Lihua International Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results

Sales increase 186% Year-over-year to $40.9 Million;

Net Loss of $1.3 Million; Non-GAAP Net Income of $6.7 Million, Excluding $8 Million Non-Cash Charge, and Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 Million

DANYANG, China, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Lihua International, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIWA) ("Lihua" or the "Company"), a leading Chinese developer, designer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of low cost, high quality alternatives to pure copper superfine and magnet wire, as well as copper rod products, today announced financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2009.

    Third Quarter and Recent Financial and Business Highlights
    -- Sales increased 186% year-over-year to $40.9 million.
    -- Gross profit of $9.7 million, or 23.9% of sales, compared with $5.2
       million, or 36.2% of sales in the third quarter of 2008.
    -- Net loss was ($1.3 million), or $(0.08) per share, compared with net
       income of $3.8 million, or $0.27 per share in the third quarter of
       2008. Net loss for the third quarter of 2009 included an $8.0 million
       non-cash charge for the change in fair value of warrants issued to
       investors in conjunction with the Company's issuance of convertible
       Preferred Stock in October 2008.  Excluding the non-cash charge, third
       quarter net income would have been $6.7 million, or $0.39 per share
       based upon 17.1 million shares outstanding..
    -- Adjusted EBITDA increased 81% to $8.6 million, compared with the third
       quarter of 2008.(1)
    -- Strong balance sheet with $38.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as
       of September 30, 2009, an increase of $10.4 million compared with June
       30, 2009.
    -- Completed initial public offering on NASDAQ on September 10, 2009 for
       net proceeds of $7.9 million.
    -- Began production on four new proprietary high speed manufacturing lines
       in September to increase annual CCA wire and copper wire capacity from
       18,000 tons to 25,200 tons.
    -- Appointed Deloitte & Touche LLP as a Sarbanes-Oxley 404 consultant to
       further align best practice corporate governance policies.

       (1) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measurement that the Company uses as
           a metric to provide information about Lihua's operating trends.
           Lihua defines adjusted EBITDA as net income before discontinued
           operations, interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and
           amortization, non-operating income (expense), and non-cash share-
           based compensation expenses.

"During the third quarter, year-over-year sales increased across all of our industry leading product lines including copper rod, pure copper superfine and magnet wire and copper clad aluminum, or CCA, superfine and magnet wire," said Jianhua Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lihua. "Although historically our business experiences seasonality during the third quarter due to the excessive heat in Jiangsu Province, our increase in production capacity and strong execution enabled us to put forward another strong quarter. We achieved significant gains in sales and excluding the non-cash charge for our warrants, improved our net income by nearly 74% year-over-year to $6.7 million.

"We are actively working to increase our production capacity to keep pace with the growing demand for copper in China. Along with a large market opportunity in front of us, we have a proven management team, strong, established distribution channels, and a healthy balance sheet that is stronger since our IPO," Mr. Zhu concluded.

Third Quarter Financial Results

Sales for the third quarter of 2009 increased 186% to $40.9 million, compared with sales of $14.3 million in the third quarter of 2008. The increase in sales was driven by strong market demand for Lihua's CCA and copper wire products, an increase in the average selling price of copper wire and copper rod products based on an increase in the average price of copper, an increase in production capacity and the addition of Lihua's copper recycling business, which commenced operations at the end of the first quarter of 2009.

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2009 was $9.8 million, or 23.9% of sales. This compares with gross profit of $5.2 million, or 36.2% of sales, for the third quarter of 2008. The year-over-year decrease in gross margin was primarily due to the addition of the copper recycling operation to Lihua's product mix, which produces copper rod. In March of 2009, Lihua commenced production of recycling scrap copper into copper rod with a consistently high purity content. Due to current drawing and enameling capacity constraints, Lihua can process only a portion of this copper rod into value added fine wire products and sells the remaining copper rod into the market at a lower gross margin. Lihua expects gross margins to increase in future periods as it continues to ramp up the conversion of copper rod products into higher margin super fine and copper magnet wire products. Sequentially, gross profit dollars per ton increased to $1,613 in the third quarter of 2009 from $1,161 dollars per ton in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 39%.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses for the third quarter of 2009 were $1.6 million, compared with $641,000 for the same period in 2008. The increase in SG&A for the 2009 period was attributable to $273,000 in one- time charges associated with the Company's initial public offering, increased expenses associated with being a public company and expenses associated with expanding the Company's scale of operations.

