VANCOUVER
,
Nov. 12
/CNW/ - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT/NASDAQ:WPRT), a global leader in alternative fuel, low-emissions transportation technologies, today reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 ended
September 30, 2009
, and provided an update on operations.
Second Quarter Financial and Business Highlights
- Reported consolidated revenues of
$31.7 million
for the quarter ended
September 30
compared to
$39.0 million
for the same period last year, a decrease of 19%. On a U.S. dollar basis, revenue decreased by 22% as the Canadian dollar strengthened relative to the U.S. dollar quarter over quarter.
- Reported consolidated revenues of
$56.6 million
and
$64.5 million
for the six months ended
September 30, 2009
and 2008, respectively, a decrease of 12%.
- Reported net loss of
$9.0 million
(
$0.28
loss per share) for the period ending
September 30, 2009
compared to a net income of
$0.7 million
(
$0.02
earnings per share) for the same period last year. Net of the gains on the sale of investments, the net loss for the current period is
$9.2 million
compared with
$9.1 million
in the prior year.
- Reported a cash and short term investments balance as at
September 30, 2009
of
$57.7 million
compared to
$82.6 million
as at
March 31, 2009
.
- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Recovery Act, to provide for up to 2,800 natural gas vehicles.
- Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) reported that Peterbilt is offering CWI engines in natural gas vocational and aerodynamic vehicles.
"With the sequential improvement in quarterly performance, and the general improvement in the global economy, we believe we can meet our current objectives as well as see a return to more robust growth in 2010," said
David Demers
, CEO of Westport Innovations Inc. "Conditions remain very difficult in the commercial vehicle sector world wide, with the additional factor of a major emissions technology change at the end of this year in the US. Nevertheless, as recent product announcements by Peterbilt, Mack and Freightliner demonstrate, market interest is growing quickly for natural gas fuelled vehicles such as trucks and buses, as fleets look to reduce fuel price volatility and absolute fuel costs."
"Fundamental support for a shift from oil to natural gas in the transportation market is emerging from natural gas producers, as their progressive stance on infrastructure development, and in concert with U.S. legislative efforts focused on tax incentives for natural gas vehicles to reduce dependency on oil. These will both have significant impact on the barriers to faster adoption of our solutions. Westport's technology leadership and the economic and environmental benefits from natural gas in the transportation sector position us to return to strong growth as the economic recovery spreads around the world."
Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Results in Detail
Westport's consolidated revenue for the three months ended
September 30, 2009
was
$31.7 million
, a decrease of 19% from
$39.0 million
in the same quarter in the prior year. CWI revenue decreased by
$3.2 million to $30.1 million
on 1,039 units shipped in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 from
$33.3 million
on 1,391 units shipped in the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Non-CWI revenues were
$1.6 million
on 14 LNG systems shipped compared to
$5.7 million
in the prior year when 69 LNG systems were shipped.
For the six months ended
September 30, 2009
and 2008, consolidated revenue was
$56.6 million
and
$64.5 million
, respectively, a decrease of 12%. CWI revenue decreased by 9% from
$58.4 million to $53.4 million
with unit shipments of 1,647 fiscal year to date, declining from 2,468 for the same period last year. The decline in units was offset by an increase in parts revenue of
$3.6 million
or 41% relative to the six months ended
September 30, 2008
. Non-CWI revenues were
$3.2 million
during the current year to date compared with
$6.1 million
in the six months ended
September 30, 2008
, a decrease of 48%. The number of LNG shipments declined from 70 for the six months ended
September 30, 2008
to 28 in the current fiscal year. The decrease in unit sales was offset by a foreign exchange impact. On a US dollar basis, total revenue declined by 19%.
Westport's net loss for the three months ended
September 30, 2009
, was
$9.0 million
(
$0.28
loss per share) compared to net income of
$0.7 million
(
$0.02
earnings per share) for the three months ended
September 30, 2008
. The decrease is primarily due to investment gains, and to lower CWI sales volumes, lower gross margin, and increased non-CWI operating expenses. During the quarter, we recognized
$0.2 million
in investment gains, net of taxes, compared with
$9.8 million
in the three month period ended
September 30, 2008
due primarily to the sale of 790,800 shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CEFC). Net loss for the current period without the inclusion of realized gains on the sale of investments was
$9.2 million
compared with
$9.1 million
in the same period last year.
For the six months ended
September 30, 2009
and 2008, net loss was
$18.2 million
, or
$0.56
per share, and
$2.8 million
, or
$0.10
per share, respectively. During the fiscal year to date we recognized
$0.2 million
in net investment gains compared to
$12.7 million
in the comparative fiscal period. Net loss for the fiscal year to date without the inclusion on realized gains on the sale of investments would have increased
$2.9 million
from
$15.5 million
in the prior fiscal year to
$18.4 million
in the current fiscal period.
