AMCON Distributing Company Reports Record Fully Diluted Earnings Per Share of $16.61 Per Share for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2009

CHICAGO - (BUSINESS WIRE) - AMCON Distributing Company ("AMCON" ) (AMEX:DIT), an Omaha, Nebraska based consumer products company is pleased to announce record fully diluted earnings per share of $16.61 on net income available to common stockholders of $12.4 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

"Our management team has once again delivered record results despite the recessionary environment. Throughout the year we maintained a conservative posture and took advantage of opportunities when they were presented," said Christopher H. Atayan, AMCON's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Atayan continued, "We believe that if we continue to add value for our customers, our shareholders will benefit. The results this year are a testament to the high degree of collaboration that we have with our customers."

"As previously announced, our Board of Directors recently raised our quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share, an increase of 80 percent, and also authorized a share repurchase program of up to 50,000 shares to benefit our shareholders. Our recently announced acquisition in Northwest Arkansas is in furtherance of our long-term strategy which is to both grow our geographic base and increase penetration in existing markets. Integrating this acquisition will be a high priority for our management team in the coming quarters. I am also pleased to announce that our retail health food division will open a new store in Tulsa in calendar 2010. We will continue to look for acquisition opportunities in both our business segments," noted Atayan.

Each of AMCON's business segments reported excellent years. The wholesale distribution segment reported revenues of $243.3 million and operating income before depreciation of $5.6 million for the fourth fiscal quarter and revenues and operating income before depreciation of $871.3 million and $18.4 million, respectively, for all of fiscal 2009. The retail health food segment reported revenues of $9.0 million and operating income before depreciation of $1.0 million for the fourth fiscal quarter and annual revenue of $36.6 million and operating income before depreciation of $3.7 million for fiscal 2009. AMCON ended the year with stockholders' equity of $23.8 million.

"We continue to expend significant energy and resources developing profit making opportunities and programs for our customers. For example, a well run food service program drives traffic to our customer's stores and increases their bottom line. Our new northwest Arkansas customers have expressed significant interest in these programs," said Kathleen Evans, President of AMCON's wholesale distribution segment. "We strive to be the service leader in the market because we believe that will keep us in a leadership position during tough times," added Evans.

"Our customers have a strong identity of interest with our Akins and Chamberlin's brands. The stores stand for quality, service and a wide variety of products at an attractive price. We are enthusiastic about our new store opening in Tulsa in 2010. We have maintained discipline in terms of opening new stores over the years. However, we felt the timing was appropriate and the terms of this particular situation made sense for our stockholders. We will continue to be looking to open new stores as well as acquire existing stores as the opportunities present themselves. Our long term objective is to increase the penetration in the markets we presently serve and to opportunistically add new markets which are suited to our business model. Additionally, we have made prudent capital expenditures to make sure that our existing base of stores are at the high levels our customers expect," said Eric Hinkefent, President of AMCON's retail health food segment.

"We are focused on maintaining high degrees of liquidity in our balance sheet in the short term. We were able to increase our stockholders equity by $12.8 million and reduce total debt by $20.9 million in fiscal 2009," said Andrew Plummer, AMCON's Chief Financial Officer. "We believe a conservative balance sheet is prudent in anticipation of softness in the broader economy that will continue to impact our customers in fiscal 2010. This positions our organization to move decisively from a financial perspective when events and circumstances warrant. It also enables us to best deliver value to our customers and to draw down on the line from time-to-time to develop profitable opportunities on their behalf," added Plummer.

AMCON is a leading wholesale distributor of consumer products, including beverages, candy, tobacco, groceries, food service, frozen and chilled foods, and health and beauty care products with locations in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Chamberlin's Natural Foods, Inc. and Health Food Associates, Inc., both wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Healthy Edge, Inc., operate health and natural product retail stores in central Florida (6), Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma (4). The retail stores operate under the names Chamberlin's Market & Cafe and Akins Natural Foods Market.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties and which reflect management's current beliefs and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, Company performance and financial results. A number of factors could affect the future results of the Company and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the Company's forward-looking statements including, without limitation, availability of sufficient cash resources to conduct its business and meet its capital expenditures needs. Moreover, past financial performance should not be considered a reliable indicator of future performance. Accordingly, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward-looking statements.

