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Raser Technologies, Inc. Announces First Quarter Financial Results

PROVO, Utah--Raser Technologies, Inc. , a leading energy technology Company, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

First Quarter and Subsequent Highlights:

  • The Thermo No. 1 geothermal power plant (the Hatch Plant) in Beaver County, UT, began delivering clean, renewable electricity to the City of Anaheim, California in April 2009. The Hatch Plant is expected to produce up to 14 megawatts (MW) of gross geothermal power, enough to power approximately 9,000 homes in Anaheim, when fully operational. The City of Anaheim signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to receive electricity from the Hatch Plant. The Hatch Plant is expected to reach full operating capacity later this year. The Company will begin recognizing geothermal revenues for the first time beginning the second quarter of 2009.
  • The Company celebrated Earth Week with Utah’s Governor Jon Huntsman at Raser’s Hatch geothermal power plant, where Gov. Huntsman ceremonially signed two important renewable energy bills to provide financial incentives and state support for the development of geothermal, wind, solar and other renewable energy resources.
  • The Company named Benjamin J. Barker as its Vice President of Resource Management, to direct the Company’s efforts to identify, develop and manage its geothermal resources. Mr. Barker has worked in the geothermal industry for more than 30 years, including Senior Domestic Reservoir Engineer for Unocal, where he supervised Unocal’s geothermal resources for more than 20 years. In the short time he has been on board, he has been instrumental in leading efforts to increase production from Raser’s existing wells.
  • Raser unveiled the Hummer H3 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), a demonstration vehicle designed to achieve 100 mpg. The demonstration PHEV is undergoing further testing.
  • Raser signed a line of credit agreement, pursuant to which Raser may borrow up to $15 million. The credit agreement is with a syndicate of four lenders, including an entity controlled by the Company’s Chairman, Kraig Higginson.
  • Raser restructured its purchase agreements with subsidiaries of United Technologies Corp. , obtaining the return of more than $7 million that had previously been deposited in connection with orders of PureCycleŽ power systems, subject to certain conditions.
  • Non-controlling interest includes the portion of the net loss allocated to a third party that owns a non-controlling interest in Raser’s Thermo Subsidiary. For the first quarter of 2009, the total was $1.0 million. In addition to the net loss allocation, the figure reflects the correction of an error from prior periods as well as the accrual of certain liquidation preferences contained in our agreement with the non-controlling third party. Previously, this was presented in the Company’s financial statements as minority interest.
  • The Company entered into a long-term lease agreement with private land owners covering 37,000 acres of geothermal resources in Southeastern Oregon.
  • Raser’s Hatch plant was awarded POWER Magazine’s “Plant of the Year” at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois at an awards banquet on May 11, 2009.
  • Raser was named as one of Fast Company magazine’s 50 “most innovative companies” for 2009 in its annual selection of the Fast Company 50.

Brent M. Cook, Raser’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Despite the extraordinary challenges of the last quarter and prior year, the Raser Technologies team began to see the benefits of our ‘Well to Wheels’ strategy during the first quarter of 2009. We are now delivering clean, renewable power from our Hatch geothermal power plant to the City of Anaheim as part of our 20-year power purchase agreement and we began recognizing geothermal-related revenue early in the second quarter. We developed, constructed, and put this plant into service in record time and built a tremendous base of working knowledge which will benefit our team as we exploit additional geothermal resources and bring more plants online in the future. In addition, we publicly unveiled our revolutionary, electric Hummer H3 garnering widespread media acclaim.”

Financial Results

During the three months ended March 31, 2009, Raser recognized no revenue and no cost of sales compared to revenue and cost of sales totaling approximately $0.1 million during the same period in 2008. During the first quarter of 2008, the Company completed the ARINC subcontract, which began in October 2006.

Raser management was successful in efforts to reduce operating expenses and to shift certain expenses from cash to equity during the first quarter, positioning the Company to accelerate profitability as its initiatives begin to produce revenue. Total operating expenses decreased 6.0% to $5.3 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to $5.6 million for the first quarter last year. Included in the operating expenses were:

