Gevo, Inc. (GEVO) Q1 2014 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Welcome to the First Quarter 2014 Gevo Inc. Earnings Conference Call. My name is Janet and I will be your operator for today’s call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mike Willis, Chief Financial Officer. You may begin.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining Gevo’s first quarter 2014 conference call. I am Mike Willis, Gevo’s CFO. With me today are Pat Gruber, our CEO and Brett Lund, our Chief Licensing Officer and General Counsel. Earlier this afternoon, we issued a press release, which outlines the topics that we plan to discuss today. A copy of this release is available on our website at www.gevo.com. I would like to remind our listeners that this conference call is open to the media and we are providing a simultaneous webcast of this call to the public. A replay of our discussion will be available on our website later today. On the call today and on this webcast, you will hear discussions of non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is contained in the press release distributed today, which is posted on our website. We will also provide certain forward-looking statements about events and circumstances that have not yet occurred, including projections of Gevo’s operating activities for 2014 and beyond. These statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty, including those disclosed in Gevo’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on April 14, 2014 and in subsequent reports and other filings made with the SEC by Gevo. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of today’s date and Gevo disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please refer to Gevo’s SEC filings for detailed discussions of the relevant risks and uncertainties. On today’s call, Pat Gruber, our CEO will begin with a review of recent business developments. I will then review our financial results for the first quarter of 2014. Following the presentation, we will open the call up for questions. I will now turn the call over to Pat Gruber.

Thanks Mike. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining our quarterly call. We have spent about six weeks since our last call. Since then, we began ethanol production, continued to optimize the isobutanol process, made progress on the commercial front, and of course did financing, which Mike will also talk about in a few minutes. Well, let’s talk into it then. I have to say like very much what we are doing as we are doing with our Side-by-Side strategy producing isobutanol and ethanol, which we have first started up to do it several years ago, I believe it would have saved us a lot of hard burden pain. Of course, we didn’t note the time we could manage two different using the plant, I am sure, equipment, but we know now. So, let me talk more about Side-by-Side. The purpose of Side-by-Side is to use ethanol production as a flywheel to drive the plant flow, while we work through isobutanol learning curve. Our plant is a commodity-scale plant. We think it’s really big equipment and decide to be low cost. The plant grinds corn from its shutters and produces animal feed. The plant also recycles nearly all the water used in process. In the Side-by-Side operation, we are using the ethanol to keep the grind going, water recycling consistently at producing animal feed. Resins having to deal with lots of starts and stops of the process flow, which that introduces unnecessary variables. We expect Side-by-Side to help eliminate these variables. Our equipment at the plant typical at the dry mills is designed to run continuously with large liaised material flowing. The Side-by-Side really got to help us enable to keep things flowing and we can still optimize the isobutanol process concurrently while producing ethanol moving ourselves down the isobutanol learning…

Thank you, Pat. Gevo reported revenue in the first quarter of 2014 of $0.9 million as compared to $3.5 million in the same period in 2013. Revenues in the first quarter included proceeds from sales from Gevo’s hydrocarbons demo facility of $0.6 million including sales of bio-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army and sales of isooctane for specialty fuel applications. We also recognized revenue from ongoing research agreements. In 2013, first quarter revenues benefited from the sale of excess corn inventory of approximately $2.4 million. R&D expense was $4.1 million in the first quarter of 2014 compared to $5 million reported in the first quarter of 2013. Our R&D activities in the first quarter of 2014 continue to be focused on the optimization of our technology to further enhance isobutanol production rates at Luverne as well as production related activities at our hydrocarbons demo plant in Texas where we produce our bio-jet, paraxylene and isooctane products. R&D expense decreased in the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same period in 2013 due to ongoing cost cutting measures within the R&D group as well as lower operating costs at the hydrocarbons demo facility. SG&A expense for the first quarter of 2014 decreased to $5 million compared to $7 million for the comparable quarter in 2013. Our first quarter 2014 results continued to show the benefit of cost savings, actions including decreases of $1.1 million in salary and compensation related expenses and $0.7 million in legal related expenses. Within total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2014, we reported approximately $0.9 million for non-cash stock based compensation. Interest expense for the first quarter of 2014 was $1.6 million compared to $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2013. The reduction was primarily the result…

Thank you, Mike. Overall, we are continuing to see strong interest at renewable isobutanol for the specialty chemical markets as the blended stock for gasoline and is a building block for renewable jet fuel plastics, high-performance automobile fuels like isooctane. Our overall view of the economics of production of selling price hasn’t changed. It remained attractive and yes, we have reviewed it several times. Going forward, our focus is to keep the plant running while we optimize isobutanol production moving down the learning curve as fast as possible, do it responsibly without wasting money. We will also use ethanol production to generate cash to keep the steady flow at the plant. I expect this usual renewable isobutanol in the marketplace for jet fuels, isooctane, paraxylene and various specialty chemical uses as well as gasoline blend stocks. With that, let’s turn to questions.

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Mike Ritzenthaler of Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. It’s actually Mike Klein filling in for Mike Ritzenthaler.

Hey, Mike.