Interest income for the third quarter of 2009 was $66,000, compared with $18,000 for the third quarter of 2008. Interest expense for the third quarter of 2009 was $63,000, compared with $172,000 for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in interest expense was mainly due to the repayment of short term bank loans, which were used for working capital purposes.

For the three months ended September 30, 2009, the provision for income tax expense was $1.4 million, reflecting an effective tax rate ("EIT") of 16.5% from operation excluding the $8.0 million non cash charge. This compares with income tax expense of $547,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2008. The effective tax rate for the 2008 period was 12.5%.

For the third quarter of 2009 Lihua's other comprehensive income including foreign currency translation adjustment gains was $17,000, compared with $313,000 in the third quarter of 2008. The foreign currency translation adjustment is based on the average exchange rate of the RMB compared with the US dollar in the respective reporting period.

Net loss for the third quarter of 2009 was ($1.3 million), or ($0.08) per share based on 17.1 million weighted average shares outstanding. This compares with net income of $3.8 million, or $0.27 per share based on 14.0 million weighted average shares outstanding during the same period of last year. Excluding non-cash charges, third quarter net income would have been $6.7 million, or $0.39 per share.

Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended September 30, 2009 increased by 81% to $8.6 million over the same period last year.

Balance Sheet

As of September 30, 2009, Lihua had approximately $38.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with $28.1 million as of June 30, 2009. On September 10, 2009, the Company completed its initial public offering on NASDAQ raising $7.9 million in net proceeds.

Outlook

"We continue to accelerate our expansion to meet surging domestic demand for our, copper and CCA products," said Mr. Zhu. "In September, we began production on four new proprietary high speed manufacturing lines. With these additions, we can currently produce approximately 7,200 tons of CCA wire and 18,000 tons of copper wire annually. Based on our current capacity, for the full year 2009 we expect to achieve year-over-year gross profit growth of approximately 110-115% and net income growth of 115-120%, excluding any non- cash charges.

"For 2010, we are planning to add 10 new proprietary high speed production lines. Six of these we expect to have completed by the end of the second quarter of 2010, which would increase our annual copper magnet and copper fine wire capacity to 25,000 tons. In the second half of 2010 we plan to add an additional four production lines increasing our CCA magnet and CCA fine wire capacity to 10,000 tons per year. We believe that our existing cash, expected revenue and our revolving credit facility line will be sufficient to fund our current expansion plans," Mr. Zhu concluded.

Conference Call and Webcast

Management of Lihua International will host a conference call today, Monday, November 16, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss third quarter 2009 financial results and answer questions from the professional investment community.

Individuals interested in participating in the conference call may do so by dialing 877-941-8416 from the U.S. or Canada, or 480-629-9812 from outside the U.S. Those interested in listening to the conference call live via the Internet may do so by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company's Web site at: http://www.lihuaintl.com/Investor_Relations/Events_Presentations.html .

A telephone replay will be available for 48 hours following the conclusion of the call by dialing 800-406-7325 from the U.S. or Canada, or 303-590-3030 from outside the U.S., and entering access ID number 4183516. A webcast replay will be available for 90 days.

    About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    EBITDA Calculation For Three Months Ended September 30,

                                                2009                    2008
    Net income                          $   -1,336,448          $    3,839,288
      Depreciation and amortization            367,948                 222,438
      Share-based compensation expense         124,778                      --
      Change in fair value of warrants       8,035,650                      --
      Interest income                          -66,395                 -18,087
      Interest expenses                         62,796                 171,880
      Provision for income tax               1,425,505                 546,985
              EBITDA                         8,613,834               4,762,504

The Company uses adjusted EBITDA as a measure of the Company's operating trends. Investors are cautioned that adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of liquidity or of financial performance under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The adjusted EBITDA numbers presented may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA, while providing useful information, should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income or cash flows as determined under GAAP. Consistent with Regulation G under the U.S. federal securities laws, the non-GAAP measures in this press release have been reconciled to the nearest GAAP measure, and this reconciliation is located under the heading "Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation" following the Consolidated Statements of Operations included in this press release.

