In the wake of last week's sale of its ownership stake to Japan's ORIX Corporation (TSE:8591), geothermal energy company Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA; TASE: ORA) has reported strong results for the first quarter of 2017.
Revenue in the first quarter of 2017 was $189.9 million, up 25.3% from $151.6 million in the corresponding quarter. Net profit was $35.3 million ($0.70 per share) up from $29.3 million ($0.59 per share), for the first quarter of 2016.
Ormat’s Board of Directors approved a payment of a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share pursuant to the company’s dividend policy. The dividend will be paid on May 31, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 22, 2017. In addition, the company expects to pay quarterly dividends of $0.08 per share in the next two quarters.
Ormat CEO Isaac Angel said, “This was another good quarter, benefitting from outstanding execution in both our electricity and products segment. As we have noted, our goal in the electricity segment has been to adjust output at our facilities to maximize efficiency, and the progress we are making in this area is evidenced by the improvement in gross margin to 43%. The addition of the Bouillante facility, coupled with full output again at Puna, has helped us increase revenue in the segment by more than 7%. I am encouraged with our progress in this segment.”
He continued, “Our products segment delivered a nearly 70% increase in quarterly sales, due to our progress in projects in New Zealand, China and Turkey. As previously indicated, several of these projects, most notably in Turkey, as well as timing issues related to product deliveries, contributed to lower gross margin which is expected to remain at similar level during 2017. As a result of the improvements we are constantly making to increase efficiencies across our operations, we delivered a record adjusted EBITDA of nearly $92 million.”
Angel added, “We reiterate our guidance and expect full-year 2017 total revenue between $680 million and $700 million with electricity segment revenue between $460 million and $470 million and product segment revenue between $220 million and $230 million."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2017
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