Visit AMCON Distributing Company's web site at: www.amcon.com

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AMCON Distributing Company and Subsidiaries
September 30,						2009						2008
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash						$	309,914					$	457,681
Accounts receivable, less allowance
for doubtful accounts of $0.9 million
and $0.8 million in 2009 and 2008, respectively							28,393,198						27,198,414
Inventories, net							34,486,027						37,330,969
Deferred income taxes							1,701,568						1,260,609
Current assets of discontinued operations						-							18,947
Prepaid and other current assets							1,728,576						3,519,650
Total current assets							66,619,283						69,786,270
Property and equipment, net							11,256,627						10,907,541
Goodwill							5,848,808						5,848,808
Other intangible assets, net							3,373,269						3,373,269
Deferred income taxes						-							234,171
Non-current assets of discontinued operations						-							2,032,047
Other assets							1,026,395						1,123,252
						$	88,124,382					$	93,305,358
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable						$	15,222,689					$	14,738,214
Accrued expenses							6,768,924						5,275,697
Accrued wages, salaries and bonuses							3,257,832						2,636,699
Income taxes payable							3,984,258						313,021
Current liabilities of discontinued operations						-							4,041,837
Current maturities of credit facility							177,867						3,046,000
Current maturities of long-term debt							1,470,445						787,128
Total current liabilities							30,882,015						30,838,596
Credit facility, less current maturities							22,655,861						32,155,005
Deferred income taxes							1,256,713					-
Long-term debt, less current maturities							5,066,185						6,525,881
Noncurrent liabilities of discontinued operations						-							6,542,310
Series A cumulative, convertible preferred stock, $.01 par value
100,000 authorized and issued, liquidation preference
$25.00 per share							2,500,000						2,438,355
Series B cumulative, convertible preferred stock, $.01 par value
80,000 authorized and issued, liquidation preference
$25.00 per share							2,000,000						1,857,645
Series C cumulative, convertible preferred stock, $.01 par value
80,000 authorized and issued at September 30, 2008,
liquidation preference $25.00 per share						-							1,982,372
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized,
180,000 shares outstanding and issued in Series A and B at
September 2009 and 260,000 shares outstanding and issued
in Series A, B and C at September 2008 referred to above						-						-
Common stock, $0.01 par value, 3,000,000 shares
authorized, 573,232 shares outstanding at September 2009
and 570,397 shares outstanding at September 2008							5,732						5,704
Additional paid-in capital							7,617,494						6,995,948
Retained earnings							16,140,382						3,963,542
Total shareholders' equity							23,763,608						10,965,194
						$	88,124,382					$	93,305,358

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
AMCON Distributing Company and Subsidiaries
Fiscal Years Ended September							2009							2008
Sales (including excise taxes of $263.7 million and
$206.8 million, respectively)							$	907,953,044						$	860,451,122
Cost of sales								839,813,225							795,774,780
Gross profit								68,139,819							64,676,342
Selling, general and administrative expenses								51,539,775							51,631,324
Depreciation and amortization								1,216,089							1,386,218
								52,755,864							53,017,542
Operating income								15,383,955							11,658,800
Other expense (income):
Interest expense								1,627,373							2,986,215
Other income, net								(104,259	)						(114,613	)
								1,523,114							2,871,602
Income from continuing operations
before income tax expense								13,860,841							8,787,198
Income tax expense								5,367,000							3,194,000
Income from continuing operations								8,493,841							5,593,198
Discontinued operations
Gain on asset disposal and debt settlement,
net of income tax expense of $2.7 million								4,666,264						-
Loss from discontinued operations, net of
income tax benefit of $0.1 million and
$0.2 million, respectively								(186,370	)						(260,952	)
Income (loss) on discontinued operations								4,479,894							(260,952	)
Net income								12,973,735							5,332,246
Dividends on convertible preferred stock								(568,653	)						(419,839	)
Net income available to common shareholders							$	12,405,082						$	4,912,407
Basic earnings (loss) per share
available to common shareholders:
Continuing operations							$	14.45						$	9.65
Discontinued operations								8.16							(0.49	)
Net basic earnings per share
available to common shareholders							$	22.61						$	9.16
Diluted earnings (loss) per share
available to common shareholders:
Continuing operations							$	10.87						$	6.57
Discontinued operations								5.74							(0.31	)
Net diluted earnings per share
available to common shareholders							$	16.61						$	6.26
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic								548,616							536,319
Diluted								781,265							851,298

