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Ballard Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results
Wednesday, November 4, 2015Company Profile | Follow Company
Vancouver, BC, November 4, 2015--(T-Net)--Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP; TSX: BLD) today announced its consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted and have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
"The quarter-over-quarter top line trajectory through Q3 is consistent with our previously stated expectation that full-year revenue will be heavily weighted towards the second half of 2015," said Randy MacEwen, President and CEO.
"In Q3, we announced two major deals in China for our Heavy Duty Motive market segment. First, we announced the largest-ever global deployment of fuel cell buses, which is planned to put 300 zero-emission fuel cell transit buses onto the streets of two major cities in China. This program has an initial estimated value to Ballard of $17 million through 2016. Second, we announced a $6 million program for the development of a 200 kilowatt fuel cell engine for integration into low floor trams manufactured by CRRC Sifang."
Mr. MacEwen continued, "In addition, on October 1st, we announced the closing of our acquisition of Protonex. The acquisition of Protonex - just as Protonex is reaching an expected bend in its growth curve - coupled with our growing sales order book and pipeline in the Heavy Duty Motive market, are supporting a favorable foundation for 2016."
Q3 2015 Metrics Summary
(all comparisons to Q3 2014 unless otherwise noted)
Q3 2015 Market Performance
(all comparisons to Q3 2014 unless otherwise noted)
Power Products:
The Power Products platform - consisting of fuel cell products for the Telecom Backup Power market, the Material Handling market and Development Stage markets, primarily bus - generated revenue of $9.5 million in the quarter. This represents an 8% year-over-year decline primarily due to a reduction in system shipments for the Telecom Backup Power market, partially offset by an improvement in revenue from Development Stage markets.
Telecom Backup Power Market
Material Handling Market
Development Stage Markets
Technology Solutions:
The Technology Solutions platform - consisting of engineering services and intellectual property licensing - generated revenue of $6.5 million in the quarter, a year-over-year decline of 37%, primarily due to Q3 2014 revenue having included licensing contracts in China that Ballard subsequently terminated as well as the impact on revenue from the Volkswagen Group contract due to a lower Canadian dollar, relative to the U.S. dollar, as the Volkswagen Agreement is priced in Canadian dollars.
Subsequent Events
Close of Protonex Acquisition
Subsequent to the quarter, on October 1, Ballard announced the successful close of the acquisition of Protonex Technology Corporation ("Protonex"; www.protonex.com), a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced power management products and portable fuel cell solutions. As consideration for the transaction, Ballard assumed and paid certain of Protonex's debt obligations and transaction costs on closing of approximately $4.0 million, and has issued approximately 11.4 million Ballard shares to Protonex shareholders.
Nisshinbo Strategic Investment in Ballard
On October 27, Ballard entered into a Subscription Agreement for a $5 million strategic investment by Nisshinbo Holdings Inc., a longtime supplier of carbon plates, through subscription and purchase of approximately 3.3 million Ballard common shares issued from treasury. The transaction is expected to close in early November 2015 and proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including M&A activities that may be identified in the future.
Q3 2015 Financial Results |
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(Millions of U.S. dollars) |
Three months ended Sept. 30, |
Nine months ended Sept. 30, |
|||||
2015 |
2014 |
% Change |
2015 |
2014 |
% Change |
||
GROWTH |
|||||||
Fuel Cell Products & Services Revenue:1 |
|||||||
Telecom Backup Power |
$0.5 |
$4.6 |
-88% |
$4.1 |
$10.1 |
-59% |
|
Material Handling |
$3.4 |
$3.6 |
-5% |
$8.7 |
$9.6 |
-10% |
|
Development Stage Markets |
$5.6 |
$2.2 |
158% |
$7.9 |
$3.0 |
161% |
|
Sub-Total |
$9.5 |
$10.4 |
-8% |
$20.7 |
$22.7 |
-9% |
|
Technology Solutions |
$6.5 |
$10.2 |
-37% |
$15.8 |
$30.4 |
-48% |
|
Total Fuel Cell Products & Services Revenue |
$16.0 |
$20.6 |
-22% |
$36.5 |
$53.1 |
-31% |
|
PROFITABILITY |
|||||||
Gross Margin $ |
$4.0 |
$5.2 |
-22% |
$6.2 |
$13.3 |
-54% |
|
Gross Margin % |
25% |
25% |
0-points |
17% |
25% |
-8-points |
|
Cash Operating Costs2 |
$6.7 |
$5.6 |
-20% |
$21.3 |
$18.5 |
-15% |
|
Adjusted EBITDA2 |
($2.4) |
$0.4 |
-678% |
($12.3) |
($2.6) |
-378% |
|
Net Income (Loss)3 |
($4.1) |
($2.4) |
-71% |
($4.5) |
($10.7) |
58% |
|
Earnings Per Share |
($0.03) |
($0.02) |
-55% |
($0.03) |
($0.08) |
56% |
|
Normalized Net Loss2 |
($3.6) |
($2.4) |
-53% |
($18.9) |
($10.5) |
-79% |
|
Normalized Net Loss Per Share2 |
($0.03) |
($0.02) |
-43% |
($0.14) |
($0.08) |
-67% |
|
CASH |
|||||||
Cash Used by Operating Activities: |
|||||||
Cash Operating Income (Loss) |
($3.4) |
($0.4) |
-821% |
($14.7) |
