PENNINGTON, N.J., September 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT) ("OPT" or "the Company") today announced financial results for its Fiscal 2016 first quarter ended July 31, 2015 ("fiscal 2016"). George H. Kirby, President and Chief Executive Officer of OPT, stated, "We believe that the Company is continuing to achieve progress on both the use of new designs and the move toward commercialization of its PowerBuoys. As announced earlier today, following the end of the first quarter, we deployed the APB350 (A1). We also established a Technical Advisory Panel (TAP), which will be instrumental in gathering technical and commercial feedback from industry participants and potential customers. Consistent with our strategic pivot, we also continue to make good progress on the development of the APB350 (A2), which we are targeting to be ready for deployment this fiscal year, as well as advancing the development of the PB10, which we are designing for applications requiring higher levels of power. “Our prototype APB350 (A1) utilizes the PowerBuoy structure previously deployed in 2013 but with a newly designed Power Takeoff (PTO). Our APB350 (A2) is expected to feature an optimized geometry which we expect to result in improved operating efficiency as well as reduced fabrication, transportation and deployment costs. The A2 PowerBuoy is expected to undergo a critical design review later this month.” Results for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended July 31, 2015 For the three months ended July 31, 2015, OPT reported revenue of $0.1 million, as compared to revenue of $1.5 million for the three months ended July 31, 2014. The decrease in revenues compared with the prior year was primarily related to the completion of our WavePort contract with European Union and decreased billable costs on our project with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding ("MES"). The MES project is currently undergoing a stage-gate review as discussed more fully in the MD&A section of our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the first fiscal 2016 quarter ended July 31, 2015. The net loss for the three months ended July 31, 2015 was $4.1 million as compared to a net loss of $3.3 million for the three months ended July 31, 2014. The increase in net loss is primarily due to higher product development costs associated with the deployment of our legacy PB40 device and with the redesigned APB350. During the three months ended July 31, 2014, we recovered product development costs from prior periods under our cost-sharing contract with the European Union for our WavePort project in Spain. This increase in product development cost recovery was offset by a favorable change of $0.4 million in our gross loss over the prior year quarter. The prior year quarter included a gross loss due to a change in project costs related to the MES contract. In addition, selling, general and administrative expenses were $1.2 million lower in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 than in the prior year quarter, primarily due to reduced legal fees, decreased site development expenses and decreased patent costs due to shortening the estimated useful lives for recording amortization expense and third party consultant fees. These decreases were partially offset by increased employee related costs. Balance Sheet and Available Cash As of July 31, 2015, total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $14.2 million, down from $17.4 million on April 30, 2015. As of July 31, 2015 and April 30, 2015, restricted cash was $0.5 million. Net cash used in operating activities was $3.1 million during the quarter ended July 31, 2015, slightly down from $3.2 million for the quarter ended July 31, 2014. |