Tri-Tech Holding Reports Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results

BEIJING, April 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tri-Tech Holding Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIT), which provides turn-key water resources management, water and wastewater treatment, industrial safety and pollution control solutions, announced its financial performance for fiscal year ended December 31, 2012. Highlights include the following:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100603/CNTH016LOGO)

• In 2012, Total Revenues declined by 15.4% to $72.6 million compared to $85.9 million in FY 2011.
  • Revenue from the Water, Wastewater Treatment and Municipal Infrastructure ("WWTM") declined by 55.3% to $26.0 million from $58.1 million;
  • Revenue from the Water Resource Management System and Engineering Service ("WRME") increased by 72.6% to $22.3 million from $12.9 million; and,
  • Revenue from Industrial Pollution Control and Safety ("IPCS") increased by 64.2% to $24.3 million from $14.8 million;
• In 2012, Gross Profit declined by 19.9% to $17.5 million compared to $21.9 million in FY 2011. Gross Margin dropped to 24.1% from 25.5% from a year ago.
• Income From Operations declined to a loss of $0.8 million compared to a gain of $10.7 million from a year ago.
• Net Income declined to a loss of $2.3 million compared to a gain of $8.1 million in 2011.
• Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding was 8,211,089 compared to 8,238,291 from FY2011.
• Diluted Earnings Per Share was a loss of $0.28 compared to a gain of $0.98 from 2011.

Mr. Gavin Cheng, CEO of Tri-Tech Holding Inc. commented, "Overall, we experienced deteriorations in our fiscal 2012 operating results compared with that of 2011. Despite a noteworthy increase in sales in both the WRME and IPCS segments, we sustained significant reduction in sales in WWTM segment which hindered our performances. The reduction was partially due to our decision to avoid Build & Transfer projects to ease cash pressures. The deviation led us to focus on Engineering Procurement & Construction ("EPC") projects which usually feature a lower profit margin compared to that of BT projects. Furthermore, we saw delays in implementation in major projects in the WWTM segment which further impacted our revenues.

Our gross margin overall dropped by about 1percentage point, but our operating related expenses grew by 64.7%. These expenses increased because we increased headcount to compete for more business early in the year. As we encountered challenges in the WWTM segment, we shifted expenditures to grow revenues in the WRME and IPCS segments.

To address the underlying reasons believed to cause the loss, we have taken the following steps:

• Streamline the corporate structure to increase the operating efficiency;
• Recalibrate sales related strategies and budget management based on profitability analysis; and,
• Enforce project implementation related methods and cost management.

In 2013 we plan to devote our energy to:

• Manage our cash flows by increasing oversight of capital-sensitive projects to improve our cash position;
• Align the Company with established partners in the WWTM segment to maintain competitiveness and to fuel a sustained growth; and,
• Improve our gross margin especially in WWTM and WRME segment through perfected marking strategies.

With our devotions to a better environment, we believe our business benefits people in millions and our industry continues to thrive. While invigorating our strength, we shall dynamically act upon presented opportunities by exploring business endeavors with creativities. As always, we are devoted to grow the company to its potentials."

FY2012 Financial Performance Metrics

Revenue

The 15.4% decrease in revenues noted above is primarily attributable to a significant decrease in the system integration revenues, from $82,401,473 for the year ended December 31, 2011 to $67,961,198 in 2012. Although the Company increased revenues in two of its three operating segments, the decrease in WWTM revenues overshadowed those increases.

Gross Margin

The gross margin decrease noted above is a result of several factors, including increases in material and equipment costs and labor subcontracting costs. The rapid expansion into overseas market also had a direct impact on the increase of cost of sales. These factors all contributed to the lower gross margin.

Total Operating Expenses

The Company's total operating expenses increased to $18,310,880 in the year ended December 31, 2012 from $11,116,205 in the same period of 2011, an increase of 64.7%. The increase is attributable to increased selling and marketing expenses and general and administration expenses. Research and development expenses decreased from $179,396 in 2011 to $174,726 in 2012.   