  • General and administrative expenses decreased to approximately $2.5 million during the first quarter of 2009 from approximately $2.8 million for the first quarter of last year. The decrease was primarily due to a $0.5 million reduction in professional services expenses, partially offset by an increase in equity-based non-cash employee and service provider compensation expense, which increased to $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $0.5 million in same the period of 2008. Equity-based non-cash compensation expense was higher during the first quarter of 2009 due to the vesting of a larger number of executive option grants.
  • Power project development expenses during the first quarter of 2009 totaled $2.1 million as compared to $1.8 million for the first quarter last year. This increase was primarily due to employment related costs of approximately $0.4 million resulting from increased employment levels to execute the Company’s business plan. Equity-based non-cash employee and contractor compensation for the first quarter of 2009 increased $0.2 million over the first quarter of 2008 as a result of stock option grants to new employees and stock grants to a consultant on our Lightning Dock project. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, professional services relating to geological engineering consulting associated with the construction of the Thermo No. 1 geothermal power plant decreased $0.6 million from the first quarter of 2008 primarily resulting from completing certain phases of the construction during the prior year.
  • Research and Development expense decreased from $1.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2008 to $0.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009.
  • Non-controlling interest includes the portion of the net loss allocated to a third party that owns a non-controlling interest in Raser’s Thermo Subsidiary. For the first quarter of 2009, the total was $1.0 million. In addition to the net loss allocation, the figure reflects the correction of an error from prior periods as well as the accrual of certain liquidation preferences contained in our agreement with the non-controlling third party. Previously, this was presented in the Company’s financial statements as minority interest.
  • In aggregate, non-cash, equity-based expenses and equity-based compensation totaled $1.2 million during the first quarter of 2009 and $0.8 million in the first quarter of 2008.

The Company’s net loss applicable to common stockholders was $6.7 million, or $(0.10) per basic and diluted share (based on 64.4 million shares) compared to a net loss of $5.4 million, or $(0.10) per basic and diluted share (based on 56.0 million shares) in the year-ago quarter.

Mr. Cook continued, “Our initial geothermal revenue will appear during our second fiscal quarter. We are in active discussions with utilities working toward finalizing power purchase agreements for other projects, including potential arrangements we believe could provide pre-payment for power thus providing funds for future power plant construction. In addition, we believe the increased focus on green power in today’s political climate could facilitate potential joint ventures and other opportunities, and we continue to explore these opportunities in order to accelerate our progress and create shareholder value.”

As previously announced, subsequent to the first quarter Raser restructured its purchase agreements with subsidiaries of United Technologies Corp., obtaining a return of $7.3 million that had previously been deposited in connection with orders of PureCycleŽ power systems. We are permitted to use the deposit return to facilitate payment for certain work necessary to complete the Hatch Plant. To date, Raser has received $3.3 million of the $7.3 million from this restructured agreement and this will be reflected on its balance sheet as of June 30, 2009. The balance available under the deposit refund combined with the remaining amount available under Raser’s line of credit totals approximately $8.0 million. In addition, the Company has approximately $17.5 million in restricted cash to cover certain construction costs at the Thermo No. 1 project, fund reserve accounts, and to cover convertible note coupon payments.

Mr. Cook concluded, “We anticipate being at or near full capacity at our Thermo No. 1 plant early in the third quarter, generating as much as 14 MW on a gross basis. As we move forward during 2009, Raser is well-positioned to develop a substantial and expanding portfolio of geothermal resources to provide power to several of the Western States. We continue to add to our vast resource holdings and believe we have the largest portfolio of undeveloped geothermal resources in the United States. We expect to leverage the expertise we have built through our experience and successes with the Thermo No. 1 project to help us to accelerate our construction and well field development efforts on subsequent projects.”

Symetron™ Updates:

Raser also made progress in advancing its Symetron™ electromagnetic motor and generator technology during the quarter, including:

  • Unveiling the Hummer H3 demonstration vehicle, powered by Raser’s plug-in hybrid E-REV (Extended-Range Electric Vehicle) at the 2009 SAE International World Congress in Detroit. Raser and its development partner FEV Inc. introduced Raser’s E-REV power train, similar in function to the Chevy Volt but designed for use in a variety of larger full-sized SUVs and light trucks. The demonstration vehicle is designed to achieve 100 mpg.

James Spellman, Vice President, of Transportation for Raser Technologies, commented, “Our initiatives with FEV Inc. surrounding our Symetron™ technology represent the forefront of plug-in-hybrid technology and we expect to expand our leadership role in this important technological area.”

Conference Call with Investors

Management will host a conference call at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on May 12, 2009 to discuss the results with the investment community. Anyone interested in participating should call 800-762-9441 if calling within the United States or 480-629-9644 if calling internationally. A replay will be available until May 19, 2009, which can be accessed by dialing 800-406-7325 if calling within the United States or 303-590-3030 if calling internationally. Please use passcode 4072524 to access the replay. The call will also be accompanied live by webcast over the Internet and accessible at VIAVID or at the Company’s website RASERTECH.