SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS INC - Quarter Report: 2010 September (Form 10-Q)
Table of Contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
þ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2010
o | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For
the transition period from: ___________ to: _________
Commission file number: 001-33522
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware (State of Incorporation) |
20-2110031 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
Three Riverway, Suite 300, Houston, Texas | 77056 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip code) |
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (713) 579-0600
Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report: N/A
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed
by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been
subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its
corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months
(or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).
Yes o No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated
filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of large
accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company in Rule 12b-2 of the
Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer o | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer o | Smaller reporting company þ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of
the Exchange Act).
Yes o No þ
As of November 10, 2010 there were 48,386,512 shares of the registrants common stock, par
value $.01 per share, outstanding.
Transitional Small Business Disclosure Format Yes o No þ
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Exhibit 31.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 31.2 | ||||||||
Exhibit 32.1 | ||||||||
Exhibit 32.2 |
2
Table of Contents
PART I
Item 1. | Financial Statements |
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands)
(In thousands)
September 30, | June 30, | |||||||
2010 | 2010 | |||||||
ASSETS |
||||||||
Current assets: |
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 37,654 | $ | 42,573 | ||||
Accounts receivable |
2,298 | 2,672 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses and other currents assets |
1,759 | 1,875 | ||||||
Inventory |
1,090 | 983 | ||||||
Total current assets |
42,801 | 48,103 | ||||||
Construction-in-progress |
508 | 565 | ||||||
Property, plant and equipment, net |
35,249 | 35,316 | ||||||
Intangible asset, net |
1,233 | 1,272 | ||||||
Investment in Yima joint ventures |
32,734 | 32,430 | ||||||
Other long-term assets |
2,845 | 2,895 | ||||||
Total assets |
$ | 115,370 | $ | 120,581 | ||||
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY |
||||||||
Current liabilities: |
||||||||
Accrued expenses and accounts payable |
$ | 5,789 | $ | 7,008 | ||||
Deferred revenue |
497 | 522 | ||||||
Current portion of long-term bank loan |
2,298 | 2,268 | ||||||
Total current liabilities |
8,584 | 9,798 | ||||||
Long-term bank loan |
5,686 | 6,744 | ||||||
Total liabilities |
14,270 | 16,542 | ||||||
Equity: |
||||||||
Common stock, $0.01 par value: 200,000
shares authorized: 48,429 and 48,337 shares
issued and outstanding, respectively |
484 | 483 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
198,994 | 198,720 | ||||||
Deficit accumulated during development stage |
(100,191 | ) | (96,449 | ) | ||||
Accumulated other comprehensive income |
2,391 | 1,836 | ||||||
Total stockholders equity |
101,678 | 104,590 | ||||||
Noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries |
(578 | ) | (551 | ) | ||||
Total equity |
101,100 | 104,039 | ||||||
Total liabilities and equity |
$ | 115,370 | $ | 120,581 | ||||
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
3
Table of Contents
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
November 4, 2003 | ||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | (inception) to | |||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | |||||||||||
2010 | 2009 | 2010 | ||||||||||
Revenue: |
||||||||||||
Product sales and other related parties |
$ | 1,417 | $ | 2,236 | $ | 11,895 | ||||||
Technology licensing and related services |
205 | 65 | 936 | |||||||||
Other |
| | 521 | |||||||||
Total revenue |
1,622 | 2,301 | 13,352 | |||||||||
Costs and Expenses: |
||||||||||||
Costs of sales and plant operating expenses |
1,307 | 1,737 | 19,771 | |||||||||
General and administrative expenses |
3,186 | 3,081 | 52,641 | |||||||||
Project and technical development expenses |
85 | 1,020 | 11,140 | |||||||||
Asset impairment losses |
| | 9,075 | |||||||||
Stock-based compensation expense |
227 | 598 | 19,987 | |||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
680 | 722 | 7,690 | |||||||||
Total costs and expenses |
5,485 | 7,158 | 120,304 | |||||||||
Operating loss |
(3,863 | ) | (4,857 | ) | (106,952 | ) | ||||||
Non-operating (income) expense: |
||||||||||||
Equity in losses of Yima joint ventures |
54 | | 93 | |||||||||
Foreign currency gains |
(255 | ) | | (1,056 | ) | |||||||
Interest income |
(39 | ) | (38 | ) | (2,917 | ) | ||||||
Interest expense |
146 | 180 | 2,163 | |||||||||
Net loss |
(3,769 | ) | (4,999 | ) | (105,235 | ) | ||||||
Less: net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests |
27 | 422 | 5,044 | |||||||||
Net loss attributable to stockholders |
$ | (3,742 | ) | $ | (4,577 | ) | $ | (100,191 | ) | |||
Net loss per share: |
||||||||||||
Basic and diluted |
$ | (0.08 | ) | $ | (0.10 | ) | $ | (2.84 | ) | |||
Weighted average common shares outstanding: |
||||||||||||
Basic and diluted |
48,352 | 48,148 | 35,218 | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
4
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SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
November 4, 2003 | ||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | (inception) to | |||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | |||||||||||
2010 | 2009 | 2010 | ||||||||||
Cash flows from operating activites: |
||||||||||||
Net loss |
$ | (3,769 | ) | $ | (4,999 | ) | $ | (105,235 | ) | |||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in
operating
activities: |
||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation expense |
227 | 598 | 19,987 | |||||||||
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment |
625 | 662 | 6,790 | |||||||||
Amortization of intangible and other assets |
55 | 60 | 900 | |||||||||
Equity in losses of Yima joint ventures |
54 | | 15 | |||||||||
Foreign currency gains |
(255 | ) | | (1,057 | ) | |||||||
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment |
| 2 | 136 | |||||||||
Asset impairment losses |
| | 9,075 | |||||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
||||||||||||
Accounts receivable |
407 | (586 | ) | (2,256 | ) | |||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
133 | (354 | ) | (97 | ) | |||||||
Inventory |
(93 | ) | 69 | (1,070 | ) | |||||||
Other long-term assets |
128 | 5 | (1,102 | ) | ||||||||
Deferred revenue |
(25 | ) | | 497 | ||||||||
Accrued expenses and payables |
(1,276 | ) | (961 | ) | (296 | ) | ||||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
(3,789 | ) | (5,504 | ) | (73,713 | ) | ||||||
Cash flows from investing activities: |
||||||||||||
Capital expenditures |
(32 | ) | (258 | ) | (37,982 | ) | ||||||
Equity investment in Yima joint ventures |
| (29,288 | ) | (30,891 | ) | |||||||
Purchase of marketable securities |
| | (45,000 | ) | ||||||||
Redemption of marketable securities |
| | 45,000 | |||||||||
GTI license royalty Yima joint ventures |
| | (1,500 | ) | ||||||||
ExxonMobil license royalty |
| | (1,250 | ) | ||||||||
Restricted cash redemptions of certificates of deposit |
| | (379 | ) | ||||||||
Amendment to GTI license rights |
| | (500 | ) | ||||||||
Purchase of land use rights |
| (181 | ) | (1,896 | ) | |||||||
Receipt of Chinese governmental grant |
| | 555 | |||||||||
Project prepayments |
| | (3,210 | ) | ||||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(32 | ) | (29,727 | ) | (77,053 | ) | ||||||
Cash flows from financing activities: |
||||||||||||
Payments on long-term bank loan |
(1,149 | ) | (1,127 | ) | (5,670 | ) | ||||||
Proceeds from long-term bank loan |
| | 12,081 | |||||||||
Proceeds (costs) from issuance of common stock, net |
| | 174,981 | |||||||||
Financing costs |
| | (408 | ) | ||||||||
Contributions from noncontrolling interest partners |
| 840 | 4,456 | |||||||||
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net |
47 | 63 | 813 | |||||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities. |
(1,102 | ) | (224 | ) | 186,253 | |||||||
Net increase (decrease) in cash |
(4,923 | ) | (35,455 | ) | 35,487 | |||||||
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period |
42,573 | 90,420 | | |||||||||
Effect of exchange rates on cash |
4 | (4 | ) | 2,167 | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period |
$ | 37,654 | $ | 54,961 | $ | 37,654 | ||||||
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
5
Table of Contents
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
Consolidated Statement of Equity
(In thousands)
(In thousands)
Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accumulated | Accumulated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | During the | Other | Non- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common | Additional | Development | Comprehensive | controlling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Stock | Paid-in Capital | Stage | Income | Interest | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at November 4, 2003 (inception) |
100,000 | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||||||||||||
Net loss for the period November 4, 2003 to June 30, 2004 |
| | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2004 |
100,000 | | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shares Forfeited in Merger |
(94,000 | ) | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shares Issued in Merger |
21,000 | | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (358 | ) | | | (358 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Investor contributions |
| 264 | 236 | | | | 500 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Conversion of debt to equity |
| 6 | 5 | | | | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net proceeds from private placement offering |
1,030 | 10 | 2,474 | | | | 2,484 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2005 |
28,030 | 280 | 2,715 | (358 | ) | | | 2,637 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (5,183 | ) | | | (5,183 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net proceeds from private placement offering |
970 | 10 | 2,378 | | | | 2,388 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 3,043 | | | | 3,043 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustment related to return of shares |
(4,353 | ) | (44 | ) | 44 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2006 |
24,647 | 246 | 8,180 | (5,541 | ) | | | 2,885 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (13,142 | ) | | (37 | ) | (13,179 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Currency translation adjustment |
| | | | 175 | | 175 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss |
| | | | | | (13,004 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Contributions from noncontrolling interest partners |
| | | | | 492 | 492 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net proceeds from private placement offering |
3,346 | 34 | 16,126 | | | | 16,160 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 6,608 | | | | 6,608 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shares issued for amended GTI license |
191 | 2 | 1,374 | | | | 1,376 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shares issued upon option exercise by Union Charter Financial |
2,000 | 20 | 4,980 | | | | 5,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock grants to employees |
4 | | 33 | | | | 33 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2007 |
30,188 | 302 | 37,301 | (18,683 | ) | 175 | 455 | 19,550 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (27,442 | ) | | (610 | ) | (28,052 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Currency translation adjustment |
| | | | 1,390 | | 1,390 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss |
| | | | | | (26,662 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Contributions from noncontrolling interest partners |
| | | | | 3,124 | 3,124 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 6,010 | | | | 6,010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options |
92 | 1 | 564 | | | | 565 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shares issued for GTI reservation use fee |
278 | 3 | 2,497 | | | | 2,500 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shares issued in public offerings |
17,451 | 174 | 148,226 | | | | 148,400 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock grants to employees |
2 | | 19 | | | | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2008 |
48,011 | 480 | 194,617 | (46,125 | ) | 1,565 | 2,969 | 153,506 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (28,576 | ) | | (703 | ) | (29,279 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Currency translation adjustment |
| | | | 33 | 11 | 44 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss |
| | | | | | (29,235 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Public offering costs |
| | (107 | ) | | | | (107 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 1,869 | | | | 1,869 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options |
107 | 1 | 62 | | | | 63 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2009 |
48,118 | 481 | 196,441 | (74,701 | ) | 1,598 | 2,277 | 126,096 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (21,748 | ) | (3,667 | ) | (25,415 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Currency translation adjustment |
| | | | 238 | | 238 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss |
| | | | | | (25,177 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Contributions from noncontrolling interest partners |
| | | | | 839 | 839 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 2,179 | | | | 2,179 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options |
219 | 2 | 100 | | | | 102 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at June 30, 2010 |
48,337 | 483 | 198,720 | (96,449 | ) | 1,836 | (551 | ) | 104,039 | |||||||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (3,742 | ) | (27 | ) | (3,769 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Currency translation adjustment |
| | | 555 | | 555 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive loss |
| | | | | (3,214 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation |
| | 227 | | | | 227 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options |
92 | 1 | 47 | | | | 48 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at September 30, 2010 |
48,429 | $ | 484 | $ | 198,994 | $ | (100,191 | ) | $ | 2,391 | $ | (578 | ) | $ | 101,100 | |||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
6
Table of Contents
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
(A Development Stage Enterprise)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
Note 1 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
(a) Organization and description of business
Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SES), together with its wholly-owned and majority-owned
controlled subsidiaries (collectively, the Company) is a development stage enterprise. The
Company is an alternative energy technology company that provides advanced technology products and
solutions to the energy and chemical industries. The Company builds, owns and operates coal
gasification plants that utilize our proprietary U-GAS® fluidized bed gasification
technology to convert low rank coal and coal wastes into higher value energy products. We provide
licenses, equipment components, engineering services and product offerings related to the
U-GAS® technology. The Companys headquarters are located in Houston, Texas.
