|
New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release: American Superconductor Reports Second
Quarter Fiscal 2007 Financial Results
Westborough, MA, November 2:
American Superconductor
Corporation (Nasdaq:AMSC),
a leading energy technologies company, today reported financial results for its
fiscal second quarter ended September 30, 2006.
-- On Track to Meet Fiscal 2007 Forecasts for Revenues, Net Loss and Cash
-- Company Continues to Increase Backlog for Growth in Fiscal 2008
-- Power Electronic Systems Achieves Profitability and Continues
Impressive Growth
Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 were $9.6 million, and the
company's net loss was $7.0 million, or $0.21 per share. Revenues for the second
quarter of the previous fiscal year were $10.9 million, and the company's net
loss was $6.8 million, or $0.21 per share. Stock-based compensation expense
increased to approximately $1.0 million, or $0.03 per share, for the second
quarter of fiscal 2007 from $100,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 as a
result of the company's adoption of FAS 123R on April 1, 2006.
Revenues for the first six months of fiscal 2007 were $23.6 million, and the
company's net loss was $13.7 million, or $0.42 per share. Revenues for the first
six months of fiscal 2006 were $23.1 million, and the company's net loss was
$12.4 million, or $0.38 per share. Stock-based compensation expense was
approximately $1.8 million, or $0.05 per share, for the first six months of
fiscal 2007 compared to $200,000 for the first six months of fiscal 2006.
The company ended the second quarter of fiscal 2007 with no debt and $46.1
million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments compared to $65.7
million on March 31, 2006. The company affirmed that it expects to reduce its
cash burn significantly in the second half of fiscal 2007 and that it remains on
track to exit fiscal year 2007 with at least $38 million in cash, cash
equivalents and short- erm investments as previously forecast. The company
expects to collect significant amounts of cash from customers, including $12
million from the U.S. Navy, in the second half of fiscal 2007.
The company booked $15.8 million in new orders and contracts during the second
quarter of fiscal 2007 and $44.0 million during the first six months of fiscal
2007, ended September 30, 2006. This compares to $5.2 million and $7.6 million
booked during the three and six months ended September 30, 2005, respectively.
The company's total backlog of orders and contracts more than doubled to $42.6
million on September 30, 2006, compared to the $18.4 million in backlog as of
September 30, 2005. The $42.6 million of backlog does not include several new
contracts and orders received in October, which totaled $6.2 million. These
additional orders include the first in a series of new U.S. Navy contracts for
the design and manufacture of a militarized 36.5-MW high temperature
superconductor (HTS) ship propulsion motor, a new D-VAR(R) order for wind farm
grid interconnection, and a wire order from Shanghai Electric Cable Research
Institute, announced earlier this week.
The company expects to receive increasing orders for its HTS and power
electronics products during the remainder of fiscal 2007, most of which will be
included in backlog for fiscal 2008. The company believes its backlog as of
September 30, 2006 plus the additional new orders and contracts received in
October are sufficient to meet AMSC's previous forecast for fiscal 2007 revenues
to be essentially the same as those in fiscal 2006. The company currently
expects revenues for the full fiscal year 2007 in the range of $50 million to
$52 million. The company also continues to forecast that its net loss for the
fiscal year 2007 will be in the range of $23 million to $27 million, or $0.68 to
$0.79.
"The second quarter was an exceptional period for American Superconductor," said
Greg Yurek, chief executive officer and founder, American Superconductor. "We
secured orders to help us meet our financial targets for fiscal 2007, began
building backlog for future years, made further significant advances in R&D and
achieved major HTS power cable milestones. These accomplishments position us for
additional orders during the second half of fiscal 2007 while also moving us
closer to profitability."
"Our Power Electronic Systems business continues to be an engine for near-term
revenue growth for AMSC," Yurek said. "With orders coming in from around the
globe, Power Electronic Systems generated an operating profit in the second
quarter and is on track to achieve its 50 percent revenue growth target in
fiscal 2007. In addition, the recent record order we received for 450
PowerModule TM) systems for wind farms in China will provide us with a
significant amount of fiscal 2008 revenue. While the wind power market has been
the biggest catalyst for sales growth for our Power Electronic Systems business
in recent quarters, we expect the electric utility sector to be an additional
key driver for our growth in fiscal 2008."
