News Article
5N Plus Inc. Reports First Quarter Results for Fiscal Year 2011
5N Plus Inc. a producer and provider of high-purity metals and compounds for electronic applications, have reported financial results for its first quarter ended August 31, 2010.
Sales for the first quarter ended August 31, 2010, increased by 16.9% to $18,770,228 compared to $16,053,220 for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Net earnings for the first quarter were $4,033,224 ($0.09 per share), representing a 33.8% increase over net earnings of $3,014,608 ($0.07 per share) for the same period last year.
EBITDA(1) for the first quarter was $6,260,433, representing an increase of 24% compared to EBITDA of $5,049,538 for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The backlog of orders expected to translate into sales over the following twelve months stood at $57,423,649 as at August 31, 2010 compared to $56,277,503 a year ago. Changes in currency exchange rates had an adverse impact of approximately $4 million on the backlog.
The Company's financial position remains solid, with cash and cash equivalents of $64,000,238 as at August 31, 2010 compared to $67,992,321 as at May 31, 2010. Shareholders' equity also increased during the first quarter to $130,197,617 up from 125,678,537 as at May 31, 2010.
The Company is now also part of the S&P/TSX Small Cap Index as of September 17, 2010 and the S&P/TSX Clean Technology Index as of September 20, 2010.
Jacques L'Ecuyer, President and Chief Executive Officer, said "The results of our first fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2010 are in line with those of the previous quarters in terms of sales and profitability. Demand for our solar grade products remained strong throughout the quarter, although growth in overall sales revenues was driven primarily by our non-solar grade products, including those of our Firebird subsidiary. A further increase in the coming quarters for such non-solar products is expected, as our new Firebird facility is gradually brought up to speed."
Mr. L'Ecuyer continued, "Further strengthening in the demand for our solar products is also expected following recent capacity expansion announcements made by our main customer, as well as by the supply agreements we recently entered into with other CdTe solar module manufacturers, including Abound Solar. We are also extending the range of services offered to our solar customers to include full module recycling services, which will be soon be carried out in our new facility in Madison, Wisconsin, in an effort to address all key customer requirements."
Mr. L'Ecuyer concluded, "Consistent with our growth strategy, we also elected during the quarter to provide financing to Sylarus, one of the very few germanium substrate suppliers for high-efficiency solar cells in both space and terrestrial applications. This is an area of the solar market that we were not addressing through our existing product offering. As a result we expect to further strengthen our germanium related activities and leverage Firebird's line of products."
The unaudited consolidated financial statements of 5N Plus, as well as the Management's Report for the first quarter ended August 31, 2010 are available on the 5N Plus website, at www.5nplus.com and at www.sedar.com.
Webcast Information
The Company will host a conference call at 10:00 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 with financial analysts to discuss the first quarter ended August 31, 2010. All interested parties are invited to participate in the live broadcast on the company's Web site at www.5nplus.com. A replay of the webcast and a recording of the Q&A will be available until October 29, 2010.
