ImmuCell Announces Unaudited Financial Results for the Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2023
- ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC) experienced a significant 30% growth in total sales for the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
- The total sales for the year ended December 31, 2023, were 6% lower than the previous year due to production delays caused by contamination events.
- The company is focused on enhancing production capacity to achieve quarterly sales of $6 million or more.
- Finished goods production steadily increased throughout 2023 but slightly dropped in the fourth quarter.
- ImmuCell is investing in expanding production output after addressing contamination issues that occurred in late 2022 and early 2023.
- Total sales for the year 2023 decreased by 6%, indicating a decline in overall performance compared to the previous year.
- The drop in finished goods production in the fourth quarter of 2023 could potentially impact revenue generation.
- Contamination events in 2022 and early 2023 led to production slowdowns, affecting the company's financial results.
Insights
The reported increase in ImmuCell Corporation's quarterly sales by 30% compared to the same period in the previous year signals a significant rebound in the company's revenue stream. This is a notable turnaround, especially considering the 6% annual sales decline due to production challenges. Investors should assess the company's ability to sustain and build upon this quarterly growth, as it could indicate improved operational efficiency and market demand for their animal health products.
However, the inconsistency in production output, with a slight decrease in the fourth quarter after steady growth in the first three quarters, warrants attention. It suggests potential volatility in the company's production processes. Stakeholders should monitor whether the multi-year investment to increase production capacity can stabilize and enhance output levels to meet the stated objective of $6 million in sales per quarter.
The performance of ImmuCell Corporation must be contextualized within the broader animal health industry. The sector is known for its resilience and steady growth, driven by the increasing demand for dairy and beef products and the need for enhanced livestock health management. ImmuCell's productivity improvements and capacity expansion plans could position it advantageously against competitors.
From a market perspective, the company's recovery from contamination events and the subsequent increase in sales could improve investor sentiment. However, the market will likely seek evidence of consistent operational execution in future quarters before fully revaluing the company's stock.
ImmuCell's focus on improving the health and productivity of dairy and beef cattle is critical, as it directly correlates with the profitability of livestock operations. The company's ability to navigate through production challenges and still achieve a 30% quarterly sales growth suggests that its products are well-received in the market.
The long-term success of such a company hinges on maintaining high production standards to prevent contamination events, which can have severe implications for both animal and human health. ImmuCell's commitment to optimizing its production capacity is a positive indicator of its dedication to quality and safety, which are paramount in the veterinary field.
PORTLAND, Maine, Feb. 27, 2024 (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 and year ended December 31, 2023.
Management’s Discussion:
“Our unaudited, preliminary product sales for the fourth quarter of 2023 were first reported on January 8, 2024,” commented Michael F. Brigham, President and CEO of ImmuCell. “We have no changes to those figures.”
Total sales during the three-month period ended December 31, 2023 were
Finished goods produced increased steadily from approximately
The Company’s objective is to produce finished goods with an approximate sales value of
“The loss in sales and the lower than historically experienced gross margin that we incurred as the result of certain contamination events in our production process materially weakened our financial performance during 2023,” continued Mr. Brigham. “We emerge from the year with a stronger production process from the farms to the finished doses and enter 2024 with the goal of maintaining the production success that we achieved during the last two months of 2023.”
“In addition, we continue to work to achieve FDA approval to commercialize Re-Tain®, a novel alternative to traditional antibiotics to treat subclinical mastitis that is subject to FDA approval,” Mr. Brigham concluded. “We expect a response from the FDA to our third submission of the CMC Technical Section no later than May 2024.”
