Cleantech Solutions International Reports Second Quarter 2012 Results

WUXI, China, August 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Cleantech Solutions International, Inc. ("Cleantech Solutions" or "the Company") (NASDAQ: CLNT), a manufacturer of metal components and assemblies, primarily used in the wind power, solar, dyeing and finishing equipment and other clean technology industries, today announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.

"During the second quarter of 2012, we experienced growing market demand for our dyeing equipment, forger rolled ring products, and solar components as compared to the first quarter of 2012. Our revenue growth compared to the first quarter of 2012 reflected an overall modest increase in market demand," commented Mr. Jianhua Wu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cleantech Solutions. "In recent years, the exponential growth of China's wind power industry resulted in this segment accounting for a significant percentage of our total revenue. However, over the past several quarters, we have started to diversify our revenue base with great success and hope to continue to modify our product portfolio to cater to other heavy equipment industries, the solar industry, LED lighting industry and other clean technology industries," added Mr. Wu.

Second Quarter 2012 Results

Revenue for the second quarter of 2012 increased 1.8% to $12.8 million, compared to $12.6 million for the same period of 2011. Sequentially, revenue increased 36.4% compared to the first quarter of 2012.

Revenue from the sale of forged rolled rings to the wind power industry and other industries decreased 5.7% to $8.2 million, or 64.0% of net revenue, compared to $8.7 million, or 69.1% of net revenue, in the same period last year. The decrease in revenue was mainly due to decline in market demand for capital equipment related to wind power industry, which was partly offset by an increase in revenue from the Company's forged rolled rings and related products for other industries.

The increase in revenue is summarized as follows:

• Revenue from the sale of forged rolled rings exclusively to the wind power industry fell 25.7% to $4.6 million, representing 36.2% of net revenue, compared to $6.2 million, or 49.5% of net revenue, in the comparable period last year.
• Revenue from the sale of forged rolled rings to other industries increased 44.9% to $3.6 million, or 27.8% of net revenue, compared with $2.5 million, or 19.5% of net revenue for the comparable period of the prior year.

Revenue from the Company's dyeing and finishing equipment segment increased 18.5% to $4.6 million, or 36.0% of net revenues, compared to $3.9 million, or 30.9% of net revenue, for the second quarter of 2011. We believe that this increase was largely attributable to the dyeing industry's response to local government's policies which encourage the purchase of low-emission airflow dyeing machines.

Gross profit for the second quarter of 2012 decreased 11.7% to $2.7 million, compared to $3.1 million for the same period in 2011. Gross margin decreased to 21.0% during the second quarter of 2012 compared to 24.2% for the same period a year ago. The decline in gross margin was mainly attributable to the forged rolled rings and related products segment, and was primarily due to lower operational and cost efficiencies, including the allocation of fixed costs such as depreciation to cost of revenues as the Company operated at lower production levels. Gross margin for the dyeing and finishing equipment segment declined slightly due to increase in labor cost

Operating expenses decreased 17.8% to $1.1 million, compared to $1.4 million in the comparable period last year. The decrease was primarily due to decrease in fees paid for professional services, reduced bad debt expenses, decrease in payroll and benefits paid, and decrease in shipping expenses as the Company did not incur any shipping expenses in relation to its products sold to the solar industry.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2012 decreased 26.9% to $0.8 million, as compared to $1.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011.

Operating income decreased 6.7% to $1.6 million, compared to $1.7 million for the same period of 2011. Operating margin was 12.2% compared to 13.3% in the second quarter last year.

Other expense was $62,000 compared to other income of $34,000 for the same period in 2011. The increase was due to an increase in interest expense as a result of increase in debt and capital lease obligations.

Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measurement, which excludes interest, taxes, warrant modification expense, depreciation and amortization, was up 1.5% to $3.15 million, compared to $3.10 million in the same quarter last year.

Net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $1.1 million, or $0.40 diluted earnings per share, compared to $1.2 million, or $0.47 diluted earnings per share, in the second quarter of 2011. Diluted earnings per share were calculated using diluted weighted average shares of 2,660,983 and 2,509,757 for the three months ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011, respectively. All share and per share information has been adjusted to reflect a one-for-ten reverse stock split effective March 6, 2012.