(b) Basis of presentation and principles of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements for the periods presented are unaudited and reflect all
adjustments, consisting of normal recurring items, which management considers necessary for a fair
presentation. Operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2010 are not necessarily
indicative of results to be expected for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.
The consolidated financial statements are in U.S. dollars and include SES and all of its
wholly-owned and majority-owned controlled subsidiaries. Noncontrolling interests in consolidated
subsidiaries in the consolidated balance sheets represents minority stockholders proportionate
share of the equity in such subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions
have been eliminated in consolidation. These consolidated financial statements should be read in
conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto reported in the
Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2010. Significant accounting
policies that are new or updated from those presented in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended June 30, 2010 are included below. The consolidated financial statements have
been prepared in accordance with the rules of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) for interim financial statements and do not include all annual disclosures required by
generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. Certain reclassifications have been
made in prior period financial statements to conform to current period presentation. These
reclassifications had no effect on net loss.
(c) Accounting for Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) and Financial Statement Consolidation
Criteria
The joint ventures which the Company enters into may be considered VIEs. The Company
consolidates all VIEs where it is the primary beneficiary. This determination is made at the
inception of the Companys involvement with the VIE and is continuously assessed. The Company
considers both qualitative and quantitative factors and forms a conclusion that the Company, or
another interest holder, absorbs a majority of the entitys risk for expected losses, receive a
majority of the entitys potential for expected residual returns, or both. The Company does not
consolidate VIEs where it is not the primary beneficiary. The Company accounts for these
unconsolidated VIEs under the equity method of accounting and includes its net investment on its
consolidated balance sheets. The Companys equity interest in the net income or loss from its
unconsolidated VIEs is recorded in non-operating (income) expense on a net basis on its
consolidated statement of operations.
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Table of Contents
The Company has determined that the ZZ Joint Venture is a VIE and has determined that it is
the primary beneficiary. In making that determination, the Company considered, among other items,
the change in profit distribution between the Company and Hai Hua after 20 years. The expected
negative variability in the fair value of the ZZ Joint Ventures net assets was considered to be
greater during the first 20 years of the ZZ Joint Ventures life, which coincides with our original
95% profit/loss allocation, versus the latter 30 years in which the Companys profit/loss
allocation is reduced to 10%. In addition, the Company considered whether the terms of the syngas
purchase and sale agreement with Hai Hua contained a lease. The factors considered included (i) the
Companys ability to operate and control the plant during the initial 20 years; and (ii) whether it
was more than remote that one or more parties other than Hai Hua would purchase more than a minor
amount (considered to be 10%) of the plants output during the term of the syngas purchase and sale
agreement. Because the Company determined that the syngas purchase and sale agreement did not
contain a lease, the Company accounts for the revenues from this agreement in accordance with the
Companys revenue recognition policy for product sales.
The following tables provide additional information on the ZZ Joint Ventures assets and
liabilities as of September 30, 2010 and June 30, 2010 which are consolidated within the Companys
consolidated balance sheets (in thousands):
September 30, 2010 | ||||||||||||
Consolidated | ZZ Joint Venture (1) | % (2) | ||||||||||
Current assets |
$ | 42,801 | $ | 4,218 | 10 | % | ||||||
Long-term assets |
72,569 | 38,170 | 53 | % | ||||||||
Total assets |
$ | 115,370 | $ | 42,388 | 37 | % | ||||||
Current liabilities |
$ | 8,584 | $ | 4,349 | 51 | % | ||||||
Long-term liabilities |
5,686 | 5,686 | 100 | % | ||||||||
Equity |
101,100 | 32,353 | 32 | % | ||||||||
Total liabilities and equity |
$ | 115,370 | $ | 42,388 | 37 | % | ||||||
June 30, 2010 | ||||||||||||
Consolidated | ZZ Joint Venture (1) | % (2) | ||||||||||
Current assets |
$ | 48,103 | $ | 5,198 | 11 | % | ||||||
Long-term assets |
72,478 | 38,811 | 54 | % | ||||||||
Total assets |
$ | 120,581 | $ | 44,009 | 36 | % | ||||||
Current liabilities |
$ | 9,798 | $ | 5,852 | 60 | % | ||||||
Long-term liabilities |
6,744 | 6,744 | 100 | % | ||||||||
Equity |
104,039 | 31,413 | 30 | % | ||||||||
Total liabilities and equity |
$ | 120,581 | $ | 44,009 | 36 | % | ||||||
(1) | Amounts reflect information for ZZ Joint Venture and exclude intercompany items. |
|
(2) | ZZ Joint Ventures percentage of the amount on the Companys consolidated balance
sheet. |
The Company has determined that the Yima Joint Ventures are VIEs and that Yima is the
primary beneficiary since Yima has a 75% ownership interest in the Yima Joint Ventures.
The Company has determined that the GC Joint Venture is a VIE and has determined that it is
the primary beneficiary since the Company has a 51% ownership interest in the GC Joint Venture and
since there are no qualitative factors that would preclude the Company from being deemed the
primary beneficiary. As of June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010, there were no significant assets
or liabilities of the GC Joint Venture included in the Companys consolidated balance sheets.
8
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(d) Revenue Recognition
Revenue from sales of products, which includes the capacity fee and energy fee earned at the
ZZ Joint Venture plant, and byproducts are recognized when the following elements are satisfied:
(i) there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance; (ii) there is persuasive evidence
that an agreement exists; (iii) delivery has occurred; (iv) the sales price is fixed or
determinable; and (v) collectability is reasonably assured.
Technology licensing revenue is typically received and earned over the course of a projects
development. The Company may receive upfront licensing fee payments in addition to fees for
engineering services that are integral to the initial transfer of its technology to a customers
project. Typically, the majority of a license fee is received once project financing and equipment
installation occur. Recognition of upfront licensing fee payments is deferred and recognized as a
percentage of completion of the engineering services associated with the initial technology
transfer. Further, such revenues are deferred until performance guarantee provisions have been met.
The Company recognizes revenue from engineering services under the percentage-of-completion method.
(e) Fair value measurements
Accounting standards require that fair value measurements be classified and disclosed in one
of the following categories:
Level 1 | Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities; | |||
Level 2 | Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and | |||
Level 3 | Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supported by little or no market activity). |
The carrying value of the Companys non-financial items including accounts receivable,
investment in the Yima Joint Ventures, accounts payable and long-term debt approximate their fair
values.
The Companys financial assets and liabilities are classified based on the lowest level of
input that is significant for the fair value measurement. The following table summarizes the
valuation of the Companys financial assets and liabilities by pricing levels, as of September 30,
2010 and June 30, 2010 (in thousands):
September 30, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||||||
Certificates of Deposit |
$ | | $ | 379 | (1) | $ | | $ | 379 | |||||||
Money Market Funds |
| 34,752 | (2) | | 34,752 |
June 30, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||
Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||||||
Certificates of Deposit |
$ | | $ | 379 | (1) | $ | | $ | 379 | |||||||
Money Market Funds |
| 38,624 | (2) | | 38,624 |
(1) | Amount included in current assets on the Companys consolidated balance sheet. |
|
(2) | Amount included in cash and cash equivalents on the Companys consolidated balance sheet. |
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(f) Comprehensive income (loss)
The Companys comprehensive income (loss) was as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended | ||||||||
September 30, | ||||||||
2010 | 2009 | |||||||
Net loss, as reported |
$ | (3,769 | ) | $ | (4,999 | ) | ||
Unrealized foreign currency translation adjustment |
555 | 10 | ||||||
Comprehensive loss |
(3,214 | ) | (4,989 | ) | ||||
Less comprehensive loss attributable to
noncontrolling interests |
27 | 422 | ||||||
Comprehensive loss attributable to the Company |
$ | (3,187 | ) | $ | (4,567 | ) | ||
Note 2 Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In January 2010, the FASB issued an amendment to the disclosure requirement related to fair
value measurements. The amendment requires new disclosures related to transfers in and out of
Levels 1 and 2 and activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. A reporting entity is required to
disclose separately the amounts of significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair
value measurements and describe the reasons for the transfers. Additionally, in the reconciliation
for fair value measurements in Level 3, a reporting entity must present separately information
about purchases, sales, issuances and settlements (on a gross basis rather than a net number). The
new disclosures were effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December
15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances and settlements in the roll
forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. Those disclosures are effective for fiscal
years beginning after December 15, 2010 and for interim periods within those fiscal years. The
Company does not anticipate that its adoption of this amendment will have a material effect on its
financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
In June 2009, the FASB also issued an amendment to the accounting and disclosure requirements
for the consolidation of VIEs. This amendment requires an enterprise to perform a qualitative
analysis when determining whether or not it must consolidate a VIE. The amendment also requires an
enterprise to continuously reassess whether it must consolidate a VIE. Additionally, the amendment
requires enhanced disclosures about an enterprises involvement with VIEs and any significant
change in risk exposure due to that involvement, as well as how its involvement with VIEs impacts
the enterprises financial statements. Finally, enterprises are required to disclose significant
judgments and assumptions used to determine whether or not to consolidate a VIE. This amendment
was adopted by the Company effective as of July 1, 2010 and adoption of the standard has not impacted the
entities which are consolidated. The only impact is to the disclosure of financial statements.
See Note 1 for disclosures regarding the
Companys involvement with VIEs.
In June 2009, the FASB issued an amendment to the accounting and disclosure requirements for
transfers of financial assets. This amendment applies to the financial reporting of a transfer of
financial assets; the effects of a transfer on an entitys financial position, financial
performance and cash flows; and a transferors continuing involvement, if any, in transferred
financial assets. It eliminates (1) the exceptions for qualifying special-purpose entities from
the consolidation guidance and (2) the exception that permitted sale accounting for certain
mortgage securitizations when a transferor has not surrendered control over the transferred
financial assets. The requirements in the amendment must be applied to transfers occurring on or
after the effective date. The Companys adoption of these requirements as of July 1, 2010 had no
effect on the Companys financial statements.
In April 2010, the FASB issued accounting guidance for the milestone method of revenue
recognition. This guidance allows entities to make a policy election to use the milestone method of
revenue recognition and provides guidance on defining a milestone and the criteria that should be
met for applying the milestone method. The scope of this guidance is limited to transactions
involving milestones relating to research and development deliverables. The guidance includes enhanced disclosure requirements about each
arrangement, individual milestones and related contingent consideration, information about
substantive milestones and factors considered in the determination. The Companys adoption of this
guidance effective July 1, 2010 had no effect on the Companys financial statements.
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The FASB issued new guidance relating to revenue recognition for contractual arrangements with
multiple revenue-generating activities. The ASC Topic for revenue recognition includes
identification of a unit of accounting and how arrangement consideration should be allocated to
separate the units of accounting, when applicable. The Companys adoption of this guidance
effective July 1, 2010 had no effect on the Companys financial statements.
Note 3 Current Projects
Zao Zhuang Joint Venture
Joint Venture Agreement
On July 6, 2006, the Company entered into a cooperative joint venture contract with Shandong
Hai Hua Coal & Chemical Company Ltd., which was acquired by China National Offshore Oil Corporation
in September 2009, (Hai Hua), which established Synthesis Energy Systems (Zao Zhuang) New Gas
Company Ltd. (the ZZ Joint Venture), a joint venture company that has the primary purposes of (i)
developing, constructing and operating a syngas production plant utilizing the U-GAS®
technology in Zao Zhuang City, Shandong Province, China and (ii) producing and selling syngas and
the various byproducts of the plant, including ash and elemental sulphur. We own 95.5% of the ZZ
Joint Venture and Hai Hua owns the remaining 4.5%. For the first 20 years after the commercial
operation date of the plant, the net profits and losses of the ZZ Joint Venture will be distributed
to the Company and to Hai Hua based on the parties ownership interest. After the initial 20 years,
the profit distribution percentages will be changed, with the Company receiving 10% of the net
profits/losses of the ZZ Joint Venture and Hai Hua receiving 90%. The Company consolidates the
results of the ZZ Joint Venture in its consolidated financial statements.
Syngas Purchase and Sale Agreement
The ZZ Joint Venture is also party to a purchase and sale agreement with Hai Hua for syngas
produced by the plant, whereby Hai Hua will pay the ZZ Joint Venture an energy fee and capacity
fee, as described below, based on the syngas production. The syngas to be purchased by Hai Hua is
subject to certain quality component requirements set forth in the contract. In late December 2008,
the plant declared commercial operations status for purposes of the purchase and sale agreement.
