Beijing, China
January 8, 2014
- Operating income was RMB18.16 million in FY2013, up from an operating loss of RMB (3.47) million in FY2012
- EPS was US$0.05 in FY2013, turned around from a net loss per share of US$(0.01) in FY2012
Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ: SEED) ("Origin" or the "Company"), a technology-focused supplier of crop seeds in China, today announced unaudited financial results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013. These unaudited year end results reflect the Company's consolidated financial statements during the period from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013. Origin prepares its consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of the United States.
UNAUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS OVERVIEW
Fiscal year 2013 was the first year after the corporate-wide restructuring program carried out during fiscal year 2012, and as a result the Company's financial performance has turned around significantly despite headwinds we faced in the seed industry and the impact of unfavorable weather in the Northeastern China region. Operating profit for fiscal year 2013 was RMB18.16 million (US$2.92 million), representing a significant turnaround from the operating loss of RMB3.47 million for fiscal year 2012. The turnaround of the operating profit was despite the fact that revenues declined 13% from RMB 552.11 million in the fiscal year 2012 to RMB481.69 million (US$77.30 million) in the fiscal year 2013.
Year-over-Year Comparison of Operating Performance
Revenue decline was mainly due to the discontinued cotton and agricultural chemical businesses and lower sales for the Company's corn and rice seed businesses. Excluding the cotton and agricultural chemical businesses, revenues decreased by 8% from RMB 524.80 million to RMB 481.69 million (US$77.30 million), mainly due to a 5% lower of sales volume and 3% price decline. Increasing competition in the seed markets and unfavorable weather for our Northeast operations were among the headwinds we faced during fiscal year 2013. Industry competition increased as the inventory in the seed market in China has reached historically high levels before the 2013 planting season.
Overall Analysis
Total revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 were RMB481.69 million (US$77.30 million), a decrease of 13% from RMB552.11 million during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. Overall, the year-over-year decrease in revenues was mainly due to the divestment of the cotton and pesticide businesses, and the drop in sales volume of corn and rice as a result of increasing competition in the crop seed market and unfavorable weather for our Northeast operations in fiscal year 2013.
Corn seed products remained our strongest product line, accounting for 80% of our overall sales. Total revenues from corn seeds were RMB387.60 million (US$62.20 million) in fiscal year 2013, compared with RMB416.73 million in the fiscal year ended September 2012. Revenues from rice product line for the year ended September 30, 2013 decreased by approximately 18% to RMB72.71 million (US$11.66 million) from RMB88.14 million in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. Sales of canola seeds increased by 9% to RMB21.77 million (US$3.49 million) in fiscal year 2013 compared to RMB19.94 million in fiscal year 2012. With the divestment of the cotton and pesticide businesses in fiscal year 2012, the revenue from those businesses was nil for the fiscal year 2013 from RMB27.09 million in the year ended September 2012.
Operating expenses for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 were RMB148.45 million (US$ 23.82 million), representing a decrease of 12% from RMB167.80 million in the fiscal year 2012, which was mainly because our expense control efforts helped to lower the operating expenses despite the increase in higher doubtful receivables allowance and shipping expenses.
Operating income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 was RMB18.16 million (US$2.92 million), compared to the operating loss of RMB3.47 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. The increase in operating results was mainly due to our improvement in gross profit and expenses control effort.
Net income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 was RMB7.49 million (US$1.21 million), representing a significant improvement from the net loss of RMB1.43 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. The year-over-year improvement was mainly due to the improvement in operating performance of the core businesses and rigorous expense management.
Net income per share was RMB 0.32 or US$ 0.05 for the fiscal year 2013, compared with net loss of RMB(0.06) in fiscal year 2012.
Statement of Cash Flow
As of September 30, 2012 and 2013, we had approximately RMB152.79 million and RMB131.98 million (US$21.47 million), respectively, in cash and cash equivalents. Total borrowings as of September 30, 2012 and 2013 were RMB74.00 million and RMB286.32 million (US$46.57 million), respectively. During fiscal year 2013, Net cash used in operating activities was RMB146.11 million (US$23.78 million), down from cash inflow of RMB82.71 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012, as the inventory balance increased significantly year-over-year.
Net cash used in investing activities was RMB68.28 million (US$11.11 million) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 compared with RMB143.38 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. Net cash provided by financing activities was RMB191.69 million (US$31.18 million) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 compared with RMB83.40 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. The increase in borrowing was mainly related to the bank loans for settlement of seed purchases and for financing the construction of a new corn seed processing plant in Xinjiang.
Research and Development Activities
Origin was built on its strong R&D platform, and we strongly believe a commitment to R&D is essential to the growth of the Company. During fiscal year 2013, we continued to make significant progress both in our conventional hybrid crop seed development programs and biotechnology R&D activities. Our R&D investment of RMB42.16 million represented 8.75% of our total revenue in fiscal year 2013.
Key developments for Origin's GM corn seeds:
Phytase: Four commercial hybrids with phytase traits have completed the variety production test and are pending the variety approval from the Chinese government.
Glyphosate Tolerance: One GM glyphosate tolerance event (the unique DNA recombination event that took place in one plant cell) passed Phase 4 – Production Test and is waiting for the Phase 5 Safety Certificate. Two more glyphosate tolerance events are being submitted for Phase 3 - Environment Release Test. In addition, more than one thousand events are undergoing Phase 1 - Laboratory Research;
Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt): Two insect tolerant events are going through Phase 2 - Intermediate Test. Over two hundred events are undergoing Phase 1 - Laboratory Research;
Glyphosate + Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt): Three events of the Company's glyphosate and insect tolerant traits have advanced into Phase 3 – Environment Release Test. More than 4,500 events of the stacked traits (inserting more than one gene in a seed via biotechnology) are being screened in Phase 1 - Laboratory Research.
Hybrid Corn Seed Development Program:
In addition to GM crop seeds, Origin has a large R&D program developing conventional hybrid crop seeds. In China, new hybrid seed varieties need to go through an official approval process prior to sales. This approval process typically involves three to four years of registration trials and normally proceeds according to the following sequential steps:
Pre-Registration -- Registration Trial 1 -- Registration Trial 2 -- Field Demo -- Approval
Each step leading up to Approval takes approximately one year unless it needs to be repeated. In some localities Registration Trial 2 and Field Demo are treated as one and the same step.
During fiscal year 2013, we have more than 45 tests going through different stages of the approval process. As the results of multiyear testing, we received registration approval for seven of our new varieties.
Outlook
With the industry inventory for seeds, especially corn seed, at historically high levels, we expect the market to continue with increasing competition in fiscal year 2014. However, we will continue our disciplined management approach and deepen our restructuring effort in different levels to improve our operational efficiency. We expect our earnings performance to improve again and revenue growth to turnaround in the FY2014.
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