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8-K - FORM 8-K - EVERGREEN SOLAR INCd8k.htm

Exhibit 99.1

LOGO

PRESS RELEASE

 

Evergreen Solar Reports Audited Fourth Quarter Financial Results

Marlboro, Massachusetts, March 9, 2011 – Evergreen Solar, Inc. (NasdaqCM: ESLR), a manufacturer of String Ribbon® solar power products with its proprietary, low-cost silicon wafer technology, today announced audited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 were $89.3 million, up 3.2% sequentially compared to third quarter revenues of $86.5 million. Average selling price for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $1.90 per watt, down approximately 6% from $2.02 per watt recorded in the third quarter of 2010.

Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2010 was -84% compared to 7.5% in the third quarter of 2010. The decrease in gross margin resulted primarily from the write-down of prepaid inventory resulting from the decision to close the Devens manufacturing facility and the countervailing duties assessed on the Company’s imported aluminum frames, as previously disclosed.

Operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $399.1 million, compared to $22.7 million for the third quarter of 2010. Operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2010 increased sequentially from the third quarter due mainly to the inventory write-down and the impairment of long-lived assets totaling $377.5 million in connection with the Company’s decision to close its Devens manufacturing facility. Operating loss for the third quarter of 2010 included a $6.4 million charge relating to the write-off of a receivable associated with a Korean customer and a decrease in royalty revenue, offset by a decrease in manufacturing costs.

Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $411.0 million compared to $27.2 million in the third quarter of 2010. Net loss for the fourth quarter includes the aforementioned write-down and impairment charges of $377.5 million. Net loss for the third quarter of 2010 included the previously disclosed charge to accounts receivable and foreign exchange gains of $6.3 million.

Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2010 was $68.4 million, including restricted cash of $6.8 million.

Michael El-Hillow, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “The decision to close the Devens facility was the direct result of rapid and dramatic changes in the underlying market that have taken place since the facility first began operations. We believe we are now better positioned to facilitate a rapid transition to a strategic supplier of low cost multi-crystalline silicon wafers by virtue of our proprietary wafer technology.” He added, “Our Devens employees exceeded many of management’s expectations and for this, they have our deepest appreciation.”

Mr. El-Hillow concluded by sharing his views about the opportunities in Evergreen Solar’s future. “Today, we are focusing all of our energies and resources in delivering an industry standard size and high performance low cost wafer. We believe this is the best strategic direction for the Company as we leverage our proprietary manufacturing and product technology to produce String Ribbon wafers at a total silicon and non-silicon cost of about $0.25 per watt in 2013. We are encouraged by the early

 

-more-


feedback received from companies that have been sampling our industry standard size wafers. Pilot line production up to 25 megawatts should be on-line in China toward the end of this year. In-depth negotiations to obtain significant financing for expansion and customer support for our industry standard wafer are attracting very strong interest and we are expecting to have more details to share on our progress by early summer.”

# # #

Conference Call Information

Management will conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. (ET) tomorrow, Thursday, March 10, 2011. The call can be accessed by dialing 800-930-1344 or 913-981-5556 (International) prior to the start of the call and refer to confirmation code 5786731. The call will be webcast live over the Internet and can be accessed by logging on to the “Investors” section of Evergreen Solar’s website, www.evergreensolar.com prior to the event. For those unable to join the live conference call, a webcast replay will be available on the “Investors” page of the website until Friday, March 25, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. (ET).

About Evergreen Solar, Inc.

