Tuesday, January 8, 2008

5N Plus Inc. Reports Record Sales and Earnings (VNP.TO; FSLR)

Canada NewsWire via Comtex via FOXBusiness:

5N Plus Inc. (TSX: VNP) today announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 ended November 30, 2007. Net earnings for the second quarter of 2008 reached a record level of $1,219,548 (4 cents per share), which represents a 40.6% increase over net earnings of $867,255 (3 cents per share) for the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Sales for the quarter also reached a record level of $6,795,743, up by 39.0% compared with sales of $4,889,938 for the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. EBITDA(1) increased by 49.2% for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 to a record level of $2,318,111 up from $1,553,343 during the second quarter of the previous fiscal year.

For the six month period ended November 30, 2007, net earnings increased by 49.3% to $2,318,804 (8 cents per share) and sales by 34.7% to $13,190,216. This compares with earnings of $1,553,581 (5 cents per share) and sales of $9,793,091 for the same period of the previous fiscal year. EBITDA(1) also increased by a similar amount, 49.7%, up from $2,946,905 during the six month period ended November 30, 2006, to $4,411,869 during the six month period ended November 30, 2007.

"We are very pleased to report our second quarter results to our shareholders, our employees and other stakeholders as we take on the challenges of a publicly traded company and the associated opportunities" commented Mr. Jacques L'Écuyer, President and Chief Executive Officer. He added, "These results reflect our increasing penetration of the solar cell market where we expect growing demand for our products. We are making significant investments to address this forecasted growth in demand, which include our new Eisenhüttenstadt plant in Germany and additions to our Montreal facility aimed at increasing capacity and improving efficiency. Our recent successful initial public offering, which yielded net proceeds of approximately $31,500,000, will enable us to pursue our investment program as planned."

Mr. L'Ecuyer concluded, "We are also pleased to welcome to our board of directors two new independent members, namely Mr. Jean-Marie Bourassa, CA (Managing Partner of Bourassa Boyer Inc.), who will chair our audit committee, and Mr. Pierre Shoiry (Chief Executive Officer of Genivar (TSX:GNV-U)). Both will bring valuable experience and knowledge that will strengthen our largely independent board of directors chaired by Mr. Dennis Wood.">>>MORE