VivoPower International PLC Reports Unaudited Financial Results For the Six Months Ended September 30, 2018

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LONDON, United Kingdom, Nov. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VivoPower International PLC (Nasdaq: VVPR) (“VivoPower” or the “Company”), an international solar power company, today announced its results for the six months ended September 30, 2018.

Highlights

  • Total revenue for the six months ended September 30, 2018 was $18.5 million, an increase of 14.0%, as compared to $16.2 million for the six months ended September 30, 2017.
     
  • Revenue from the Company’s power services businesses for the six months ended September 30, 2018 was $17.4 million, an increase of 20.5% over the prior year reflecting the strong market dynamics in the industrial regions of Australia, as well as the Company’s aggressive push into new geographies within Australia and solar engineering, procurement, and construction (“EPC”) markets.
     
  • Gross profit attributable to power services was $2.5 million for the six months ended September 30, 2018, which represents a gross margin of 14.6%, up from 13.6% for the full year ended March 31, 2018, and 14.0% for the six months ended September 30, 2017.
     
  • Unrestricted cash resources increased to $3.1 million as at September 30, 2018, compared to $1.9 million as at March 31, 2018.
     
  • Total debt as at September 30, 2018, was $20.9 million, down from $22.3 million as at March 31, 2018.
     
  • On July 3, 2018, the Company successfully completed the sale of its minority equity interests in its two North Carolina solar investments, NC-31 and NC-47 (together, the “NC Projects”) for net proceeds of $11.5 million.
     
  • Net assets of our joint venture with Innovative Solar Systems, LLC, (“ISS Joint Venture”) of $12.9 million has been reclassified to assets held for sale as the Company aggressively pursues its strategic review, which has resulted in multiple prospective investors submitting proposals to acquire all or a portion of the joint venture.
     
  • Power services subsidiary, Kenshaw Electrical Pty Limited (“Kenshaw”) has significantly expanded its power services activities with one of Australia’s leading data center groups, Canberra Data Centres (“CDC”). Kenshaw’s strong track record with CDC for the supply and installation of power generators has resulted in a record volume of new contracts worth US$24.2 million. As a result of this increased business, Kenshaw has also announced the opening of a new office in Canberra to support CDC, as well other customers and emerging business opportunities in the region. The superior reliability and resilience of onsite power generators and recycled water, provided in part, by the power generators supplied by Kenshaw, and has helped CDC to become the largest provider of data storage to the Australian government.
     
  • Power services subsidiary, J.A. Martin Electrical Pty Limited, was successful in securing a high-visibility EPC contract for the 3.6 megawatts (“MW”) Cubbie Solar Project in Queensland, Australia, which will produce electricity to the largest irrigation property in the southern hemisphere. The project is the first phase of a longer-term plan to expand to 7.2 MW and will also include battery storage.
     
  • We made excellent progress with the 50 MW development portfolio of utility-scale solar projects in New South Wales, Australia, and have completed the development milestones for the first 15 MW phase, which we expect to commence construction by the end of June 2019.
     
  • In light of the potential sale of the ISS Joint Venture, the Company has recommitted to its strategic focus on the strong growth profile of the solar power generation market in the United States, particularly the higher margin profile of small utility and commercial and industrial (“C&I”) sectors, consistent with the Company’s current solar development activities in Australia. This shift may be accomplished through organic growth or consolidation of smaller players in the highly fractured C&I market within North America.

Conference Call Information

The Company will hold a conference call 5 p.m. EST time on Monday, November 12, 2018, to discuss the Company’s first half 2018 results and business outlook. The dial-in phone number for the live audio call is:

United Kingdom:                  +44 (0)330 336 9411
United States:                      +1 929 477 0402
Australia:                              +61 (0)2 9193 3761

Conference Code:             5586416

A live webcast of the conference call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/dpwy4jet and on the investor relations section of the VivoPower website at www.vivopower.com.

A replay of the webcast will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until November 12, 2019. The webcast replay will also be available on the VivoPower website at www.vivopower.com.

About VivoPower International PLC

VivoPower is an international solar power producer that develops, owns and operates PV solar projects in a capital efficient manner. VivoPower partners with long-term investors, suppliers and developers to accelerate the growth of its portfolio of solar projects. In addition, the Company provides critical energy infrastructure solutions to commercial and industrial customers throughout Australia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication includes certain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the U.S. federal securities laws.  Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions.  The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.  Forward-looking statements may include, for example, statements about the benefits of the events or transactions described in this communication and the expected returns therefrom. These statements are based on VivoPower’s management’s current expectations or beliefs and are subject to risk, uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of VivoPower’s business. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include changes in business conditions, fluctuations in customer demand, changes in accounting interpretations, management of rapid growth, intensity of competition from other providers of products and services, changes in general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes and other factors set forth in VivoPower’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. VivoPower is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

CONTACT: Contact: 

Julie-Anne Byrne
Investor Relations
[email protected]