Earnings Labs

Antelope Enterprise Holdings Limited (AEHL)

Q1 2016 Earnings Call· Thu, Jun 2, 2016

$0.51

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning. My name is Angie, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the First Quarter 2016 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks there will be a question-and-answer session [Operator Instructions]. I would now like to turn the conference over to David Rudnick. Please go ahead, sir.

David Rudnick

Analyst

Thank you, Angie. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and good evening to those of you who are joining us from China. Welcome to China Ceramics first quarter 2016 earnings conference call. With us today are China Ceramics' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jia Dong Huang; and its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Edmund Hen. Before I turn the call over to Mr. Huang, I remind our listeners that during this call, management's prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Therefore, the Company claims protection of the Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements that is contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from those discussed today. Refer to more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any projections as the Company's future performance represent management's estimates as of today, June 2, 2016. China Ceramics assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future as market conditions change. To supplement the financial results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP management will make reference to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization which we will call by its abbreviated name EBITDA. EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure reconciled from net income, which the Company believes provide meaningful additional information to better understand its operating performance. A table reconciling net income to EBITDA can be found in the earnings press release issued earlier today. And now, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to China Ceramic's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jia Don Huang; and China Ceramic's CFO, Mr. Edmund Hen. Wei Shi Dai will be translating for Mr. Huang. Mr. Huang, you may proceed.

Jia Dong Huang

Analyst

Thank you, David. On behalf of the Company, I would like to welcome everyone to our first quarter 2016 earnings conference call. As anticipated, our first quarter 2016 revenue was substantially down from the year ago period reflecting the currently challenging market conditions in our sector in China. However, despite a 41% contraction in sales volume compared to the first quarter of 2015, we were able to report a reasonable level of cash flow in the first quarter. In addition, a decrease in our cost of sales including lower depreciation expenses enabled us to achieve improved profitability as compared to the year ago quarter. In the first quarter, we maintained a reduced utilization of existing plant capacity based on the market environment in order to keep our operating costs low. We utilized the production facilities capable of producing 13 million square meters of ceramic tiles per year out of a total annual production capacity of 72 million square meters. We will bring additional capacity online as the business environment improves. Although sales volume in the first quarter was lower than in past periods. We saw sound demand for our higher margins ceramic tiles which sustained the average selling price of our product. We believe that while China’s urbanization and demographic trends are sustainable, occasional volatility will occur due to imbalances in housing supply and demand. We continue to believe that the operating environment for the rest of the year will be challenging due to abundant real estate still in inventory and unsold. However, once the current inventory of real estate properties is worked through the sales channels, we expect a rebound in the construction and building materials sectors will materialize. With that, I would like to turn over the call to the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Edmund Hen, who will discuss the Company’s first quarter earnings results in more detail. Thank you.

Edmund Hen

Analyst

Thank you, Mr. Huang. I will now move on to a more detailed discussion of our financial results for the first quarter and fiscal year 2016. Our revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, was RMB134.2 million or US$20.8 million, a decrease of 36% from RMB209.8 million or US$33.8 million in the first quarter of 2015. The year-over-year decrease in revenue was primarily due to a 41.4% decrease in sales volume to 4.1 million square meters of ceramic tiles from 7 million square meters of ceramic tiles in the year-ago quarter, slightly offset by a 10.1% increase in average selling price to RMB32.8 per square meters from RMB29.8 per square meters the year ago quarter. Gross profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 was RMB18 million or US$2.8 million, an increase of 30.4% from RMB13.8 million or US$2.2 million in the year ago quarter. The gross profit margin was 13.4% for the first quarter compared to a gross profit margin of 6.6% in the year ago quarter. The improvement in gross profit margin was primarily driven by the 40.7% decrease in the cost of sales attributable to a decrease in depreciation due to the Company’s taking an asset impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2015 that reduced the value of the Company’s plant, property and equipment, and a 10.1% increase in average selling price. The profit from operations before taxes for the first quarter of 2016 was RMB8.5 million or US$1.3 million, up 97.7% from RMB4.3 million or US$0.7 million in the year ago quarter. The year-over-year increase in profit from operations was primarily the result of a decrease of RMB5.9 million in depreciation and amortization in the first quarter of 2016 due to the asset impairment taken in the fourth quarter of 2015, partially…

Operator

Operator

David Rudnick

Analyst

Thank you, Angie. On behalf of the entire China Ceramics’ management team, we want to thank all of you for your interest and participation on this call. This concludes China Ceramics’ first quarter 2016 earnings call. Thank you all very much.