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
AMCON Distributing Company and Subsidiaries
Fiscal Years Ended September						2009						2008
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income						$	12,973,735					$	5,332,246
Deduct: Income (loss) from discontinued operations,
net of tax							4,479,894						(260,952	)
Income from continuing operations							8,493,841						5,593,198
Adjustments to reconcile income from
continuing operations to net cash flows
from operating activities:
Depreciation							1,216,089						1,359,417
Amortization						-							26,801
Loss (gain) on sale of property and equipment							24,915						(39,619	)
Stock based compensation							531,600						435,250
Net excess tax benefit on equity-based awards							(2,245	)					(16,592	)
Deferred income taxes							1,049,925						2,719,652
Provision for losses on doubtful accounts							124,574						505,000
Provision for losses on inventory obsolescence							299,155						101,998
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable							(1,319,358	)					145,524
Inventories							2,545,787						(7,694,240	)
Prepaid and other current assets							1,791,074						2,415,558
Other assets							96,857						(30,102	)
Accounts payable							(80,446	)					(515,348	)
Accrued expenses and accrued wages, salaries and bonuses							2,113,154						415,879
Income taxes payable							3,673,482						(38,160	)
Net cash flows from operating activities - continuing operations							20,558,404						5,384,216
Net cash flows from operating activities - discontinued operations							(2,673,712	)					(230,042	)
Net cash flows from operating activities							17,884,692						5,154,174
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of property and equipment							(1,673,432	)					(845,156	)
Proceeds from sales of property and equipment							107,255						86,209
Net cash flows from investing activities							(1,566,177	)					(758,947	)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Net payments on bank credit agreements							(12,367,277	)					(3,653,175	)
Principal payments on long-term debt							(788,712	)					(656,092	)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options							87,729						148,384
Net excess tax benefit on equity-based awards							2,245						16,592
Redemption of Series C convertible preferred stock							(2,000,000	)				-
Dividends paid on convertible preferred stock							(347,025	)					(419,839	)
Dividends on common stock							(228,242	)					(90,970	)
Net cash flows from financing activities - continuing operations							(15,641,282	)					(4,655,100	)
Net cash flows from financing activities - discontinued operations							(825,000	)				-
Net cash flow from financing activities							(16,466,282	)					(4,655,100	)
Net change in cash							(147,767	)					(259,873	)
Cash, beginning of year							457,681						717,554
Cash, end of year						$	309,914					$	457,681
Fiscal Years						2009						2008
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid during the year for interest						$	1,719,895					$	3,116,098
Cash paid during the year for income taxes							3,249,594						354,508
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash information:
Constructive dividends on Series A, B and C Convertible
Preferred Stock						$	221,628					-
Acquisition of equipment through capital leases							12,333						277,624
Equipment acquisitions classified as accounts payable							11,580					-
TSI disposition - discontinued operations:
Property and equipment, net						$	(2,032,047	)				-
Accrued expenses							(925,452	)				-
Long-term debt							(6,945,548	)				-
Deferred gain on CPH settlement							(1,542,312	)				-

AMCON Distributing Company
Christopher H. Atayan, 312-327-1770
Fax: 312-527-3964