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Gross profit up $26.6 mn at GSE Holding

03 Apr '12

4 min read

GSE Holding Inc, a leading global provider of highly engineered geosynthetic containment solutions for environmental protection and confinement applications, reported its financial results for the Company's fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.

Mark Arnold, President & Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The Company set a record for Adjusted EBITDA in 2011 driven by aggressive management of prices and operations, secular growth trends, environmental awareness and regulatory reform. We are executing well and are optimistic about our future."

Sales for the quarter increased $21.0 million, or 23.3%, to $110.7 million, compared to $89.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Additional volume contributed $7.4 million to the Company's increase in sales for the quarter. Price increases, primarily driven by resin cost passed on to customers, drove an additional increase of $13.6 million in sales.

Gross profit increased $4.0 million, or 28.9%. $2.6 million of the increase was due to additional volume and $1.4 million was due to higher selling prices and a favorable change in product mix.

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expense for the quarter was $13.0 million compared to $9.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of $4.0 million. The SG&A expense increase was primarily due to the global expansion of the sales force, build out of the management team, commissions and bonuses associated with the growth and profitability of the Company, partially offset by lower consulting and professional fees. SG&A expense adjusted for non-recurring costs such as restructuring expense and management fees was $11.6 million compared to $7.8 million for the same prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $8.8 million compared to $8.9 million in the same prior year period. The slight decrease was driven by the increase in gross profit offset by the increase in SG&A expense.

Net loss for the quarter was $(0.9) million, or $(0.09) per fully diluted share, compared to net income of $2.1 million, or $0.18 per fully diluted share, in the same prior year period.

Sales for the year increased $121.7 million, or 35.5%, to $464.5 million, compared to $342.8 million for the same prior year period. Additional volume contributed $56.9 million to the Company's increase in sales for the year. An increase in selling prices and improvement in product mix contributed $56.0 million. The price increases were mostly driven by increases in resin costs that were passed on to customers. Sales were also positively affected by approximately $8.8 million from changes in foreign currency exchange rates, principally the Euro.

Gross profit increased $26.6 million, or 60.7%. $9.6 million of the increase was due to additional volume and $16.2 million was due to increased sales prices and a favorable change in product mix. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates, principally the Euro, positively affected gross profit by $0.8 million.

SG&A expense for the year was $44.5 million compared to $40.1 million for the same prior year period, an increase of 11.0%. SG&A expense decreased to 9.6% of sales in 2011, compared to 11.7% in 2010. SG&A expense increased $4.4 million from the same prior year period primarily due to the global expansion of the sales force, build out of the management team, commissions and bonuses associated with the growth and profitability of the Company, partially offset by lower consulting and professional fees. SG&A expense adjusted for non-recurring costs such as restructuring expense and management fees, was $38.8 million compared to $26.6 million for the same prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA for the year was $44.5 million, an increase of 58.7%, or $16.4 million, compared to $28.1 million in the same prior year period. The $16.4 million increase in Adjusted EBITDA was driven by a $29.6 million increase in gross profit, excluding incremental depreciation of $3.0 million, partially offset by the $12.2 million increase in SG&A expense after adjusting for non-recurring costs. Additionally, the Company had a decrease in the year over year amount of net other income of $1.0 million, primarily related to early pay vendor discounts.

Net income for the year was $1.0 million, or $0.08 per fully diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(16.7) million, or $(1.55) per fully diluted share, in thhe same prior year period.