Amyris, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

On November 6, 2020 Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRS), a leading synthetic biotechnology company in Sustainable Health and Clean Beauty markets through its consumer brands and a top supplier of sustainably sourced natural ingredients, reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2020 (Press release, Amyris Biotechnologies, NOV 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234570237]).

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John Melo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amyris said, "The third quarter of 2020 was another strong quarter for our company. Our ability to deliver record Product Revenue in these difficult and uncertain times is a testament to the resiliency of our team, the growing trend of consumers’ commitment to sustainable brands, our products, and the robustness of our business model."

Mr. Melo added, "During the quarter, we continued to execute across the strategic priorities we laid out in the beginning of the year. Our consumer business is growing at over three times 2019 revenue and delivered significantly expanded Gross Margin. We expect the combination of a strong fourth quarter along with the successful completion of strategic transactions to set us up for a profitable 2021."

Q3 2020 Financial Highlights

Sales Revenue: Product Revenue (Consumer & Ingredients) of $31 million was up 58% compared with the prior year quarter, with year-over-year revenue growth in Consumer (+203%) and Ingredients (+21%).
Cash operating expense of $43 million improved $5 million or 10% versus the prior year quarter, mostly due to lower G&A expense.
Adjusted EBITDA of -$33 million improved $10 million year-over-year due to strong revenue growth, improved gross margin and lower operating expense.
Interest expense of $7 million was down $10 million or 61% from Q3 2019 due to lower debt and an improved average interest rate.
Strategic Highlights

1. High growth consumer brands: above-market growth

Recent Progress:
Our wholly owned consumer brands delivered 220% growth on a year-to-date basis. Product Revenue demonstrated three consecutive quarters of >55% YoY growth.
Continued international growth of Biossance.
Upcoming milestone:
Pipette & fast-tracked to launch in China in November.
Biossance Entering China by year end
2. Scientific and commercial collaboration: fast time from lab to industrial scale

Recent Progress:
Executed agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) to accelerate development of a mRNA vaccine platform, starting with COVID-19 as first application.
Scaled commercial production of Cannabigerol (CBG), leveraging our fermentation process capability.
Upcoming milestone:
On track to deliver four molecules at scale, surpassing 2020 target of two to three.
Q4 Ingredients revenue to benefit from new products to market.
3. Supply chain optimization: enhanced product margins

Recent Progress:
Year-to-date gross margins improved versus 2019 driven by both Consumer and Ingredients. Consumer margins were 67% year-to-date, well within the 60-70% anticipated target range.
Cosmetics Ingredient Business delivered 49% adjusted EBITDA margin.
Upcoming milestone:
Construction of integrated Brazil ingredients plant on track for Q4 2021 commissioning.
4. Improved balance sheet, earnings and cash flow: financial foundation for success

Recent Progress:
Improved margin profile of consumer brands and ingredients portfolio.
Q3 cash operating expense improved 10%, mostly due to lower G&A.
Q3 interest expense was down 61%. Debt was reduced 41% since the start of 2020.
Q3 reported Total Revenue of $34 million included strong Product Revenue growth compared to the prior year quarter.
Q3 Product Revenue of $31 million increased $11 million or 58% compared with the prior year quarter, with year-over-year revenue growth in Consumer (+203%) and Ingredients (+21%). Q3 marks the third consecutive quarter of tripled year-over-year Consumer Revenue.
YTD Sales Revenue also saw strong growth from Product Revenue, partly offset by lower Collaboration Revenue.
Q3 2020 and Year-to-Date (YTD) Other Key Financials