The energy fee is a per normal cubic meters, or Ncum, of syngas calculation based on a formula
which factors in the monthly averages of the prices of design base coal, coke, coke oven gas,
power, steam and water, all of which are components used in the production of syngas. The capacity
fee is paid based on the capacity of the plant to produce syngas, factoring in the number of hours
(i) of production and (ii) of capability of production as compared to the guaranteed capacity of
the plant, which for purposes of the contract is 22,000 Ncum per hour of net syngas. Hai Hua is
obligated to pay the capacity fee regardless of whether they use the gasification capacity, subject
only to availability of the plant, quality of the syngas and exceptions for certain events of force
majeure. Due to worldwide reductions in methanol prices, Hai Hua has operated at a reduced rate of
syngas consumption. Hai Hua used approximately 35% to 45% of the syngas guarantee capacity during
2009 and has forecasted the same level of syngas consumption through December 2010.
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In April 2009, the ZZ Joint Venture entered into a Supplementary Agreement with Hai Hua,
amending the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. The Supplementary Agreement was entered into
to provide more clarity regarding the required syngas quality and volume to be delivered, recovery
of the energy fee during turndown periods and operations coordination during unscheduled outages.
Under the Supplementary Agreement, the syngas quality specification was amended to provide more
clarity as to the minor constituents allowable in the syngas. For purposes of the Supplemental
Agreement, syngas that meets these specifications is deemed compliant gas and syngas that does
not meet these specifications is deemed non-compliant gas. The Supplementary Agreement also added
a requirement for Hai Hua to pay the ZZ Joint Venture the capacity fee and 70% of the energy fee for all non-compliant gas which is taken by
Hai Hua. However, if more than 50% of the syngas taken by Hai Hua during any operating day is
non-compliant gas, all of the syngas for that day is deemed to be non-compliant gas for purposes of
calculating the energy fee. In addition, the Supplementary Agreement accommodates periods of
turndown operation by Hai Hua by establishing a minimum threshold gas off take volume of 7,500 Ncum
per hour of net syngas for the purpose of calculating the energy fee during such periods. The
Supplementary Agreement also provides that, to the extent Hai Hua has an unscheduled shutdown, and
the plant continues to operate on standby during such period, Hai Hua is still required to pay the
energy fee to the ZZ Joint Venture. In the event that the plant has an unscheduled shutdown and
does not provide at least three hours prior notice to Hai Hua, the ZZ Joint Venture may be required
to provide certain compensation to Hai Hua.
To date, Hai Hua has been unable to offtake the volume of syngas originally expected for the
original plant design and the plant has incurred operating losses. The Company does not foresee Hai
Huas volume offtake changing significantly in the near term. In an effort to improve the return on
its investment in this plant, the company is evaluating alternative products and partnership
structures for a possible expansion of the ZZ Joint Venture plant to produce products such as
glycol. The Company does not expect any additional equity for an expansion would be required from
the Company as it continues to expect to contribute its 95.5% equity interest toward the
expansion with third parties contributing all the additional required equity to expand the plant.
In February 2010, the Company received the necessary government approval for the expansion. This
approval, along with the previously received environmental approvals, are the key approvals
required to commence execution of the expansion and also describe certain terms of the expansion
project, including but not limited to, its use of land, the main additional facilities required and
the use of the existing facilities. The scope of the expansion is still under evaluation. The local
government has expressed strong support for this expansion project and has executed a letter of
intent allowing a new state-owned local coal mine to be used as a debt guarantee. The letter of
intent also contemplates providing discounted coal to the project from this local coal mine. The
Company is in discussions with a provincial level coal company that has expressed interest in
becoming our partner on this expansion. Earlier work to structure a partnership with a local Zao
Zhuang area coal mining company has not progressed due to investment constraints with that company.
The Company is working with local government entities and prospective partners to develop the
partnership and project structure.
Due to the business climate, the recessionary trends that have significantly affected
commodity prices including methanol, and the ZZ Joint Venture plants operating losses to-date, the
Company believed an impairment assessment of the plants assets was warranted. As of September 30,
2010, the Company performed an analysis of this project and has determined that these assets were
not impaired based upon managements estimated cash flow projections for the project. If the
Company is not successful in improving the ZZ Joint Ventures profitability, or if managements
estimated cash flow projections for these assets decrease, or if Hai Hua does not make its required
payments, the plants assets could be impaired.
Loan Agreement
On March 22, 2007, the ZZ Joint Venture entered into a seven-year loan agreement and received
$12.6 million of loan proceeds pursuant to the terms of a Fixed Asset Loan Contract with the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to complete the project financing for the ZZ Joint
Venture. Key terms of the Fixed Asset Loan Contract with ICBC are as follows:
| Term of the loan is seven years from the commencement date (March 22, 2007) of the loan; |
| Interest is adjusted annually based upon the standard rate announced each year by the
Peoples Bank of China, and as of September 30, 2010, the applicable interest rate was 5.94%
and is payable monthly; |
| Principal payments of $1.1 million are due in March and September of each year beginning
on September 22, 2008 and ending on March 31, 2014; |
| Hai Hua is the guarantor of the entire loan; |
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| Assets of the ZZ Joint Venture are pledged as collateral for the loan; |
| Covenants include, among other things, prohibiting pre-payment without the consent of
ICBC and permitting ICBC to be involved in the review and inspection of the Zao Zhuang
plant; and |
| Subject to customary events of default which, should one or more of them occur and be
continuing, would permit ICBC to declare all amounts owing under the contract to be due and
payable immediately. |
As of September 30, 2010, the ZZ Joint Venture was in compliance with all covenants and
obligations under the Fixed Asset Loan Contract.
Yima Joint Ventures
In August 2009, the Company entered into amended joint venture contracts with Yima Coal
Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. (Yima), replacing the prior joint venture contracts entered into in
October 2008 and April 2009. The joint ventures were formed for each of the gasification,
methanol/methanol protein production, and utility island components of the plant (collectively, the
Yima Joint Ventures). The parties obtained government approvals for the projects feasibility
study during the three months ended December 31, 2008 and for the projects environmental impact
assessment during the three months ended March 31, 2009, which were the two key approvals required
to proceed with the project. The amended joint venture contracts provide that: (i) the Company and
Yima contribute equity of 25% and 75%, respectively, to the Yima Joint Ventures; (ii) Yima will
guarantee the repayment of loans from third party lenders for 50% of the projects cost and, if
debt financing is not available, Yima is obligated to provide debt financing via shareholder loans
to the project until the project is able to secure third-party debt financing; and (iii) Yima will
supply coal to the project from a mine located in close proximity to the project at a preferential
price subject to a definitive agreement to be subsequently negotiated. In connection with entering
into the amended contracts, the Company and Yima contributed their remaining cash equity
contributions of $29.3 million and $90.8 million, respectively, to the Yima Joint Ventures during
the three months ended September 30, 2009. The Company will also be responsible for its share of
any cost overruns on the project. During the three months ended September 30, 2009, the Company
incurred a charge of $0.9 million relating to consulting fees paid in connection with the closing
and funding of the Yima project.
In exchange for their capital contributions, the Company owns a 25% interest in each joint
venture and Yima owns a 75% interest. Notwithstanding this, in connection with an expansion of the
project, the Company has the option to contribute a greater percentage of capital for the
expansion, such that as a result, the Company would have up to a 49% ownership interest in the Yima
Joint Ventures. The investment in the Yima Joint Ventures is accounted for using the equity method.
During this quarter, Yima expressed their intent to convert the existing project from methanol
production to glycol production. Yima has communicated their belief that the prospect for strong
economic performance of the plant can be improved by modifying the backend of the project to make
glycol. In addition, Yima has recently acquired a nearby coal to methanol facility and is looking
to diversify and sees glycol as a potentially more profitable alternative. The Company has
indicated to Yima that it would be willing to support this scope change if both parties can agree
upon appropriate modifications to the joint venture contracts that can improve the Companys
overall risk and return without requiring any additional capital investment from the Company.
Yimas project management team believes that this change can be executed without delaying the
original schedule for commercial operation. The Company has agreed to work diligently with Yima to
restructure the agreements as necessary to achieve these goals.
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Construction activities for site preparation are currently underway and a Chinese engineering
company has been selected for the projects engineering work. The remaining construction and
commissioning of the project is expected to take approximately two years. Yima is the project management leader for
the project and has indicated their belief that the change in the scope of the project would not
delay this schedule; however, the construction of the methanol portion of the plant is on hold
pending the revisions for the possible glycol production. Based on the projects current scope
of methanol only, the current estimate of the total required capital of the project is
approximately $250 million. The remaining capital for the project is to be provided by project debt
to be obtained by the Yima Joint Ventures. Yima has agreed to guarantee the project debt and the
Company expects this guarantee will allow debt financing to be obtained from domestic Chinese
banking sources. The Company has agreed to pledge to Yima its ownership interests in the joint
ventures as security for its obligations under any project guarantee. In the event that the debt
financing is not obtained, Yima has agreed to provide a loan to the joint ventures to satisfy the
remaining capital needs of the project with terms comparable to current market rates at the time of
the loan.
The Yima Joint Ventures are governed by a board of directors consisting of eight directors,
two of whom were appointed by the Company and six of whom were appointed by Yima. The joint
ventures also have officers that are nominated by the Company, Yima and/or the board of directors
pursuant to the terms of the joint venture contracts. The Company and Yima shall share the profits,
and bear the risks and losses, of the joint ventures in proportion to our respective ownership
interests. The term of the joint venture shall commence upon each joint venture company obtaining
its business license and shall end 30 years after commercial operation of the plant.
The Company has included the $1.5 million payment paid to the Gas Technology Institute (GTI)
in June 2009 toward future royalties due to GTI for the Yima Joint Ventures project as part of the
Companys investment in the Yima project. An additional future royalty payment of approximately
$1.5 million will be due to GTI upon the commissioning of the gasifier equipment for the Yima
project.
The Companys equity in losses of the Yima Joint Ventures for the three months ended September
30, 2010 was $54,000. There was no equity in losses reported for the three months ended September
30, 2009 as the joint venture was newly formed during that period. The following table presents
summarized unconsolidated financial information for the Yima Joint Ventures (in thousands):
September 30, | ||||
Income statement data: | 2010 | |||
Revenue |
$ | | ||
Operating loss |
(272 | ) | ||
Net loss |
(216 | ) |
September 30, | June 30, | |||||||
Balance sheet data: | 2010 | 2010 | ||||||
Current assets |
$ | 109,999 | $ | 118,073 | ||||
Noncurrent assets |
20,306 | 11,694 | ||||||
Current liabilities |
5,147 | 6,046 | ||||||
Noncurrent liabilities |
| |
Golden Concord Joint Venture
The Companys joint venture with Golden Concord (GC Joint Venture) was formed to (i)
develop, construct and operate a coal gasification, methanol and dimethyl either (DME) production
plant utilizing U-GAS® technology in the Xilinghote Economic and Technology Development
Zone, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China and (ii) produce and sell methanol, DME and the various byproducts of
the plant. The Company has a 51% ownership interest in the GC Joint Venture and consolidates the
results of the GC Joint Venture in its consolidated financial statements.
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The Company is continuing to develop this project and has shifted its focus to include end
products such as SNG, glycol, olefins, methanol and DME that can be economically produced from
local low rank coal when utilizing the U-GAS® technology and which are of strategic
interest to possible partners in China, including state owned, private and publicly traded gas
companies. The Company has entered into a cooperation agreement with a local Chinese company who is
assisting with obtaining certain necessary government approvals and who may desire to continue the
development of the project.
Note 4 GTI License Agreement
On November 5, 2009, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated License Agreement (the
New Agreement) with GTI, replacing the Amended and Restated License Agreement between the Company
and GTI dated August 31, 2006, as amended, or the Original Agreement. Under the New Agreement, the
Company maintains its exclusive worldwide right to license the U-GAS® technology for all
types of coals and coal/biomass mixtures with coal content exceeding 60%, as well as the
non-exclusive right to license the U-GAS® technology for 100% biomass and coal/biomass
blends exceeding 40% biomass. The New Agreement differs from the Old Agreement most critically by
allowing the Company to sublicense U-GAS® to third parties for coal, coal and biomass
mixtures or 100% biomass projects (subject to the approval of GTI, which approval shall not be
unreasonably withheld), with GTI to share the revenue from such third party licensing fees based on
an agreed percentage split (the Agreed Percentage). In addition, the prior obligation to
fabricate and put into operation at least one U-GAS® system for each calendar year of
the Original Agreement in order to maintain the license has been eliminated in the New Agreement.
