Hudson Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDSN), a leading distributor and reclaimer of refrigerants as well as a provider of proprietary on-site decontamination services for large comfort and process cooling systems, announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010.
Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2010 increased 49.5% to $4,141,000 from $2,769,000 in the comparable 2009 period. Gross profit margins improved to 32.7% of sales for the fourth quarter compared to 3.4% of sales in the fourth quarter last year.
Hudson reported a net loss of $556,000, or a loss of $0.02 per basic and diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to a net loss of $1,726,000, or a loss of $0.08 per basic and diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010.
For the year ended December 31, 2010, the company reported revenues of $37,273,000, a 54% increase compared to revenues of $24,167,000 in the year ended December 31, 2009. Gross profit margins increased to 22% for 2010 compared to gross margins of 16% in 2009.
Hudson achieved net income of $701,000, or $0.03 per basic and diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2010, compared to a net loss of $2,495,000, or a loss of $0.12 per basic and diluted share, in 2009.
Kevin J. Zugibe, a co-founder, and chairman and chief executive officer of Hudson Technologies, said customers began a return to historical purchasing patterns and increased volumes.
“We're very pleased to report solid revenue growth and record revenues for 2010, reflecting increased demand for both refrigerants and services," Zugibe said. "Our 2010 revenues represent a 54% increase over 2009 revenues and a 12% increase over 2008 revenues, our previous year of record revenues. Additionally, our fourth quarter gross margin demonstrated a continuation of the sequential margin improvement that we achieved throughout 2010.
Zugibe said 2010 was profitable for Hudson's RefrigerantSide® Services business, as people were more fully using their cooling systems, increasing the demand for Hudson's patented and proprietary services. RefrigerantSide services include:
- chiller decontamination
- refrigerant recovery
- refrigerant and oil analysis
- refrigerant reclamation
- refrigerant separation
- hydrostatic and cylinder maintenance.
“Throughout the past five quarters, we have expressed our view that 2009 was an anomaly and that we expected to return to the double-digit revenue growth rate we had sustained for the five years through 2008," Zugibe said. "We're very pleased that the expectations we communicated to our shareholders have been validated by our 2010 results. Our 2010 performance is a result of both the expansion of our customer base as well as volume growth, all accomplished without the benefit of refrigerant price increases.
Foresees Higher R22 Prices
Zugibe said refrigerant prices are on the rise.
"Since the close of 2010, we've begun to see higher refrigerant prices and we believe we're well positioned to continue double digit revenue growth for 2011. Lastly, we remain confident that the anticipated supply/demand imbalance created by the EPA mandated phase-out of R-22 should, over time, result in higher R-22 prices and a corresponding increase in demand for refrigerant reclamation, which could significantly benefit our future performance.”
Kevin J. Zugibe, P.E., has been chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Hudson Technologies since its beginnings in 1991. From 1987 to 1994, Zugibe was employed as a power engineer with Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., a major public utility, where he was responsible for all HVAC applications.
Zugibe is a licensed professional engineer, and from 1990 to 1994, he was also a member of Kevin J. Zugibe & Associates, a professional engineering firm.