Evergreen Solar, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets String Ribbon solar power products using its proprietary, low-cost silicon wafer technology. The Company’s patented wafer manufacturing technology uses significantly less polysilicon than conventional processes. Evergreen Solar’s products provide reliable and environmentally clean electric power for residential and commercial applications globally. For more information about the Company, please visit www.evergreensolar.com. Evergreen Solar and String Ribbon are registered trademarks of Evergreen Solar, Inc.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes statements regarding expectations, beliefs, strategies, goals, outlook and other non-historical matters. Any such statements are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements about preliminary financial results, the timing of the shutdown of the Company’s Devens facility, the size of any non-cash charges and the estimated cash costs associated with a shutdown. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to potentially higher than expected costs associated with the shutdown of the Company’s Devens facility; the significant additional work required to develop and commercialize our industry standard size and high performance low cost String Ribbon wafer; technological challenges and factors beyond our control, such as silicon pricing, that impact our ability to achieve our wafer cost target of $0.25 per watt in 2013; the difficulty we face in raising funding for our pilot production line operation and the significant further funding required to accomplish our commercial manufacturing expansion; our potential inability to supply the significant volumes of wafers required in the near-term for potential customers and partners to qualify our new industry standard size String Ribbon wafers; and the uncertainty for the entire PV solar industry in light of significant worldwide capacity expansions which may exceed worldwide demand for PV solar products as a result of various factors including potential significant reductions in subsidies in key markets like Germany. Further details regarding these and other important risk factors can be found in the Company’s public filings with the SEC (www.sec.gov), including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and its Registration Statement on Form S-4 (as amended) originally filed on December 6, 2010. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT:

Evergreen Solar, Inc.

Michael W. McCarthy

Director – Investor Relations & Government Affairs

mmccarthy@evergreensolar.com

Phone: 508-251-3261


Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR)

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

 

     Quarter Ended     Year-to-Date Period Ended  
     December 31,     December 31,  
     2009     2010     2009     2010  

Product revenues

   $ 74,526      $ 88,766      $ 267,112      $ 334,382   

Royalty and fee revenues

     20        495        4,736        4,403   
                                

Total revenues

     74,546        89,261        271,848        338,785   

Cost of revenues

     65,642        89,704        253,484        319,429   

Impairment of prepaid inventory

     —          74,544        —          74,544   
                                

Total cost of revenues

     65,642        164,248        253,484        393,973   
                                

Gross profit (loss)

     8,904        (74,987     18,364        (55,188
                                

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development

     4,751        4,375        18,058        19,453   

Selling, general and administrative

     7,270        7,782        26,260        36,495   

Write-off of loan receivable from silicon supplier

     —          —          43,882        —     

Equipment write-offs

     6,008        410        6,008        410   

Facility start-up

     3,468        3,965        10,107        18,446   

Impairment of long-lived assets

     —          302,979        —          302,979   

Restructuring charges

     8,546        4,563        11,940        18,343   
                                

Total operating expenses

     30,043        324,074        116,255        396,126   
                                

Operating loss

     (21,139     (399,061     (97,891     (451,314

Other income (expense):

        

Foreign exchange gains (losses), net

     (810     (974     2,650        (3,819

Interest income

     1,056        381        4,728        1,993   

Interest expense

     (7,891     (11,299     (27,992     (40,301

Gain on early extinguishment of debt

     —          —          —          24,777   
                                

Other income (expense), net

     (7,645     (11,892     (20,614     (17,350
                                

Loss before equity loss from interest in Sovello AG, (impairment) recovery of equity investment, and income tax benefit

     (28,784     (410,953     (118,505     (468,664

Equity loss from interest in Sovello AG

     (13,546     —          (29,748     —     

Impairment and other charges associated with equity investment in Sovello AG

     (56,344     —          (126,057     —     

Recovery of impairment charges associated with Sovello AG

     —          —          —          3,227   

Income tax benefit

     (285     —          (8,090     —     
                                

Net loss

   $ (98,389   $ (410,953   $ (266,220   $ (465,437
                                

Net loss per share (basic and diluted)

   $ (2.88   $ (11.99   $ (8.51   $ (13.59

Weighted average shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share

     34,153        34,269        31,297        34,237   


Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR)

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share data)

(Unaudited)

 

     December 31,  
     2009     2010  

Assets

    

Current assets:

    

