ImmuCell Announces Unaudited Financial Results for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2023

Rhea-AI Summary

ImmuCell Corporation (Nasdaq: ICCC) Announces Unaudited Financial Results for Q3 2023

Positive

• Steady increase in finished goods production from $3.3 million to $5.3 million in the first, second, and third quarters of 2023 respectively.
• Implementation of operational improvements and controls to enhance production process efficiency and output levels.
• Company's goal to produce products with an estimated sales value of approximately $6 million per quarter.

Negative

• None.

PORTLAND, Maine, Nov. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ImmuCell Corporation (Nasdaq: ICCC) (“ImmuCell” or the “Company”), a growing animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets scientifically proven and practical products that improve the health and productivity of dairy and beef cattle, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Management’s Discussion:

“Our unaudited, preliminary product sales for the third quarter of 2023 were first reported on October 5, 2023,” commented Michael F. Brigham, President and CEO of ImmuCell. “We have no changes to those figures.”

“The production slowdown that was necessary to remediate several contamination events materially impacted performance metrics during the first nine months of the year,” continued Mr. Brigham. “We believe that the operational improvements and controls that we have implemented throughout the production process (from farm to finished goods) will enable us to run more effectively and at a higher output level going forward.”

Finished goods produced increased steadily from approximately $3.3 million to $4 million and further to $5.3 million during the first, second and third quarters of 2023, respectively. The Company’s goal is to be able to produce product with an estimated sales value of approximately $6 million per quarter, which would annualize to about 80% of its estimated full production capacity of approximately $30 million.

“We are implementing and optimizing recent investments to increase our production capacity and resume full production,” added Mr. Brigham. “Third quarter production was approximately 89% of our quarterly objective.”

“At the same time, we remain poised and excited to revolutionize the way that subclinical mastitis is treated in today’s dairy market with Re-Tain^®, a novel alternative to traditional antibiotics that is subject to FDA approval,” concluded Mr. Brigham.

Certain Financial Results:

• Product sales increased by 13%, or $600,000, to $5.4 million during the three-month period ended September 30, 2023 compared to $4.8 million during the three-month period ended September 30, 2022.
• Product sales decreased by 16%, or $2.3 million, to $12.4 million during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2023 compared to $14.7 million during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022.
• Product sales decreased by 19%, or $3.8 million, to $16.3 million during the trailing twelve-month period ended September 30, 2023 compared to $20.1 million during the trailing twelve-month period ended September 30, 2022.
• Gross margin earned was 23% and 38% of product sales during the three-month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and 21% and 45% of product sales during the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The less than normal gross margin during 2023 was largely the result of product contamination events in the production processes that resulted in a slowdown in output and write-offs of affected inventory. Remediation measures have been implemented that are anticipated to mitigate or significantly reduce the risk of future contamination events.
• Net loss was $940,000, or $0.12 per basic share, during the three-month period ended September 30, 2023 in comparison to net loss of $655,000, or $0.08 per basic share, during the three-month period ended September 30, 2022.
• Net loss was $4.6 million, or $0.60 per basic share, during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2023 in comparison to net loss of $826,000, or $0.11 per basic share, during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022.
• EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure described on page 5 of this press release) decreased to approximately ($95,000) during the three-month period ended September 30, 2023 from $71,000 during the three-month period ended September 30, 2022 and to approximately ($2.3) million during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2023 from $1.3 million during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022.
  

Balance Sheet Data as of September 30, 2023:

• Cash and cash equivalents decreased to just under $2 million as of September 30, 2023 from $5.8 million as of December 31, 2022, with no draw outstanding on the available $1 million line of credit as of these dates.
• Net working capital decreased to approximately $8.6 million as of September 30, 2023 from $10.9 million as of December 31, 2022.
• Stockholders’ equity decreased to $26 million as of September 30, 2023 from $30.4 million as of December 31, 2022.
  

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements (Safe Harbor Statement):

This Press Release and the statements to be made in the related earnings conference call referenced herein contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and will often include words such as “expects”, “may”, “anticipates”, “aims”, “intends”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, “targets”, “projects”, “forecasts”, “seeks” and similar words and expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any forward-looking statements relating to: our plans and strategies for our business; projections of future financial or operational performance; the timing and outcome of pending or anticipated applications for regulatory approvals; future demand for our products; the scope and timing of ongoing and future product development work and commercialization of our products; dairy producers’ level of interest in treating subclinical mastitis given the current economic and market conditions; the expected efficacy of new products; our ability to increase production output and reduce costs of goods sold per unit; the adequacy of our own manufacturing facilities or those of third parties with which we have contractual relationships to meet demand for our products on a timely basis; the effectiveness of our contamination remediation efforts; the likelihood, severity or impact of future contamination events; the robustness of our manufacturing processes and related technical issues; estimates about our production capacity, efficiency and yield; future regulatory requirements relating to our products; future expense ratios and margins; the efficacy of our investments in our business; anticipated changes in our manufacturing capabilities and efficiencies; and any other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are intended to provide management's current expectation of future events as of the date of this earnings release, are based on management's estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions as of the date hereof; and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results, financial or operational performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties relating to: difficulties or delays in development, testing, regulatory approval, production and marketing of our products (including the First Defense^® product line and Re-Tain^®), competition within our anticipated product markets, customer acceptance of our new and existing products, product performance, alignment between our manufacturing resources and product demand (including the consequences of backlogs), uncertainty associated with the timing and volume of customer orders as we come out of a prolonged backlog, adverse impacts of supply chain disruptions on our operations and customer and supplier relationships, commercial and operational risks relating to our current and planned expansion of production capacity, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on our current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors. In addition, there can be no assurance that future risks, uncertainties or developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Condensed Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

