Rosario, Argentina
May 23, 2019

• Adjusted EBITDA for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2019 increased by 94%. Management expects to exceed guidance of $38 million for fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.
• Over $35 million in debt recently termed-out through multiple agreements.

Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (“Bioceres”) (NYSE American: BIOX), a fully integrated provider of crop productivity solutions company, today announced its consolidated financial results for the three-month and nine-month periods ended March 31, 2019.

The company also announced that, as part of an ongoing debt repositioning process, it has entered into two agreements that enable the restructuring of $19.5 million of its current liabilities into longer term facilities. These agreements are additional to the $16 million offering of corporate bonds due 2021 completed in April by Rizobacter Argentina S.A., a subsidiary of the Company.

“One-time transaction expenses associated with the closing of our business combination are reported in this quarter, deteriorating our profitability for the period. However, we are pleased to confirm that the strong operational performance showed by our business in the second half of 2018 has extended throughout the first calendar quarter of 2019, historically our weakest sales quarter. We have maintained focus on the execution of our growth initiatives around micro-beaded fertilizers and international expansion, with satisfactory results for the quarter. Our Adjusted EBITDA for the period showed a significant improvement, and at this time we estimate that our guidance of $38 million for the fiscal year ending June 30th will be exceeded,” said Federico Trucco, CEO of Bioceres.

Enrique López Lecube, CFO of Bioceres, said, “We are very pleased with the results we have accomplished during the first quarter of the calendar year. Considering these months have historically been low season for our business, careful cost management has been critical to reduce operating expenses net of one-time transaction expenses compared to the same period in 2018. Also, I throughout April and May of 2019 we have entered into several debt agreements that strengthen our balance sheet by restructuring current debt into longer term facilities, increasing our average maturity by almost one year while bringing new capital into the business. We will continue to explore additional opportunities to further term out debt and ensure capital availability for a growing business.”

Business and financial highlights

Growth drivers

• Last-twelve months installed capacity utilization rate of the micro-beaded fertilizer plant was 21%, an almost two-fold increase from the same period in 2018.
• Inoculants doses aggregated volume for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2019 increased by 100% compared to the same period in 2018, mainly driven by continuous growth in international subsidiaries and exports.
• Adjuvants aggregated volume for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2019 increased by 6% compared to the same period in 2018, mainly driven by growth in Brazil which offset a decrease in sales in Argentina.

Third quarter financial overview

• Revenues decreased by 11% to $18.7 million, compared to $20.9 million during the same period in 2018. The change in the translation mechanism from the application of IAS 21 and IAS 29 had a negative impact of $5.2 million offset by an increase of $3.0 million in revenues on an inflation neutral basis.
• Gross profit decreased by 11% to $7.7 million, compared to $8.7 million during the same period in 2018.
• Operating expenses net of one-time transaction expenses were $5.4 million, a decrease of 33% compared to the corresponding period in 2018 principally due to the effects of the Argentine Peso devaluation year-over-year.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased $2.5 million to $3.3 million from $0.8 million during the same period in 2018, mainly driven by a decrease in operating expenses net of one-time transaction expenses.
• Finance loss of $8.0 million includes a net loss of $2.7 million related to net foreign exchange differences generated by the effect of devaluation of the Argentine Peso on certain dollar denominated balance sheet items, and net gain of inflation effects on monetary items.

Nine-month period ended March 31, 2019 financial overview

• Revenues increased by 9% to $110.7 million, compared to $101.9 million during the same period in 2018. The change in the translation mechanism from the application of IAS 21 and IAS 29 had a negative impact of $2.4 million offset by an increase of $11.3 million in revenues on an inflation neutral basis.
• Gross profit increased by 25% to $52.1 million, compared to $41.8 million during the same period in 2018.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased by 94% to $32.6 million from $16.8 million during the same period in 2018.
• Finance loss of $22.6 million includes a net loss of $4.9 million related to net foreign exchange differences generated by the effect of devaluation of the Argentine Peso on certain dollar denominated balance sheet items, and net gain of inflation effects on monetary items.

Third quarter Revenues on an inflation neutral basis

• Revenues on an inflation neutral basis is a key operational metric used by our management team to assess year-over-year sales isolated from the effect of variables such as inflation and exchange rates.
• Revenues on an inflation neutral increased by 14% to $23.9 million, compared to $20.9 million during the same period in 2018, mainly explained by growth in the crop nutrition segment.
• Crop Protection revenues on an inflation neutral basis increased by $0.7 million to $16.0 million explained by higher adjuvants sales.
• Seed and integrated products revenues on an inflation neutral basis decreased by $1.7 million to $2.0 million, due to lower sales in seeds as well as seed treatment packs.
• Crop nutrition revenues on an inflation neutral basis increased by $4.0 million to $5.8 million, explained by higher inoculants sales in Brazil and continuous growth in micro-beaded fertilizers sales.

Debt restructuring highlights

• On April 4, 2019 Rizobacter Argentina S.A. completed the offering of $16 million in aggregate principal amount of corporate bonds due 2021.
• On May 2, 2019 Rizobacter Argentina S.A., executed the restructuring of $4.5 million of its short-term borrowings into a 3-year maturity loan.
• On May 7, 2019 Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., Bioceres LLC and Bioceres S.A. entered into an agreement for the restructuring of $15 million of the outstanding intercompany loans into a facility with a 5-year maturity.
   

Table 1: Revenues on an inflation neutral basis reconciliation

Considering the recent completion of the business combination between Bioceres LLC and Union Acquisition Corp., Bioceres will not hold a conference call at this time. As previously announced, the Company intends to host a conference call and webcast to comprehensively discuss its full annual results and performance for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019 at the time of their release.

About Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp.

Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. is a fully integrated provider of crop productivity solutions, including seeds, seed traits, seed treatments, biologicals, high-value adjuvants and fertilizers. Unlike most industry participants that specialize in a single technology, chemistry, product, condition or stage of plant development, Bioceres has developed a multi-discipline and multi-product platform capable of providing solutions throughout the entire crop cycle, from pre-planting to transportation and storage. Bioceres’ platform is designed to cost effectively bring high value technologies to market through an open architecture approach. Bioceres’ headquarters and primary operations are based in Argentina, which is a key end-market as well as one of the largest markets globally for genetically modified crops. Through its main operational subsidiary Rizobacter, Bioceres has a growing and significant international presence, particularly in Brazil and Paraguay.

Website: http://www.bioceres.com.ar

Published: May 23, 2019