AMSC Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Results

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a global power technologies company, today reported financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2010 ended June 30, 2010.

“American Superconductor has achieved six consecutive quarters of rapid, profitable growth, and we are now well positioned to exceed our original forecasts for revenues and earnings for full fiscal 2010”

Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 increased 33 percent to $97.2 million from $73.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Gross margin for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 was 40.1 percent, which compares with 30.9 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

AMSC generated net income of $9.2 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. This compares with net income of $1.8 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Non-GAAP net income was $13.0 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2010. This compares with non-GAAP net income of $5.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2009. Please refer to the financial table included below for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results.

Cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash at June 30, 2010 were $120.7 million. This compares with $155.1 million as of March 31, 2010. The decrease was due primarily to some customer payments shifting from June to July 2010, an increase in capital expenditures in line with the company’s plan and changes in the dollar value of cash held in foreign currencies.

The company reported backlog as of June 30, 2010 of approximately $952 million compared with approximately $588 million as of March 31, 2010. This increase is related primarily to a multi-year order worth approximately US$445 million the company received in May 2010 from Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd.

“American Superconductor has achieved six consecutive quarters of rapid, profitable growth, and we are now well positioned to exceed our original forecasts for revenues and earnings for full fiscal 2010,” said Greg Yurek, AMSC’s founder and chief executive officer. “We achieved a record level of backlog in our first quarter, which gives us very good visibility to continued profitable growth over the next several years. The bulk of our sales during this period are expected to continue to be to Asian wind turbine manufacturers who are building out capacity to meet increased domestic demand and who are also preparing to export wind turbines to Western markets. We also expect our sales to customers in Western countries to start ramping significantly during that time.”

Yurek added, “In our AMSC Superconductors business unit, we made good progress during the first fiscal quarter in migrating to our 100-millimeter superconductor wire manufacturing process. We ramped our capital expenditures for superconductor manufacturing, as planned, and have now begun to install and qualify the additional equipment that will be needed to meet expected wire demand for Korean and Chinese superconductor power grid projects, the Tres Amigas SuperStation in the U.S., and SeaTitan™ superconductor wind turbines for offshore wind farms in the years ahead.”

Source: Business Wire