Evergreen Solar Announces Fourth Quarter 2007 Profitable Results
January 30, 2008
Worldwide String Ribbon Quarterly Sales Exceed $100 million
MARLBORO, Massachusetts, January 30, 2008--Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), a manufacturer of solar power products using its proprietary, low-cost String Ribbon™ wafer technology, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007.
For the fourth quarter of 2007, Evergreen Solar had revenue of $22.2 million, including $5.3 million of fees from its EverQ joint venture, and net income of $788,000, or $0.01 per share, compared with revenue of $18.2 million, including $2.8 million of joint venture fees, and a net loss of $3.7 million, or ($0.04) per share for the third quarter of 2007.
“The past year was marked by significant accomplishments for Evergreen Solar,” said Richard M. Feldt, Chairman, CEO and President. “We began our first major factory expansion in Massachusetts and signed five polysilicon supply agreements, including two agreements with DC Chemical Co., Ltd., the second of which was finalized this morning, providing us with 100% of silicon required to both accelerate and increase our annual production to approximately 125 MW in 2009, 300 MW in 2010, 600 MW in 2011 and 850 MW in 2012.”
2007 Full Year Highlights
* Raised approximately $170 million in equity and began the construction on our Devens factory. Phase 1 will be completed by mid 2008 and Phase 2 in early 2009, with a combined annual capacity of approximately 160 MW by early 2010. * Secured long-term polysilicon supply agreements with DC Chemical, Nitol, Wacker and Silpro, providing 100% of our silicon requirements through 2012 and approximately 12,500 metric tons of silicon through 2019. * Completed development of the Quad ribbon wafer furnace with automated ribbon cutting which will be used in all future string ribbon facilities beginning with the Company’s Devens location and EverQ’s third factory. * Opened the second EverQ factory, a 60 MW facility, began the construction of the third EverQ factory, an 80 MW facility, with an expected completion date in early 2009 and announced the expansion of EverQ to 600 MW over the next 5 years.
“Our EverQ joint venture continues to show the impressive financial performance that we anticipated when we formed the JV in 2005, achieving sales of EUR 60 million and operating income of approximately 17% in the fourth quarter. EverQ’s strong fourth quarter financial results clearly demonstrate the compelling economics of our String Ribbon technology and provided the catalyst for Evergreen to achieve profitability for the quarter. During 2008, we will continue our significant capacity expansion and will incur substantial factory start up costs, impacting profitability in 2008. As we have continuously stated, we expect that Evergreen will achieve profitability when Phase 1 of our Devens factory approaches full capacity, which is expected in early 2009”, continued Mr. Feldt.
Fourth Quarter 2007 Financial Results
Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $22.2 million, including $5.3 million of fees from EverQ compared to $18.2 million for the third quarter of 2007, which included $2.8 million of fees.
Worldwide sales of product using our String Ribbon technology, which includes revenues of our Marlboro facility and EverQ, were $104.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $62.9 million in the third quarter and $37.2 million for the same period in 2006. Evergreen Solar reports worldwide sales of product manufactured with its String Ribbon technology as the Company believes it is useful to investors since it provides an indication of the full market penetration and growth of its technology.
Gross margin for the fourth quarter was 28.1% compared to 24.9% for the third quarter of 2007.
Net income for the fourth quarter was $788,000, or $0.01 per share, and includes $3.4 million in equity income from EverQ, representing Evergreen Solar's one-third share of EverQ's net income for the quarter. Net loss for the third quarter of 2007 was $3.7 million, or ($0.04) per share, and included $404,000 of equity income.
2007 Full Year Financial Results
Revenues for 2007 were $69.9 million, compared to $102.3 million for 2006 which included $57.3 million in consolidated EverQ revenue. Until December 19, 2006, the date when EverQ’s three partners each became one-third owners, Evergreen Solar consolidated the financial results of EverQ. Since the ownership change, Evergreen Solar has accounted for its investment in EverQ under the equity method.
Worldwide sales of product manufactured with Evergreen Solar's String Ribbon technology, which includes revenues of EverQ, were approximately $252.0 million for 2007 compared to $107.1 million for 2006.
Gross margin for 2007 was 24.4% compared to 11.7% for 2006.
Net loss for 2007 was $16.6 million, or ($0.19) per share, compared to $26.7 million, or ($0.41) per share for 2006.
Guidance for First Quarter 2008
Revenues for the first quarter of 2008 are expected to be approximately $21.5 million to $22.0 million, including approximately $5.0 million of selling fees and royalty payments from EverQ, compared to the $22.2 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2007, which included $5.3 million of fees from EverQ.
Gross margin is expected to be in the range of 24.0% to 28.0%. Operating expenses are expected to be in the range of $10.5 million to $11.5 million excluding factory startup costs which are expected to be in the range of $5.0 million to $5.5 million. Operating loss is expected to be in the range of $10.0 million to $11.0 million and net loss is expected to be in the range of $7.0 million to $8.0 million. ----------- Cu Röckefäller
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