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Zoltek posts strong third quarter results

07 Aug '12

3 min read

Zoltek Companies Inc reported financial results for the third quarter of its 2012 fiscal year. Zoltek's net revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, totaled $48.1 million, compared to $38.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011, an increase of 24.6%.

Zoltek reported net income of $5.6 million ($0.16 per share) in this year's third quarter, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million ($0.04 per share) in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. The Company's operating income was $6.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, compared to an operating loss of $1.2 million in the previous year's third quarter. On a sequential quarter basis, third quarter fiscal 2012 net sales increased $1.1 million from second quarter fiscal 2012 net sales of $47.0 million. In addition, the Company reported increases in operating income and net income compared to the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2012, Zoltek's net sales were $142.1 million, compared to $108.6 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2011, a gain of 30.9%. Zoltek reported net income of $18.6 million ($0.54 per share) for the first nine months of the current year, which compares to a net loss of $8.1 million ($0.24 per share) in the corresponding period of fiscal 2011. Zoltek reported operating income of $20.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2012, compared to an operating loss of $5.7 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2011.

"Zoltek had another strong quarter - our fourth consecutive quarter of positive earnings and over 30% year-on-year sales growth," Zsolt Rumy, Zoltek's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. "Wind turbine applications continue to represent our biggest near-term growth opportunity. Zoltek is the primary supplier of carbon fiber used in the largest and most advanced wind turbines - with the capacity to produce over 3 megawatts electricity annually - and this is where demand is growing the fastest. We expect this trend to accelerate due to development of off-shore wind farms. Off-shore turbines will effectively remove restrictions on blade lengths. In building the blades for the off-shore environment, carbon fiber is a must. Simply put, there is no other lightweight material that can provide the strength, stiffness and performance that is needed to do the job."

Rumy noted that Vestas of Denmark - the world's largest producer of advanced wind turbines and the biggest single customer of Zoltek's low-cost, high-performance carbon fibers - reported that its backlog of firm and unconditional orders amounted to EURO 10.0 billion (or $12.3 billion) at March 31, 2012 - which is the highest backlog in Vestas' history and equal to 1.4 times its 2011 revenue.

"We have also successfully completed credit facilities in the U.S. and Hungary that will provide sufficient financial resources to continue our investment in growing our capacity and driving down production costs, as well as supporting our value added product manufacturing and development of emerging applications in automotive, oil exploration and deep-sea drilling and secondary aircraft structures. Our financial condition positions us to continue our revenue growth trends in fiscal 2013. The fundamentals of the world market for advanced wind turbines and the carbon fibers that enable them remain strong, despite concern over extension of alternative energy tax credits in the U.S."

Zoltek Companies Inc