Westport's 50% share of CWI income after taxes for those periods decreased
$1.3 million
due primarily to lower sales volume and a decline in gross margin due to sales mix and higher warranty charges. Non-CWI expenses increased by
$1.3 million
in the current fiscal year to date compared with the previous fiscal period due to higher customer support costs, an increase in stock based compensation of which
$0.5 million
was a one-time event, a reduction in program funding and higher costs relating to professional, consulting and other public company related expenditures. The remaining difference related to higher interest and accretion expense relating to Westport's long-term debt offset by foreign exchange.
Westport's cash and short-term investments balance as at
September 30, 2009
was
$57.7 million
compared to
$82.6 million
as at
March 31, 2009
. For the six months ended
September 30, 2009
, cash used in operations was
$16.7 million
with
$14.0 million
used for operating purposes and
$2.7 million
used for working capital purposes.
Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) Highlights
CWI revenue decreased by
$3.2 million to $30.1 million
on 1,039 units shipped in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 from
$33.3 million
on 1,391 units shipped in the second quarter of fiscal 2009. The decline was due to fewer shipments to
North America
offset by an increase in shipments to Asia, and an increase in parts revenue.
In August, and on the trend of international manufacturers offering alternative fuel vehicles, Peterbilt announced immediate availability of its vocational and aerodynamic vehicles powered by compressed and liquefied natural gas (CNG/LNG). Peterbilt Model 365 and Model 384 will be offered with the Cummins Westport ISL G and built at Peterbilt's truck manufacturing facility in Texas.
Westport HD Highlights
Westport shipped 14 HD systems in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, which compares to 69 HD systems in the three months ended
September 30, 2008
. Looking ahead, the Southern California Air Quality Management District (AQMD) procurement for LNG trucks for the Ports has made significant strides in recent weeks. Originally, the procurement was based on the
September 11th
approval of 448 trucks which quickly moved up to 483 trucks through various board meetings and resolutions. As it stands now, there are over 500 trucks approved for funding under the program and in an effort to accommodate the time for production, the deadline has been extended to
March 31st
from
December 31st
. Additionally, it is expected that potential purchasers would need to meet certain credit criteria which may have an effect on the total number of trucks purchased. In the meantime, Westport is continuing to develop the HD products to meet 2010 standards and expect to have availability early next year.
Results Conference Call
To coincide with the disclosure, Westport has scheduled a conference call for
Thursday, November 12, 2009
at
2:00 pm Pacific Time
(
5:00 pm Eastern Time
). The public is invited to listen to the conference call in real time or by replay. To access the conference call by telephone, please dial: 416-340-2216 or 866-226-1792 (
North America
Toll-Free). To access the conference call replay after the call, please dial 416-695-5800 or 800-408-3053 using the passcode No.5548115. The replay will be available until
November 26, 2009
, however, the webcast will be archived on Westport's website. The webcast of the conference call can be accessed on the Westport website at www.westport.com by selecting "Investors" and then "Investor Overview" from the main menu. Replays will be available in streaming audio on the same website after the conclusion of the conference call.
To view Westport's full Second Quarter FY2010 financials and Management's Discussion and Analysis, please point your browser to the following link: http://www.westport.com/investor/financial.php.
About Westport Innovations Inc.
Westport Innovations Inc. is a leading global supplier of proprietary solutions that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen and biofuels such as landfill gas. Cummins Westport Inc., Westport's joint venture with Cummins Inc., manufactures and sells the world's broadest range of low-emissions alternative fuel engines for commercial transportation applications such as trucks and buses. BTIC Westport Inc., Westport's joint venture with
Beijing
Tianhai Industry Co. Ltd., manufactures and sells LNG fuel tanks for vehicles. Westport's joint venture with OMVL SpA, Juniper Engines Inc., offers light-duty liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engine solutions for industrial applications such as forklifts. www.westport.com
This document contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the demand for Westport's products, the future success of Westport's business, profitability, and technology strategies, investment, cash and capital requirements, intentions of partners and potential customers, the performance of Westport's products, future market opportunities, Westport's estimates and assumptions used in Westport's accounting policies, accruals, and financial condition. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Westport's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activities, performance or achievements expressed in or implied by these forward looking statements. These risks include risks related to Westport's revenue growth, operating results, industry and products, the general economy, conditions of the capital and debt markets, governmental policies and regulation, technology innovations, as well as other risk factors that may affect Westport's actual results, performance or achievements or financial position discussed in Westport's most recent Annual Information Form and other filings with securities regulators. Readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect any change in Westport's expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward looking statements except as required by National Instrument 51-102.
For further information: Darren Seed, Director, Investor Relations, Westport Innovations Inc., Phone: (604) 718-2046, Email: [email protected]
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