not impressive--to say the least
CET Environmental Services, Inc. Reports First Quarter Results
Revenues Up 52 Percent;
Water Treatment Revenues Rise 300 Percent
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- CET Environmental Services, Inc. (Amex: ENV) announced improved results for its first quarter ended March 31, 1998, due primarily to a better mix of services and a decline in SG&A, both absolutely and as a percentage of sales. For this year's first quarter, the Company reported revenues of $11.5 million, an increase of 52 percent as compared to $7.5 million for the first quarter of 1997. The Company posted a net loss of $665,203 or $0.11 loss per share for this year's first quarter, as compared to a loss of $1.5 million, or $0.25 loss per share for the first quarter of 1997. The increase in revenues was driven by a 300 percent increase in the Company's higher-margin water and wastewater treatment operations and an increase of more than 100 percent in government services from a year earlier.
CEO Steven H. Davis commented, "Our plan has been to emphasize the development of our more profitable and predictable water treatment services division. In that effort we have been successful as evidenced by the revenue growth in that segment and we are very optimistic that this trend will continue. We had expected to report better bottom-line results for the first quarter, but the seasonally low revenue prevented that from happening. We are nonetheless hopeful that results will continue to improve strongly for the balance of the year."
During the quarter, the Company continued to achieve operational and contract milestones. In January, the Company expanded and consolidated its water treatment services by acquiring H20 Construction & Maintenance, Inc. It also combined all of its water-related business into its wholly-owned subsidiary Water Quality Management Corporation (WQM). WQM is focused exclusively on the full-service design, construction, operation and privatization of water and wastewater treatment facilities. In March, the Company announced that WQM had been awarded its first U.S. wastewater privatization contract for the town Keystone, South Dakota. This is also the first privatization of a municipal wastewater facility in that state.
On the government contracting side, the Company received notice from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) in April confirming the award of one of three small-business set-aside contracts worth a total aggregate value of $75 million. CET is also part of a successful team, led by Pasadena, CA-based Montgomery Watson, which was awarded one of four AFCEE large-business contracts worth a combined value of $400 million. CET is slated to kick off this contract immediately. |