• Selling and Marketing Expenses
  Selling and marketing expenses increased from $2,164,363 in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $4,148,861 in the same period of 2012, an increase of 91.7%. Increased sales staff headcount elevated the total amount of every related expense such as travel expenses, compensation-related expenses, and entertainment expenses.
• General and Administrative Expenses
  General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation costs, rental expenses, professional fees, and other overhead expenses. General and administrative expenses increased from $8,772,446 in 2011 to $13,987,293 in 2012, an increase of 59.4% largely due to significant increases in salary expenses, transnational professional fees as we have expended internationally and amortization and depreciation expenses.
  
  General and administrative expenses for 2012 and 2011 took up approximately 19.3% and 10.2% of total revenues, respectively.

Loss before Income Taxes

In the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company's net loss before provision for income taxes was $943,457, a decrease of 108.8% compared to income $10,729,428 in 2011. The Company's provision for income taxes decreased by 7.7%, from $1,958,864 in 2011 to $1,808,415 in 2012. The decrease in income taxes for 2012 was primarily caused as some subsidiaries experienced losses from ordinary business operations. In the year ended December 31, 2012, net loss attributable to the shareholders of TRIT was $2,264,074, a decrease of 128.0%, from income of $8,088,374 for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Net loss and EPS

Diluted EPS was a loss of $0.28, based on net loss of $2.3 million and 8,211,089 weighted average of diluted shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to earnings of $0.98 in 2011, based on net income of $8.1 million and 8,238,291 weighted average diluted shares outstanding.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As highlighted in the consolidated statements of cash flows, the Company's liquidity and available capital resources are impacted by four key components: (i) cash and cash equivalents, (ii) operating activities, (iii) financing activities and (iv) investing activities.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company's cash and cash equivalents of $8,098,657 at December 31, 2012  decreased by 32.1%, from $11,935,746 on December 31, 2011, mainly due to rapid overseas expansion and the implementation of the current projects. The current portion of restricted cash as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 amounted to $5,283,541 and $2,087,920, respectively, which is not included in the total of cash and cash equivalents. The restricted cash was on deposit as collateral for the issuance of letters of credit for project financing. Our subsidiaries that own the deposits do not have material cash obligations to any third parties. Therefore, the restriction does not impact the liquidity of the Company.

Operating Activities

Net cash used for operating activities was $20,254,517 in the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with that of $24,418,947 in same period of 2011. The decrease of 17.1% in operating cash outflow was mainly due to the new acquired bank borrowings and corporate bond to fund the Company's operations in 2012. Net accounts receivable increased from $19,888,084 on December 31, 2011 to $18,598,110 on December 31, 2012, a decrease of 6.5%. Current unbilled receivables increased from $7,254,830 on December 31, 2011 to $27,954,525 on December 31, 2012, an increase of 285.3%, mainly from the Company's increasing BT projects and several overseas projects. The remaining portion was mainly due to the decreased inventory and prepayments to suppliers, due to the total revenue decline.

Investing Activities

Net cash used for investing activities was $1,381,911 in the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $3,563,836 in the same period of 2011. Currently we have no further plan to add capital expenditure on the construction of Baoding as it is close to completion.

Financing Activities

The cash provided by financing activities was $18,138,246 in 2012, compared to $17,152,767 in the same period of 2011. The increase was due to increased bank borrowings and the corporate bond issued in September 2012.

Effect of Change in Exchange Rate Changes on Cash and Cash Equivalents

Net cash loss due to currency exchange was $338,906 in the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to a loss of $629,233 in the same period of 2011.

Restricted Net Assets

As of December 31, 2012 and 2011, restricted retained earnings were $2,246,910 and $1,866,994, respectively, and restricted net assets were $4,878,975 and $4,553,729, respectively. The unrestricted retained earnings as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 were $17,038,396 and $19,682,386, respectively, which were the amounts ultimately available for distribution if we were to pay dividends.