In order to sublicense any U-GAS® system, the Company is required to comply with
certain requirements set forth in the New Agreement. In the preliminary stage of developing a
potential sublicense, the Company is required to provide notice and certain information regarding
the potential sublicense to GTI and GTI is required to provide notice of approval or non-approval
within ten business days of the date of the notice from the Company, provided that GTI is required
to not unreasonably withhold their approval. If GTI does not respond within that ten business day
period, they are deemed to have approved of the sublicense. The Company is required to provide
updates on any potential sublicenses once every three months during the term of the New Agreement.
The Company is also restricted from offering a competing gasification technology during the term of
the New Agreement.
For each U-GAS® unit which the Company licenses, designs, builds or operates for
itself or for a party other than a sublicensee and which uses coal or a coal and biomass mixture or
biomass as the feed stock, the Company must pay a royalty based upon a calculation using the MMBtu
per hour of dry syngas production of a rated design capacity, payable in installments at the
beginning and at the completion of the construction of a project (the Standard Royalty). Although
it is calculated using a different unit of measurement, the Standard Royalty is effectively the
same as the royalty payable to GTI under the Original Agreement. If the Company invests, or has the
option to invest, in a specified percentage of the equity of a third party, and the royalty payable
by such third party for their sublicense exceeds the Standard Royalty, the Company is required to
pay to GTI the Agreed Percentage of such royalty payable by such third party. However, if the
royalty payable by such third party for their sublicense is less than the Standard Royalty, the
Company is required to pay to GTI, in addition to the Agreed Percentage of such royalty payable by
such third party, the Agreed Percentage of its dividends and liquidation proceeds from its equity
investment in the third party. In addition, if the Company receives a carried interest in a third
party, and the carried interest is less than a specified percentage of the equity of such third
party, the Company is required to pay to GTI, in its sole discretion, either (i) the Standard
Royalty or (ii) the Agreed Percentage of the royalty payable to such third party for their
sublicense, as well as the Agreed Percentage of the carried interest. The Company will be required
to pay the Standard Royalty to GTI if the percentage of the equity of a third party that the
Company (a) invests in, (b) has an option to invest in, or (c) receives a carried interest in,
exceeds the percentage of the third party specified in the preceding sentence.
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The Company is required to make an annual payment to GTI for each year of the term beginning
with the year ended December 31, 2010, with such annual payment due by the last day of January of
the following year; provided, however, that the Company is entitled to deduct all royalties paid to
GTI in a given year under the New Agreement from this amount, and if such royalties exceed the
annual payment amount in a given year, the Company is not required to make the annual payment. The
Company accrues the annual royalty expense ratably over the calendar year as adjusted for any
royalties paid during year. The Company must also provide GTI with a copy of each contract that it
enters into relating to a U-GAS® system and report to GTI with its progress on
development of the technology every six months.
For a period of ten years, the Company and GTI are restricted from disclosing any confidential
information (as defined in the New Agreement) to any person other than employees of affiliates or
contractors who are required to deal with such information, and such persons will be bound by the
confidentiality provisions of the New Agreement. The Company has further indemnified GTI and its
affiliates from any liability or loss resulting from unauthorized disclosure or use of any
confidential information that the Company receives.
The term of the New Agreement is the same as the Original Agreement, expiring on August 31,
2016, but may be extended for two additional ten-year periods at the Companys option.
Other Services
GTI also offers various technical services including but not limited to laboratory testing of
coal samples and plant design review. While the Company has no obligations to do so, the Company
has requested GTI to provide various services including: (i) developing an industry-standard
process model for performance and cost evaluations of U-GAS®, (ii) replenishing and
enlarging the intellectual property portfolio for U-GAS® technology and (iii) assisting
the Company with appropriate design support for gasification opportunities that would include fuel
feeder, gasifier, solids separation and solids handling systems sizing and configuration.
Note 5 Stock-Based Compensation
As of September 30, 2010, the Company had outstanding stock option and restricted stock awards
granted under the Companys Amended and Restated 2005 Incentive Plan, as amended (the Plan)
exercisable for 5,608,959 shares of common stock. As of September 30, 2010, 1,843,991 shares were
authorized for future issuance pursuant to the Plan and $0.9 million of estimated expense with
respect to non-vested stock-based awards has yet to be recognized.
Stock option activity during the three months ended September 30, 2010 was as follows:
Shares of Common | ||||
Stock Underlying | ||||
Stock Options | ||||
Outstanding at June 30, 2010 |
6,037,573 | |||
Granted |
75,000 | |||
Exercised |
(92,250 | ) | ||
Forfeited |
(411,364 | ) | ||
Outstanding at September 30, 2010 |
5,608,959 | |||
Exercisable at September 30, 2010 |
4,217,113 | |||
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The fair values for the stock options granted during the three months ended September 30,
2010 were estimated at the date of grant using a Black-Scholes-Morton option-pricing model with the
following weighted-average assumptions.
Risk-free rate of return |
2.18 | % | ||
Expected life of award |
6.25 years | |||
Expected dividend yield |
0.00 | % | ||
Expected volatility of stock |
93.43 | % | ||
Weighted-average grant date fair value |
$ | 0.86 |
Note 6 Net Loss Per Share
Historical net loss per share of common stock is computed using the weighted average number of
shares of common stock outstanding. Basic loss per share excludes dilution and is computed by
dividing net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares
outstanding for the period. Stock options are the only potential dilutive share equivalents the
Company has outstanding for the periods presented. For the three months ended September 30, 2010
and 2009 and the period from November 4, 2003 (inception) to September 30, 2010, options to
purchase common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share as their
effect would have been antidilutive as the Company incurred net losses during those periods.
Note 7 Risks and Uncertainties
Since mid-2008, the global economy has experienced a significant contraction, with an almost
unprecedented lack of availability of business and consumer credit, which has impeded, and could
continue to impede, the Companys ability to obtain financing for its projects. Although the
Company is seeing signs of improved economic activity, this decrease and any future decrease in
economic activity in China or in other regions of the world, in which the Company may in the future
do business, could significantly and adversely affect its results of operations and financial
condition in a number of other ways. Any decline in economic conditions may reduce the demand or
prices from the products from our plants. In addition, the market for commodities such as methanol
has been under significant pressure and the Company is unsure of how much longer this pressure will
continue. As a direct result of these trends, the Companys ability to finance and develop its
existing projects, commence any new projects and sell its products could be adversely impacted.
The Company will limit the development of any further projects until worldwide capital and
debt markets improve and it has assurances that acceptable financing is available to complete such
projects. In addition, as of September 30, 2010, Hai Hua is the Companys only customer for syngas
sales and as such, it is exposed to significant customer credit risk due to this concentration. The
Companys revenue and results of operations would be adversely affected if it is unable to retain
Hai Hua as a customer or secure new customers. There have also been recent announcements of a
constricting credit market in China. Even if the Company does obtain the necessary capital for its
projects, the Company could face other delays in its projects due to additional approval
requirements or due to unanticipated issues in the commissioning of such a project. These factors
have led to the impairment of the GC Joint Ventures assets and could lead to, among other things,
the impairment of the Companys significant assets, including its assets in the ZZ Joint Venture
and its investment in the Yima Joint Ventures, and an inability to develop any further projects.
The Company may need to raise additional capital through equity and debt financing for any new
projects that are developed, to support its existing projects and possible expansions thereof and
for its corporate general and administrative expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance
that any financing will be available to the Company in the future on acceptable terms or at all.
Any such financing could be dilutive to the Companys existing stockholders. If the Company cannot
raise required funds on acceptable terms, it may not be able to, among other things, (i) maintain
its general and administrative expenses at current levels; (ii) negotiate and enter into new
gasification plant development contracts; (iii) expand its operations; (iv) hire and train new employees; or (v) respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated capital
requirements.
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On October 28, 2010, the Company received a notification indicating that the minimum bid price
of the Companys common stock is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for
continued listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market (the NASDAQ). The Company has a grace period until
April 26, 2011 in which to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule. To regain compliance,
the closing bid price of the common stock must meet or exceed $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten
consecutive business days during this grace period. If the Company does not regain compliance
before April 26, 2011, the NASDAQ stated that it will provide the Company with written notice that
its securities are subject to delisting, although the Company may be able to appeal this decision.
The Company actively monitors the price of its common stock and will consider all available options
to regain compliance with the continued listing standards of the NASDAQ.
Note 8 Litigation
In September 2008, the Company was named as one of a number of defendants in a lawsuit filed
in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division, by Igor
Olenicoff, one of its former stockholders, and a company he controls. Also named were Timothy E.
Vail (our former CEO and one of the Companys directors), David Eichinger (the Companys former
CFO), and another one of the Companys directors (collectively, the Company, Mr. Vail, Mr.
Eichinger and the director are referred to as the SES Defendants), as well as UBS AG, Union
Charter Ltd., and other persons who allegedly managed Mr. Olenicoffs investments outside the U.S.
The SES Defendants have been named in this lawsuit based primarily upon allegations that one of our
former stockholders, Teflomi Trade & Trust, Inc., was a shell company formed for the purposes of
holding Mr. Olenicoffs assets overseas, and that the SES Defendants allegedly had knowledge of
this arrangement. The claims initially asserted against the SES Defendants included, among others,
securities fraud in violation of Rule 10b-5 under the Securities Act and the California state law
equivalent, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, common
law fraud and negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy and unfair business
practices. On the SES Defendants motion, on July 31, 2009, the court issued an order dismissing
the securities fraud claims as to each of the SES Defendants and the common law fraud, negligent
misrepresentation claim and breach of fiduciary duty claims as to us, Mr. Vail and Mr. Eichinger.
The court determined that certain other claims, including RICO, conspiracy and unfair business
practices, were sufficiently pled and could proceed at this stage. Plaintiffs were given leave to
amend and, on August 24, 2009, filed an amended complaint attempting to replead their securities
fraud claims, and alleged a new claim for violation of the Uniform Commercial Code (the UCC). In
response, on September 23, 2009, the SES Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the securities fraud
and UCC claims. The court heard oral argument on the SES Defendants motion to dismiss, and on
various other defendants motions to dismiss, on November 9, 2009. On March 16, 2010, the court
issued an order on the pending motions to dismiss, dismissing the securities fraud and UCC claims
as to each of the SES Defendants. Thus, the claims that remain as to the SES Defendants
collectively include violations of RICO, RICO conspiracy, unfair business practices, conversion and
civil conspiracy; the claims that remain as to the individually named director include fraudulent
misrepresentation, constructive fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty.
The SES Defendants filed their answer to these claims on April 22, 2010. With the pleadings now
resolved, the case is moving forward with respect to those claims the court has allowed to remain
in the case. The court has set a trial date of February 7, 2012. The SES Defendants believe the
claims alleged against them to be without merit and intend to continue to vigorously defend all
claims which are allowed to proceed in the court.
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Item 2. | Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results
of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other
financial information included elsewhere in this quarterly report. Some of the information
contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this quarterly report,
including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and related
financing, include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should
review the Risk Factors section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June
30, 2010 for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the
following discussion and analysis.
Business Overview
We are an alternative energy technology company that provides technology, equipment and
engineering services for the conversion of low rank, low cost coal and biomass feedstocks into
energy and chemical products. Our strategy is to create value through providing technology and
equipment in regions where low rank coals and biomass feedstocks can be profitably converted into
high value products through our proprietary U-GAS® fluidized bed gasification
technology. We do this through providing a proprietary technology package whereby we license
U-GAS® technology rights to third parties, deliver an engineered technology transfer
package and provide proprietary equipment components to customers who plan to own and operate
projects. In addition, we may (i) integrate our U-GAS® technology package with
downstream technologies to provide a fully integrated offering where we may invest in projects
either directly or through an investment partner, (ii) partner with engineering, equipment and
technology companies to provide our U-GAS® technology package into an integrated modular
product offering, (iii) provide technology to enable coal resources to be integrated together with
our U-GAS® technology where the coal resources may be of little value without our
U-GAS® conversion technology, or (iv) acquire or partner with owners of these coal
resources to create more value and opportunity for us through the integration of our technology
with the coal resources.
We believe that we have several advantages over commercially available competing gasification
technologies, such as entrained flow, fixed and moving bed gasification technologies, including our
ability to use all ranks of coals (including low rank, high ash and high moisture coals, which are
significantly cheaper than higher grade coals), many coal waste products and biomass feed stocks.
