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ThermoEnergy Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2013 Results

ThermoEnergy Corporation (OTCBB: TMEN), a technologies company engaged in the development and sale of wastewater treatment technologies, today reported revenue of $2.8 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013.

Mr. James F. Wood, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ThermoEnergy, stated: "2013 was a year of progress for ThermoEnergy. We worked to refocus the Company on its core competency – the manufacture and sale of systems that treat and recover chemicals, metals and nutrients from industrial wastewaters. I am confident this effort led to a number of increased opportunities and proposals throughout the latter half of 2013. Oil and gas is a sustainable market and major focus for the Company’s technology. However, based on the infancy of our offering to this segment, achieving scale is taking longer than expected. Recent field pilots and third-party laboratory tests have substantiated our CAST® technology’s ability to treat produced water from conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon sources and provide a cost-effective solutions for treating and recovering these waters. Additional information on the technology and our successful pilot studies is available on the Company’s website at www.thermoenergy.com.”

Mr. Wood continued, “We have made significant efforts in managing our costs and continue to seek improvements in operations to improve our margins and reduce our manufacturing lead-times, which currently take anywhere from 16 to 24 weeks to build. Our technology is differentiated from competitive wastewater technologies in that CAST® technology produces a clean distillate. The potential recovery of potable water for agricultural and livestock uses in drought-stressed areas such as West Texas and California’s Central Valley continues to provide opportunities for the Company, and we believe ThermoEnergy’s technologies will become more valuable as global water shortages continue driven by climate changes and population growth.“

Operational and Financial Highlights:

  • Full year revenues of $2.8 million with 96% derived from new business and service opportunities.
  • Commissioned two ARP systems for removal and recovery of concentrated ammonia in wastewater.
  • Booked two additional CAST® systems for recovery of glycol and metal finishing and negotiated the completion and payment of two additional systems previously unfinished. These four systems are expected to ship during the second and third quarters of 2014.
  • Received third party scientific and economic validation supporting the benefits and return on investment generated by the Company’s introduction of CAST® technologies in the oil and gas market.
  • Achieved cost savings of $2.7 million based on efforts undertaken to reduce spending on non-core business activities.
  • Built and delivered UPA’s bench scale unit to demonstrate Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (POXC®) using domestic coals.
  • Expanded the sales and marketing organization to better develop top line opportunities across all industrial markets: oil and gas, glycol, chemical, metal and nutrient recycling.
  • Finalized the NYCDEP contract, resulting in a non-cash gain on contract termination of approximately $4.9 million.
  • Reduced outstanding debt by $1.7 million through the pay down and conversion of $5.7 million in debt during the first half of 2013, offset by a $4 million non-dilutive note in the fourth quarter.

Financial Results for the Three-Month Period Ended December 31, 2013:

For the three-month period ended December 31, 2013 the Company recorded revenue of $191,000 compared to $1,351,000 in the fourth quarter of 2012. Going forward, revenue on orders in backlog will be recognized only when shipped. Revenue in the quarter was derived from service contracts and spare parts orders. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 was derived mainly from our contract with the NYCDEP.

Gross loss for the fourth quarter of 2013 was ($174,000), driven mainly by unabsorbed manufacturing costs.

General and administrative expense for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $757,000, a decrease of $43,000 (5%) compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. The Company was able to recognize its targeted cost reduction efforts and maintain lower legal and financing expenses than the fourth quarter of 2012.

Engineering expense for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $18,000, a decrease of $80,000 (82%) compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. The decrease is attributable to increased utilization of our engineering resources and reduced non-cash stock expense during the period.

Sales and marketing expense for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $466,000, a decrease of $201,000 (30%) compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. The decrease was due to a reduction in non-core international business development efforts and reduced unbillable pre-sale expenses, partially offset by the continued increase in spending on domestic sales and marketing activities.

The Company reported a net loss for the three-month period ended December 31, 2013 of $1.314 million, ($0.01 per basic share), compared to a loss of $1.436 million ($0.01 per basic share) for the same period in 2012.

