Neptune's losses steepen as company nears end of recovery phase

By Hank Schultz

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Krill oil Vitamin

Neptune's losses steepen as company nears end of recovery phase
Neptune Technologies and Bioressources absorbed a steep loss in the first quarter of its fiscal year as the company nears the end of its recovery from an explosion and fire that destroyed its lone production plant. Net loss for the quarter was $5.3 million, compared to a net loss of $3.2 million a year previously.

The additional losses were attributed to startup costs for the company’s rebuilt plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec.  That plant was destroyed by an explosion and fire in Nov. 2012 and the company has been struggling to maintain market share in the intervening period. 

Lower grade krill oil

One of the ways in which Neptune, based in Laval, Quebec, survived was a supply agreement signed with the newest entrant to the krill oil sector, Norwegian company Rimfrost.  Andre Godin, interim president and CEO of Neptune, said during an earnings call with analysts that of the company’s $3.4 million in nutraceutical revenues in the quarter came from material supplied through this agreement. 

 But that revenue figure was a steep drop from the $5.6 million in revenue recorded a year previously.  This reflects the fact that the krill oil supplied through the Rimfrost agreement was a lower grade product than the NKO-branded krill oil that Neptune was supplying before it lost its own production capacity.  Increasing numbers of customers were deferring purchases in order to receive NKO from the restarted Sherbrooke plant.  Putting a positive spin on this development, Godin said, “customers are willing to wait for NKO.”

Royalty payments from its competitors have helped to counteract this slide, Godin said.  Neptune ended its IP battle with Aker BioMarine of Norway and Enzymotec of Israel earlier this year (Rimfrost was already on board) and received $1.5 million in royalty payments in the quarter.  Part of that agreement rests on a review of Neptune’s composition of matter patent in the US. Godin said that review is scheduled to be completed in the first calendar quarter of 2015. 

Restarted production

As for the Sherbrooke plant, the company expects to regain full production capacity within the next quarter.  There is a backlog of orders for the plant’s production, said Mike Timperio, vice president of global sales, but he said it was “premature”​ to say how much of the plant’s near-term production was pre-sold.  Much of that depends on developments in emerging markets, such as Latin America and elsewhere.  In the past few quarters the company forged ahead with NKO product registrations in these markets even when it had no product to sell, and a number of these markets will now be open once the Sherbrooke plant regains full capacity, he said.

“We are expecting a ramp up of three months,”​ Godin said. “We are expecting to be close to historical margins at the end of that period.”

Neptune has also announced plans to launch three condition-specific products this year: NKO Beat, which incorporates coQ10 for heart health, NKO Flex, which adds vitamin D for a bone and joint health positioning, and NKO Focus, which includes lutein, thiamine and vitamin A for brain and vision health benefits.

“We have laid the foundation for growth and our goal is clear: to focus on strong execution in order to regain our position as a premium krill oil supplier,”​ Godin said.

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1 comment

Lower Grade NKO

Posted by Barney Grodt,

Mr Godin's comments appear to be aimed at maintaining shareholder credibility as opposed to market credibility. We are all well used to competitors looking to differentiate products in order to make claims - this has to be a bit of a first though; claiming that the product supplied under their brand and now sitting on the shelves in retail is in fact an 'inferior' product - pure genius! Would be fascinated to know what changes to labelling at retail were made to reflect the 'lower quality'? The comment is of course inconsistent with previous statements were the company claimed they were on processing to bring the Rimfrost product up to their specification? Seems like a very short sighted and ill considered comment that smacks of desperation. Great they have the new factory up and running - unlike Aker and Olympic who have their own ships I guess they will be going to market to find whatever material is available in order to have something to process?

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