In addition, U-GAS® technologys advanced fluidized bed design is tolerant to changes in
feedstock. These factors enable us to be a lower cost producer of synthesis gas, or syngas, a
mixture of primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can then be used to produce other
products. Depending on local market need and fuel sources, syngas can be used as a fuel gas in
industrial applications or can be used to produce many products including power, synthetic natural
gas, or SNG, methanol, dimethyl ether, or DME, glycol, ammonia, direct reduction iron, or DRI,
synthetic gasoline, steam, and other byproducts (e.g., sulphur, carbon dioxide or ash).
Our principal operating activities are currently in China, however, we are developing
opportunities in other countries including the U.S., India, Europe, Australia and Vietnam, as well
as other parts of Europe and Asia to provide our U-GAS® technology package. Our ZZ Joint
Venture project is our first commercial scale coal gasification plant located in Shandong Province,
China and has been in operation since February 2008 and in commercial operation since December
2008. Our Yima project is currently under construction in Henan Province, China.
The key elements of our business strategy include:
| Executing on existing projects in China. We are continuing to implement operational
measures to improve the financial performance of our ZZ Joint Venture plant in the near
term, while also continuing to evaluate alternatives to better position the project to be
commercially and financially successful in the future. These alternatives include the possible expansion of the plant to
produce other products for other customers. We also intend to continue to leverage our success
to date at the ZZ Joint Venture in our ongoing business development efforts, including through
further visits from senior executives of possible customers and partners, as well as
government officials, from China, India, Australia, Vietnam and the United States. We are also
continuing the ongoing construction of our Yima project, and are working to restructure our
joint venture agreements to change the scope of the project from methanol to glycol
production. |
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| Leveraging our proprietary technology through licensing, equipment sales and related
services to increase revenues and position us for future growth. We provide a proprietary
technology package whereby we license U-GAS® technology rights to third parties,
deliver an engineered technology transfer package and provide proprietary equipment
components to customers who plan to own and operate projects. We intend to focus on
developing opportunities for our proprietary technology package whereby we may (i) integrate
our U-GAS® technology package with downstream technologies to provide a fully
integrated offering where we may invest in projects either directly or through an investment
partner or (ii) may partner with engineering, equipment and technology companies to provide
our U-GAS® technology package into an integrated modular product offering, which
may include coal or biomass feedstocks for units producing power and fuels such as SNG, MTG,
diesel and ethanol as well as methanol for gasoline blending. We anticipate that we can
increase revenues through collecting technology licensing fees and royalties, engineering
and technical service fees, as well as equipment product sales sold to customers who plan to
own and operate projects and desire to incorporate our proprietary technology. We also
believe that our licensing activities will provide additional insight into project
development activities, which may allow us to make selective equity investments in such
projects in the future, develop integrated, modular product offerings, or take options in
projects for which we provide a license. |
| Expanding our relationships with strong strategic partners. Our efforts have been
initially focused on facilities producing syngas, methanol and DME in China. We are
expanding our relationships with our current partners, developing new relationships with
strategic partners and developing new downstream coal-to-chemicals and coal-to-energy
products which may expand our initial focus to include facilities producing SNG, methanol to
gasoline, or MTG, glycol, power and reducing gas for the steel industry. We are exploring
new markets for entry such as the U.S., India, Australia, Vietnam, and other parts of Europe
and Asia. Such strategic relationships may include an investment in projects either directly
by us or through an investment partner where U-GAS® plants may supply syngas to
strategic customers via long-term offtake agreements. |
| Developing value where we have a competitive advantage and have access of rights to
feedstock resources. We believe that we have the greatest competitive advantage using our
U-GAS® technology in situations where there is a ready source of low rank, low
cost coal, coal waste or biomass to utilize as a feedstock. We are focusing our efforts in
countries with large low rank coal resources such as India, the U.S., China, Turkey and
Australia. We are working to develop structured transactions that include securing options
to these feedstock resources. For example, we are currently in discussions regarding several
projects in Inner Mongolia, China where the provincial government is making coal resources
available to the project owners which adds protection for the project from future coal cost
increases, as well as potentially increasing project revenues. In these cases, we may
provide technology to add value to coal resources which may be of little value without our
U-GAS® conversion technology or may acquire or partner with owners of these
resources to create more value and opportunity for us through the integration of our
technology with the resources. Additionally, where capital and/or financing is available, we
may acquire an interest in such resources, including existing facilities or coal mines,
where we could create value with our U-GAS® technology through securing greater
access to feedstock. |
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| Continue to develop and improve U-GAS® technology. We are continually seeking
to improve the overall plant availability, plant efficiency rates and fuel handling capabilities of the
existing U-GAS® gasification technology. We are continuing to work with our
prospective customers to determine the suitability of their low rank coals for our
U-GAS® technology through our proprietary coal characterization testing as well as
selective commercial scale testing in our ZZ Joint Venture plant. In addition, we are growing
our technology base through continued development of know-how with our engineering and
technical staff, growing and protecting our trade secrets as well as through patenting
improvements tested at our ZZ Joint Venture plant, and improvements resulting from integration
of our technology with downstream processes. To date, we have filed 13 patent applications
relating to our improvements to the U-GAS® technology. |
| Grow earnings through increased revenues and control of expenses. We remain intently
focused on control of our expenses while we grow revenues from our technology business. We
believe our strategy will allow us to grow near term revenues to position us for sustainable
long term growth. We intend to minimize project development expense on projects until we
have assurances that acceptable financing is available to complete the project. Until the
capital markets improve, our strategy will be to operate using our current capital resources
and to leverage the resources of financing partners. |
Results of Operations
We are in our development stage and therefore have had limited operations. We generated
revenues of $1.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 and $9.3 million during the
fiscal year ended June 30, 2010. We have sustained net losses of approximately $100.2 million from
November 4, 2003, the date of our inception, to September 30, 2010. We have primarily financed our
operations to date through private placements and two public offerings of our common stock.
Three Months Ended September 30, 2010 Compared to the Three Months Ended September 30, 2009
Revenue. Total revenue decreased $0.7 million to $1.6 million for the three months ended
September 30, 2010 compared to $2.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009.
Product sales were $1.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $1.6
million for the three months ended September 30, 2009 and were derived from the sale of syngas and
byproducts produced at the ZZ Joint Venture plant. Product sales decreased due to reduced syngas
production and oxygen sales as a result of Hai Huas extended shut down during the period. For the
three months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, the plant operated for 31% and 54% of the period,
respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, the plants availability for
production was 100% and 98%, respectively, resulting in capacity fee revenue of $0.9 million and
$0.7 million, respectively.
Other related party revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 were $0
and $0.6 million, respectively. The 2009 periods related party revenue was generated from
engineering services provided to the Yima Joint Ventures.
Technology licensing and related services revenues for the three months ended September 30,
2010 and 2009 were $0.2 million and $0.1 million, respectively, and were generated from coal
testing, feasibility studies and other technical services provided in association with our
technology licensing business.
Costs of product sales and plant operating expenses. Costs of product sales and plant
operating expenses decreased by $0.4 million to $1.3 million for the for the three months ended
September 30, 2010 compared to $1.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009 due
primarily to the decrease in production at the ZZ Joint Venture plant.
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General and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses increased by $0.1
million to $3.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $3.1 million
during the three months ended September 30, 2009. The increase of $0.1 million was primarily due to royalties
due to GTI during calendar year 2010 and increased travel and professional fees related to
licensing and other business development activities, offset in part by a reduction in corporate
personnel costs.
Project and technical development expenses. Project and technical development expenses
decreased by $0.9 million to $0.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 compared to
$1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009. Project development expenses for the
three months ended September 30, 2009 included a $0.9 million charge for a consulting fee related
to the financial closing of the Yima project.
Stock-based compensation expense. Stock-based compensation expense decreased by $0.4 million
to $0.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $0.6 million for the
three months ended September 30, 2009. The decrease was principally due to forfeitures of certain
awards and the fact that the fair values of recent stock option awards is lower than the fair
values of certain prior awards due to the decrease in the price of our common stock.
Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense was $0.7 million for the
three months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 and was primarily depreciation of our ZZ Joint
Venture plants assets.
Equity in losses of Yima Joint Ventures. The equity in losses of the Yima Joint Ventures for
the three months ended September 30, 2010 relates to our 25% share of the loss incurred by the Yima
Joint Ventures. The loss is comprised of non-capitalizable costs incurred during the design and
construction phase, offset in part, by interest income earned on invested funds contributed by us
and Yima.
Foreign currency gain. During the three months ended September 30, 2010, we recognized a
foreign currency gain of $0.3 million due to the appreciation of the Renminbi Yuan relative to the
U.S. dollar.
Interest expense. Interest expense decreased by $0.1 million to $0.1 million for the three
months ended September 30, 2010 compared to $0.2 million during the three months ended September
30, 2009. The decrease was primarily due to the ZZ Joint Ventures lower outstanding principal
balance on its loan with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We are in our development stage and have financed our operations to date through private
placements of our common stock in 2005 and 2006 and two public offerings, one in November 2007 and
one in June 2008. We have used the proceeds of these offerings for the development of our joint
ventures in China and to pay other development and general and administrative expenses. In
addition, we have entered into a loan agreement with ICBC to fund certain of the costs of the ZZ
Joint Venture.
As of September 30, 2010, we had $37.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and $34.2 million
of working capital available to us. During the three months ended September 30, 2010, cash flows
used in operating activities were $3.8 million. Additionally, we made the scheduled semi-annual
principal payment of $1.1 million on the ICBC loan during the three months ended September 30,
2010.
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Zao Zhuang Joint Venture
Joint Venture Agreement
On July 6, 2006, we entered into a cooperative joint venture contract with Shandong Hai Hua
Coal & Chemical Company Ltd. (which was acquired by China National Offshore Oil Corporation in
September 2009), or Hai Hua, which established Synthesis Energy Systems (Zao Zhuang) New Gas
Company Ltd., or the ZZ Joint Venture, a joint venture company that has the primary purposes of (i) developing,
constructing and operating a syngas production plant utilizing the U-GAS® technology in
Zao Zhuang City, Shandong Province, China and (ii) producing and selling syngas and the various
byproducts of the plant, including ash and elemental sulphur. We own 95.5% of the ZZ Joint Venture
and Hai Hua owns the remaining 4.5%. For the first 20 years after the commercial operation date of
the plant, the net profits and losses of the ZZ Joint Venture will be distributed to us and to Hai
Hua based on our ownership interest. After the initial 20 years, the profit distribution
percentages will be changed, with us receiving 10% of the net profits/losses of the ZZ Joint
Venture and Hai Hua receiving 90%. We consolidate the results of the ZZ Joint Venture in our
consolidated financial statements.
Syngas Purchase and Sale Agreement.
The ZZ Joint Venture is also party to a purchase and sale agreement with Hai Hua for syngas
produced by the plant, whereby Hai Hua will pay the ZZ Joint Venture an energy fee and capacity
fee, as described below, based on the syngas production. The syngas to be purchased by Hai Hua is
subject to certain quality component requirements set forth in the contract. In late December 2008,
the plant declared commercial operations status for purposes of the purchase and sale agreement.
The energy fee is a per normal cubic meters, or Ncum, of syngas calculation based on a formula
which factors in the monthly averages of the prices of design base coal, coke, coke oven gas,
power, steam and water, all of which are components used in the production of syngas. The capacity
fee is paid based on the capacity of the plant to produce syngas, factoring in the number of hours
(i) of production and (ii) of capability of production as compared to the guaranteed capacity of
the plant, which for purposes of the contract is 22,000 Ncum per hour of net syngas. Hai Hua is
obligated to pay the capacity fee regardless of whether they use the gasification capacity, subject
only to availability of the plant, quality of the syngas and exceptions for certain events of force
majeure. Due to worldwide reductions in methanol prices, Hai Hua has operated at a reduced rate of
syngas consumption. Hai Hua used approximately 35% to 45% of the syngas guarantee capacity during
2009 and has forecasted the same level of syngas consumption through December 2010.
In April 2009, the ZZ Joint Venture entered into a Supplementary Agreement with Hai Hua,
amending the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. The Supplementary Agreement was entered into
to provide more clarity regarding the required syngas quality and volume to be delivered, recovery
of the energy fee during turndown periods and operations coordination during unscheduled outages.
