S&W announces third quarter fiscal 2024 financial results

S&W Seed Company (Nasdaq: SANW) announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was $18.3 million, a 3.7% increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2023. Double Team™ sorghum revenue was $3.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $3.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

• Gross profit margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was 27.4%, an improvement from 25.1% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

• GAAP operating expenses were $7.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to GAAP operating expenses of $8.3 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

• GAAP net loss was ($5.5) million, or ($0.13) per basic and diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to GAAP net income of $32.1 million, or $0.75 per basic share and $0.74 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2023. A $38.3 million gain was recognized in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 related to the formation of Vision Bioenergy Oilseeds LLC, or Vision Bioenergy, a biofuel production partnership with Equilon Enterprises LLC (dba Shell Oil Products US, or Shell).

• Adjusted EBITDA (see Table B) was ($1.2) million for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to ($0.4) million for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

• Received $6.0 million payment from Shell in February 2024 as additional consideration related to the formation of Vision Bioenergy in February 2023. Received $1.0 million payment from Trigall Genetics S.A., or Trigall, in January 2024 as additional consideration related to the sale of 80% interest in Trigall Australia Pty Ltd., or Trigall Australia, a wheat development partnership, in December 2022. Received additional $0.4 million from Trigall in May 2024 for the sale of remaining 20% interest in Trigall Australia and assets used in the partnership.

Management Discussion

"S&W's commercial launch of Double Team has gone exceedingly well, with expectations for the proprietary, high-value sorghum trait technology to be planted on more than 10% of all sorghum acres in the United States in 2024," commented S&W Seed Company's CEO, Mark Herrmann. "This rapid adoption of our high margin solution (Double Team has gross margins of greater than 60%) in just three years since its initial introduction has led to a strong improvement in company-wide gross margins, with year to date margins of 29.2% compared to 23.2% in the previous year. As total revenue in the future continues to shift more towards our robust sorghum technology portfolio, including product line extensions and new technology offerings planned over the next year, we expect to see continued margin expansion in support of our near-term goal of profitability."

"While the Americas sorghum technology and forage businesses continue to meet all expectations, we are experiencing challenges to our international operations due to the expanding conflicts in the Middle East North Africa, or MENA, region we discussed last quarter. The war in Ukraine, the Sudan Civil War, and expanding geopolitical disruptions have caused the transition of many alfalfa growers in the MENA region to plant wheat this upcoming season and have caused disruptions to normal farming operations and seed distribution channels. The situation in the MENA region has worsened during the past quarter. The Department of Ministry in Saudi Arabia has recently discontinued their approval of import permits for all forages, which includes alfalfa and all grasses, as a means of water conservation. As these barriers of entry worsen in the MENA region, we expect to see an impact of approximately $6.0 to $7.0 million in revenue from our previously stated guidance. This decrease is within our mid-margin alfalfa products and will affect both volume and pricing expectations on a go-forward basis globally for the remainder of fiscal 2024."

"As we have signaled in our previous earnings call, we have seen a shortage in supply within our Australia Pasture products, which has limited our ability to meet demand in Australia. This will result in a $3.0 to $4.0 million revenue reduction in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2024 within our low margin pasture products."

"The above-mentioned challenges on our sales expectations will result in approximately a $1.0 to $1.5 million decrease in our adjusted EBITDA expectations for fiscal 2024, which includes an offset in our cost savings within our operations organization and other operating expenses on the efficiencies and synergies executed globally earlier in fiscal 2024. Further, we enhanced our cash position through the receipt of $6.0 million in new, non-dilutive payments received during the third fiscal quarter from Shell for our biofuels partnership, and $1.4 million from Trigall related to the sale of our interest in Trigall Australia and assets used in the partnership."