"The second quarter was also the most active period on record for HTS power
cable projects," Yurek said. "Shortly after the August groundbreaking ceremony
for the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) HTS transmission cable and the
commissioning of Niagara Mohawk's HTS distribution cable in Albany, New York, we
helped commission American Electric Power's (AEP) 'Triax' HTS distribution cable
in Columbus, Ohio in September. The unique Triax cable, which utilizes AMSC's
wire, is able to carry as much power as 18 large copper cables with much less
energy loss. By demonstrating the inherent benefits of HTS technology for
congested, unreliable power grids, each of these projects brings us closer to
broad commercial adoption of HTS cables."
OTHER RECENT ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
-- Initiated final assembly and factory testing of the 36.5-MW HTS ship
propulsion motor for the U.S. Navy in Philadelphia. This motor will be delivered
to the Navy near the end of calendar 2006.
-- Received orders for nearly 150,000 meters of first generation (1G) HTS wire
from various customers, including the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute
(KERI). KERI, based in Changwon, South Korea, will utilize 22,000 meters of 1G
wire to begin a 10-year project focused on developing superconductor magnetic
energy storage (SMES) systems.
-- Achieved a breakthrough in electricity with the world's first
commercial-grade electrical performance in long lengths of second generation
(2G) HTS wire - known as 344 superconductors - made by a low cost, high volume,
scaleable industrial process. 344 superconductors are hair-thin, three-ply,
ribbon shaped wires that are 4.4-millimeters wide. Over 100 copper wires of the
same dimensions would be needed to conduct as much current as one 344
superconductor.
-- Achieved levels of magnetic, electrical, thermal and mechanical performance
required for commercial electromagnetic coils utilizing a new three-ply,
4.8-millimeter wide 2G HTS wire that the company has branded as 348
superconductors. Electromagnetic coils are the core component of virtually all
electrical products beyond power cables.
-- Earned Frost & Sullivan's 2006 Enabling Technology Award in the transmission
and distribution (T&D) equipment market. This award recognizes the company's
outstanding efforts in developing HTS wire and applications on a global basis.
-- Named John M. Ulliman as its Vice President of Business Development and
Government Relations. Ulliman joins American Superconductor from Northrop
Grumman Corporation. He previously served as Northrop Grumman's Director of
Integrated Power Systems Program and was responsible for program management,
system design, land based testing and ship integration of the new electric power
system for the U.S. Navy's DDG 1000 (formerly known as DDX) class of destroyers.
-- Appointed Rear Admiral David R. Oliver, Jr. (U.S. Navy, Ret.)to the company's
Board of Directors. Mr. Oliver is executive vice president and chief operating
officer of European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS) Company's North American
division.
KEY BENCHMARKS CONFIRMED AND UPDATED
The company previously set the following key benchmarks it expected to achieve
during fiscal 2007, which ends on March 31, 2007:
-- EXCEEDED: Secure additional orders for AMSC's power electronics solutions
(based on D- AR and PowerModule systems) to increase the amount of
wind-generated electricity served by AMSC's products by 100% to 2 billion watts
(2,000 megawatts) of zero-emission electricity
-- ON TRACK: Grow Power Electronics Systems revenues by approximately 50% in
fiscal 2007 and achieve profitability in that business unit
-- ON TRACK: Ship the world's first commercial SuperVAR(R) synchronous condenser
to TVA in December 2006; ship the second commercial SuperVAR system to TVA by
March 31, 2007
-- ON TRACK: Secure additional new orders for SuperVAR systems for grid
reliability applications
-- ON TRACK: Install, commission and qualify 70% of all full-scale manufacturing
equipment needed to achieve a manufacturing capacity of 720,000 meters per year
of the company's 2G HTS wire known as 344 superconductors, the latter rate to be
achieved in December 2007
-- ON TRACK: Sell over 10,000 meters of 344 superconductors (2G HTS wire) to
customers in fiscal 2007, continuing to drive the migration from 1G to 2G HTS
wire in the global marketplace
-- ON TRACK: Secure the company's first contract for a cable project that
utilizes 344 superconductors
-- ON TRACK: Demonstrate the operation of the world's first fault current
limiter prototype based on 344 superconductors
-- ON TRACK: Ship the world's first 36.5-MW HTS ship propulsion prototype motor
to the U.S. Navy
-- ACHIEVED: Secure the first in a series of new U.S. Navy contracts for the
design and manufacture of a militarized 36.5-MW HTS ship propulsion motor
-- ON TRACK: Establish a strategic business alliance for non-U.S. Navy and
commercial marine applications of HTS ship propulsion motors and generators
"We remain on track to meet or exceed the above list of corporate benchmarks for
fiscal 2007," continued Yurek. "We now expect to accomplish the following two
benchmarks in the spring or early summer of 2007 due to slight delays that are
beyond our control. In one case, the Department of Energy recently changed the
date for submission of proposals for cable projects from November 2006 to early
2007, which will delay the start of those contracts. In the second case, a
subcontractor experienced a delay in qualifying the cable terminations for the
current Long Island cable project. The cable terminations have now been
qualified."
