Exhibit 99.1
GT Solar International, Inc. Reports Results for Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2010
Revenue of $173.6 million; net income of $36.8 million; EPS of $0.25 and cash of $194.7 million
MERRIMACK, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 2, 2010--GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of specialized production equipment, process technology and turnkey manufacturing services for the solar power industry, today reported results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2010, which ended December 26, 2009.
Revenue for the third fiscal quarter totaled $173.6 million, compared with $104.2 million in the second fiscal quarter and $205.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2009. Revenue for the third fiscal quarter included $40.3 million in the PV segment and $133.3 million in the polysilicon segment.
Three Months Ended | |||||||||
December 26, | September 26, | December 27, | |||||||
| Revenue | $ | 173,557 | $ | 104,193 | $ | 205,209 | |||
Gross profit for the quarter totaled $76.7 million, or 44.2 percent of revenue, compared to $34.3 million, or 32.9 percent of revenue, in the second fiscal quarter and $89.5 million, or 43.6 percent of revenue, for the third quarter of fiscal year 2009. Gross margin for the first nine months of fiscal year 2010 was 41.7 percent. Operating margin for the quarter was 33.2 percent, compared to 14.8 percent in the second fiscal quarter and 34.6 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Operating margin for the first nine months of fiscal year 2010 was 25.4 percent. The company had net income of $36.8 million in the third fiscal quarter, versus $9.4 million in the second fiscal quarter and $43.1 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Earnings per share in the third quarter on a fully diluted basis were $0.25, versus $0.06 for the second fiscal quarter and $0.30 for the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
At quarter’s end, the company’s backlog was $857 million, with $254 million in the PV segment and $603 million in the polysilicon segment. New orders for the quarter of $58.8 million were offset by a comparable amount of de-bookings and adjustments for the quarter.
Management Commentary
“We are pleased with our performance in the third-quarter,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer. “We have seen an increase in business activity over the last four months from our key customers in Asia, indicating that their utilization rates are climbing and, as a result, the supply environment for low cost, high quality wafers is expected to tighten. We believe recent orders, including some from new customers, provide further evidence that GT Solar remains the technology leader in the market and that our systems continue to be the choice of leading PV manufacturers.
“In the third quarter, we received new orders of approximately $59 million including two contracts with subsidiaries of China-based GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited, one for our TCS Production Technology Solution and the other for DSS furnaces,” Gutierrez continued. “We continue to operate the business profitably, driven in part by our flexible and lean operating structure, and have what we believe is one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry with a cash position in excess of $194 million, zero debt and a deferred revenue balance of $378 million.”
Business Outlook
The company updated its fiscal year 2010 guidance to the upper end of its previous range with revenue of $500 million to $550 million and fully diluted earnings per share of $0.52 to $0.60. The company reiterated its gross margin guidance for the fiscal year of approximately 39 percent. The company will be providing additional commentary on its long-term outlook during its live webcasted conference call this afternoon, details below.
Conference Call, Webcast
The company will host a live conference call and webcast at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today with Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer, Rich Johnson, vice president of finance, and David Gray, vice president of strategic development, to review quarterly results, near term outlook, and commentary on the company’s strategy and longer-term outlook. The call is expected to last approximately 90 minutes.
PLEASE NOTE: The company will show a slide presentation during the call that can be found under ‘Events and Presentations’ at http://investor.gtsolar.com/. There will be no accompanying audio on the live webcast. The audio portion of the live call can only be accessed by dialing 866.783.2141, for callers in the United States and Canada, or 857.350.1600 for international callers. The telephone passcode is SOLR.
A replay will be available through March 4, 2010. To access a webcast replay, that includes slides and audio, please go to http://investor.gtsolar.com/ and select the webcast replay link on the ‘Events and Presentations’ page. Or, for an audio-only replay, please dial 888.286.8010, for callers in the United States and Canada, or 617.801.6888 for international callers. The telephone replay passcode is 42587169.
About GT Solar International, Inc.