About Lihua International, Inc.

Lihua International, through its two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Lihua Electron and Lihua Copper, is a leading value-added manufacturer of copper replacement products for China's rapidly growing magnet and fine wire market. Lihua is one of the first vertically integrated companies in China to develop, design, manufacture, market and distribute lower cost, high quality, alternatives to pure copper magnet wire. Lihua's products include copper-clad aluminum wire ("CCA") and recycled scrap copper wire and are sold in China either directly to manufacturers or through distributors in the wire and cable industries and manufacturers in the consumer electronics, white goods, automotive, utility, telecommunications and specialty cable industries. Lihua's corporate and manufacturing headquarters are located in the heart of China's copper industry in Danyang, Jiangsu Province. http://www.lihuaintl.com

To be added to the Company's email distribution for future news releases, please send your request tolihua@tpg-ir.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, statements about its business or growth strategy, general industry conditions including availability of copper or recycled scrap copper, future operating results of the Company, capital expenditures, expansion and growth opportunities, bank borrowings, financing activities and other such matters, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations stated in this press release are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Please note that information in this press release reflects management views as of the date of issuance.

    For more information, please contact:

    The Piacente Group, Inc.
     Investor Relations
     Kristen McNally or Brandi Floberg
     Tel:   +1-212-481-2050
     Email: lihua@tpg-ir.com

                                Tables Follow

                  LIHUA INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
                    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                       (AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)

                                         September 30,         December 31,
                                              2009                 2008
                                           (Unaudited)           (Audited)
                      ASSETS
    CURRENT ASSETS
      Cash and cash equivalents        $      38,517,098   $      26,041,849
      Restricted cash                            700,000           1,750,000
      Notes receivable, net                           --             321,892
      Accounts receivable, net                 7,183,128           5,042,739
      Other receivables and current
       assets                                    745,762                  --
      Prepaid land use right - current
       portion                                   172,495             172,353
      Inventories                             12,681,327             586,938
      Due from related company                     2,929                  --
         Total current assets                 60,002,739          33,915,771
    OTHER ASSETS
      Buildings, machinery and
       equipment, net                         15,350,862           7,440,943
      Construction in progress                 1,499,926           6,017,941
      Deposits for buildings,
       machinery and equipment                   605,255           1,077,892
      Prepaid land use right-long term
       portion                                 8,210,195           8,332,732
      Intangible assets                            3,163               4,214
      Deferred income tax assets                      --              23,395
         Total non-current assets             25,669,401          22,897,117
         Total assets                  $      85,672,140   $      56,812,888

           LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
    CURRENT LIABILITIES
      Short term bank loans            $       4,393,030   $       6,145,202
      Accounts payable                         5,245,041           1,643,544
      Other payables and accruals                777,921             830,744
      Income taxes payable                     1,425,922             401,436
         Total current liabilities            11,841,914           9,020,926
    OTHER LIABILITIES
      Common stock purchase warrants          10,682,505                  --
         Total liabilities                    22,524,419           9,020,926

    COMMITMENT AND CONTINGENCIES
    Series A redeemable convertible
     preferred stock: $0.0001 par
     value:
      10,000,000 shares authorized
       (liquidation preference of $2.2
       per share), none and 6,818,182
       shares issued and outstanding                  --          13,116,628

    SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
      Series A convertible preferred
       stock: $0.0001 par value
       (liquidation preference of $2.2
       per share), 10,000,000 shares
       authorized, none issued and
       outstanding                                    --                  --
      Common stock, $0.0001 par value:
       75,000,000 shares authorized,
       24,118,183 and 15,000,000 shares
       issued and outstanding                      2,412               1,500
      Additional paid-in capital              28,578,685           7,976,976
      Statutory reserves                       2,603,444           2,603,444
      Retained earnings                       29,354,586          21,521,937
      Accumulated other comprehensive
       income                                  2,608,594           2,571,477
         Total shareholders' equity           63,147,721          34,675,334
         Total liabilities and
          shareholders' equity         $      85,672,140   $      56,812,888



                  LIHUA INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
            UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
                           AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
                       (AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)

