12 January 2011

5N Plus’ sales match company record

For its fiscal second-quarter 2011 (to end-November 2010), 5N Plus Inc of Montreal, Quebec, Canada has reported (in Canadian dollars) revenue of $19.7m, up 5% on fiscal Q1’s $18.7m and up 24.8% on $15.8m a year ago (as well as equaling the firm’s record of Q4/2010).

5N Plus produces high-purity metals such as tellurium, cadmium, selenium, germanium, indium and antimony. It also produces II-VI semiconducting compounds such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulphide (CdS) and indium antimonide (InSb) as precursors for the growth of crystals for applications including infra-red detectors for night-vision systems, radiation detectors for medical imaging, and thin-film photovoltaic cells for solar panels.

Net earnings from continuing operations were $4m, up 24.9% on $3.4m a year ago. “This is our fourth consecutive quarter in which sales and earnings have reached respectively in the $19m and $4m ranges, despite the appreciation of the Canadian dollar and some competitive pressures on margins,” says president & CEO Jacques L’Écuyer.

The backlog of orders expected to translate into sales within 12 months is $62.6m, up on $57.4m last quarter and $53.3m a year ago (despite changes in currency exchange rates having an adverse impact of about $6.4m). “Our record backlog expanding by 18% in the past year reflects the continuing strengthening of our base business,” says L’Écuyer.

“We continue to expect further strengthening of our base business, especially in the solar sector, as our main customer in this market continues to grow and to demonstrate leadership in terms of cost effectiveness,” L’Écuyer says. “Developments made by our other customers in this market remain encouraging, and we were particularly delighted in this respect to hear of the recent announcement made by the US Department of Energy concerning the $400m loan guarantee granted to Abound Solar,” he remarks. “Now that our new photovoltaic module recycling facility in Wisconsin is operational, we believe that we are uniquely positioned to service all of these customers and take advantage of the resulting anticipated growth in this market segment.”

Construction is now almost complete on the new facility in Trail, British Columbia for the subsidiary Firebird Technologies Inc (which produces indium antimonide wafers as well as antimony, indium and tin pure metals), reports L’Ecuyer. “We expect the facility to be fully commissioned during the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year and Firebird to begin generating significant germanium-related revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Together with the investment made in Sylarus [which produces germanium substrates in Saint George, UT, USA] and announced recently, this will form the basis of our germanium-related activities and position us as one of the leading producers of germanium products for electronic applications,” he believes.

See related items:

5N Plus’ revenue supplemented by non-solar products as Firebird ramps up

Tags: 5N Plus

Visit: www.5nplus.com

Visit: http://sylarus.com