GT Solar International, Inc., based in Merrimack, NH, USA, is a leading global provider of specialized production equipment, process technology and turnkey manufacturing services for the solar power industry. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of ownership, accelerating the drive towards grid parity. For additional information about GT Solar, please visit www.gtsolar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking in nature, including statements regarding the supply environment in the solar wafer market, factory utilization rates, the Company’s future as a leading equipment and technology supplier for the global solar power industry, the Company’s new products and technologies and the Company’s estimates for future periods with respect to revenue, earnings per share, gross margin or other financial information. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the Company’s control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. These factors may include the possibility that the Company is unable to recognize revenue on contracts in its order backlog. Although the Company’s backlog as indicated above is based on signed purchase orders or other written contractual commitments in effect as of the end of our third fiscal quarter, we cannot guarantee that our bookings or order backlog will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all, which could reduce our revenue, profitability and liquidity. Other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include the possibility that changes in government incentives may reduce demand for solar products, which would, in turn, reduce demand for our equipment, technological changes could render existing products or technologies obsolete, the Company may be unable to protect its intellectual property rights, competition from other manufacturers may increase, exchange rate fluctuations and conditions in the credit markets and economy may reduce demand for the Company’s products and various other risks as outlined in GT Solar International, Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the statements under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal 2009 filed on June 9, 2009 and Form 10-Q for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 filed on November 10, 2009. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. GT Solar International, Inc. is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
GT Solar International, Inc. and Subsidiaries | |||||||
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets | |||||||
(In thousands except per share data) | |||||||
(unaudited) | |||||||
December 26, | March 28, | ||||||
| Assets | |||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 194,697 | $ | 107,148 | |||
| Accounts receivable, net | 39,629 | 57,552 | |||||
| Inventories | 75,813 | 103,476 | |||||
| Advances on inventory purchases | 45,026 | 120,227 | |||||
| Deferred costs | 182,641 | 174,961 | |||||
| Deferred income taxes | 39,810 | 25,498 | |||||
| Refundable and prepaid income taxes | 1,748 | 40,329 | |||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 1,735 | 2,825 | |||||
| Total current assets | 581,099 | 632,016 | |||||
| Property, plant and equipment, net | 18,625 | 18,856 | |||||
| Other assets | 758 | 940 | |||||
| Intangible assets, net | 3,995 | 6,368 | |||||
| Deferred cost | 54,780 | 36,643 | |||||
| Goodwill | 42,600 | 42,600 | |||||
| Total assets | $ | 701,857 | $ | 737,423 | |||
| Liabilities and stockholders’ equity | |||||||
| Current liabilities: | |||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 14,234 | $ | 50,832 | |||
| Accrued expenses | 15,052 | 15,695 | |||||
| Customer deposits | 110,607 | 222,654 | |||||
| Deferred revenue | 287,695 | 285,005 | |||||
| Accrued income taxes | 19,798 | 158 | |||||
| Total current liabilities | 447,386 | 574,344 | |||||
| Deferred income taxes | 19,720 | 15,647 | |||||
| Deferred revenue | 90,701 | 63,122 | |||||
| Other non-current liabilities | 233 | 2,405 | |||||
| Total liabilities | 558,040 | 655,518 | |||||
| Commitments and contingencies | — | — | |||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||
| Preferred stock, 10,000 shares authorized, none issued and outstanding | — | — | |||||
Common stock, $0.01 par value, 500,000 shares authorized; 143,648 and | 1,437 | 1,431 | |||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 84,691 | 80,070 | |||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (5,089 | ) | (8,389 | ) | |||
| Retained earnings | 62,778 | 8,793 | |||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 143,817 | 81,905 | |||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 701,857 | $ | 737,423 | |||
GT Solar International, Inc. and Subsidiaries | |||||||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations | |||||||||||||
(In thousands, except per share data) | |||||||||||||
(unaudited) | |||||||||||||
| Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | ||||||||||||
| December 26, 2009 | December 27, 2008 | December 26, 2009 | December 27, 2008 | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 173,557 | $ | 205,209 | $ | 349,569 | $ | 402,483 | |||||
| Cost of revenue | 96,870 | 115,668 | 203,658 | 227,274 | |||||||||
| Gross profit | 76,687 | 89,541 | 145,911 | 175,209 | |||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||
| Research and development | 5,315 | 5,328 | 16,351 | 13,193 | |||||||||
| Selling and marketing | 2,397 | 5,638 | 9,422 | 14,466 | |||||||||
| General and administrative | 10,567 | 6,812 | 29,133 | 22,936 | |||||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 791 | 762 | 2,373 | 2,315 | |||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 19,070 | 18,540 | 57,279 | 52,910 | |||||||||
| Income from operations | 57,617 | 71,001 | 88,632 | 122,299 | |||||||||
| Interest income (expense): | |||||||||||||
| Interest income | 130 | 544 | 295 | 2,865 | |||||||||
| Interest expense | (201 | ) | (237 | ) | (583 | ) | (304 | ) | |||||
Interest component of forward | -- | (73 | ) | (639 | ) | 1,871 | |||||||
| Other income (expense), net | (60 | ) | (1,341 | ) | (2,241 | ) | (4,440 | ) | |||||
| Income before income taxes | 57,486 | 69,894 | 85,464 | 122,291 | |||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 20,715 | 26,769 | 31,479 | 46,081 | |||||||||
| Net income | $ | 36,771 | $ | 43,125 | $ | 53,985 | $ | 76,210 | |||||
| Income per share: | |||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.26 | $ | 0.30 | $ | 0.38 | $ | 0.53 | |||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.25 | $ | 0.30 | $ | 0.37 | $ | 0.52 | |||||
| Dividend paid per common share | $ | -- | $ | -- | $ | -- | $ | 0.632 | |||||
Weighted average number of | |||||||||||||
| Basic | 143,446 | 142,778 | 143,301 | 142,590 | |||||||||
| Diluted | 145,269 | 144,042 | 145,304 | 144,473 | |||||||||
CONTACT:
Media
Jeff Nestel-Patt, 603-204-2883
jeff.nestelpatt@gtsolar.com
or
Investors/Analysts
GT Solar
Bob Blair, 603-681-3869
bob.blair@gtsolar.com