Under the Supplementary Agreement, the syngas quality specification was amended to provide more
clarity as to the minor constituents allowable in the syngas. For purposes of the Supplementary
Agreement, syngas that meets these specifications is deemed compliant gas and syngas that does
not meet these specifications is deemed non-compliant gas. The Supplementary Agreement also added
a requirement for Hai Hua to pay the ZZ Joint Venture the capacity fee and 70% of the energy fee
for all non-compliant gas which is taken by Hai Hua. However, if more than 50% of the syngas taken
by Hai Hua during any operating day is non-compliant gas, all of the syngas for that day is deemed
to be non-compliant gas for purposes of calculating the energy fee. In addition, the Supplementary
Agreement accommodates periods of turndown operation by Hai Hua by establishing a minimum threshold
gas off take volume of 7,500 Ncum per hour of net syngas for the purpose of calculating the energy
fee during such periods. The Supplementary Agreement also provides that, to the extent Hai Hua has
an unscheduled shutdown, and the plant continues to operate on standby during such period, Hai Hua
is still required to pay the energy fee to the ZZ Joint Venture. In the event that the plant has an
unscheduled shutdown and does not provide at least three hours prior notice to Hai Hua, the ZZ
Joint Venture may be required to provide certain compensation to Hai Hua.
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To date, Hai Hua has been unable to offtake the volume of syngas originally expected for
the original plant design and the plant has incurred operating losses. We do not foresee Hai Huas
volume offtake changing significantly in the near term. In an effort to improve the return on our
investment in this plant, we are evaluating alternative products and partnership structures for a
possible expansion of the ZZ Joint Venture plant to produce products such as glycol. We do not
expect any additional equity for an expansion would be required from us as we continue to expect to contribute our 95.5% equity interest toward the expansion with third parties contributing
all the additional required equity to expand the plant. In February 2010, we received the necessary
government approval for the expansion. This approval, along with the previously received
environmental approvals, are the key approvals required for us to commence execution of the
expansion and also describe certain terms of the expansion project, including but not limited to,
its use of land, the main additional facilities required and the use of the existing facilities.
The scope of the expansion is still under evaluation. We are also continuing to evaluate
alternatives to improve the financial performance of the ZZ Joint Venture. The local government has
expressed strong support for this expansion project and has executed a letter of intent allowing a
new state-owned local coal mine to be used as a debt guarantee. The letter of intent also
contemplates providing discounted coal to the project from this local coal mine. We are in
discussions with a provincial level coal company that has expressed interest in becoming our
partner on this expansion. Earlier work to structure a partnership with a local Zao Zhuang area
coal mining company has not progressed due to investment constraints with that company. We are
working with local government entities and prospective partners to develop a partnership and
project structure.
Yima Joint Ventures
In August 2009, we entered into amended joint venture contracts with Yima Coal Industry
(Group) Co., Ltd., or Yima, replacing the prior joint venture contracts entered into in October
2008 and April 2009. The joint ventures were formed for each of the gasification, methanol/methanol
protein production, and utility island components of the plant, or collectively, the Yima Joint
Ventures. We obtained government approvals for the projects feasibility study during the three
months ended December 31, 2008 and for the projects environmental impact assessment during the
three months ended March 31, 2009, which were the two key approvals required to proceed with the
project. The amended joint venture contracts provide that: (i) we and Yima contribute equity of 25%
and 75%, respectively, to the Yima Joint Ventures; (ii) Yima will guarantee the repayment of loans
from third party lenders for 50% of the projects cost and, if debt financing is not available,
Yima is obligated to provide debt financing via shareholder loans to the project until the project
is able to secure third-party debt financing; and (iii) Yima will supply coal to the project from a
mine located in close proximity to the project at a preferential price subject to a definitive
agreement to be subsequently negotiated. In connection with entering into the amended contracts, we
and Yima have contributed our remaining cash equity contributions of $29.3 million and $90.8
million, respectively, to the Yima Joint Ventures during the three months ended September 30, 2009.
We will also be responsible for our share of any cost overruns on the project. During the three
months ended September 30, 2009, we incurred a charge of $0.9 million relating to consulting fees
paid in connection with the closing and funding of the Yima project.
In exchange for the capital contributions, we own a 25% interest in each joint venture and
Yima owns a 75% interest. Notwithstanding this, in connection with an expansion of the project, we
have the option to contribute a greater percentage of capital for the expansion, such that as a
result, we would have up to a 49% ownership interest in the Yima Joint Ventures. The investment in
the Yima Joint Ventures is accounted for using the equity method.
During this quarter, Yima expressed their intent to convert the existing project from methanol
production to glycol production. Yima has communicated their belief that the prospect for strong
economic performance of the plant can be improved by modifying the backend of the project to make
glycol. In addition, Yima has recently acquired a nearby coal to methanol facility and is looking
to diversify and sees glycol as a potentially more profitable alternative. We have indicated to
Yima that we would be willing to support this scope change if both parties can agree upon
appropriate modifications to the joint venture contracts that can improve our overall risk and
return without requiring any additional capital investment from us. Yimas project management team
believes that this change can be executed without delaying the original schedule for commercial
operation. We have agreed to work diligently with Yima to restructure the agreements as necessary
to achieve these goals.
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Construction activities for site preparation are currently underway and a Chinese engineering
company has been selected for the projects engineering work. The remaining construction and
commissioning of the project is expected to take approximately two years. Yima is the project
management leader for the project and has indicated their belief that the change in the scope of
the project would not delay this schedule; however, the construction of the methanol portion of the
plant is on hold pending the revisions for the possible glycol production. Based on the projects
current scope of methanol only, the current estimate of the total required capital of the project
is approximately $250 million. The remaining capital for the project is to be provided by project
debt to be obtained by the Yima Joint Ventures. Yima has agreed to guarantee the project debt and
we expect this guarantee will allow debt financing to be obtained from domestic Chinese banking
sources. We have agreed to pledge to Yima our ownership interests in the joint ventures as security
for its obligations under any project guarantee. In the event that the debt financing is not
obtained, Yima has agreed to provide a loan to the joint ventures to satisfy the remaining capital
needs of the project with terms comparable to current market rates at the time of the loan.
The Yima Joint Ventures are governed by a board of directors consisting of eight directors,
two of whom were appointed by us and six of whom were appointed by Yima. The joint ventures also
have officers that are nominated by us, Yima and/or the board of directors pursuant to the terms of
the joint venture contracts. We and Yima shall share the profits, and bear the risks and losses, of
the joint ventures in proportion to our respective ownership interests. The term of the joint
venture shall commence upon each joint venture company obtaining its business license and shall end
30 years after commercial operation of the plant.
Golden Concord Joint Venture
Our joint venture with Golden Concord, or the GC Joint Venture, was formed to (i) develop,
construct and operate a coal gasification, methanol and DME production plant utilizing
U-GAS® technology in the Xilinghote Economic and Technology Development Zone, Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, China and (ii) produce and sell methanol, DME and the various
byproducts of the plant. We have a 51% ownership interest in the GC Joint Venture and we
consolidate the results of the GC Joint Venture in our consolidated financial statements. We have
funded a total of $3.4 million of our required equity contribution and Golden Concord has
additionally funded approximately $3.1 million of its equity contribution as of June 30, 2010.
These funds were used for engineering and initial construction work for this project, land use
rights, and for its development expenses.
We are continuing to develop this project and have shifted our focus to include end products
such as SNG, glycol, olefins, methanol and DME that can be economically produced from local low
rank coal when utilizing the U-GAS® technology and which are of strategic interest to
possible partners in China, including state owned, private and publicly traded gas companies. We
have entered into a cooperation agreement with a local Chinese company who is assisting with
obtaining certain necessary government approvals and who may desire to continue the development of
the project.
GTI Agreements
License Agreement
On November 5, 2009, we entered into an Amended and Restated License Agreement, or the New
Agreement, with GTI, replacing the Amended and Restated License Agreement between us and GTI dated
August 31, 2006, as amended, or the Original Agreement. Under the New Agreement, we maintain our
exclusive worldwide right to license the U-GAS® technology for all types of coals and
coal/biomass mixtures with coal content exceeding 60%, as well as the non-exclusive right to
license the U-GAS® technology for 100% biomass and coal/biomass blends exceeding 40%
biomass. The New Agreement differs from the Old Agreement most critically by allowing us to
sublicense U-GAS® to third parties for coal, coal and biomass mixtures or 100% biomass
projects (subject to the approval of GTI, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld), with GTI to share the revenue from such third party licensing fees
based on an agreed percentage split, or the Agreed Percentage. In addition, the prior obligation to
fabricate and put into operation at least one U-GAS® system for each calendar year of
the Original Agreement in order to maintain the license has been eliminated in the New Agreement.
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In order to sublicense any U-GAS® system, we are required to comply with certain
requirements set forth in the New Agreement. In the preliminary stage of developing a potential
sublicense, we are required to provide notice and certain information regarding the potential
sublicense to GTI and GTI is required to provide notice of approval or non-approval within ten
business days of the date of the notice from us, provided that GTI is required to not unreasonably
withhold their approval. If GTI does not respond within that ten business day period, they are
deemed to have approved of the sublicense. We are required to provide updates on any potential
sublicenses once every three months during the term of the New Agreement. We are also restricted
from offering a competing gasification technology during the term of the New Agreement.
For each U-GAS® unit which we license, design, build or operate for ourself or for
a party other than a sublicensee and which uses coal or a coal and biomass mixture or biomass as
the feed stock, we must pay a royalty based upon a calculation using the MMBtu per hour of dry
syngas production of a rated design capacity, payable in installments at the beginning and at the
completion of the construction of a project, or the Standard Royalty. Although it is calculated
using a different unit of measurement, the Standard Royalty is effectively the same as the royalty
payable to GTI under the Original Agreement. If we invest, or have the option to invest, in a
specified percentage of the equity of a third party, and the royalty payable by such third party
for their sublicense exceeds the Standard Royalty, we are required to pay to GTI the Agreed
Percentage of such royalty payable by such third party. However, if the royalty payable by such
third party for their sublicense is less than the Standard Royalty, we are required to pay to GTI,
in addition to the Agreed Percentage of such royalty payable by such third party, the Agreed
Percentage of our dividends and liquidation proceeds from our equity investment in the third party.
In addition, if we receive a carried interest in a third party, and the carried interest is less
than a specified percentage of the equity of such third party, we are required to pay to GTI, in
our sole discretion, either (i) the Standard Royalty or (ii) the Agreed Percentage of the royalty
payable to such third party for their sublicense, as well as the Agreed Percentage of the carried
interest. We will be required to pay the Standard Royalty to GTI if the percentage of the equity of
a third party that we (a) invest in, (b) have an option to invest in, or (c) receive a carried
interest in, exceeds the percentage of the third party specified in the preceding sentence.
We are required to make an annual payment to GTI for each year of the term beginning with the
year ended December 31, 2010, with such annual payment due by the last day of January of the
following year; provided, however, that we are entitled to deduct all royalties paid to GTI in a
given year under the New Agreement from this amount, and if such royalties exceed the annual
payment amount in a given year, we are not required to make the annual payment. We must also
provide GTI with a copy of each contract that we enter into relating to a U-GAS® system
and report to GTI with our progress on development of the technology every six months.
For a period of ten years, we and GTI are restricted from disclosing any confidential
information (as defined in the New Agreement) to any person other than employees of affiliates or
contractors who are required to deal with such information, and such persons will be bound by the
confidentiality provisions of the New Agreement. We have further indemnified GTI and its affiliates
from any liability or loss resulting from unauthorized disclosure or use of any confidential
information that we receive.
The term of the New Agreement is the same as the Original Agreement, expiring on August 31,
2016, but may be extended for two additional ten-year periods at our option.
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Other Services
GTI also offers various technical services including but not limited to laboratory testing of
coal samples and plant design review. While we have no obligations to do so, we have requested GTI
to provide various services including: (i) developing an industry-standard process model for
performance and cost evaluations of U-GAS®, (ii) replenishing and enlarging the
intellectual property portfolio for U-GAS® technology and (iii) assisting us with
appropriate design support for gasification opportunities that would include fuel feeder, gasifier,
solids separation and solids handling systems sizing and configuration.
Outlook
We expect to continue to have negative cash flows until we can generate sufficient revenues
from our licensing and related service projects, as well as from the ZZ Joint Venture, the Yima
Joint Ventures and other projects which are under development, to cover our general and
administrative expenses and other operating costs.
We currently plan to use our available cash for (i) our general and administrative expenses;
(ii) debt service related to the ZZ Joint Venture; (iii) working capital; (iv) project, third-party
licensing and technical development expenses; and (v) general corporate purposes. The actual
allocation of and the timing of the expenditures will be dependent on various factors, including
changes in our strategic relationships, commodity prices and industry conditions, and other factors
that we cannot currently predict. In particular, since mid-2008, the global economy has experienced
a significant contraction, with an almost unprecedented lack of availability of business and
consumer credit, which has impeded, and could continue to impede, our ability to obtain financing
for our projects. Although we are seeing signs of improved economic activity, this decrease and any
future decrease in economic activity in China or in other regions of the world in which we may in
the future do business could significantly and adversely affect our results of operations and
financial condition in a number of other ways. In addition, the market for commodities such as
methanol has been under significant pressure and we are unsure of how much longer this pressure
will continue. As a direct result of these trends, our ability to finance and develop our existing
projects, commence any new projects and sell our products could be adversely impacted.
