Amerigon Reports Second Quarter, Six-month Results
28 July 1998
Amerigon Reports Second Quarter, Six-month Results
IRWINDALE, Calif.--July 28, 1998--Amerigon Inc. Tuesday announced results for its second quarter and six months ended June 30, 1998.For the second quarter, the net loss decreased nearly 30 percent to $1.68 million, or $0.18 per share, compared with a net loss of $2.37 million, or $0.25 per share, in the prior year's second quarter. Revenue for this year's second quarter declined 20 percent to $281,000, when compared with last year's second quarter revenue of $350,000.
For the six-month period, the net loss decreased 18 percent to $3.53 million, or $0.37 per share, compared with a net loss of $4.31 million, or $0.54 per share, for the first six months of the prior year.
Revenue for this year's first six months was $365,000, compared with revenue of $746,000 for the first six months of 1997. Revenue for the second quarter and first six months of 1998 decreased when compared with the previous year's similar periods primarily due to the completion of several development and prototype contracts in 1997.
Amerigon President and Chief Operating Officer Richard A. Weisbart commented, "We hit an important milestone in the second quarter of this year in realizing Climate Control Seat(CCS(TM)) system product revenues for the first time in the company's history. We shipped to Mark III an initial order of our CCS(TM) system for installation in their luxury vans, minivans and truck conversions. While these initial product revenues from the Mark III order are small, we expect they will grow slowly over the next several quarters.
"Our relationship with Mark III is very important to us because it provides consumers with the opportunity to experience the added comfort of vehicles equipped with the CCS system," Weisbart continued. "Over time, we believe consumer satisfaction with the CCS system will generate a broad market demand for the product. We are currently involved in late-stage talks with a number of major automotive OEMs and seat manufacturers regarding the potential introduction of the CCS system in near-future model years," he said.
"We also continue to be encouraged with the progress being made with Amerigon Radar Technology, or ART," Weisbart added. "As previously announced, during the second quarter we began the second phase of a joint research project with the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department and Research Bureau to test ART for New Mexico's Highway Maintenance and Construction Departments. Five vehicles are now equipped with ART and are currently being field-tested in New Mexico. This special relationship with New Mexico provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of ART in reducing backup mishaps."
The $1 million receivable due from IVS Inc., a joint venture formed between Amerigon and Japan-based Yazaki Corp., was settled in July of 1998. The joint venture (in which Amerigon retains a minority interest), resulted from the sale of certain assets and the technology of the Amerigon voice recognition product. The joint venture recently announced the launch of its first product, Avstar, for cars and trucks. Avstar is the only navigation product on the market that is entirely voice-interactive, allowing the driver's hands to remain on the wheel and the driver's eyes to remain on the road at all times.
The company's balance sheet at June 30, 1998 shows a current ratio of 7:1; total assets of $6.8 million; working capital of $5.1 million; cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $4.6 million; and shareholders' equity of $5.9 million.
Founded in 1991, Amerigon is a development stage company for high technology products in the commercial automotive market. The company is based in Irwindale.
Certain matters discussed in this release, including the company continuing to allocate funds toward development and sales and marketing, consumer demand for its products, expected revenue and revenue growth, expense levels and expected losses for the foreseeable future, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may be different. Such risks and uncertainties include the acceptance and performance of the company's products, the company's ability to develop new products successfully and the ability to obtain new sources of financing. Also refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1997 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1998.
AMERIGON INCORPORATED
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
From April 23,
1991
Three Months Six Months (inception) to
Ended June 30, Ended June 30, June 30,
1997 1998 1997 1998 1998
Revenues:
Product $ -- $ 7 $ -- $ 7 $ 7
Development
Contracts
and Related
Grants 350 274 734 358 17,568
Grants -- -- 12 -- 6,183
Total
Revenues 350 281 746 365 23,758
Costs and
Expenses:
Product -- 11 -- 11 11
Direct
Development
Contract and
Related
Grant
Costs 1,020 -- 1,889 -- 20,904
Direct
grant
costs -- -- 28 -- 4,757
Research
and
Develop-
ment 456 1,128 712 2,152 13,011
Selling,
General and
Administrative,
Including
Reimbursable
Expenses 1,395 957 2,189 1,970 20,228
Total Costs
and
Expenses 2,871 2,096 4,818 4,133 58,911
Operating
Loss (2,521) (1,815) (4,072) (3,768) (35,153)
Interest
Income 148 78 215 174 1,217
Interest
Expense -- -- (117) -- (282)
Gain on
Disposal
of Assets -- 62 -- 62 2,425
Net Loss Before
Extraordinary
Item $ (2,373) $ (1,675) $ (3,974) $ (3,532) $ (31,793)
Extraordinary
Loss From
Extinguishment
of
Indebtedness -- -- (340) -- (340)
Net Loss ($2,373) ($1,675) ($4,314) ($3,532) ($32,133)
Basic and
diluted net
loss per
share before
extraordinary
item $ (0.25) $ (0.18) $ (0.50) $ (0.37)
Basic and
diluted net
loss per
share $ (0.25) $ (0.18) $ (0.54) $ (0.37)
Weighted
Average
Number of
Shares
Outstanding 9,543 9,550 8,024 9,550