Working Capital and Cash Flow Management

As of December 31, 2012, the Company's working capital was $17,923,637, with current assets totaling $83,042,716 and current liabilities totaling $65,119,079. Of the current assets, cash and cash equivalents were $13,382,198.

Recent Business Updates and Development

Domestic Market

By the end of 2012, the initial phase of the Ordos project was 97.5% completed and started trial operation. The expansion phase, which was awarded in June 2011 was 90% complete.

In January 2012, we secured a Build-Transfer contract for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant and a wastewater pipeline network in Dawangdian Industrial Park in Xushui County, Hebei Province. The project was one of our initiatives in the industrial wastewater treatment sector in China. To implement the project, we established a project company in Xushui County. We have completed the major construction and most of the equipment purchasing. The Xushui project contributed more than 13.8% of revenues during 2012.

Overseas Market

The wastewater treatment plant projects in Bihar India contributed 13.2% of revenues during 2012. Although dealing with a delay in implementation, we have already completed the design and redesign per client's request, land preparation and a portion of equipment purchasing.

Order Backlog and Pipelines

The Company's backlog represents the amount of contract work remaining to be completed, that is, revenues from existing contracts and work in progress expected to be recognized in current period, based on the assumption that these projects will be completed on time according to the project schedules.

The following table provides backlog by segment as of December 31, 2012, in comparison to that of December 31, 2011. The percentage of change shows how much of our backlog became revenue in 2012. Backlog decreased significantly in Segments 1 and 2 and moderately in Segment 3. This reflects both (i) the recognition of revenue in projects in Segments 1 and 2 in 2012 and (ii) that such recognized revenues were not replaced with an equivalent amount of new projects in such Segments. Based on remaining backlog, we expect much higher revenues in Segment 1 than in Segments 2 or 3 in 2013.

Pipeline represents the values of projects we have been actively pursuing. Our pipeline as of December 31, 2012 was $50.7 million in Segment 1, $2.5 million in Segment 2 and $34.8 million in Segment 3.

Having a dynamic nature, the value of projects moves from pipeline into backlog when we secure the project and from backlog to revenue based on percentage of completion.

Conference Call

Tri-Tech Chairman Warren Zhao, CEO Gavin Cheng, CFO & President Phil Fan and COO Peter Dong will host a conference call at 9:00AM EDT, April 2, 2013, (9:00PM Beijing/Hong Kong Time on April 2, 2013) to review the company's financial results and outlook of operations, to discuss our growth strategies and to respond to questions and comments.

To participate, call U.S. toll free number (877) 941-2068 approximately 10 minutes before the call. International callers, please dial 1 (480) 629-9712. The conference ID number is 4609352. A live and archived webcast of the call will be available at http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=103960. An MP3 file will be available one hour after the call and will be archived for 90 days at www.tri-tech.cn/ir.

-FINANCIAL TABLES -

About Tri-Tech Holding Inc.

Tri-Tech is an innovative provider of consulting, engineering, procurement, construction and technical services. The Company supports government, state owned entities and commercial clients by providing efficiency oriented solutions focused on treatment of water and waste water, management of water resources and water-efficient irrigation, as well as industrial emission and safety controls. With software copyrights, product patents, and capable employees in China, the U.S. and India, Tri-Tech's capabilities span the cycle of innovation. Please visit www.tri-tech.cn for more information.

An online investor kit including a company profile, presentations, press releases, current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors is available at http://www.tri-tech.cn/ir. To subscribe to future releases via e-mail alert, visit http://www.tri-tech.cn/ir/info/request .

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, product and service demand and acceptance, changes in technology, economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, government regulation, and other risks contained in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, and whether made by or on behalf of the company, are expressly qualified by the cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. In addition, the company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

For more information, please contact:

Tri-Tech Holding Inc.
www.tri-tech.cn
IR Department
+86 10 57323666
[email protected]

SOURCE Tri-Tech Holding Inc.