Certain Financial Results:
- Product sales increased by
30% , or$1.2 million , to$5.1 million during the three-month period ended December 31, 2023 compared to$3.9 million during the three-month period ended December 31, 2022. - Product sales decreased by
6% , or$1.1 million , to$17.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to$18.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2022. - Gross margin earned was
25% of product sales during both of the three-month periods ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and22% and41% of product sales during the years ended December 31, 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 scrapped inventory. Remediation measures have been implemented that are anticipated to mitigate or significantly reduce the risk of future contamination events. - Net loss was
$1.1 million , or$0.15 per basic share, during the three-month period ended December 31, 2023 in comparison to net loss of$1.7 million , or$0.22 per basic share, during the three-month period ended December 31, 2022. - Net loss was
$5.8 million , or$0.75 per basic share, during the year ended December 31, 2023 in comparison to net loss of$2.5 million , or$0.32 per basic share, during the year ended December 31, 2022. - EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure described on page 5 of this press release) improved to approximately (
$311,000) during the three-month period ended December 31, 2023 in comparison to ($968,000) during the three-month period ended December 31, 2022. EBITDA of approximately ($2.6) million during the year ended December 31, 2023 is in contrast to EBITDA of$350,000 during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Balance Sheet Data as of December 31, 2023:
- Cash and cash equivalents decreased to just under
$1 million as of December 31, 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
$7.3 million as of December 31, 2023 from$10.9 million as of December 31, 2022. - Stockholders’ equity decreased to
$25 million as of December 31, 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 press 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 December 31, | During the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
| (In thousands, except per share amounts) | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||
| Product sales | $ | 5,096 | $ | 3,911 | $ | 17,472 | $ | 18,568 | |||||||
| Costs of goods sold | 3,838 | 2,919 | 13,603 | 10,919 | |||||||||||
| Gross margin | 1,258 | 992 | 3,869 | 7,649 | |||||||||||
| Product development expenses | 1,066 | 1,049 | 4,395 | 4,494 | |||||||||||
| Sales, marketing and administrative expenses | 1,195 | 1,576 | 5,222 | 5,454 | |||||||||||
| Operating expenses | 2,261 | 2,625 | 9,617 | 9,948 | |||||||||||
| NET OPERATING LOSS | (1,003 | ) | (1,633 | ) | (5,748 | ) | (2,299 | ) | |||||||
| Other expenses, net | 135 | 33 | 22 | 187 | |||||||||||
| LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAXES | (1,138 | ) | (1,666 | ) | (5,770 | ) | (2,486 | ) | |||||||
| Income tax expense | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | |||||||||||
| NET LOSS | $ | (1,140 | ) | $ | (1,668 | ) | $ | (5,775 | ) | $ | (2,494 | ) | |||
| Basic weighted average common shares outstanding | 7,750 | 7,747 | 7,748 | 7,745 | |||||||||||
| Basic net loss per share | $ | (0.15 | ) | $ | (0.22 | ) | $ | (0.75 | ) | $ | (0.32 | ) | |||
| Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding | 7,750 | 7,747 | 7,748 | 7,745 | |||||||||||
| Diluted net loss per share | $ | (0.15 | ) | $ | (0.22 | ) | $ | (0.75 | ) | $ | (0.32 | ) | |||
Selected Balance Sheet Data (In thousands) (Unaudited)
| As of December 31, 2023 | As of December 31, 2022 | |||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 979 | $ | 5,792 | ||
| Net working capital | 7,272 | 10,923 | ||||
| Total assets | 43,808 | 44,861 | ||||
| Stockholders’ equity | $ | 24,993 | $ | 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 December 31, | During the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||
| Loss before income taxes | $ | (1,138 | ) | $ | (1,666 | ) | $ | (5,770 | ) | $ | (2,486 | ) | |||
| Interest expense (excluding debt issuance and debt discount costs) | 142 | 92 | 453 | 341 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation | 670 | 599 | 2,698 | 2,468 | |||||||||||
| Amortization | 15 | 7 | 42 | 27 | |||||||||||
| EBITDA | $ | (311 | ) | $ | (968 | ) | $ | (2,577 | ) | $ | 350 | ||||
EBITDA included stock-based compensation expense of approximately
Conference Call:
The Company has scheduled a conference call on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 9:00 AM ET to discuss the full unaudited financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 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 March 6, 2024 at (877) 344-7529 (toll free) or (412) 317-0088 (international), utilizing replay access code #2442952.
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 was the percentage increase in total sales for ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC) in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2022?
Why did total sales for ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC) decrease by 6% in 2023?
What is ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC) aiming to achieve in terms of quarterly sales value?
How did finished goods production evolve throughout 2023 for ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC)?
What is ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC) doing to address production capacity issues?
