Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. Reports First-Quarter 2019 Financial Results

First-Quarter 2019 Revenues More Than Doubled to $8.7 Million, with Gross Margins of 57 Percent

DAVIS, Calif., May 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBII), an international leader in sustainable biopesticide and plant health solutions, has provided its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.

Selected Operating and Financial Highlights

Q1 2019 Financial Highlights

• Revenues in the first quarter of 2019 improved by 102 percent to $8.7 million, compared with $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2018.  The record quarterly sales were led by continued adoption of the Venerate family of products, both for foliar applications in vegetables and for soil- and seed-applied applications in row crops.  Revenues also benefited from placement of Grandevo for in-season insect control in fruits and vegetables, as well as expanded market reach for Regalia to treat fungal diseases in trees, nuts and vines.
• Gross margins reached 57.2 percent, benefiting from the higher net revenue and higher mix of the Venerate family of products and better manufacturing efficiencies.
• The 14 percent increase in operating expenses reflected planned investments in the commercial organization and programs, and in field trials for key research and development projects, including a new proprietary biological herbicide.  This increase was offset somewhat by a decrease in accounting and other professional consulting fees in the first quarter of 2019.
• Net loss in the first quarter of 2019 was $3.9 million, or $(0.04) per share, compared with a net loss of $5.3 million, or $(0.07) per share, in the first quarter of 2018.
• On a comparative basis, the first quarter of 2018 included a non-recurring net benefit of $1.8 million to other income related to the Company’s comprehensive financing and debt restructuring transactions.  Additionally, the diluted weighted-average shares outstanding in the first quarter of 2019 were 110.7 million shares, compared with 74.6 million shares in the first quarter of 2018.
• Cash used in operations for the first quarter of 2019 was $7.7 million, compared with cash used in operations of $9.7 million in the first quarter of 2018.  The use of operating cash in the first quarter of 2019 reflected greater working capital requirements related to increased sales.

Management Commentary
“We have put a solid foundation in place – technically, commercially and financially – to drive revenue growth this year and set the stage for longer term growth.  Our first-quarter results are a solid start to what we believe can be a transformative year for Marrone Bio,” said Dr. Pam Marrone, chief executive officer of Marrone Bio Innovations. 

“As we broaden our customer outreach and distribution network, we expand our ability to sell our products for multiple uses within a given crop,” she added.  “We have the technical flexibility to offer our products in combination with complementary traditional agricultural solutions or with other compatible biocontrol or biostimulant offerings, thus enhancing our revenue-generating capabilities.”
       
Operational Highlights

• Regalia’s label in Brazil was expanded to control fungal and bacterial diseases on lettuces, carrots, papayas, mangoes, watermelons, sweet peppers and grapes.
• Regalia Maxx biofungicide was approved for use on cannabis in Canada.
• Distribution agreements for Regalia Maxx were reached with Plant Products, a full-service greenhouse supplier, for eastern and central Canada; and with TerraLink, a leading supplier of crop input products, for western Canada.
• Venerate CG label was approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for use on cannabis.

Conference Call and Webcast

Management will host an investor conference call at 1:30 p.m. PDT (4:30 p.m. EDT) today, May 9, 2019, to discuss Marrone Bio Innovations’ first quarter 2019 financial results and provide a corporate update, and will conclude with a Q&A from participants. To participate, please use the following information:

Q1 2019 Conference Call and Webcast
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2019
Time: 1:30 p.m. Pacific time (4:30 p.m. Eastern time)
U.S. Dial-in: 1-800-263-0877
International Dial-in: 1-323-794-2094
Conference ID: 7937030
Webcast: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=133556

Please dial in at least 10 minutes before the start of the call to ensure timely participation.

A playback of the call will be available through June 9, 2019. To listen, call 1-844-512-2921 within the United States or 1-412-317-6671 when calling internationally. Please use the replay pin number 7937030. A webcast will also be available for 30 days on the IR section of the Marrone Bio Innovations website or by clicking here: MBII Q1 2019 Webcast.

About Marrone Bio Innovations     
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBII) (MBI) strives to lead the movement to a more sustainable world through the discovery, development and sale of innovative biological products for crop protection, plant health and waterway systems treatment that support a better tomorrow for farmers, turf managers and consumers around the globe. MBI has screened over 18,000 microorganisms and 350 plant extracts, leveraging its in-depth knowledge of plant and soil microbiomes enhanced by advanced molecular technologies to rapidly develop seven effective and environmentally responsible pest management products to help customers operate more sustainably while uniquely improving plant health and increasing crop yields. Supported by a robust portfolio of over 400 issued and pending patents around its superior natural product chemistry, MBI’s currently available commercial products are Regalia^®, Stargus^® and Amplitude^®, Grandevo^®, Venerate^®, Majestene^® and Zelto^®, Haven^®, and Zequanox^®, all of which are registered trademarks of Marrone Bio Innovations. 

Learn more about Marrone Bio Innovations at www.marronebio.com. We also use our investor relations website, https://investors.marronebio.com, as well as our corporate Twitter account, @Marronebio, as means of disclosing material non-public information, and encourage our investors and others to monitor and review the information we make public in these locations. Follow us on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Marrone Bio Innovations Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding strategy, future operations and plans, including assumptions underlying such statements, are forward-looking statements, and should not be relied upon as representing MBI’s views as of any subsequent date.  Examples of such statements include statements regarding management’s proposed deliverables for 2019, the Company’s positioning for becoming a commercial leader, and the potential benefits of the Company’s products. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including consumer, regulatory and other factors affecting demand for the Company’s products, any difficulty in marketing MBI’s products in global markets, competition in the market for pest management products, lack of understanding of bio-based pest management products by customers and growers, and adverse decisions by regulatory agencies and other relevant third parties.  Additional information that could lead to material changes in MBI’s performance is contained in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  MBI is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter forward-looking statements contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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