We are pursuing possible U-GAS® licensing opportunities with third parties allowing
us to build on our experience at the ZZ Joint Venture and our technology and engineering
capability. In April 2010, we executed our first third party technology licensing agreement. Under
this agreement, we are providing U-GAS® technology for a commercial scale biomass to
biofuels project in the U.S. In addition we and the licensee entered into a separate multi-site
agreement whereby the licensee has the option to license our biomass gasification technology for
five additional commercial scale biomass to biofuels projects within North America. As part of the
license agreement, we are providing the biomass gasification process design package, and may
provide some key proprietary gasification system equipment components and technical services. We
intend to place increased focus on development of licensing opportunities for our proprietary
U-GAS® technology on a global basis with a focus on India, China, Turkey, the U.S.,
Australia and Vietnam, as well as other parts of Europe and Asia, due to their large low rank coal
resources. We have recently signed an agreement with an Australian company that is in the process
of shipping coal to our Zao Zhuang facility for testing.
Our strategy is to create value by providing technology and equipment in regions where low
rank coals and biomass feedstocks can be profitably converted into high value products through our
proprietary U-GAS® fluidized bed gasification technology. We do this through providing a
proprietary technology package whereby we license U-GAS® technology rights to third
parties, deliver an engineered technology transfer package and provide proprietary equipment
components to customers who plan to own and operate projects. In the U.S., we believe there may be
a significant near-term opportunity for us to leverage the capability of U-GAS® to
efficiently gasify biomass to make renewable fuels. Todays regulatory environment in the U.S. is
favorable for these types of projects because increased environmental concerns are creating a
market demand for renewable fuels and companies are under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon
footprint. We anticipate that we can generate revenues through engineering and technical service
fees, as well as licensing fees and royalties on products sold by our licensees that incorporate
our proprietary technology without incurring the significant capital costs required to develop a
plant. We also believe that our licensing activities will provide additional insight into project
development activities, which may allow us to make selective equity investments in such projects in
the future and also the development of integrated, modular product offerings.
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We may (i) integrate our U-GAS® technology package with downstream technologies to
provide a fully integrated offering where we may invest in projects either directly or through an
investment partner, (ii) partner with engineering, equipment and technology companies to provide
our U-GAS® technology package into an integrated modular product offering, (iii) provide
technology to enable coal resources to be integrated together with our U-GAS® technology
where the coal resources may be of little value without our U-GAS® conversion
technology, or (iv) acquire or partner with owners of these coal resources to create more value and
opportunity for us through the integration of our technology with the coal resource. We understand
the need to partner in certain markets, and plan to do so with companies that we believe can help
us accelerate our business. Our partnering approach in some cases is country specific and in some
cases is industry or segment specific. Additionally, where capital and/or financing is available,
we may acquire an interest in such resources, including existing facilities or coal mines, where we
could create value with our U-GAS® technology through securing greater access to
feedstock.
We are actively pursuing project partners to invest in our projects development, including a
different project scope and end product for the GC Joint Venture and the YIMA Joint Ventures and
for the possible expansion of the ZZ Joint Venture plant. Our Yima project is under construction
and Yima is the project management leader for the project. During this quarter, Yima indicated
their intent to convert the existing project from methanol production to glycol production. Yima
has expressed their belief that the prospect for strong economic performance of the plant can be
improved by modifying the backend of the project to make glycol. In addition, Yima has recently
acquired a nearby coal to methanol facility and is looking to diversify and sees glycol as a
potentially more profitable alternative. We have indicated to Yima that we would be willing to
support this scope change if both parties can agree upon appropriate modifications to the joint
venture contracts that can improve our overall risk and return without requiring any additional
capital investment from us. Yimas project management team believes that this change can be
executed without delaying the original schedule for commercial operation; however, the construction
of the methanol portion of the plant is on hold pending the revisions for the possible glycol
production. We have agreed to work diligently with Yima to restructure the agreements as necessary
to achieve these goals.
We believe that improving the financial performance and reducing the operating costs of the ZZ
Joint Venture plant are critical to improving our financial performance and we believe one method
to achieve this improvement is through the expansion of the plant to produce products such as
glycol. To date, Hai Hua has been unable to offtake the volume of syngas originally expected for
the original plant design and the plant has incurred operating losses. We do not foresee this
situation changing significantly in the near term. In an effort to improve the return on our
investment in this plant, we are evaluating alternative products and partnership structures for a
possible expansion of the ZZ Joint Venture plant to produce products such as glycol. We do not
expect any additional equity for an expansion would be required from us as we continue to expect to
contribute our 95.5% equity interest toward the expansion with third parties contributing all the
additional required equity to expand the plant. We are in discussions with a provincial level coal
company that has also expressed an interest in becoming our partner on this expansion. Earlier
work to structure a partnership with a local Zao Zhuang coal mining company has not progressed due
to investment constraints with that company. In February 2010, we received the necessary government
approval for the expansion. This approval, along with the previously received environmental
approvals, are the key approvals required for us to commence execution of the expansion and also
describe certain terms of the expansion project, including but not limiting to, its use of land,
the main additional facilities required and the use of the existing facilities. The scope of the
expansion is still under evaluation. In addition, our successful commercial-scale demonstration at the Zao Zhuang plant using lignite coal from the Inner Mongolia region of
China was a significant milestone for us and our U-GAS® technology as it demonstrated
our ability to efficiently process lignite coal. As a result of the lignite demonstration, we have
seen a large increase in visits to our Zao Zhuang plant from potential customers and partners. We
intend to continue to leverage our success to date at the ZZ Joint Venture in our ongoing business
development efforts, including through further visits from senior executives of possible customers
and partners, as well as government officials, from China, India, Australia, Vietnam and the United
States.
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We believe that there is currently a shift in the coal gasification business toward the use of
low quality, and therefore low cost, coals for coal to energy and chemicals projects and we believe
that China is a good example of this new direction in coal gasification. In China, coal prices for
high quality coals has risen dramatically over the past few years and the high coal prices have a
very negative impact on the margins of its coal gasification projects. Today, China is moving
toward even larger coal based projects to fuel the countrys energy needs, which includes several
large scale coal to methane or SNG projects, as compared to previous coal-to-chemical projects that
have been build in China. Due to the current encouragement from the Chinese government for these
projects, we believe there is potential in China for several of these projects, some of which are
in various stages of planning. In addition, we believe many of these projects will be located in
regions where very low cost lignite coals can be made available and are necessary to reduce the
production cost of SNG and should make these projects more profitable. As we have found with the
tests at our Zao Zhuang plant, our technology has the unique ability to be efficiently process this
lignite and thus we believe it is very desirable for these projects. As evidence of this, we are in
discussions regarding several projects in Inner Mongolia where the provincial government is making
coal resources available to the project owners which adds protection for the project from future
coal cost increases, as well as potentially increasing project revenues. In these types of
projects, we believe that we have the opportunity to create more value from the U-GAS technology
than licensing alone could bring us.
We will limit the development of any further projects until worldwide capital and debt markets
improve and we have assurances that acceptable financing is available to complete the project.
However, we will pursue the development of selective projects with strong and credible partners or
off-takers where we believe equity and debt can be raised or where we believe we can attract a
financial partner to participate in the project. As of September 30, 2010, we had $37.7 million in
cash and cash equivalents and $34.2 million of working capital available to us. During the three
months ended September 30, 2010, cash flows used in operating activities were $3.8 million.
Additionally, we made the scheduled semi-annual principal payment of $1.1 million on the ICBC loan
during the three months ended September 30, 2010. We may need to raise additional capital through
equity and debt financing for any new projects that are developed, to support our existing projects
and possible expansions thereof and for our corporate general and administrative expenses. We
cannot provide any assurance that any financing will be available to us in the future on acceptable
terms or at all. Any such financing could be dilutive to our existing stockholders. If we cannot
raise required funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to, among other things, (i) maintain
our general and administrative expenses at current levels; (ii) successfully develop our licensing
and related service business; (iii) negotiate and enter into new gasification plant development
contracts and licensing agreements; (iv) expand our operations; (v) hire and train new employees;
or (vi) respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated capital requirements.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires our management
to make certain estimates and assumptions which are inherently imprecise and may differ
significantly from actual results achieved. We believe the following are our critical accounting
policies due to the significance, subjectivity and judgment involved in determining our estimates
used in preparing our consolidated financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions
used in preparing our consolidated financial statements on an ongoing basis utilizing historic
experience, anticipated future events or trends and on various other assumptions that are believed
to be reasonable under the circumstances. The resulting effects of changes in our estimates are recorded in our consolidated financial statements in the period
in which the facts and circumstances that give rise to the change in estimate become known.
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We believe the following describes significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation
of our consolidated financial statements:
Revenue Recognition
Revenue from sales of products, which includes the capacity fee and energy fee earned at the
ZZ Joint Venture plant, and byproducts are recognized when the following elements are satisfied:
(i) there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance; (ii) there is persuasive evidence
that an agreement exists; (iii) delivery has occurred; (iv) the sales price is fixed or
determinable; and (v) collectability is reasonably assured.
Technology licensing revenue is typically received and earned over the course of a projects
development. We may receive upfront licensing fee payments in addition to fees for engineering
services that are integral to the initial transfer of our technology to a customers project.
Typically, the majority of a license fee is received once project financing and equipment
installation occur. Recognition of upfront licensing fee payments is deferred and recognized as a
percentage of completion of the engineering services associated with the initial technology
transfer. Further, such revenues are deferred until performance guarantee terms under the licensing
agreement are met. We recognize revenue from engineering services under the
percentage-of-completion method.
Impairment Evaluation of Long-Lived Assets
We evaluate our long-lived assets, such as property, plant and equipment,
construction-in-progress, equity method investments and specifically identified intangibles, when
events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of such assets may not be
recoverable. When we believe an impairment condition may have occurred, we are required to estimate
the undiscounted future cash flows associated with a long-lived asset or group of long-lived assets
at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of
other assets and liabilities for long-lived assets that are expected to be held and used. We
evaluate our operating plants as a whole. Production equipment at each plant is not evaluated for
impairment separately, as it is integral to the assumed future operations of the plant. All
construction and development projects are reviewed for impairment whenever there is an indication
of potential reduction in fair value. If it is determined that it is no longer probable that the
projects will be completed and all capitalized costs recovered through future operations, the
carrying values of the projects would be written down to the recoverable value. If we determine
that the undiscounted cash flows from an asset to be held and used are less than the carrying
amount of the asset, or if we have classified an asset as held for sale, we estimate fair value to
determine the amount of any impairment charge.
The following summarizes some of the most significant estimates and assumptions used in
evaluating if we have an impairment charge.
Undiscounted Expected Future Cash Flows. In order to estimate future cash flows, we
consider historical cash flows and changes in the market environment and other factors that may
affect future cash flows. To the extent applicable, the assumptions we use are consistent with
forecasts that we are otherwise required to make (for example, in preparing our other earnings
forecasts). The use of this method involves inherent uncertainty. We use our best estimates in
making these evaluations and consider various factors, including forward price curves for energy,
fuel costs, and operating costs. However, actual future market prices and project costs could vary
from the assumptions used in our estimates, and the impact of such variations could be material.
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Fair Value. Generally, fair value will be determined using valuation techniques such
as the present value of expected future cash flows. We will also discount the estimated future cash
flows associated with the asset using a single interest rate representative of the risk involved
with such an investment. We may also consider prices of similar assets, consult with brokers, or
employ other valuation techniques. We use our best estimates in making these evaluations; however,
actual future market prices and project costs could vary from the assumptions used in our
estimates, and the impact of such variations could be material.
The evaluation and measurement of impairments for equity method investments such as our equity
investment in the Yima Joint Ventures involve the same uncertainties as described for long-lived
assets that we own directly. Similarly, our estimates that we make with respect to our equity and
cost-method investments are subjective, and the impact of variations in these estimates could be
material.
