Vertex Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:VTNR), a leader in the aggregation, re-refining and processing of distressed petroleum streams such as used oil, transmix, fuel oils and off-specification commercial chemical products, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended Mach 31, 2011.
Financial highlights for the first quarter of 2011 include:
- Revenue for the quarter increased 53% to $20.3 million compared to $13.3 million for the first quarter of 2010;
- Gross profit increased 121% to $2.3 million compared with $1.0 million for the first quarter of 2010;
- Net income improved to $1.2 million compared to $270,000 in the first quarter of 2010;
- Earnings per share increased to $0.09 per fully diluted share, compared with $0.02 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2010;
- Overall volumes increased 20% compared to Q1 2010; and
- Gross margin per barrel handled increased by 84% relative to the same quarter last year.
Benjamin P. Cowart, Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Energy said, “The strong results of the first quarter of 2011 were the result of the efforts we made over the past two years to strengthen our operations, including our investment in our patent-pending Thermal-Chemical Extraction Process (“TCEP”). We also increased our volumes through aggressively acquiring the supply of raw materials. Our net income for the quarter, which was $1.2 million, was nearly equal to our full year 2010 net income, and was enabled through improved revenue and gross margins in all of our business units relative to the first quarter of 2010.”
Mr. Cowart continued, “TCEP accounted for nearly 42% of our revenue during the first quarter of 2011. TCEP allows us to process used oil into a refining feedstock or diesel replacement that can be used in all grades of fuel oil. We believe that the combination of our used oil aggregating capabilities, a traditional strength of the company, and the TCEP technology, gives us a competitive advantage in the market by allowing us to capture higher margins by processing the used oil that we aggregate into a more valuable product that is sold into an extremely large fuel market. We believe that the demand for the TCEP finished product is evidenced by the fact that our entire finished product volume has been contracted for sale.”
Mr. Cowart concluded, “We believe that the first quarter of 2011 marks a breakout period for Vertex Energy which lays the groundwork for further growth for the rest of the year. Our efforts for the remainder of 2011 will be focused on making further enhancements to TCEP and driving increased margins in our other business lines. We also expect to continue to evaluate new ways to capitalize on our competitive advantage in aggregating distressed hydrocarbon feedstock streams by analyzing other re-refining technologies that we believe could contribute to our business as well as reviewing potential acquisitions that could enhance our competitive positioning within the industry.”
CONFERENCE CALL
As previously announced, Management of Vertex Energy will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Those who wish to participate in the conference call may telephone 877-407-4019 from the U.S.; international callers may telephone 201-689-8337, approximately 15 minutes before the call. A digital replay will be available by telephone approximately two hours after the call’s completion for two weeks, and may be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 from the U.S. or 201-612-7415 for international callers, Acct # 380; Replay ID# 372420.
ABOUT VERTEX ENERGY, INC.
Vertex Energy, Inc. (OTCBB:VTNR) is a leader in the aggregation, re-refining and processing of distressed petroleum streams such as used oil, transmix, fuel oils and off-specification commercial chemical products thereby reducing the United States’ reliance on foreign crude oil. Vertex’s focus, as a participant in the alternative energy and environmentally friendly investment sectors, is on creating increased value in the products it manages and produces through a variety of strategies and technologies that facilitate the re-refining of used oil and off specification commercial chemical products into higher value commodities. By creating higher value products from distressed hydrocarbon streams, the Company is positioned to produce both financial and environmental benefits. Vertex is based in Houston, Texas with offices in Georgia and California. More information on the Company can be found at www.vertexenergy.com.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management’s view of Vertex’s future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of Vertex, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Vertex files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Vertex’s future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Vertex cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Vertex undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by Vertex.
