GEORGE TOWN, GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — (Marketwired) — 05/10/13 — Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO), which develops and operates seawater desalination plants and water distribution systems in areas of the world where naturally occurring supplies of potable water are scarce or nonexistent, today reported its operating results for the first quarter of 2013. The Company will host an investor conference call on Monday, May 13, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. EDT (see details below) to discuss its first quarter operating results and other topics of interest.
Net income attributable to CWCO stockholders increased 60% to $3,742,003, or $0.26 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2013, compared with net income attributable to CWCO stockholders of $2,342,666, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Net income during the first quarter of 2013 included $1,075,320 in earnings and profit sharing derived from the Company–s equity investment in its affiliate, OC-BVI, compared with $56,938 in earnings from this affiliate in the prior-year period. The increase in the earnings derived by CWCO from OC-BVI was due to the receipt by OC-BVI during the first quarter of 2013 of approximately $2.0 million from the BVI government under a Court award for water supplied by the Baughers Bay plant on the Island of Tortola.
Total revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 declined slightly to approximately $16.6 million, compared with approximately $16.7 million in the first quarter of 2012.
Retail water revenues decreased 3% to approximately $6.4 million (39% of total revenues) in the most recent quarter, versus approximately $6.6 million (39% of total revenues) for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The reduction in retail revenues resulted from a 5% decrease in the volume of water sold.
Bulk water revenues declined 2% to approximately $9.9 million (60% of total revenues) in the first quarter of 2013, compared with approximately $10.1 million (60% of total revenues) a year earlier, primarily due to a 6% reduction in the total number of gallons of water sold, partially as a result of the expiration of the Lower Valley plant contract.
Services revenues increased to $303,495 for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, compared with $93,381 in the first quarter of 2012, reflecting an increase in the management fees earned from OC-BVI and sales of consumables stock to OC-BVI.
Consolidated gross profit rose 5% to approximately $6.2 million (38% of total revenues), versus approximately $5.9 million (36% of total revenues) in the 2012 quarter. Gross profit on retail revenues was largely unchanged at approximately $3.6 million in the most recent quarter (56% of retail revenues), compared with approximately $3.5 million (54% of retail revenues) for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Gross profit on bulk revenues increased 11% to approximately $2.7 million (27% of bulk revenues) in the first quarter of 2013, from approximately $2.4 million (24% of bulk revenues) a year earlier. The services segment recorded a negative gross profit of ($9,030) for the three months ended March 31, 2013, compared with a gross profit of $10,703 in the first quarter of 2012.
Consolidated general and administrative (“G&A”) expenses were relatively unchanged at approximately $3.6 million in the most recent quarter, compared with approximately $3.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. Employee costs increased approximately $89,000 due to base salary increases, directors– fees rose by approximately $51,000, and project development expenses incurred by the Company–s Mexico affiliate, N.S.C. Agua, S.A. de C.V. (“NSC”) increased by approximately $138,000. These cost increases were partially offset by a decrease of approximately $149,000 in business development expenses not related to NSC.
Interest income decreased 16% to $180,088 for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, versus $215,430 in the first quarter of 2012. Interest expense decreased 65% to $132,425 in the first quarter of 2013, from $383,635 in the year-earlier quarter as a result of the prepayment on March 31, 2012 of the remaining $8.5 million of 7.5% bonds payable and declining principal balances on the remaining bonds payable.
“Despite modest declines in water volumes sold when compared with the prior-year quarter, cost efficiency improvements allowed gross profit margins to improve in both our Retail and Bulk water segments in the first quarter of 2013,” stated Mr. Rick McTaggart, Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. “As a result of the improvement in gross margins and management–s control over general and administrative expenses, our operating income margin increased to 16.0% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 14.5% of total revenues for the same period of last year.”
“In early January 2013, our OC-BVI affiliate received the final $2.0 million settlement payment for the long-standing Baughers Bay dispute over the value of water delivered to the BVI government. This payment added approximately $900,000 to Consolidated Water–s other income during the most recent quarter due to our profit-sharing agreement in OC-BVI and our equity in the earnings of that affiliate.”
“In late April 2013, our newly constructed reverse osmosis desalination plant in Bali, Indonesia began delivering water to a resort customer located in an area on the island experiencing major development of new luxury resort properties,” continued Mr. McTaggart. “This project represents the initial demonstration of our strategy and ability to expand our business model beyond our traditional Caribbean markets. The Bali plant currently has a water production capacity of 250,000 gallons per day, which can be expanded to approximately 1.6 million gallons per day, if needed, in the future. The project includes a 500,000-gallon potable water storage tank, a distribution pipeline and supporting infrastructure.”
“Development work on our 100 million gallon per day desalination plant in Baja California, Mexico continues to move forward at an accelerating pace,” added Mr. McTaggart. “Our current work with our engineering and financial advisors to develop specifications, cost estimates and financing costs will enable us to enter into more detailed contractual discussions with our targeted customers in Mexico and the United States later this year.”
“Our Company–s financial condition continues to be one of the healthiest in our industry,” observed Mr. David W. Sasnett, Chief Financial Officer. “At March 31, 2013, our cash and marketable securities of approximately $44.4 million represented 69% of our current assets of $64.1 million, and our current ratio stood at a healthy 7.4-to-1. Total long-term debt outstanding was only $6.5 million as compared to our stockholders– equity of more than $137.3 million. On April 30, 2013, we paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 per share for the 16th consecutive quarter. Based on our closing stock price on May 9, 2013 of $9.96 per share, such cash dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 3.0%. The Company has paid cash dividends to shareholders since 1985.”
CWCO-E
Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. develops and operates seawater desalination plants and water distribution systems in areas of the world where naturally occurring supplies of potable water are scarce or nonexistent. The Company operates water production and/or distribution facilities in the Cayman Islands, Belize, the British Virgin Islands and The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. is headquartered in George Town, Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands. The Company–s ordinary (common) stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CWCO”. Additional information on the Company is available on its website at .
This press release includes statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements, usually containing the words “believe”, “estimate”, “project”, “intend”, “expect”, “should” or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of our products and services in the marketplace, changes in our relationships with the governments of the jurisdictions in which we operate, the outcome of our negotiations with the Cayman government regarding a new retail license agreement, our ability to successfully secure contracts for water projects, including the projects under development in Baja California, Mexico and Bali, Indonesia, our ability to develop and operate such projects profitably, and our ability to manage growth and other risks detailed in our periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.
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For further information, please contact:
Frederick W. McTaggart
President and CEO
(345) 945-4277
or
David W. Sasnett
Executive Vice President and CFO
(954) 509-8200
or
RJ Falkner & Company, Inc.
Investor Relations Counsel
(800) 377-9893