Wet tons of biosolids processed in the first quarter increased 37% to 26,500 compared with 19,300 tons in 2008.
Financial highlights for the quarter include:
Gross profit increased 69% to $391,000 in 2009 versus $231,000 in first quarter 2008, an increase of $160,000;
Gross profit margins increased to 29% for the quarter compared with 19.8% for the quarter one year ago;
Operating expenses decreased 10% to $357,000 as compared to $395,000 during the first quarter of 2008.
Timothy Kasmoch, president and chief executive officer of N-Viro stated, ‘The improved first quarter financial performance is the result of the efforts we commenced in 2006 to revitalize and execute our business plan to make N-Viro International a fully-integrated operations company. We have made significant gains in both the manufacturing and marketing of our products. While our margins improved substantially during the quarter we continue to seek ways in which we can further improve them in the upcoming year. We believe that we are well-positioned for future growth, and we believe we can continue our profitability with our current operations and business plan.’
‘Over the last several years we have demonstrated to our expanding customer base that N-Viro’s products, which include N-Viro Soil and N-Viro Fuel, can be used in diverse businesses. Customers are currently using N-Viro Soil for agriculture applications such as soybean, sod, hay, citrus, fruit and corn.’
Kasmoch added, ‘In January 2009, N-Viro Fuel received alternate energy status from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which we expect will make N-Viro Fuel a more appealing solution for both municipalities as well as private sector customers. Attaining this status has opened the door to discussions with a number of potential customers in both the public and private sectors. For example, we are in preliminary discussions with several companies involved in power generation to commercialize our patented N-Viro Fuel technology.
‘We are focusing on our ‘green’ technologies that we believe are at the forefront of today’s environmental-conscious power production market. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast a 14.1% increase in renewable energy usage by 2030. Currently, only 8.5% of the energy utilized in the US comes from renewable sources. We believe that this percentage could grow significantly in light of the current administration’s renewable energy agenda supporting renewable alternatives for the generation of electricity. We believe that N-Viro is positioned to play an important part in this important initiative.’
‘Further, as announced at the end of the first quarter, we recently entered into a five year extension of our lease for our Volusia County facility, from which we currently serve 12 municipalities in Florida. This facility produces our N-Viro Soil class AA product that is used as a beneficial soil amendment, and we are optimistic about increasing our product distribution in the surrounding area. We anticipate increasing the capacity of this facility by expanding the size as well as adding at least one additional shift. In the first quarter of 2009, this facility produced 40,300 tons of N-Viro Soil, an increase in tonnage output of 253% over the first quarter of 2008,’ stated Kasmoch.
Kasmoch added, ‘Our Toledo plant continues to process a majority of the city’s biosolids and we sell the product to a number of customers in the agriculture business. Because of the large demand for our product, during the first quarter of 2009 we produced N-Viro Soil at a rate of 70,000 tons a year, but we believe that demand is well in excess of that amount.’
‘We believe that we are well-positioned to benefit from increased demand as we pursue development of regional biosolids processing facilities. Site selection is currently under way as the Company moves forward with project development. N-Viro expects to begin permitting in the coming months. Our profitable first quarter coupled with our potential new business and partnerships, makes us very excited about our company’s future.’