Results for Six Months

For the six months ended June 30, 2012, revenues decreased 26.3% to $22.2 million from $30.2 million in 2011. Gross profit decreased 39.8% to $4.6 million, compared to $7.6 million last year. Gross margin for the six months ended June 30, 2012 was 20.6%, compared to 25.2% in the corresponding period of 2011. Operating income decreased 54.7% to $2.4 million from $5.3 million in 2011. Adjusted EBITDA was $5.6 million, compared to $7.9 million in the same period last year. Net income was $1.4 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, a 64.2% decrease from $3.8 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, in the year ago period. Non-GAAP net income, which excluded the one-time non-cash warrant modification expense of $235,133, was $1.6 million, or $0.62 of diluted earnings per share, compared to $3.8 million, or $1.51 of diluted earnings per share, in the comparable period last year. All share and per share information has been adjusted to reflect a one-for-ten reverse stock split effective March 6, 2012.

Financial Condition

As of June 30, 2012, Cleantech Solutions held cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 million compared with $1.2 million at December 31, 2011. Accounts receivable were $8.0 million and total current assets of $18.0 million. The Company had $2.7 million in short-term bank loans payable and $0.2 million of current capital lease obligations and stockholders' equity was $74.2 million. In the first six months of 2012, the Company generated $3.0 million in cash flow from operations.

Subsequent Events

On July 9, 2012 the Company announced that it has received follow-on purchase orders to supply 20 units of solar components to its international customer and has received maintenance orders from its Chinese domestic customer, for an aggregate amount of $0.78 million.

On July 19-20, 2012 the Company held its adjourned annual meeting of stockholders, where stockholders elected Jianhua Wu, Fu Ren Chen, Xi Lui, Bao Wen Wang and Tianziang Zhou to the board of directors of the Company to serve until the next annual meeting and until their successors are elected and qualified and approved the Company's conversion from a Delaware corporation to a Nevada corporation.

On August 8, 2012 the Company announced that it has received a new purchase order to supply 21 units of airflow dyeing machines and related components to a domestic customer for a purchase price of RMB11.6 million (approximately $1.8 million).

Business Outlook

"Due to challenges faced by the wind power industry, we foresee the demand for our products supplied to the wind power industry to remain soft in the near term. Despite these challenges, we continue to hold a positive outlook in the longer term. However, during this period our strategy is to focus our resources towards other heavy equipment industries to help diversify our revenue and customer base. We have seen a modest but steady growth in demand for our products sold to the solar industry and will continue to work with our customers to expand our product offering and benefit from the longer term growth of this sector.

"Additionally, demand for our new energy-efficient air flow dyeing machines is gaining momentum due to the industry's response to the policies offered by the local government in Jiangsu province, where China's textile industry is concentrated. We are seeing strong order growth from this segment as the PRC government is encouraging textile manufacturers to replace obsolete machinery with low-emission and environmental friendly dyeing machines," Mr. Wu concluded.

Conference Call

Cleantech Solutions will conduct a conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 to discuss financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2012.

To participate in the live conference call, please dial the following number five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time: (866) 759-2078. International callers should dial (706) 643-0585. When prompted, please enter conference passcode: 19727529.

If you are unable to participate in the conference call at this time, a replay will be available for 14 days starting on August 15, 2012 at 12:00 noon ET. To access the replay, dial (855) 859-2056. International callers dial (404) 537-3406, and enter passcode: 19727529.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has included in this press release certain non-GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the performance of the Company and when planning and forecasting future periods. Readers are cautioned not to view non-GAAP financial measures on a stand-alone basis or as a substitute for GAAP measures, or as being comparable to results reported or forecasted by other companies, and should refer to the reconciliation of GAAP measures with non-GAAP measures also included herein.

About Cleantech Solutions International

Cleantech Solutions is a manufacturer of metal components and assemblies, primarily used in clean technology industries. The Company supplies forging products, fabricated products and machining services to a range of clean technology customers, primarily in the wind power sector and supplies dyeing and finishing equipment to the textile industry. Cleantech Solutions is committed to achieving long-term growth through ongoing technological improvement, capacity expansion, and the development of a strong customer base. The Company's website is

www.cleantechsolutionsinternational.com. Any information on the Company's website or any other website is not a part of this press release.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of the Company and its subsidiary and affiliated companies. These forward looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website, including factors described in "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors other than as required under the securities laws. The Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Company Contact:

Mr. Ryan Hua
Vice President of Operations
Cleantech Solutions International, Inc.
Email: ryanhua@cleantechsolutionsinternational.com
Web: www.cleantechsolutionsinternational.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Ms. Elaine Ketchmere
CCG Investor Relations
Tel: +1-310-954-1345
Email: elaine.ketchmere@ccgir.com
Web: www.ccgirasia.com

- Financial Tables Follow-