Just a question on balancing Luverne right now, how do you balance generating positive cash flow from ethanol with ramping isobutanol, I guess is it a matter of ethanol economics throughout the rest of the year or more about where isobutanol is and how that’s ramping?

It’s actually the combination of the two, because we are doing smaller amounts and working and still doing some experiments on the fermentation. Those costs more but we generate enough cash at the plant producing ethanol to offset the costs and so that’s actually a pretty big contributor for us of cash. So overall yes, it depends upon our volumes of ethanol we produce, the margins of ethanol, but it also then depends upon how we ramp up the isobutanol and produce.

Okay. In – how many batches per week are you running right now of just isobutanol?

It depends I mean it depends on exactly what we are doing. One to two has – we have been doing one to two at times, hope sometime we took a break while we are making sure we understand what it was. We have just started the side by side operations we want settle into a pattern.

Alright, okay. I would like to just squeeze one more. And I believe there are milestones or determinants for Whitebox to invest in additional $37 million. So I guess what are some of those milestones that you have to achieve and what’s the potential timing of when you could receive those payments?

Yes. So in terms of timing everything will be set and done within call it 90 days of closing. There are two options. One is an option in our favor for $5.2 million and the tests is related to just how our stock prices reacts to the news of the financing over the course of the next call 20 to 30 trading days. The balance, the $32 million is an option in Whitebox’s favor and it’s purely just that is an option in their favor and not milestone driven.

Okay, great. Thanks a lot.

And our next question comes from Caleb Dorfman of Simmons & Co. Please go ahead. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Good afternoon gentlemen.

Hi Caleb. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: It’s nice to see the progress on side-by-side, I guess what I am curious about is the actual yield I know that you are around 71% yields back in March price of butanol, when we talked, what is the issue in improving the yields and what type of timeline do you think we will need to be looking at to get let’s say I think 80% or 90% yields?

I think – okay, so yes that’s where we are we kind of stalled out at that level and that was a result of remember it in the last quarterly call we talked about the recycles and have been up to 95% recycle and we achieved those yields. And as we went we are optimizing as we went from 95% to 100% recycle with its trace impurities, we stalled out, we are running into trouble that last 5% of stuff to recycle was both variable and it hurt the fermentation. So we had to improve some of the processes around the recycle, but that’s also one of the primary drivers of why we are – why we like the side by side and that recycle stream now is steady because of the ethanol production rather than being variable from the stopping and starting. So I would expect this may progress on it straight away. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Have you had a batch of isobutanol since you have had the side by side up on May 5?

There is one going on right now. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Okay. So we don’t have any results while we have actually had side by side operating?

No, just started. So back to this recycle point, if we started on the 5th, it gets the fermentation is going to get the full – the plant full of water and recycle with all of its scrap and then studied out that took until yesterday. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Okay. That’s helpful. And then I know obviously because you haven’t got isobutanol production up to full scale it sort of makes economic sense to run ethanol and what type of margins are you seeing in the forward outlooks for the Luverne facility specifically because I know corn base just sort of makes it different than what we will look at generalized?

Are you asking about the margins fir isobutanol? Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: For ethanol, sorry.

Go ahead, Mike.

Currently ethanol margins in Luverne are approximately $0.35 to $0.40 spot. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: And let’s say that you got to 85% or 90% yield for isobutanol what type of margin profile would you consider switching over to more isobutanol production?

That’s an interesting question and the way that we will think about it is along these line Mike you might have additional perspective, but the way I think about it is there is fundamental question of how much cash can be generated because that’s what plants are supposed to do. We have a strategic objective to those to produce and grow the market of isobutanol. We will be balancing those two things. On a straight up economic basis, we favor isobutanol I would imagine. If it’s overwhelming towards ethanol then we are going to continue to favor ethanol. If it’s overwhelming towards isobutanol, then obviously we are going to favor isobutanol. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: That’s helpful. I get finally…

I think that’s the right answer and ultimately economics are going to range and taxes always came to this company. So that enters into the equation the other part of the equation is just the technology itself. So if we do see the technology obviously at a place like I just talked about where we are consistent, confident in our fermentations, we still believe in the long-term economics of isobutanol over ethanol. However, if the short-term blips like we just saw recently where ethanol margins were over $1 you can’t ignore those types of margins and operating for those types of margins.

Yes, and I would say nice to reemphasize. When we look at our view of the $0.50 to $1 EBITDA margins for isobutanol that still looks to be achievable or realistic, that’s more direct answer to your question. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Okay and I guess final question for me is, so Mike you have the LOI in Argentina, LOI in Canada any shift that we could get an update on just general LOIs when we might be seeing some progress on that front?

We are seeing progress on that front in particular Pat and I were down in Argentina just recently. Those guys are really excited by the opportunity to work with us, really excited about isobutanol as an opportunity. And while there is as you can imagine a lot of details that need to earned-out as it relates to these types of deals, we would be hopeful to provide progress, significant progress on that as early as next quarter. Caleb Dorfman - Simmons & Co: Thank you.

And I am showing no further questions at this time.

Alright. With that I think we will end. Thank you very much everybody for joining us. Bye-bye.