ZZ Joint Venture Plant Impairment Analysis
The ZZ Joint Venture plant has operated at limited capacity and is expected to continue
operating at reduced capacity due to the depressed methanol market. The reduced capacity at the ZZ
Joint Venture plant has contributed to the plants operating losses. In addition to funding these
operating losses, we are funding the debt service for the ZZ Joint Venture. We are in the process
of implementing operational measures, pursuing additional customers and evaluating strategies to
reduce the ZZ Joint Ventures losses and improve its financial performance including the possible
expansion of the plant to produce other products. If an expansion of the ZZ Joint Venture plant
were to be developed, we would expect to contribute our interest in the ZZ Joint Venture to the
project without significant additional cash investment by us. If we are not successful in improving
the ZZ Joint Ventures profitability, or if managements estimated cash flow projections for these
assets decrease, or if Hai Hua does not make its required payments, the plants assets could be
impaired. As of September 30, 2010, we have determined that these assets were not impaired.
Accounting for Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) and Financial Statement Consolidation
Criteria
The joint ventures which we enter into may be considered VIEs. We consolidate all VIEs where
we are the primary beneficiary. This determination is made at the inception of our involvement with
the VIE. We consider both qualitative and quantitative factors and form a conclusion that we, or
another interest holder, absorb a majority of the entitys risk for expected losses, receive a
majority of the entitys potential for expected residual returns, or both. We do not consolidate
VIEs where we are not the primary beneficiary. We account for these unconsolidated VIEs under the
equity method of accounting and include our net investment in investments on our consolidated
balance sheets. Our equity interest in the net income or loss from our unconsolidated VIEs is
recorded in non-operating (income) expense on a net basis on our consolidated statement of
operations.
We have determined that the ZZ Joint Venture is a VIE and we have determined that we are the
primary beneficiary. In making that determination, we considered, among other items, the change in
profit distribution between us and Hai Hua after 20 years. The expected negative variability in the
fair value of the ZZ Joint Ventures net assets was considered to be greater during the first 20
years of the ZZ Joint Ventures life, which coincides with our original 95% profit/loss allocation,
versus the latter 30 years in which our profit/loss allocation is reduced to 10%. In addition, we
considered whether the terms of the syngas purchase and sale agreement with Hai Hua contained a
lease. The factors considered included (i) our ability to operate and control the plant during the
initial 20 years; and (ii) whether it was more than remote that one or more parties other than Hai
Hua would purchase more than a minor amount (considered to be 10%) of the plants output during the
term of the syngas purchase and sale agreement. Because we determined that the syngas purchase and
sale agreement did not contain a lease, we account for the revenues from this agreement in
accordance with our revenue recognition policy for product sales.
We have determined that the Yima Joint Ventures are VIEs and that Yima is the primary
beneficiary since Yima has a 75% ownership interest in the Yima Joint Ventures.
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We have determined that the GC Joint Venture is a VIE and has determined that we are the
primary beneficiary since we have a 51% ownership interest in the GC Joint Venture and since there
are no qualitative factors that would preclude us from being deemed the primary beneficiary.
Item 3. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk |
Qualitative disclosure about market risk.
We are exposed to certain qualitative market risks as part of our ongoing business operations,
including risks from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices that could
impact our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. We manage our exposure to
these risks through regular operating and financing activities, and may, in the future, use
derivative financial instruments to manage this risk. We have not entered into any derivative
financial instruments to date.
Foreign currency risk
We conduct operations in China and the functional currency in China is the Renminbi Yuan. Our
financial statements are expressed in U.S. dollars and will be negatively affected if foreign
currencies, such as the Renminbi Yuan, depreciate relative to the U.S. dollar. In addition, our
currency exchange losses may be magnified by exchange control regulations in China or other
countries that restrict our ability to convert into U.S. dollars.
Commodity price risk
Our business plan is to purchase coal and other consumables from suppliers and to sell
commodities, such as syngas, methanol and other products. Coal is the largest component of our
costs of product sales and in order to mitigate coal price fluctuation risk for future projects, we
expect to enter into long-term contracts for coal supply or to acquire coal assets. For the sale of
commodities from our projects, fixed price contracts will not be available to us in certain
markets, such as China, which will require us to purchase some portion of our coal and other
consumable needs, or sell some portion of our production, into spot commodity markets or under
short term supply agreements. Hedging transactions may be available to reduce our exposure to these
commodity price risks, but availability may be limited and we may not be able to successfully hedge
this exposure at all. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transations.
Interest rate risk
We are exposed to interest rate risk through our loan with ICBC. Interest under this loan is
adjusted annually based upon the standard rate announced each year by the Peoples Bank of China.
As of September 30, 2010, the applicable interest rate was 5.94%. We could also be exposed to the
risk of rising interest rates through our future borrowing activities. This is an inherent risk as
borrowings mature and are renewed at then current market rates. The extent of this risk as to our
ICBC loan, or any future borrowings, is not quantifiable or predictable because of the variability
of future interest rates.
Customer credit risk
When our projects progress to commercial production, we will be exposed to the risk of
financial non-performance by customers. To manage customer credit risk, we intend to monitor credit
ratings of customers and seek to minimize exposure to any one customer where other customers are
readily available. As of September 30, 2010, Hai Hua, a related party, is our only customer for
syngas sales and as such, we are exposed to significant customer credit risk due to this
concentration. Our revenue and results of operations would be adversely affected if we are unable
to retain Hai Hua as a customer and secure new customers.
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Item 4. | Controls and Procedures |
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to
be disclosed in our annual and periodic reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported
within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commissions rules and forms. In
addition, we designed these disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that this information is
accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Accounting Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors or fraud.
A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not
absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of
disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and
the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent
limitation in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud could occur and
not be detected.
Our management, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Accounting
Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30,
2010 pursuant to Rule 13a-15 (b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the
Exchange Act. Based upon this evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Accounting Officer
concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of September 30, 2010
due to a previously disclosed material weakness in our internal accounting controls. Specifically,
our internal control over financial reporting was not effective at ensuring that financial
reporting risks arising from complex and non-routine transactions were identified timely and that
appropriate accounting policies for such transactions were selected and applied. This material
weakness has resulted in adjustments to our interim preliminary consolidated financial statements
that were not identified by us. These errors were not prevented or detected by our internal control
over financial reporting which could have resulted in a material misstatement of our interim or
year-end consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
During our fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, we designed and implemented enhanced procedures to
address this material weakness which included 1) the hiring of a full-time Chief Accounting Officer
with appropriate U.S. GAAP and public company financial reporting experience, 2) ensuring that
relevant personnel involved in the accounting for complex and non-routine transactions fully
understand and apply the proper accounting for such transactions, and 3) engaging external
accounting resources, when necessary, to augment our consideration and resolution of accounting
matters especially those involving complex and non-routine transactions. However, we will not
consider this material weakness fully remediated until we can evidence effectiveness of these
procedures for a sufficient period of time.
There have been no changes in internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
the last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially
affect, internal control over financial reporting.
PART II
Item 1. | Legal Proceedings. |
In September 2008, we were named as one of a number of defendants in a lawsuit filed in the
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division, by Igor Olenicoff,
one of our former stockholders, and a company he controls. Also named were Timothy E. Vail (our
former CEO and one of our directors), David Eichinger (our former CFO), and another one of our
directors (collectively, we, Mr. Vail, Mr. Eichinger and the director are referred to as the SES
Defendants), as well as UBS AG, Union Charter Ltd., and other persons who allegedly managed Mr.
Olenicoffs investments outside the U.S. The SES Defendants have been named in this lawsuit based
primarily upon allegations that one of our former stockholders, Teflomi Trade & Trust, Inc., was a
shell company formed for the purposes of holding Mr. Olenicoffs assets overseas, and that the SES
Defendants allegedly had knowledge of
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this arrangement. The claims initially asserted against the SES Defendants included, among others, securities fraud
in violation of Rule 10b-5 under the Securities Act and the California state law equivalent,
violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, common law fraud and
negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy and unfair business practices. On
the SES Defendants motion, on July 31, 2009, the court issued an order dismissing the securities
fraud claims as to each of the SES Defendants and the common law fraud, negligent misrepresentation
claim and breach of fiduciary duty claims as to us, Mr. Vail and Mr. Eichinger. The court
determined that certain other claims, including RICO, conspiracy and unfair business practices,
were sufficiently pled and could proceed at this stage. Plaintiffs were given leave to amend and,
on August 24, 2009, filed an amended complaint attempting to replead their securities fraud claims,
and alleged a new claim for violation of the Uniform Commercial Code, or the UCC. In response, on
September 23, 2009, the SES Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the securities fraud and UCC
claims. The court heard oral argument on the SES Defendants motion to dismiss, and on various
other defendants motions to dismiss, on November 9, 2009. On March 16, 2010, the court issued an
order on the pending motions to dismiss, dismissing the securities fraud and UCC claims as to each
of the SES Defendants. Thus, the claims that remain as to the SES Defendants collectively include
violations of RICO, RICO conspiracy, unfair business practices, conversion and civil conspiracy;
the claims that remain as to the individually named director include fraudulent misrepresentation,
constructive fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty. The SES Defendants
filed their answer to these claims on April 22, 2010. With the pleadings now resolved, the case is
moving forward with respect to those claims the court has allowed to remain in the case. The court
has set a trial date of February 7, 2012. The SES Defendants believe the claims alleged against
them to be without merit and intend to continue to vigorously defend all claims which are allowed
to proceed in the court.
Item 1A. | Risk Factors. |
Our common stock may be subject to delisting from the NASDAQ Stock Market.
On October 28, 2010, we a notification indicating that the minimum bid price of our common
stock is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the
NASDAQ Stock Market (the NASDAQ). We have a grace period until April 26, 2011 in which to regain
compliance with the minimum bid price rule. To regain compliance, the closing bid price of our
common stock must meet or exceed $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days
during this grace period. If we do not regain compliance before April 26, 2011, the NASDAQ stated
that it will provide us with written notice that our securities are subject to delisting, although
we may be able to appeal this decision. We actively monitor the price of our common stock and will
consider all available options to regain compliance with the continued listing standards of the
NASDAQ.
Item 2. | Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds. |
None.
Item 3. | Defaults Upon Senior Securities. |
None.
Item 4. | [Removed and Reserved.] |
Item 5. | Other Information. |
None.
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Forward-Looking Statements.
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those projected. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are our
early stage of development, our estimate of the sufficiency of existing capital sources, our
ability to successfully develop our licensing business, our ability to raise additional capital to
fund cash requirements for future investments and operations, our ability to reduce operating
costs, the limited history and viability of our technology, the effect of the current international
financial crisis on our business, commodity prices and the availability and terms of financing
opportunities, our results of operations in foreign countries and our ability to diversify, our
ability to maintain production from our first plant in the ZZ Joint Venture, our ability to
complete the expansion of the Zao Zhuang project, our ability to obtain the necessary approvals and
permits for our Yima project and other future projects, our estimated timetables for achieving
mechanical completion and commencing commercial operations for the Yima project, our ability to
negotiate the terms of the conversion of the Yima project from methanol to glycol and the
sufficiency of internal controls and procedures. Although we believe that in making such
forward-looking statements our expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements
may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially
different from those projected. We cannot assure you that the assumptions upon which these
statements are based will prove to have been correct.
When used in this Form 10-Q, the words expect, anticipate, intend, plan, believe,
seek, estimate and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Because these
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements for a number of important
reasons, including those discussed under Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended June 30, 2010, as well as in Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations, and elsewhere in this Form 10-Q.
You should read these statements carefully because they discuss our expectations about our
future performance, contain projections of our future operating results or our future financial
condition, or state other forward-looking information. You should be aware that the occurrence of
certain of the events described in this Form 10-Q could substantially harm our business, results of
operations and financial condition and that upon the occurrence of any of these events, the trading
price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any of the forward-looking
statements in this Form 10-Q after the date hereof.
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Item 6. | Exhibits |
Number | Description of Exhibits | |||
10.1 | Letter Agreement between the Company and Don Bunnell dated
October 15, 2010 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to
the Companys Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 15,
2010). |
|||
31.1 | * | Certification of Chief Executive Officer of Synthesis Energy
Systems, Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. |
||
31.2 | * | Certification of Chief Financial Officer of Synthesis Energy
Systems, Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. |
||
32.1 | * | Certification of Chief Executive Officer of Synthesis Energy
Systems, Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 1350
of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code. |
||
32.2 | * | Certification of Chief Financial Officer of Synthesis Energy
Systems, Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) promulgated under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 1350
of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code. |
* | Filed herewith. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto
duly authorized.
SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC. |
||||
Date: November 12, 2010 | By: | /s/ Robert Rigdon | ||
Robert Rigdon | ||||
President and Chief Executive Officer | ||||
Date: November 12, 2010 | By: | /s/ Kevin Kelly | ||
Kevin Kelly | ||||
Chief Accounting Officer, Controller and Secretary |
37