Profire Energy, Inc., a technology company which creates, installs and services burner and chemical management solutions in the oil and gas industry, has reported total revenues of $10.8 million in the first quarter, a 2 percent sequential increase over the fourth quarter of 2018.
Profire’s legacy business continues to perform well and the company achieved higher sales of the PF3100 compared to the previous quarter.
Net income was $1.7 million compared to a net income of $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2018. Total operating expenses were approximately $3.6 million or a 6 percent decrease from the same quarter last year. This change was primarily due to lower sales commissions from lower revenues and lower R&D consulting costs as a result of the company receiving the SIL certification for its PF3100 product in July of last year.
Compared with the same quarter last year, operating expenses for general and administrative decreased 5 percent, R&D decreased 13 percent and depreciation decreased 10 percent.
Gross profit was $5.8 million or 53.2 percent of total revenues which was up from 50.4 percent in the same quarter last year. This increase was driven by improvements in inventory reserves, product mix, and warranty reserves.
Cash and liquid investments totalled $23.4 million at March 31, 2019 compared to $22.6 million at the end of 2018, and the company continues to operate debt-free.
PF2200 Burner Management System
Profire has also announced the planned launch of its next-generation burner management product line, the PF2200. Development of the PF2200 is nearing completion, and the company expects to begin commercial sales of the PF2200 in the fall of 2019 once field trials have been completed and certifications have been obtained. The PF2200 implements a number of user-friendly upgrades and auxiliary features that are not currently available with the Company’s PF2100 burner management system.
“We have planned for the market volatility and conditions that we are experiencing to start 2019 as we expect revenues in the first half of 2019 to remain relatively flat with Q4 2018 and pick up as the year moves along,” said Brenton Hatch, President and CEO of Profire Energy. “We believe our growth strategy allows for long-term growth whether or not overall industry conditions improve slightly. We are making strategic investments with the intent of increasing revenues in the coming years. These investments will help Profire remain a technology leader within the industry.”
“As we mentioned last quarter, we still expect total operating expenses for the full year of 2019 to increase by roughly 20% when compared to 2018, which may out pace revenue growth in the short term due to the ongoing industry challenges,” stated Ryan Oviatt, CFO of Profire. “We plan to invest both internally and externally in 2019 to take advantages of opportunities that we believe will increase Profire’s market potential. This increased investment does not mean that we plan to move away from core values that have made us successful throughout the previous years.”
For more information visit www.profireenergy.com
