- Affirms Full-Year Guidance -

ENFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 1, 2012-- STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: STRI) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.

First Quarter 2012 Financial Summary:

• Net sales were $31.1 million, at the high end of guidance range
• Diluted GAAP loss per share from continuing operations of $(2.00); Q1 diluted non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations of $0.07
• $82.5 million non-cash goodwill impairment included in GAAP loss
• Trade secret misappropriation settlement benefit of $7.2 million
• Operating cash flow from continuing operations of $21.1 million; Free cash flow of $15.6 million
• Finished the quarter with $70.2 million in cash and no debt

Financial Results

Net sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 were $31.1 million. This represents a decline of 14.9% sequentially and 54.3% from Q1 2011. On a sequential basis, the decline was driven primarily by a 14.3% decline in average selling price (ASP). Volume was essentially flat. On a year-over-year basis, volume declined 41.5% and ASP declined 21.9%.

“The sequential sales decline was driven by reductions in our ASP, which we believe were necessary to maintain our share position with key customers in response to fundamental changes in the solar market,” said Robert S. Yorgensen, STR’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Steep subsidy cuts and overcapacity throughout the supply chain continue to compress industry margins. In response to these conditions, we are working with our current and potential key customers to maintain and increase our market share and to position ourselves to capture growth when industry volume improves.”

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2012 was $2.0 million, or 6.4% of sales. This is compared to $4.2 million, or 11.6% of sales, from the previous sequential quarter. The gross profit decline was primarily driven by the lower ASP. Partially offsetting this is the impact of the Company’s cost reduction efforts that decreased its cost per square meter sold by 9.3% sequentially. When removing the impact of a $1.0 million inventory charge recorded in the fourth quarter, which did not recur, cost per square meter decreased 4.3%.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2012 were $7.7 million compared to $8.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. The reduction was driven by the avoidance of several discrete items and the realization of savings in travel expense and professional fees. During the first quarter, the Company recorded bad debt expense of $1.6 million including $1.3 million as a result of aged receivable balances primarily in China and $0.3 million due to a European customer’s insolvency. The Company also recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $82.5 million, which was attributable to the declines in solar market conditions and the market capitalization of the Company’s common stock during the latter part of the quarter.

Net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2012 was $(82.1) million, or $(2.00) per diluted share. This compares to a net loss from continuing operations of $(68.5) million, or $(1.67) per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2011 and net earnings from continuing operations of $14.1 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011.

Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2012, which excludes certain tax-effected adjustments (as disclosed following the non-GAAP reconciliation table at the end of this press release) was $2.9 million, or $0.07 per diluted share. This compares to non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations of $(1.9) million, or $(0.05) per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2011 and non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations of $14.9 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011.

The Company’s first quarter earnings include the settlement of its trade secret misappropriation case, which amounted to $7.2 million on a pre-tax basis.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

During the first quarter of 2012, the Company generated $21.1 million in operating cash flow from continuing operations, including improvements to working capital, mainly from reduced accounts receivable and raw material inventory. Free cash flow was $15.6 million. The Company finished the quarter with $70.2 million of cash and no debt.

“We have been able to generate cash and strengthen our balance sheet despite difficult market conditions,” stated Barry A. Morris, STR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We believe our healthy balance sheet and continued focus on cost reduction position us well to pursue our strategic objectives.”

Guidance

The Company today provided guidance for the second quarter and affirmed its full-year 2012 guidance as follows:

First Quarter Conference Call and Presentation

The Company will discuss its financial results and guidance in a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET. A live webcast of the conference call and presentation will be available through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.strholdings.com. Investors accessing the live call by phone from the U.S. should dial 866-831-6247 and enter passcode: 74604773. Those calling from outside the U.S. should dial 617-213-8856 and use the same passcode. A telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes through Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by dialing 888-286-8010 from the U.S., or 617-801-6888 from international locations, and entering passcode: 69857067. The webcast and presentation will be archived on the Company’s website for one year.

About STR Holdings, Inc.

