Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (Nasdaq: ENER) reported results for the first quarter ended September 30, 2006.
The company reported lower net losses: $2.3 million (or $0.06 per share) on revenues of $27.2 million for Q1 as compared to $6.5 million (or $0.22 per share) on revenues of $23.2 million for Q1 06. “We are building on the momentum from last year and beginning our 2007 fiscal year with a solid first quarter of improved performance,” said Chairman and CEO Robert C. Stempel. “Our new manufacturing capacity is coming online at just the right time for growing demand in our United Solar Ovonic segment, and increasing commercial acceptance of products in our Cobasys and Ovonyx joint ventures presents exciting opportunities.”
Highlights include
* Subsidiary United Solar Ovonic had operating income of $1.5 million on revenues of $23.9 million, down from $1.7 million on revenues of $19.4 million for Q1 06. Gross profit margin rose from 20-24%.
* A 1MW array on a General Motors’ parts warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. was privately financed under a long-term power purchase agreement with GM. The installation is expected to provide up to half of the building’s electricity.
* United Solar Ovonic currently has 28MW of annual production capacity at its Auburn Hills 1 location. The company’s new 30MW Auburn Hills 2 facility is in the final testing stages and is on track to begin commercial production in the next 45 days. The expansion plan increases United Solar Ovonic’s manufacturing capacity to 118MW, 178MW and over 300MW per annum by the end of calendar years 2007, 2008 and 2010, respectively.
* ECD Ovonics’ Cobasys LLC joint venture is supplying commercial volumes of its battery systems to General Motors for the new Saturn VUE Green Line hybrid.
* Cobasys, the only U.S.-based supplier of NiMH battery systems for hybrid electric vehicles, continued to successfully compete for new business opportunities, including selection by Enova Systems to provide its NiMHax® battery system for integration into service vans for a major North American fleet operator.
* ECD Ovonics announced several corporate governance initiatives to further strengthen and improve its corporate governance structure, including the appointment of two new independent directors to its Board of Directors — Pasquale Pistorio, the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of STMicroelectronics, and George A. Schreiber, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of SEMCO Energy, Inc.
* ECD Ovonics was selected as an inaugural constituent of the Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index, a market-equity stock index priced and published by the American Stock Exchange, representing a diversified portfolio of 300 companies that own the most valuable patents relative to their book value.
ECD Ovonics will hold a conference call today, Thursday, November 9, at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to discuss operating results for the first quarter ended September 30, 2006. To access the conference call, please call (877) 858-2512 or (706) 634-1291. A live webcast of the call will be available online.
About ECD Ovonics
The Company’s portfolio of alternative energy solutions includes Ovonic thin-film amorphous solar cells, modules, panels and systems for generating solar electric power; Ovonic NiMH batteries; Ovonic hydride storage materials capable of storing hydrogen in the solid state for use as a feedstock for fuel cells or internal combustion engines or as an enhancement or replacement for any type of hydrocarbon fuel; and Ovonic fuel cell technology.
Loading...