Wuhan General Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results

Tue Nov 11, 1:27 PM

WUHAN, China, Nov. 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wuhan General Group (China), Inc. (Nasdaq: WUHN), a leading manufacturer of industrial blowers and turbines, today announced consolidated financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.

For the third quarter of 2008, total sales increased 11% to $34.0 million as compared to $30.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. This increase was attributable to continued strong demand in China for equipment related to power generation, and environmental protection. For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, sales increased 50% to $90.6 million compared to the same period in 2007.

Gross profit decreased 4% to $10.0 million in the third quarter of 2008 as compared to $10.5 million in the prior year period. Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 29.5%, compared to 34.3% in the prior year period. For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, gross profit increased to $27.6 million, or 39% relative to the same period in 2007. Gross margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 was 30.5%, compared to 32.9% in the prior year period. The lower gross margin is primarily due to the increase in raw material costs as compared to the prior year period.

Operating expenses for the quarter increased 21% from $2.5 million in the third quarter of 2007 to $3.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. As a percentage of sales, operating expenses increased to 8.9% from 8.2% in the third quarter of 2007. For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, operating expenses increased to $9.4 million, or 72% relative to the prior year period. As a percentage of sales, operating expenses increased to 10.4% during the first nine months of 2008 as compared to 9.0% in the prior year period. This increase in operating expenses as a percentage of sales is primarily attributable to increased selling expenses, and research and development expenses. In addition, the expenses associated with being a U.S. public company also contributed to the increased operating expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

Operating income decreased 12.4% to $7.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2008 from $8.0 million for the same period in 2007. As a percentage of sales, operating income was 20.6% for the three months ended September 30, 2008 compared to 26.1% for the same period in 2007. Operating income increased $3.9 million, or 27% to $18.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 from $14.4 million for the same period in 2007. As a percentage of sales, operating income was 20.2% for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to 23.8% for the same period in 2007. The decrease of operating income as a percentage of revenue is attributable to the increase of operating expenses described above.

Net income decreased 29.4% to $4.6 million as compared to $6.6 million in the prior year period. Net margin decreased almost 800 basis points from 21.5% in the third quarter of 2007 to 13.6% in the third quarter of 2008. During the nine months ended September 30, 2008, net income increased $2.3 million, or 18.3%, to $14.9 million. Net margin for the first nine months of 2008 was 16.4% as compared to 20.9% during the prior year period. The reason for the decrease in net margin is due to the operating expense increases described above and one-time, non-cash charges related to capital markets activities.

During the third quarter of 2008 the Company recognized approximately $3.0 million in constructive preferred dividends, a non-cash charge related to the conversion of warrants into convertible preferred shares. This charge was primarily responsible for reducing earnings per diluted share to $0.03 from $0.14 in the prior year period, a decrease of 78.6%. For the first nine months of 2008, diluted earnings per share increased 10-fold, from $0.03 in the prior year period to $0.33 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008. This increase was partly due to the recognition of a $10.5 million non-cash constructive preferred dividend during the first nine months of 2007.

"The third quarter of 2008 was another positive period for Wuhan General," commented Mr. Xu Jie, Chief Executive Officer of Wuhan General. "Revenue growth was strong and, although our gross margin declined due to rising raw material costs, we were still able to maintain a gross margin of nearly 30%. Looking ahead we continue to see strong demand for our products and are encouraged by the downward trend in raw material prices. Excluding one-time, non-cash charges related to capital markets activities, we expect to meet our 2008 goals of $119.7 million in revenue and $22 million in net income."

About Wuhan General

Wuhan General (Nasdaq: WUHN) designs, manufactures, and distributes industrial blowers and turbines. Blowers are used in a variety of applications where large amounts of air have to be moved. Examples include electricity generation, air pollution control, and ventilation and aeration in subways and vehicular tunnels, mines, and sewage treatment facilities. The Company's steam and water turbines are used for electricity generation in coal, oil, nuclear, and hydroelectric power plants. The Company is located in Wuhan, China, a major industrial city of 8 million people strategically located in the south-central part of China.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding future demand for our products, future raw material costs and our future financial performance, may be forward-looking in nature or "forward-looking statements," as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including all business uncertainties relating to vulnerability of our business to general economic downturn, operating in the People's Republic of China (PRC) generally and the potential for changes in the laws of the PRC that affect our operations, our failure to meet or timely meet contractual performance standards and schedules and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described in such forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are based on Wuhan General's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Wuhan General will be those anticipated by the Company. Wuhan General undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

    FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

    BALANCE SHEETS

                                               September 30,      December 31,
    ASSETS                                         2008               2007
                                               (unaudited)         (audited)
        Cash                                    10,059,533           992,965
        Restricted Cash                         11,576,749         9,108,866
        Notes Receivable                                --         1,865,491
        Accounts Receivable                     35,967,105        31,875,411
        Other Receivable                         5,436,765         1,977,646
        Inventory                               15,851,262         7,895,960
        Advances to Suppliers                   14,433,573        12,743,130
        Advances to Employees                      303,614           138,420
        Prepaid Taxes                              432,275           257,553
        Real Property Available for Sale         1,100,232           993,861
         Total Current Assets                   95,161,107        67,849,304

        Property, Plant & Equipment, net        20,328,248        20,401,546
        Land Use Rights, net                     1,921,279         1,830,476
        Construction in Progress                18,352,763         9,897,484
        Intangible Assets, net                     375,546           381,281
         Total Assets                         $136,138,942      $100,360,092