STR Holdings, Inc. is a leading global provider of high quality, superior performance encapsulants to the photovoltaic module industry. Further information about STR Holdings, Inc. can be obtained via the Company’s website at www.strholdings.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any oral statement made in respect of the information in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements present the Company’s current expectations and projections relating to its financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business and are based on assumptions that the Company has made in light of its industry experience and perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or financial or operating results. In addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed in this press release, the Company faces risks and uncertainties that include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) excess capacity in the solar supply chain; (ii) its ability to increase its market share; (iii) demand for solar energy in general and solar modules in particular; (iv) the timing and effects of the implementation of government incentives and policies for renewable energy, primarily in China and the United States; (v) the effects of the announced reductions to solar incentives in Germany and Italy; (vi) the extent to which it may be required to write-off accounts receivable, inventory or intangible assets; (vii) product pricing pressures and other competitive factors; (viii) customer concentration in its business and its relationships with key customers; (ix) its ability to protect its intellectual property; (x) volatility in commodity costs, such as resin or paper used in its encapsulants, and its ability to successfully manage any increases in these commodity costs; (xi) its dependence on a limited number of third party suppliers for raw materials for its encapsulants and materials used in its processes; (xii) operating new manufacturing facilities and increasing production capacity at existing facilities; (xiii) its reliance on vendors and potential supply chain disruptions, including those resulting from bankruptcy filings by customers or vendors; (xiv) potential product performance matters and product liability; (xv) the extent and duration of the current downturn in the global economy; (xvi) the impact negative credit markets may have on the Company or its customers or suppliers; (xvii) the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on financial results, and the geographic distribution of revenues and earnings; (xviii) maintaining sufficient liquidity in order to fund future profitable growth and long-term vitality; (xix) outcomes of litigation and regulatory actions; and (xx) the other risks and uncertainties described under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. You are urged to carefully review and consider the disclosure found in the Company’s filings which are available on http://www.sec.gov or http://www.strholdings.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

(1) Please refer to the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures included in this press release.
(2) Please refer to the reconciliation of diluted shares outstanding for non-GAAP net earnings per share included in this press release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements, which statements are prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), the Company uses non-GAAP financial measures to facilitate better understanding of its operating results. In this press release, there are two non-GAAP financial metrics mentioned: Non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations (EPS) and free cash flow as defined below:

Non-GAAP EPS: The Company believes that non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations provides meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of the core business operating results and may help in comparing current period results with those of prior periods as well as with its peers.

Non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations is defined as net earnings from continuing operations not including the tax effected impact of deferred financing costs, stock-based compensation, intangible asset amortization expense, goodwill impairment, plus interest expense from prior credit facilities divided by the weighted-average common shares outstanding. Please refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 14, 2012 for detailed discussion on these adjustments.

Although the Company uses non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations as a measure to assess the operating performance of its business, non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations has significant limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes certain material costs. Because non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations does not account for these expenses, its utility as a measure of its operating performance has material limitations. Because of these limitations, the Company does not view non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations in isolation and uses other metrics to measure operating performance such as, but not limited to, net sales, gross margin, operating income, adjusted EBITDA, and net earnings from continuing operations.

Diluted non-GAAP shares outstanding: Due to a net loss from continuing operations during the quarter March 31, 2012, the diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding for purposes of our diluted GAAP loss per share EPS does not include 11,193 shares of restricted common stock, as these potential awards do not share in any loss generated by the Company and are anti-dilutive.

Free Cash Flow: The Company believes free cash flow is an important measure of its overall liquidity and its ability to fund future growth and provide a return to shareowners. Free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow from continuing operations excluding cash spent on capital expenditures. A limitation of using free cash flow versus the GAAP measure of cash provided by operating activities as a means for evaluating the Company’s business is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance from operations for the period because it excludes cash used for capital expenditures during the period.

Source: STR Holdings, Inc.

STR Holdings, Inc.
Joseph C. Radziewicz, +1-860-758-7325
Controller and Principal Accounting Officer
joseph.radziewicz@strholdings.com
or
ICR, LLC
Gary T. Dvorchak, CFA, +1-310-954-1123
Senior Vice President
Investor Relations Consultant
gary.dvorchak@icrinc.com