	During the Three-Month Periods Ended September 30,				During the Nine-Month Periods Ended September 30,
(In thousands, except per share amounts)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Product sales	$5,397		$4,796		$12,376		$14,657
Costs of goods sold	4,130		2,950		9,764		8,000
Gross margin	1,267		1,846		2,612		6,657
Product development expenses	1,118		1,270		3,328		3,444
Sales, marketing and administrative expenses	1,333		1,193		4,028		3,878
Operating expenses	2,451		2,463		7,356		7,322
NET OPERATING LOSS	(1,184)		(617)		(4,744)		(665)
Other (income) expenses, net	(244)		34		(113)		155
LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAXES	(940)		(651)		(4,631)		(820)
Income tax expense	-		4		4		6
NET LOSS	($940)		($655)		($4,635)		($826)
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding	7,747		7,747		7,747		7,745
Basic net loss per share	($0.12)		($0.08)		($0.60)		($0.11)
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding	7,747		7,747		7,747		7,745
Diluted net loss per share	($0.12)		($0.08)		($0.60)		($0.11)

Selected Balance Sheet Data (In thousands) (Unaudited)

	As of September 30, 2023	As of December 31, 2022
Cash and cash equivalents	$1,989	$5,792
Net working capital	8,634	10,923
Total assets	44,545	44,861
Stockholders’ equity	$26,013	$30,380

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company’s performance, financial position or cash flow that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP measures included in this press release should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, the comparable measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. We believe that considering the non-GAAP measure of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) assists management and investors by looking at our performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis excluding these certain charges that are not uses of cash from our reported loss before income taxes. We calculate EBITDA as described in the following table:

	During the Three-Month Periods Ended September 30,				During the Nine-Month Periods Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2023		2022		2023		2022
Loss before income taxes	($940)		($651)		($4,631)		($820)
Interest expense (excluding debt issuance and debt discount costs)	136		88		311		249
Depreciation	696		627		2,027		1,869
Amortization	13		7		27		20
EBITDA	($95)		$71		($2,266)		$1,318

EBITDA included stock-based compensation expense of approximately $96,000 and $85,000 during the three-month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and $268,000 and $201,000 during the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which is a non-cash expense that we add back to EBITDA when assessing our cash flows.

Conference Call:
The Company will host a conference call on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 9:00 AM ET to discuss the full unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. Interested parties can access the conference call by dialing (844) 855-9502 (toll free) or (412) 317-5499 (international).  A teleconference replay of the call will be available until November 21, 2023 at (877) 344-7529 (toll free) or (412) 317-0088 (international), utilizing replay access code #5077962. Investors are encouraged to review the Company’s updated Corporate Presentation slide deck that provides an overview of the Company’s business and is available under the “Investors” tab of the Company’s website at www.immucell.com, or by request to the Company.

About ImmuCell:
ImmuCell Corporation's (Nasdaq: ICCC) purpose is to create scientifically proven and practical products that improve the health and productivity of dairy and beef cattle. ImmuCell manufactures and markets First Defense^®, providing Immediate Immunity™ to newborn dairy and beef calves, and is in the late stages of developing Re-Tain^®, a novel treatment for subclinical mastitis in dairy cows with a no milk discard claim that provides an alternative to traditional antibiotics. Press releases and other information about the Company are available at: http://www.immucell.com.

Contacts:	Michael F. Brigham, President and CEO
	ImmuCell Corporation
	(207) 878-2770
	Joe Diaz, Robert Blum and Joe Dorame
	Lytham Partners, LLC
	(602) 889-9700
	iccc@lythampartners.com

FAQ

What are ImmuCell Corporation's unaudited financial results for Q3 2023?

ImmuCell Corporation reported a steady increase in finished goods production from $3.3 million to $5.3 million in the first, second, and third quarters of 2023 respectively. The company aims to produce products with an estimated sales value of approximately $6 million per quarter.

What measures has ImmuCell Corporation taken to improve production efficiency?

ImmuCell Corporation has implemented operational improvements and controls throughout the production process to enhance efficiency and increase output levels.