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 112,368      $ 61,574   

Accounts receivable, net of allowances for doubtful accounts

     53,295        76,484   

Inventory

     34,890        54,941   

Prepaid cost of inventory

     25,634        13,093   

Other current assets

     11,451        11,092   
                

Total current assets

     237,638        217,184   

Restricted cash

     3,134        6,810   

Deferred financing costs

     8,312        9,527   

Loan receivable from Jiawei and related interest

     —          13,615   

Prepaid cost of inventory

     147,573        60,483   

Fixed assets, net

     430,681        116,546   

Other assets

     295        305   
                

Total assets

   $ 827,633      $ 424,470   
                

Liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)

    

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

   $ 31,420      $ 39,559   

Due to Sovello AG and related guarantees

     17,544        —     

Accrued employee compensation

     7,287        4,718   

Accrued interest

     7,004        9,157   

Accrued warranty

     2,368        3,921   
                

Total current liabilities

     65,623        57,355   

Convertible notes, net of discount

     323,276        389,083   

Loan and related interest payable

     34,152        37,957   

Deferred income taxes

     5,396        1,204   
                

Total liabilities

     428,447        485,599   

Commitments and contingencies

    

Stockholders' equity (deficit):

    

Common stock, $0.01 par value, 120,000,000 shares authorized, 34,634,987 and 34,787,413 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2009 and December 31, 2010, respectively

     346        348   

Additional paid-in capital

     1,029,965        1,034,699   

Accumulated deficit

     (631,119     (1,096,556

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

     (6     380   
                

Total stockholders' equity (deficit)

     399,186        (61,129
                

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)

   $ 827,633      $ 424,470   
                


Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR)

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

(Unaudited)

 

     Year-to-Date Period Ended  
     December 31,  
     2009     2010  

Cash flows from operating activities:

    

Net loss

   $ (266,220   $ (465,437

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

    

Depreciation expense

     46,086        63,048   

Impairment of long-lived assets and prepaid inventory

     —          370,816   

Gain on early extinguishment of debt

     —          (24,777

Imputed interest and accretion of bond premiums

     (478     —     

Bad debt expense

     45        6,389   

Amortization of prepaid cost of inventory

     11,240        12,721   

Equity loss from Sovello AG and impairment of investment

     155,805        —     

Amortization of deferred debt financing costs

     2,394        2,696   

Loss on loan receivable from silicon supplier

     43,882        —     

Loss on disposal of fixed assets

     5,719        750   

Provision for warranty

     1,335        1,682   

Amortization of debt discount

     11,744        9,813   

Provision for deferred income taxes

     (8,090     —     

Compensation expense associated with employee equity awards

     6,669        4,326   

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Accounts receivable

     (19,170     (29,548

Inventory and related prepaid cost of inventory

     (13,487     (6,726

Other current assets

     (4,986     (3,833

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

     (22,019     6,486   

Interest payable

     6,253        4,209   

Other

     6,184        (488
                

Net cash used in operating activities

     (37,094     (47,873
                

Cash flows from investing activities:

    

Purchases of fixed assets and deposits on fixed assets under construction

     (110,820     (47,955

Proceeds from the disposal of fixed assets

     503        150   

(Increase) decrease in restricted cash

     (2,914     (3,667

Increase in Sovello AG loan

     (11,750     —     

Capital contribution to Sovello AG

     (8,914     —     

Payments associated with Sovello AG

     —          (14,804

Increase in other loans

     —          (12,800

Proceeds from sale and maturity of marketable securities

     76,716        —     
                

Net cash used in investing activities

     (57,179     (79,076
                

Cash flows from financing activities:

    

Proceeds from the issuance of convertible secured debt, net of offering costs

     —          158,557   

Early redemption of senior convertible debt, net of redemption costs

     —          (82,354

Payment associated with share increase

     —          (144

Proceeds from the issuance of common stock, net of offering costs

     72,421        —     

Proceeds from China government loan

     33,000        —     

Proceeds from exercise of stock options and shares purchased under Employee Stock Purchase Plan

     332        96   
                

Net cash provided by financing activities

     105,753        76,155   
                

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

     11,480        (50,794

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

     100,888        112,368   
                

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

   $ 112,368      $ 61,574