Solazyme passes 'milestone' quarter

Solazyme has announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. "Q1 was an important mil…

Solazyme has announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

"Q1 was an important milestone quarter for the company from both production and commercialisation standpoints as we began making and selling products from Clinton/Galva, our first large scale commercial facility; our partner Unilever began using our oils in its premier Lux soap brand; we launched and began selling our new Encapso encapsulated lubricants in the oil field services market; and our Algenist brand expanded into Nordstrom,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme. “While we haven't yet announced our first commercial product out of Moema, much of that plant is operational, including full-scale fermenters. We expect to manufacture commercial product at the Moema facility in the second quarter."

Total revenue for the first quarter of 2014 was $12.4 million compared with $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 85%. First quarter GAAP net loss was $34.7 million, which compares with net loss of $26.5 million in the prior year period. On a non-GAAP basis, the net loss was $30.5 million for the first quarter of 2014, compared with net loss of $21.5 million in the prior year quarter.

"Manufacturing at Clinton/Galva is progressing as planned and we are pleased to report that we have doubled the number of customers shipped to since our update at the end of February," said Tyler Painter, CFO of Solazyme. "We made commercial progress across our consumer products, nutrition, encapsulated lubricants, and industrial oils and fuels markets. We also strengthened our balance sheet and are well-positioned to ramp manufacturing volumes and commercialize our growing portfolio of products."