BIOREM announces record third quarter with $520,000 in net earnings

GUELPH, ON, Nov. 16 /CNW/ - BIOREM Inc. (TSX-V: BRM) ("Biorem" or "the Company") announced today its results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2009 . Biorem's complete fiscal 2009 third quarter financial statements and MD&A have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

"We are excited to report a strong quarter, with record gross profit and net earnings. Our results for 2009 year to date have now exceeded our fiscal 2008 results for those areas," said Peter Bruijns, President & CEO. "We are especially pleased to report that this marks our third consecutive quarter of positive cash flow generation, and the highest net income the Company has earned in one quarter over the last five years. We believe that our solid performance in 2009 thus far creates a strong foundation for the future growth of our Company and provides the flexibility to advance our growth initiatives, which include potential acquisitions."

    
                                   ------------------------------------------
                                    Three months ended     Nine months ended
                                       September 30,          September 30,
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    (in thousands of Canadian
    dollars, except per share
    data)                             2009       2008       2009       2008
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    REVENUE                           4,910      4,105     14,625      9,761
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    GROSS PROFIT                      2,348      1,753      5,980      4,015
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    EBITDA(1) (including
     gains and losses on
     foreign exchange)                  796        287        646       (221)
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    NET EARNINGS                        520        144       (143)      (622)
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    BASIC AND DILUTED
     EARNINGS PER
     SHARE                             0.04       0.01      (0.01)     (0.05)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON
     SHARES                          12,010     11,978     11,989     11,978
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

Revenue in the three month period ended September 30, 2009 (Q3 2009) increased 20% to $4,910,000 , from $4,105,000 over the comparative period in the prior year. New orders for the quarter totaled $4,588,000 resulting in a current order backlog of $10.4 million . The backlog is down $2.8 million or 21% from September 30, 2008 . In relation to the second quarter of 2009, the backlog decreased by $0.8 million or 7%.

Gross profit in Q3 2009 increased 34% to $2,348,000 from $1,753,000 in Q3 2008. Biorem achieved a strong gross margin percentage in the third quarter of 2009, which is in line with the Company's target annual level of 40%.

In Q3 2009, EBITDA increased 177% to $796,000 from $287,000 in the same period a year ago.

Net income for the third quarter of 2009 increased 261% to $520,000 , or $0.04 per basic and diluted share, from $144,000 , or $0.01 per basic and diluted share in the third quarter of 2008.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 , revenue totaled $14,625,000 , which is a 50% increase over last year's period. Gross profit totaled $5,980,000 , EBITDA $646,000 and net loss totaled $(143,000), or $(0.01) per basic and diluted share.

As at September 30, 2009 , the Company had working capital of $7,245,000 including cash and short-term investments of $2,933,000 , trade and other receivables of $3,420,000 and unbilled revenue of $3,283,000 , compared to total working capital of $6,935,000 , cash and short-term investments of $2,199,000 , trade and other receivables of $5,419,000 and unbilled revenue of $3,810,000 as at December 31, 2008 . Long-term debt was $2,442,000 as at September 30, 2009 and $2,287,000 as at December 31, 2008 .

About BIOREM Inc.

BIOREM manufactures Biosorbens(R) biofilter media and is a leading supplier of biofilters and biotrickling for air pollution control in municipal and industrial applications, including BIOCUBE(R) modular units and Mytilus(R) biotrickling filters. With over 600 installed systems and over a decade of experience, the Company's products are the technology of choice for odor control at wastewater treatment plants across North America . Additional information on BIOREM is also available at our web site at www.biorem.biz.

    
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    (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
     accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
    

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements contain various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the disclosure materials, financial statements and MD&A filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada on www.sedar.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

    
    1.  EBITDA is a non-GAAP earnings measure, therefore, it does not have
        any standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted
        accounting principles and may not be similar to measures presented by
        other companies. EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income
        taxes, depreciation and amortization. This measure is important to
        management since it is used by potential lenders to evaluate the
        ongoing cash generating capability of the Company and thus the
        amounts those lenders are willing to lend to the Company.
    

"Order Bookings" and "Order Backlog" do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and may not be comparable to measures presented by other companies.

Order Bookings and Order Backlog are non-GAAP measures that the Company uses to evaluate its sales performance. Order Bookings are those binding contracts that the Company enters into with a third party for the delivery of our products or services. As Order Bookings are received, the contract value (before any associated sales taxes) is included in the Order Backlog. The Order Backlog is reduced by the revenue that is recognized on each project and then adjusted for any currency changes.

%SEDAR: 00020304E

For further information: Ed Corbett, Chief Financial Officer, BIOREM Technologies Inc., [email protected], Tel: [phone] x275; Adriana Braczek, Investor Relations, The Equicom Group Inc., [email protected], Tel: [phone] x240