"Beyond our current initiatives, including achieving rapid adoption of our commercial Double Team Grain and Forage sorghum technology solutions, we are focused on executing on a number of potential future growth drivers. The first is our plan to launch a new sorghum trait technology product in the United States expected to be commercially introduced--Prussic Acid Free. We also plan to introduce our first "stacked trait" by combining Double Team and Prussic Acid Free into a single seed option to add value for farmers and improve profitability for the Company. We expect to then expand internationally further through branded and licensing (Australia & Mexico) and through licensing agreements in other key international sorghum markets (Brazil & Argentina). We expect these initiatives will contribute to, and benefit from, anticipated global growth in sorghum acres over the next decade driven by a step change in productivity compared to competing crops, such as corn, which are less adapted for acres with limited water and higher temperatures. I am incredibly optimistic for the future opportunities we have in front of us to transform the sorghum industry."

Financial Results

Total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was $18.3 million compared to total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 of $17.7 million. The quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue was primarily attributable to a $1.5 million increase in non-dormant alfalfa sales in Argentina, offset by a $0.4 million decrease in Australia sales of non-dormant alfalfa, forage cereals, and pasture products due to dry planting conditions and a $0.4 million decrease in Double Team sorghum revenue due to timing of sales quarter over quarter.

Gross profit margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was 27.4% compared to gross profit margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 of 25.1%. The improvement in gross profit margin was primarily driven by a 6.4% improvement related to Australian receivables for contracts denominated in U.S. dollar and a 0.2% increase driven by cost savings in production that improved sorghum margins, offset by a 2.0% decrease for inventory write-offs of dormant alfalfa, a 1.5% decrease in Double Team sorghum margins due to a decrease in volume sold, and a 0.8% decrease in non-dormant alfalfa margins in Australia's domestic market.

GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 were $7.7 million compared to GAAP operating expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 of $8.3 million. This decrease was primarily driven by a $0.4 million improvement in selling, general, and administrative expenses and a $0.3 million improvement from research and development expenses.

Adjusted operating expenses (see Table A1) for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 were $6.3 million compared to $6.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. The $0.2 million decrease in adjusted operating expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was attributed to a $0.3 million decrease in research and development expenses offset by a $0.1 million increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses after excluding non-recurring transaction costs.

GAAP net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was ($5.5) million, or ($0.13) per basic and diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $32.1 million, or $0.75 per basic share and $0.74 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

Adjusted net loss (see Table A2) for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was ($4.4) million, or ($0.10) per basic and diluted share, excluding interest expense - amortization of debt discount, non-recurring transaction costs, dividends accrued for participating securities and accretion, and equity in loss of equity method investee (Vision Bioenergy), net of tax. Adjusted net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 was ($3.1) million, or ($0.07) per basic and diluted share, excluding interest expense - amortization of debt discount, other finance expenses, non-recurring transaction costs, dividends accrued for participating securities and accretion, gain on sale of business interest, and equity in loss of equity method investee (Vision Bioenergy), net of tax.

Adjusted EBITDA (see Table B) for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 was ($1.2) million compared to adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 of ($0.4) million.

Fiscal 2024 Guidance

The Company is updating its expectations for fiscal 2024 revenue to be in a range of $67.0 to $70.0 million. The Company reaffirms its expectations that its Americas operations will be in a range of $32.0 to $33.0 million, of which the Company's high margin Double Team sorghum solutions is expected to continue be in a range of $11.5 to $14.0 million, representing an increase of 77% to 115% compared to fiscal 2023 for the product line. International operations are now expected to be in a range of $35.0 to $37.0 million, compared to previous expectations of $45.0 to $50.0 million. The change in international expectations is primarily due to the geopolitical disruptions worsening in the MENA region.

The Company now expects adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of ($8.5) million to ($6.0) million for fiscal 2024 compared to adjusted EBITDA of ($9.3) million in fiscal 2023. Previously, the Company expected adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of ($7.5) million to ($4.0) million for fiscal 2024.

As the partnership with Shell is accounted for as an equity method investment, it is not expected to have a material impact on S&W's full-year financial results for fiscal 2024.