-- DELAYED TO SPRING 2007: Install and operate the world's first transmission
voltage HTS power cable in the grid of Long Island Power Authority
-- DELAYED TO SPRING 2007: Obtain a new, large-scale HTS cable project under a
contract with the U.S. Department of Energy as authorized by the Energy Policy
Act of 2005
CONFERENCE CALL REMINDER
In conjunction with this announcement, AMSC management will participate in a
conference call with investors beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET today to discuss the
company's results and its business outlook. Those who wish to listen to the live
conference call webcast should visit the "Investors" section of the company's
website at www.amsuper.com/investors. The live call also can be accessed by
+1-913- 81-5571 and using conference ID 1553149. A telephonic playback of the
call will be available from 1:00 p.m. ET on November 2, 2006 through 1:00 p.m.
ET on November 8, 2006. Please call +1- 19-457-0820 and refer to conference ID
1553149 to access the playback.
Results
Report for Second Quarter Fiscal 2007
Selected Statement of Operations Data
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Months ended Six
Months ended
September 30,
September 30,
------------------------- ---------------------------
Revenues 2006
2005 2006
2005
------------ ------------ ------------- -------------
By business
segment:
AMSC Wires $1,633,675
$3,879,970 $2,895,821 $6,808,114
SuperMachines 1,493,551
2,271,342 10,728,825 8,273,300
Power Electronic
Systems
6,473,050 4,729,728 10,021,083
8,001,293
------------ ------------ ------------- -------------
Total revenues 9,600,276 10,881,040
23,645,729 23,082,707
Operating profit
(loss):
By business
segment:
AMSC Wires (3,616,980)
(6,073,756) (8,033,972) (10,711,443)
SuperMachines (2,477,046) (360,142)
(3,580,326) (424,434)
Power Electronic
Systems
215,412 (183,048) (495,225)
(1,220,501)
Unallocated
corporate
expenses (1,598,174)
(579,161) (2,805,528) (1,188,953)
------------ ------------ ------------- -------------
Operating loss (7,476,788) (7,196,107)
(14,915,051) (13,545,331)
Interest and
other income,
net
500,437 437,312 1,215,256
1,148,100
------------ ------------ ------------- -------------
Net loss ($6,976,351)
($6,758,795) ($13,699,795) ($12,397,231)
============ ============ ============= =============
Net loss per
share - Basic &
Diluted
($0.21) ($0.21)
($0.42) ($0.38)
Weighted average
shares
outstanding 32,898,130
32,765,382 32,851,655 32,748,178
Note: Unallocated corporate expenses include stock-based
compensation expense of $1,018,699 and $116,373 for the three months
ended September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2005, respectively; and
$1,798,937 and $243,801 for the six months ended September 30, 2006
and September 30, 2005, respectively.
Selected Balance Sheet Data
September 30, March 31,
2006 2006
------------- -------------
Cash, cash equivalents, short and
long-term investments
$46,132,478 $65,668,605
Selected current assets:
Accounts receivable, net
$16,448,493 $9,014,035
Inventory
$10,023,029 $9,006,034
Property, plant and equipment
$94,402,876 $90,014,466
Less: accumulated depreciation
(46,691,282) (45,234,899)
------------- -------------
Property, plant and
equipment,
net
$47,711,594 $44,779,567
Total assets
$125,218,423 $133,470,462
Accounts payable & accrued expenses
$17,334,846 $16,498,373
Deferred revenue
$3,540,933 $1,872,126
Stockholders' equity
$104,342,644 $115,099,963
About American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC)
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor (HTS)
wire and large rotating superconductor machinery, and it is a world-leading
supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products. AMSC's HTS wire
and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range of new
electricity transmission and distribution, transportation, medical and
industrial processing applications, including dynamic reactive power grid
stabilization solutions, large ship propulsion motors and generators, smart,
controllable, superconductor power cables and advanced defense systems. The
company's products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering
technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses
Electricity(TM). More information is available at
www.amsuper.com.
Return
to industry news releases
|