($4.8) |
-204% |
|
Working Capital Changes |
($0.7) |
($2.5) |
71% |
($0.1) |
($7.6) |
99% |
|
Cash Used By Operating Activities |
($4.1) |
($2.9) |
-43% |
($14.8) |
($12.5) |
-19% |
|
Cash Reserves |
$49.2 |
$32.7 |
50% |
For a more detailed discussion of Ballard Power Systems' third quarter 2015 results, please see the company's financial statements and management's discussion & analysis, which are available atwww.ballard.com/investors, www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
About Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP; TSX: BLD) provides clean energy products that reduce customer costs and risks, and helps customers solve difficult technical and business challenges in their fuel cell programs. To learn more about Ballard, please visit www.ballard.com.
Important Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements concerning projected revenue growth, product shipments, gross margin, Adjusted EBITDA, cash operating expenses and product sales. These forward-looking statements reflect Ballard's current expectations as contemplated under section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any such statements are based on Ballard's assumptions relating to its financial forecasts and expectations regarding its product development efforts, manufacturing capacity, and market demand. For a detailed discussion of the factors and assumptions that these statements are based upon, and factors that could cause our actual results or outcomes to differ materially, please refer to Ballard's most recent management discussion & analysis. Other risks and uncertainties that may cause Ballard's actual results to be materially different include general economic and regulatory changes, detrimental reliance on third parties, successfully achieving our business plans and achieving and sustaining profitability. For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors that could affect Ballard's future performance, please refer to Ballard's most recent Annual Information Form. These forward-looking statements are provided to enable external stakeholders to understand Ballard's expectations as at the date of this release and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Readers should not place undue reliance on these statements and Ballard assumes no obligation to update or release any revisions to them, other than as required under applicable legislation.
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Endnotes:
1 We report our results in the single operating segment of Fuel Cell Products and Services. Our Fuel Cell Products and Services segment consists of the sale and service of fuel cell products for our "commercial stage" markets of Telecom Backup Power and Material Handling and for our "development stage" markets of Bus and Distributed Generation, as well as the delivery of Technology Solutions including engineering services and the license and sale of our extensive intellectual property portfolio and fundamental knowledge for a variety of fuel cell applications.
We made changes to the composition of revenues in our Fuel Cell Products and Services segment in 2015. As a result, licensing revenues of $2.1 million for the third quarter of 2014 and $6.3 million for the first three quarters of 2014 previously recorded as either "development stage" Bus revenues, Telecom Backup Power revenues or Material Handling revenues have been retroactively reclassified as Technology Solutions revenues.
2 Cash Operating Costs measures operating expenses excluding stock based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, impairment losses or recoveries on trade receivables, restructuring charges, acquisition costs and financing charges. EBITDA measures net loss attributable to Ballard Power Systems Inc. excluding finance expense, income taxes, depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, and goodwill impairment charges. Adjusted EBITDA adjusts EBITDA for stock based compensation expense, transactional gains and losses, asset impairment charges, finance and other income, and acquisition costs. Normalized Net Loss measures net loss attributable to Ballard from continuing operations, excluding impairment losses or recoveries on trade receivables, transactional gains and losses, asset impairment charges, and acquisition costs.
Note that Cash Operating Costs, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Normalized Net Loss, are non GAAP measures. Non GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Ballard believes that Cash Operating Costs, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Normalized Net Loss assist investors in assessing Ballard's operating performance and liquidity. These measures should be used in addition to, and not as a substitute for, net income, cash flows and other measures of financial performance and liquidity reported in accordance with GAAP. For a reconciliation of Cash Operating Costs, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Normalized Net Loss to the Consolidated Financial Statements, please refer to Ballard's Management's Discussion & Analysis.
3 Includes gain of $14.2 million on sale of intellectual property to Volkswagen Group.
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