Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. Laval, Québec, Canada has consolidated its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending February 28, 2013 and provided an update on action plan to resume operations.
 
In a press release from the company, Neptune disclosed that its nutraceutical revenues increased 32% to a record $25,181,000, for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2013,up from $19,113,000 in the corresponding period ending February 29, 2012. In addition, adjusted EBITDA was negative ($965,000) for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2013, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2,690,000 in the prior year. The company’s net loss totaled ($12,779,000) for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2013, compared to net profit of $2,384,000 for the corresponding period ending February 29, 2012.
 
The year over year increase in revenues is largely due to aggressive penetration of the American, European and Australian markets prior to the deadly plant explosion, which destroyed the corporation’s production plant on November 8, 2012. The net loss for fiscal year 2013 is mainly attributable to the incident related write-offs, required under International Financial Reporting Standards, along with margin concessions made to maintain Neptune’s customer base while production is being re-established. The write-offs, which include losses and costs related to the explosion, were partially offset by insurance recoveries received during the fourth quarter.
 
Neptune’s rapid response to mitigate the negative consequences of the November 8, 2012 explosion has resulted ingood progress to date, according to the company. The corporation has three key priorities for restoring and ramping up its long-term supplychain, including rebuilding its plant, establishing third party manufacturing partnerships and securing the supplyof raw materials.
 
The necessary permits to begin rebuilding Neptune’s production plant were recently received. Neptune intends toreconstruct an operational plant using the adjacent expansion facility that was underway at the time of the incidentand which suffered limited damage. Construction is expected to commence during the corporation’s secondquarter and once completed, the facility is expected to have the capacity to produce more than 150,000 metric tonsof krill oil per year.
 
As the initial intended use of the expansion facility has changed, modifications and additional purchases to replaceequipment lost in the explosion will be required to bring the facility to an operational state. The initial $21 millioncost of the expansion project has now been revised to approximately $30 million. The increased cost is expectedto be funded predominantly by insurance recoveries associated with the incident, including approximately $6.7million received to date and by project financing.
 
In conjunction with the rebuild, Neptune is also taking positive steps to secure and increase its long-term supplychain through third party manufacturing agreements, thereby broadening, strengthening and safeguarding futureoperations. Three confirmed options are now being evaluated and a choice should be made by the end of thesecond quarter of this fiscal year. The corporation is working hard to bring its overall production capacity backonline before the end of this fiscal year. In the meantime, Neptune is also exploring and undertaking partnershipsto allow it to ensure ongoing supply to customers.
 
“Our quick reaction to the incident has enabled us to effectively manage through a difficult period and put inmotion key initiatives to ensure we are positioned for a strong recovery and continued market momentum,” saidMr. Henri Harland, president and CEO of Neptune. “As well, our strong sales and marketing focus has allowedus to maintain the Neptune name and brand equity in the marketplace. Despite the obvious productiondisruptions, we have maintained a significant portion of our pre-incident client base through solid customerrelationships, creative supply management and margin concessions. We are making good progress, and we willcontinue to execute our action plan to strengthen Neptune’s foundation and reaffirm its market leadership as thepremier krill oil manufacturer,” concluded Mr. Harland.
 
Additional details are available in Neptune’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended February 28, 2013 and accompanying Management’s Discussion and Analysis, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.