Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. announced financial results for its Fiscal 2015 second quarter ended October 31, 2014 (“fiscal 2015”).
David L. Keller, Interim Chief Executive of OPT stated, “I am pleased to report that during the second quarter we completed the site remediation and removal of equipment on the Reedsport, Oregon project which allowed us to reduce our letters of credit outstanding by over $1.1 million. In addition, we have successfully offloaded and re-assembled our PB40 PowerBuoy which features our Modular Power Take-Off (MPTO) and currently anticipate deploying it off of the coast of New Jersey during the first quarter of calendar 2015.
Internally, we have created a dedicated team of senior personnel with project management and engineering experience to dramatically accelerate the development of our re-designed APB-350 PowerBuoy, consistent with our strategic shift to capitalize on the growing market for off-shore data collection and transmission that require off grid power production at smaller scale. Our next generation prototype APB-350 (A1) will utilize the existing structure that was deployed in 2013 but will include a new PTO and upgraded components and is expected to be deployed in the summer of 2015. Our second planned 2015 prototype APB-350 (A2) is being designed with an optimized geometry for improved operating stability and fits into a standard 40-foot shipping container to reduce transportation and deployment costs.”
For the three months ended October 31, 2014, OPT reported revenue of $1.7 million, as compared to revenue of $0.5 million for the three months ended October 31, 2013. The increase in revenue is primarily related to increased billable work for the removal of the anchoring and mooring equipment from the seabed off the coast of Oregon and increased billable work under the current phase of our project with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (“MES”). These increases were partially offset by decreased revenue on our WavePort contract with EU for our project in Spain that was completed during the three months ended July 31, 2014.
The net loss for the three months ended October 31, 2014 was $4.4 million as compared to a net loss of $3.3 million for the three months ended October 31, 2013. The increase in the Company’s net loss year-over-year primarily reflects increased estimated project costs associated with our contract with MES and increased legal fees to address shareholder litigation and related matters. In addition, costs increased related to higher consulting fees and patent amortization costs related to shortening the estimated useful lives for recording amortization expense. These increases were partially offset by decreased site development expenses related to our terminated project in Australia.
Mr. Keller noted that the search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer was well underway and concluded, “We continue to increase our technical capabilities with the addition of engineering and operating resources and accelerate our technology development. We have accumulated a significant body of knowledge through PowerBuoy deployments and remain focused on the successful deployments of the PB40 and APB-350 in order to achieve durability and reliability at acceptable levels of commercial risk-taking and cost.”