APRIL 27--StockerYale (Salem, NH, USA; www.stockeryale.com), an independent provider of photonics-based products, has announced its financial results for its first quarter, ended March 31, 2007. All 2007 and 2006 numbers have been adjusted for the results from the date of acquisition of Photonic Products Ltd. on October 31, 2006.
First-quarter 2007 financial highlights
* Revenues increased 68% year-over-year and 28% quarter-over-quarter to $7.5 million due to strong performance across all core product lines.
* Bookings reached a record $8.7 million and backlog was a record $9.6 million at March 31, 2007.
* Gross profit increased 52% year-over-year and 50% quarter-over-quarter to $2.6 million.
* Research and development expense increased 10%, but declined as a percentage of revenue from 16% to 10%.
* Operating loss declined 20% quarter-over-quarter.
* EBITDA loss declined 47% year-over-year and 71% quarter-over-quarter to $0.1 million.
* Long-term debt decreased 7% compared with year-end 2006.
First-quarter 2007 business highlights
* Patent-pending flat-top lasers gains traction in the biodetection market.
* Lasiris PowerLine and PureBeam lasers added to growing family of structured light lasers.
* New circular-polarization-maintaining fibers, new erbium-doped fiber, and fibers for RGB imaging and laser diode pigtails added to suite of specialty optical fiber products.
* New IT initiatives include the appointment of chief information officer Stephen A. Koski and implementation of a customer relationship management platform.
"First-quarter revenue for our chip-on-board LEDs and specialty optical fibers demonstrated strong growth both year-over-year and sequentially, and all product categories are performing at a record run rate," said Mark W. Blodgett, chairman and chief executive officer. "We are enthusiastic about our prospects for continuing growth and bottom line improvement for the remainder of the year based on our record first quarter revenue growth, favorable customer reception of new products and our involvement in significant new OEM projects. We are in the process of reengineering the way we take product to market and we expect to see positive results from first quarter investments in CRM and marketing," added Blodgett.
First-quarter 2007 financial results
Net sales were a record $7.5 million for the first quarter of 2007, a 68% increase over $4.4 million for the first quarter of 2006, and a 28% increase compared with $5.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2006. Photonic Products revenue accounted for 59% of the total revenue growth and 35% of total revenue for the first quarter of 2007. LED revenues increased 69% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, laser and associated diode revenue grew 96% year-over-year and 36% quarter-over-quarter, and optical component revenues (mainly specialty optical fiber) grew 43% year-over-year and 30% quarter-over-quarter. Bookings for the first quarter of 2007 reached a record $8.7 million and backlog was $9.6 million at March 31, 2007.
Gross profit was a record $2.6 million for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 52% from $1.7 million for the first quarter of 2006 and an increase of 50% from $1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. First quarter 2007 gross margin was 34% compared with 38% in the comparable year-ago quarter due to the inclusion of Photonic Products' mix of distributed and manufactured products and associated overhead expense. First quarter 2007 gross margin of 34% represents an increase of 360 basis points over fourth-quarter 2006 gross margin of 31%, primarily as a result of increased laser line volume at StockerYale Canada.
Operating expenses totaled $3.3 million for the first quarter of 2007, increasing 32% year-over-year and 20% quarter-over-quarter, primarily due to the additional operating expenses of Photonic Products, along with infrastructure investments being made by management in the areas of IT, Sarbanes Oxley compliance and sales and marketing. Noncash amortization of intangible assets increased $0.2 million. Research and development spending increased by 10% to $0.8 million, but declined as a percentage of revenue to 10% from 16%. Sales and marketing and general and administrative expense increased 40%, or $0.7 million, but declined as a percentage of revenue to 33% from 40%.
Operating loss for the first quarter was $1.0 million compared with operating losses of $0.9 million for the first quarter of 2006 and $1.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2006.
Other expenses, which include primarily noncash debt discount and financing costs, increased by $0.4 million, or 121%, for the first quarter of 2007. Net loss including discontinued operations was $1.6 million or $(0.05) per share compared with $1.2 million or ($0.04) per share for the first quarter of 2006 and $1.6 million or $0.05 per share for the fourth quarter of 2006. EBITDA loss decreased to $0.1 million for the first quarter of 2007 compared to $0.2 million for the first quarter of 2006 and $0.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2006.
