St. Louis, Missouri, USA
May 16, 2022

• Consolidated revenues increased 191 percent to $92.4 million driven by a nearly four-fold increase in Ingredients segment revenues. 

• Dynamic market conditions further support the expected growth of the proprietary soy ingredients portfolio. 

• Cash and marketable securities on hand were in line with the Company’s plan to fund the business into 2024.

• Management maintains its full-year 2022 guidance.

Benson Hill, Inc. (NYSE: BHIL, the “Company” or “Benson Hill”), a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, today announced operating and financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“We continued the momentum of last year with a solid first quarter, meeting or exceeding our revenue and margin expectations, due to continued strong performance by our team. The financial results reinforce our confidence in our full-year guidance,” said Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. “Meeting the needs of our customers is paramount during a time of historic macro-economic and geopolitical forces impacting global food security and affordability. The urgency to evolve the food system is intensifying, and we believe our innovations play a key role in delivering more sustainable and affordable food choices to consumers.”

First Quarter Results Compared to The Same Period of 2021
The impact of the mark-to-market timing differences on the profit and loss statement and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures can be found on pages 5 and 9, respectively.

• Revenues were $92.4 million, an increase of $60.6 million, or 191 percent led by robust growth in both the Ingredients and Fresh segments. 

• Gross loss was $5.2 million, a decline in profitability of $5.8 million, which includes the net loss of $13.2 million from mark-to-market adjustments related to soybean and soybean product hedge contracts for purchases and sales. The impact in the first quarter resulted in a net realized loss of $5.0 million offsetting higher realized prices in the quarter. The remaining unrealized $8.2 million represents mark-to-market timing differences for expected future sales and purchases. When considering the effect of the timing of the mark-to-market adjustments, gross profit was $3.0 million.

• Operating expenses were $35.4 million, an increase of $14.6 million, which included higher costs to operate as a public company as well as $6.4 million for non-cash stock compensation and non-recurring costs including the recent PIPE transaction.

• Inclusive of the mark-to-market timing differences, the reported net loss was $16.6 million compared to a net loss of $22.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $28.8 million compared to a loss of $14.8 million. 

• Cash and marketable securities on hand were $209.9 million as of March 31, 2022, which included gross proceeds of $85 million from the PIPE raise completed on March 25, 2022. 

Ingredients Segment

• Revenues for the segment were $66.1 million, an increase of $51.9 million, or 365 percent. Proprietary soy revenues were $14 million, an increase of 161%, due to increased availability of ingredients, meal, and oil products.

• Gross loss was $8.9 million, which includes the loss related to timing differences in the settlement of soybean future contracts and expected future sales. Excluding the economic hedge timing differences, performance in the quarter was in line with expectations driven by an increase in soy volume resulting from the acquisition of the Creston, Iowa and Seymour, IND., crush facilities in the prior year, growth in the proprietary soy portfolio, and an increase in market prices.

• Inclusive of the mark-to-market timing differences, adjusted EBITDA for the segment was a loss of $14.8 million, an increase in loss of $8.0 million. 

Fresh Segment

• Revenues for the segment were $26.3 million, an increase of $8.8 million, or 50 percent. The current inflationary environment for food and supply chain constraints contributed to better-than-expected pricing along with expected volume increases from the planned fresh produce production expansion.

• Gross profit was $3.7 million driven by higher volume and prices for fresh produce. 

• Adjusted EBITDA was $2.2 million, which was an increase in segment profitability of $2.6 million.

Management Maintains 2022 Outlook
Management reaffirms the outlook for 2022, with consolidated revenues expected to be $315 million to $350 million, which includes Ingredients segment revenues of $250 million to $275 million and Fresh segment revenues of $65 million to $75 million. The drivers of the expected Ingredient segment revenues include proprietary soy ingredient portfolio revenues of $70 million to $80 million and legacy activity at the Creston facility between $90 million to $100 million. 

Consolidated gross profit is expected to be in the range of $9 million to $13 million with gross margin improvement over 2021 as a result of expected sales of a broader soy portfolio and a reduction of high-cost third-party tolling expense. The Company expects high-single digit gross margins for the Fresh segment. 

The Company expects a net loss of $148 million to $153 million and adjusted EBITDA to be a loss of $80 million to $85 million, which is a slightly greater loss than in 2021.

Finally, the Company expects use of cash to moderate in 2022 due to higher gross margins, lower Capex requirements, and cost management efforts.

Website: https://bensonhill.com/

Published: May 17, 2022