    LIABILITIES & STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

      Liabilities

        Bank Loans & Notes                      33,484,407        28,132,664
        Accounts Payable                         6,951,291         4,747,298
        Taxes Payable                              804,786         1,043,383
        Other Payable                            2,199,873         3,137,575
        Dividend Payable                                --           898,875
        Accrued Liabilities                      3,844,884         2,003,800
        Customer Deposits                        2,468,636         5,034,464
         Total Current Liabilities              49,753,877        44,998,059

         Total Liabilities                      49,753,877        44,998,059



                                                September 30,     December 31,
    Stockholders' Equity                            2008              2007
                                                 (unaudited)        (audited)
      Preferred Stock - $0.0001 Par Value
       50,000,000 Shares Authorized;
       6,934,943 and 10,287,554 Shares of
       Series A Convertible Preferred
       Stock Issued & Outstanding at
       September 30, 2008, and December
       31, 2007, respectively                          693             1,029
      Additional Paid in Capital -
       Preferred Stock                           9,078,232        13,466,990
      Additional Paid in Capital - Warrants      3,670,266         6,572,334
      Additional Paid in Capital -
       Beneficial Conversion Feature             7,079,491        10,501,982
      Preferred Stock - $0.0001 Par Value
       50,000,000 Shares Authorized;
       5,066,524 and 0 Shares of Series B
       Convertible Preferred Stock Issued
       & Outstanding at September 30,
       2008, and December 31, 2007,
       respectively                                    507                --
      Additional Paid in Capital -
       Preferred Stock                          11,411,545                --
      Additional Paid in Capital - Warrants      1,847,042                --
      Additional Paid in Capital -
       Beneficial Conversion Feature             3,027,542                --
      Common Stock - $0.0001 Par Value
       100,000,000 Shares Authorized;
       24,044,312 and 19,712,446 Shares
       Issued & Outstanding at September
       30, 2008, and December 31, 2007,
       respectively                                  2,404             1,971
      Additional Paid in Capital                22,412,016        12,349,602
      Statutory Reserve                          2,608,270           633,771
      Retained Earnings                         17,640,837         8,483,648
      Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income     7,606,221         3,350,706
        Total Stockholders' Equity              86,385,065        55,362,033

      Total Liabilities & Stockholders'
       Equity                                 $136,138,942      $100,360,092



                         3 months     3 months      9 months      9 months
                           ended        ended         ended        ended
    INCOME STATEMENT   September 30, September 30, September 30, September 30,
                           2008         2007          2008           2007

    Sales               $33,952,893  $30,523,074   $90,581,691   $60,342,774
    Cost of Sales        23,934,676   20,039,259    62,932,130    40,511,207
     Gross Profit        10,018,217   10,483,815    27,649,561    19,831,567

    Operating Expenses
     Selling Expenses       834,590      938,534     2,129,971     1,633,144
     General &
      Administrative
      Expenses            2,112,731    1,480,755     6,602,031     3,299,901
     Warranty Expense        89,958       91,059       647,175       514,520
       Total Operating
        Expense           3,037,279    2,510,348     9,379,177     5,447,565

     Operating Income     6,980,938    7,973,466    18,270,384    14,384,001

    Other Income
     (Expenses)
     Interest Income        288,177       94,798       636,626       108,923
     Other Expenses      (1,375,291)  (1,144,227)   (1,492,718)   (1,145,270)
     Interest Expense    (1,264,301)    (369,187)   (2,521,773)     (756,695)
       Total Other Income
        (Loss) & Expense (2,351,415)  (1,418,616)   (3,377,865)   (1,793,042)

    Earnings before Tax   4,629,523    6,554,851    14,892,519    12,590,960

    Income Tax                   --           --            --            --

    Net Income           $4,629,523   $6,554,851   $14,892,519   $12,590,960

    Preferred Dividends
     Declared               215,829      299,625       733,289       773,279
    Series A Constructive
     Preferred Dividend          --           --            --    10,501,982
    Series B Constructive
     Preferred Dividend   3,027,542           --     3,027,542            --
    Income Available to
     Common Shareholders $1,386,152   $6,255,226   $11,131,688    $1,315,699

    Earnings Per Share
     Basic                    $0.05        $0.32         $0.51         $0.07
     Diluted                  $0.03        $0.14         $0.33         $0.03

    Weighted Average
     Shares Outstanding
     Basic               25,930,537   19,712,446    21,907,429    19,712,446
     Diluted             47,457,524   46,200,613    45,365,361    39,122,641



                         3 months     3 months      9 months        9 months
                           ended        ended         ended          ended
                       September 30, September 30, September 30, September 30,
                           2008         2007          2008            2007
    Comprehensive Income
    Net Income           $4,629,523  $6,554,851    $14,892,519    $12,590,960
    Other Comprehensive
     Income
     Foreign Currency
      Translation
      Adjustment            189,698     590,874      4,255,515      1,157,828
    Total Comprehensive
     Income              $4,819,221  $7,145,725    $19,148,034    $13,748,788


    For more information, please contact:

     Mr. Haiming Liu, Chief Financial Officer
     Wuhan General Group
     Tel: +86-27-5970-0067

     Dan Joseph
     ICR, Inc.
     Tel: +86-21-6122-1077

     Bill Zima
     ICR, Inc.
     Tel: +1-203-682-8200

SOURCE Wuhan General Group (China), Inc.