Financial Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2013:

For the year ended December 31, 2013 the Company recorded revenue of $2,812,000 compared to revenues of $6,971,000 in 2012. Revenue in 2013 was derived mainly by the Company’s first two projects utilizing its Ammonia Recovery Process (“ARP”) technology and work related to the subcontract with Unity Power Alliance’s DOE Grant. Equipment revenues were supported by continued growth in service revenues from our historic customer base. Revenue in 2012 were derived primarily from our contract with the NYCDEP.

Gross loss for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 was $501,000 compared to a profit of $173,000 in 2012. The gross loss is attributed to lower margins on the initial ARP project as well as higher unallocated overhead costs during the period. In 2012, the Company benefited from the continued construction of the NYCDEP contract. As reported last quarter, full year margin degradation was impacted by cost overruns of $275,000, which were driven by engineering and product design changes by our joint venture partner on UPA.

General and administrative expense totaled $3,179,000 in 2013, a decrease of $1,572,000 (33%) compared to 2012. The decrease is attributable to significantly lower professional and consulting expenses in 2013 from continuing efforts to reduce our cost structure, as well as significantly lower non-cash stock option expenses.

Engineering expense totaled $454,000 in 2013, which is consistent with spending in 2012. Our engineering team was not as fully utilized throughout the first half of 2013 compared to 2012 due to the cancellation of the NYCDEP contract and the timing of project activity. Engineering costs directly related to our projects are charged to cost of sales. The reduced utilization of our engineering team was offset by lower headcount and non-cash stock option expense in 2013.

Selling expense totaled $1,727,000 in 2013, a decrease of approximately $1.1 million (40%) compared to 2012. This decrease is attributed to a reduction in non-core business development efforts and reduced unbillable pre-sale expenses. These declines were offset by continued expenditures incurred to strengthen the field sales team, trade and promotion activities, and pilot testing of our TurboFrac® technologies in the unconventional oil shale market.

The Company recorded a non-cash gain of $4,878,000 related to the termination of its contract with the NYCDEP in 2013. This gain represents the amount by which our billings to the NYCDEP contract exceeded revenues recognized. We did not record any such gains in 2012.

Additional income of $2,357,000 was earned in 2013 related to the net change in fair value on our derivative instruments compared to $1,637,000 in 2012. Income in both years relates primarily to the passage of time and the decrease in our stock price. The increased income in 2013 is due to an increase in the number of underlying derivative instruments in 2013 compared to 2012.

The Company recorded derivative expense of $567,000 in 2012 related to the initial valuation of derivative liabilities. This expense did not repeat in 2013.

Due to our 50% ownership in UPA, the Company absorbed its proportional share of the costs necessary to complete the cost-sharing arrangement with the Department of Energy. This resulted in a loss of $298,000 in 2013 compared to $8,000 in 2012.

Interest expense was $2,663,000 in 2013 compared to $529,000 in 2012. This increase is due to amortization of debt discounts recognized on our December 2011 Bridge Notes and our November 2012 Bridge Notes in 2013.

The Company had cash on hand at December 31, 2013 of $2.5 million.

Please see the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2014 for additional details.

About ThermoEnergy

Founded in 1988, ThermoEnergy is a diversified technologies company engaged in the worldwide development, sales and commercialization of patented and/or proprietary municipal and industrial wastewater treatment and power generation technologies. Additional information on the Company and its technologies can be found on its website at www.thermoenergy.com.

THIS PRESS RELEASE INCLUDES STATEMENTS THAT MAY CONSTITUTE "FORWARD LOOKING" STATEMENTS, USUALLY CONTAINING THE WORDS "ESTIMATE", "PROJECT", "EXPECT" OR SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS INHERENTLY INVOLVE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM CURRENT EXPECTATIONS. BY MAKING THESE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS, THE COMPANY UNDERTAKES NO OBLIGATION TO UPDATE THESE STATEMENTS FOR REVISIONS OR CHANGES.

Contacts:

ThermoEnergy Corporation
Investor Relations Contact
Thomas Walsh, 212-398-3486
twalsh@allianceadvisors.net
or
Media Contact
Marc Bane, 978-443-2378
mbane@banemarketing.com

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