                          For the Three Months        For the Nine Months
                           Ended September 30,        Ended September 30,
                           2009         2008          2009        2008
    Revenue            $40,913,348  $14,310,692  $110,279,536  $39,037,047

    Cost of goods sold (31,155,238)  (9,130,373)  (84,926,800) (26,148,814)

    Gross profit         9,758,110    5,180,319    25,352,736   12,888,233

    Selling expenses      (451,689)    (312,523)   (1,242,142)    (566,130)
    General and
     administrative
     expenses           (1,184,877)    (327,730)   (2,820,335)    (817,974)

    Income from
     operations          8,121,544    4,540,066    21,290,259   11,504,129

    Other income
     (expenses):
    Interest income         66,395       18,087       137,809       28,038
    Interest expenses      (62,796)    (171,880)     (281,605)    (352,747)
    Exchange expenses         (436)          --          (545)          --
    Change in fair
     value of warrants  (8,035,650)          --    (8,375,817)          --
    Other                       --           --       500,753       (5,683)

    Total other
     expenses           (8,032,487)    (153,793)   (8,019,405)    (330,392)

    Income before
     income tax            (89,507)   4,386,273    13,270,854   11,173,737

    Provision for
     income tax         (1,425,505)    (546,985)   (3,761,427)  (1,411,131)

    Net income (loss)   (1,336,448)   3,839,288     9,509,427    9,762,606

    Other comprehensive
     income:
      Foreign currency
       translation
       adjustment           17,296      313,136        37,117    1,805,581

    Total comprehensive
     income (loss)     $(1,319,152)  $4,152,424    $9,546,544  $11,568,187

    Earnings (loss)
     per share
    Basic                   $(0.08)       $0.27         $0.61        $0.70
    Diluted                 $(0.08)       $0.27         $0.57        $0.70

    Weighted average
     number of shares
     outstanding
    Basic               17,081,324   14,025,000    15,701,399   14,025,000
    Diluted             17,081,324   14,025,000    16,811,976   14,025,000




                  LIHUA INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
          UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
                       (AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)

                                              Nine months ended September 30,
                                                  2009               2008
    CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
    Net income                                 $9,509,427         $9,762,606
    Adjustments to reconcile net
     income to cash provided
     by operating activities:
       Depreciation and amortization              972,370            569,058
       Share-based compensation expense           251,903                 --
       Change in fair value of warrants         8,375,817                 --
     (Increase) decrease in assets:
       Accounts receivable                     (2,135,285)         1,403,026
       Notes receivables                          322,009            269,206
       Other receivables and current
        assets                                   (745,424)            (4,112)
       Inventories                            (12,088,420)          (631,681)
       Deferred income tax assets                  23,403                 --
     Increase (decrease) in
      liabilities:
       Accounts payable                         3,598,516          1,237,108
       Other payables and accruals                (53,452)           184,523
       Income taxes payable                     1,023,692            117,483
        Net cash provided by operating
         activities                             9,054,556         12,907,217

    CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
    Purchase of buildings, machinery
     and equipment                             (3,748,024)        (2,755,327)
    Prepayment for land use right                      --         (3,575,464)
        Net cash used in investing
        activities                             (3,748,024)        (6,330,791)

    CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
    New short-term bank loans                   1,464,343          6,435,835
    Proceeds from related parties                      --          4,140,737
    Repayment to related parties                   (2,407)        (2,550,661)
    Release of restricted cash related
     to Private Placement                       1,050,000                 --
    Proceeds from public offering of common
     stock, net of expenses of $1,336,000       7,864,000                 --
    Repayments of short-term bank loans        (3,221,555)        (3,575,464)
        Net cash provided by financing
         activities                             7,154,381          4,450,447

    Foreign currency translation adjustment        14,336          1,439,317

    INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS      12,475,249         12,466,190

    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at the
     beginning of the period                   26,041,849          3,213,649

    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at the
     end of the period                        $38,517,098        $15,679,839

    SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE INFORMATION
    Interest paid                                $281,605           $352,747
    Income taxes paid                          $2,714,332         $1,293,648

    MAJOR NON-CASH TRANSACTION:
    Share-based payment to employee
     and directors                               $251,903                $--

SOURCE Lihua International, Inc.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.lihuaintl.com