Q3 Gross margin of 41% was supported by strong improvement in Product margins. Q3 Product gross margin of 35% grew $11 million versus the prior year quarter with a $9 million year-over-year improvement from Consumer and $2 million from Ingredients. YTD Gross margin also reflected a strong improvement in Product margins. Prior year gross margins were helped by higher Collaboration Revenue and a one-off Vitamin E transaction.
Q3 Cash Operating Expense of $43 million improved $5 million or 10% versus the prior year quarter. Improvements in G&A and R&D expense were partly redirected to marketing investments to support Consumer brand growth. T&E expense was down due to COVID-19. Sequential cash operating expense was flat despite continued topline growth. YTD cash operating expense of $130 million was down $6 million or 4%.
Q3 Adjusted EBITDA of -$33 million improved $10 million versus the prior year quarter due to strong revenue growth, improved gross margins and lower expense. YTD adjusted EBITDA of -$101 million improved from -$131 million in the prior year driven by gross margin growth and lower operating expense. Adjusted EBITDA excludes one-time impact from Vitamin E, Lavvan revenue and a one-off credit loss.
Interest Expense of $7 million was down $10 million or 61% from Q3 2019 due to lower debt and an improved average interest rate. Q3 2020 finished with debt of $175m, which compares to $241m at the end of the prior year quarter. YTD interest expense of $42 million improved by $3 million.
Q3 GAAP Net Income of -$23 million compared with -$60 million in 2019. The year-over-year and year-to-date comparisons are impacted by various non-cash adjustments related to fair value of derivatives and debt.
Diluted EPS of -$0.41 compared with -$0.56 for Q3 of 2019. YTD diluted EPS was -$1.46, which compared to -$2.11 for YTD 2019.
Despite strong financial performance in the third quarter, the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic could affect Amyris’ future financial results and operations is subject to a high degree of uncertainty, and therefore the company is not providing formal guidance at this time.

FINANCIAL RESULTS AND NON-GAAP INFORMATION

To supplement our financial results and guidance presented on a GAAP basis, we use non-GAAP measures that we believe are helpful in understanding our results. These non-GAAP measures are among the factors management uses in planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to Amyris’s historical performance as well as comparisons to the operating results of other companies. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow for greater transparency into the indicators used by management to understand, manage, and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. Our non-GAAP financial measures include the following:

Non-GAAP net income (loss) is calculated as GAAP net income/loss excluding stock-based compensation expense, gains or losses from change in fair value of debt, gains and losses from changes in the fair value of derivatives, losses on debt extinguishment, losses allocated to participating securities, deemed dividends to preferred stockholders, contract asset credit loss reserve, inventory lower of cost or net realizable value adjustments, loss from investment in affiliate and other income/expense.

Adjusted diluted EPS is calculated by dividing Non-GAAP net income (loss) by the weighted average shares, basic and diluted outstanding for the period.

Non-GAAP Gross Margin (Gross Margin) is calculated as GAAP revenues divided by GAAP cost of products sold excluding excess capacity, depreciation and amortization, other costs/provisions and inventory lower of cost or net realizable value adjustments.

Non-GAAP Cash Operating Expense is calculated as GAAP Operating Expense minus non-cash stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization. In Q3 2020 it also excluded a one-off credit loss.

EBITDA is calculated as GAAP net loss less interest, expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, deemed dividends to preferred stockholders and losses allocated to participating securities.

Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA less stock-based compensation expense, gains or losses from change in fair value of debt, gains and losses from changes in the fair value of derivatives, losses on debt extinguishment, other income/expense, net, loss from investment in affiliate, contract asset credit loss reserve and inventory lower of cost or net realizable value adjustments.

Non-GAAP financial information is not prepared under a comprehensive set of accounting rules, and therefore, should only be read in conjunction with financial information reported under U.S. GAAP in order to understand Amyris’s operating performance. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this release to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is provided in the tables attached to this press release.

Conference Call
Amyris will host its third quarter 2020 conference call today at 9:00 am ET (6:00 am PT) to discuss its financial results and provide an update on the company’s business. Those who wish to listen to the conference call should dial into (877) 870-4263 (U.S.) or (412)-317-0790 (international) and ask to be joined to the Amyris, Inc. call. A live webcast of the call will be available online on the Amyris website. To listen via live webcast, please visit: View Source

A replay of the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the company’s website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. Additional information on Amyris’ third quarter 2020 results can also be found on the Company’s website.