| VERTEX ENERGY, INC. | ||||
| CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS | ||||
March 31, | December 31, | |||
| 2011 | 2010 | |||
| (unaudited) | ||||
| ASSETS | ||||
| Current assets | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ 1,207,465 | $ 744,313 | ||
| Accounts receivable, net | 1,954,047 | 1,482,510 | ||
| Accounts receivable- related party | 10,361 | - | ||
| Inventory | 5,825,120 | 3,901,781 | ||
| Prepaid expenses | 234,870 | 100,485 | ||
| Total current assets | 9,231,863 | 6,229,089 | ||
| Noncurrent assets | ||||
| Licensing agreement, net | 1,873,028 | 1,833,966 | ||
| Fixed assets, net | 73,274 | 76,290 | ||
| Total noncurrent assets | 1,946,302 | 1,910,256 | ||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ 11,178,165 | $ 8,139,345 | ||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ 5,757,110 | $ 4,593,199 | ||
| Accounts payable-related party | 1,048,670 | 407,273 | ||
| Total current liabilities | 6,805,780 | 5,000,472 | ||
| Long-term liabilities | ||||
| Mandatorily redeemable preferred stock, Series B, $.001 par value, 2,000,000 shares authorized, 600,000 issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 (includes $150,000 to a related party) | 600,000 | 600,000 | ||
| Total liabilities | 7,405,780 | 5,600,472 | ||
| Commitments and contingencies | ||||
| STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||
| Preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share: | ||||
| 50,000,000 shares authorized | ||||
Series A Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 authorized and 4,634,396 and 4,675,716 issued and outstanding at March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 respectively | 4,635 | 4,676 | ||
Common stock, $0.001 par value per share; 750,000,000 shares authorized; 8,452,169 and 8,370,849 issued and outstanding at March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 respectively | 8,452 | 8,371 | ||
| Additional paid-in capital | 2,312,449 | 2,275,074 | ||
| Retained earnings | 1,446,849 | 250,752 | ||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 3,772,385 | 2,538,873 | ||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ 11,178,165 | $ 8,139,345 | ||
| VERTEX ENERGY, INC. | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS | ||||||||
| THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2011 AND 2010 | ||||||||
| (UNAUDITED) | ||||||||
| March 31, | March 31, | |||||||
| 2011 | 2010 | |||||||
| Revenues | $ | 20,290,925 | $ | 13,273,080 | ||||
| Revenues-related parties | 17,978 | - | ||||||
| 20,308,903 | 13,273,080 | |||||||
| Cost of revenues | 18,038,007 | 12,245,250 | ||||||
| Gross profit | 2,270,896 | 1,027,830 | ||||||
| Selling, general and administrative expenses | 1,026,055 | 751,173 | ||||||
| Income from operations | 1,244,841 | 276,657 | ||||||
| Other income (expense) | ||||||||
| Other income | - | 30,000 | ||||||
| Interest expense | (29,041 | ) | (36,646 | ) | ||||
| Total other income (expense) | (29,041 | ) | (6,646 | ) | ||||
| Income before income tax | 1,215,800 | 270,011 | ||||||
| Income tax expense | (19,703 | ) | - | |||||
| Net income | $ | 1,196,097 | $ | 270,011 | ||||
| Earnings per common share | ||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.03 | ||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.09 | $ | 0.02 | ||||
| Shares used in computing earnings per share | ||||||||
| Basic | 8,440,064 | 8,254,256 | ||||||
| Diluted | 13,935,781 | 13,726,756 | ||||||
| VERTEX ENERGY, INC. | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS | ||||||||
| THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2011 AND 2010 | ||||||||
| (unaudited) | ||||||||
| March 31, 2011 | March 31, 2010 | |||||||
| Cash flows operating activities | ||||||||
| Net income | $ | 1,196,097 | $ | 270,011 | ||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash | ||||||||
| used by operating activities | ||||||||
| Stock based compensation expense | 33,415 | 46,848 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 37,305 | 33,448 | ||||||
| Changes in assets and liabilities | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable | (471,537 | ) | (486,702 | ) | ||||
| Accounts receivable- related parties | (10,361 | ) | - | |||||
| Inventory | (1,923,339 | ) | 382,476 | |||||
| Prepaid expenses | (134,385 | ) | 12,810 | |||||
| Accounts payable | 1,163,911 | (1,439,143 | ) | |||||
| Accounts payable – related parties | 641,397 | 90,133 | ||||||
| Net cash provided (used) by operating activities | 532,503 | (1,090,119 | ) | |||||
| Cash flows from investing activities | ||||||||
| Purchase of intangible assets | (73,351 | ) | (149,956 | ) | ||||
| Purchase of fixed assets | - | (2,716 | ) | |||||
| Net cash used by investing activities | (73,351 | ) | (152,672 | ) | ||||
| Cash flows from financing activities | ||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of Preferred “B” shares | - | 100,000 | ||||||
| Proceeds from exercise of common stock warrants | 4,000 | - | ||||||
| Line of credit proceeds, net | - | 1,100,000 | ||||||
| Payments on due to related party balance | - | (400,000 | ) | |||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 4,000 | 800,000 | ||||||
| Net increase in cash and cash equivalents | 463,152 | (442,791 | ) | |||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period | 744,313 | 514,136 | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | 1,207,465 | $ | 71,345 | ||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION | ||||||||
| Cash paid for interest during the period | $ | 31,914 | $ | 33,443 | ||||
| Cash paid for income taxes during the period | $ | 12,000 | $ | - | ||||
| NON-CASH TRANSACTIONS | ||||||||
| Conversion of Series A Preferred Stock into common shares | $ | 41 | $ | - | ||||
Contacts:
VP – Investor Relations
Marlon
Nurse, 212-564-4700
or
Vertex Energy
COO
Matthew
Lieb, 310-230-5450
