2005 compared to December 31, 2004 and the fact that the Company was taking increased advantage of prompt pay discounts from suppliers at the end of 2005.

Balance Sheet
Total debt, net of cash, was increased by $23.5 million over the course of 2005, primarily as a result of the Flexia and Fib-Pak acquisition. While total debt, net of cash, increased, compared to shareholders’ equity, the ratio remained constant at the December 31, 2004 level of 77%. As of December 31, 2005, the Company had cash of $10.1 million, as well as a committed revolving credit facility of $75.0 million, of which $22.0 million has been drawn, including $7.0 million for letters of credit.

Reconciliation of Net Earnings to Adjusted Net Earnings

Periods ended December 31, (in millions of US dollars)
		Three months				Twelve months
		2005		2004		2005		2004
		$		$		$		$
Net earnings – as reported		9.7		17.7		27.8		11.4
Add back:
Refinancing expense		-		-		-		30.4
Manufacturing facility closure and     industrial accident costs		(0.7)		7.4		1.4		7.4
Income taxes (recovery)		(1.7)		(20.5)		1.5		(29.8)
Adjusted pretax earnings		7.3		4.6		30.7		19.4
Subtract:
Income taxes – at effective tax rate*		1.2		0.9		4.5		4.0
Adjusted net earnings		6.1		3.7		26.2		15.4
* Effective tax rate		16.4%		19.5%		14.6%		20.6%
(in US dollars per share –  diluted)
Net earnings – as reported		0.24		0.43		0.67		0.28
Adjusted net earnings		0.15		0.09		0.63		0.37