STERLING, VA--(Marketwire - Mar 28, 2013) - Sutron Corporation (NASDAQ: [ STRN ]) 

• 2012 Record Net Revenue of $25.2M, Up 25% From Prior Year
• Q4 Net Revenue of $7.6M, Up 26% From Prior Year's Quarter
• 2012 Net Income of $1.1M, Down 25% From Prior Year
• Q4 Net Income of $176,787, Down 75% From Prior Year's Quarter
• 2012 Free Cash Flow of $1.45M, Up From ($221,000) In Prior Year
• 2012 Record Bookings of $29M Exceed Total Prior Year Bookings by 60%
• December 31, 2012 Backlog of $13.4M, Up 39% From Prior Year-End

Sutron Corporation (NASDAQ: [ STRN ]), a leading provider of hydrological, meteorological, oceanic and aviation monitoring products, systems, software and services, announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012.

Raul McQuivey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our vision and long term priorities are revenue growth, steady improvement in operating margins and net income and maintaining a strong balance sheet. In the fourth quarter, revenue grew to $7.6 million, up 26% from the prior year quarter, contributing to record full year revenue of $25.2M in 2012; over $9 million of bookings were recorded that brought the total for 2012 to $29 million, exceeding total bookings for the prior full year by 60%, and our cash position increased to $8.4 million from $7.4 million at the end of the third quarter. Due to an increase of approximately $186,000 in bad debt expenses, a write-off of approximately $130,000 of slow moving inventory, a change in the mix of products and systems sold, as well as significant research and development expenses in our MeteoStar Division, net income was down from the prior year quarter."

"We are encouraged not only by our strong bookings during a period of global economic uncertainty but also by our backlog of $13.4M that we take into fiscal year 2013. We believe that our acquisition of MeteoStar, and our recent acquisition of Sabio Instruments, will help position us as stronger competitors in our targeted markets as they enable us to provide unique 'end to end solutions' to an expanded customer base. We also anticipate our ability to cross-market our products with MeteoStar and Sabio to be a significant area of growth. With our broadened portfolio of products, systems and software we continue to be encouraged regarding our opportunities -- both domestically and internationally. Even with our acquisitions, our business remains highly project driven. We expect continued fluctuations in bookings and revenue due to governmental approval of competitively bid contracts and funding processes."

Consolidated Results

Continuing Sutron operations are presented below:

Quarter Ended December 31, 2012

Net Revenue was $7.6 million, an increase of 26% from $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. The primary driver of the revenue increase was the revenue generated from the MeteoStar Division ($1.6 million).

Gross Profit was $2.9 million, or 37% of net revenue, as compared to $2.4 million, or 39% of net revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2011. A decrease in our Hydromet standard products sales as well as a $130,000 write-off of obsolete inventory resulted in lower margins that were partially offset by higher margin MeteoStar sales.

Operating Expenses were $2.9 million, or 37% of net revenue, as compared to $1.4 million, or 24% of net revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase was primarily due to $1 million in operating costs incurred by the MeteoStar Division, primarily for research and development, in the fourth quarter of 2012 and an increase of approximately $186,000 in bad debt expenses.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") was approximately $188,000 as compared to EBITDA of approximately $976,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The decrease in EBITDA is primarily attributable to the increase in operating expenses.

Net Income was $176,787, or $.04 per basic and diluted common share, compared to net income of $699,469, or $.15 per basic and $.14 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2011. The number of shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per common share in the fourth quarter of 2012 were 5 and 5.1 million, respectively, compared to 4.7 and 5 million, respectively, for basic and diluted earnings per common share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Year Ended December 31, 2012

Net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $25.2M, an increase of 25% from $20.2 in 2011. Organic growth was $1.7M, or 8% of revenues, while MeteoStar generated $3.3M of revenues for the approximately seven months since it was acquired.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $10M, or 40% of net revenue, as compared to $7.9M, or 39% of net revenue, in 2011. 

Operating expenses were $8.7M, or 34% of net revenue, as compared to $5.8M, or 29% of net revenue, in 2011. The increase was primarily due to MeteoStar operating costs of $2.2M, increased legal and professional fees of approximately $235,000 primarily relating to our acquisitions and increased bad debt expenses of approximately $186,000.

EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2012 was approximately $1.75M, or 7% of net revenues, as compared to EBITDA of approximately $2.4M, or 12% of net revenues, in 2011. 

Net Income was $1,142,800, or $.24 per basic and $.23 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $1,520,674, or $.33 per basic and $.31 per diluted common share, in 2011. The number of shares outstanding used to calculate basic and diluted earnings per common share in 2012 were 4.8 and 4.9 million, respectively, compared to 4.6 and 4.9 million, respectively, for basic and diluted earnings per common share in 2011.

Balance Sheet, Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sutron ended 2012 with $8.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $7.4 million at September 30, 2012. Cash generated by operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $687,350 as compared to cash generated by operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2011 of $381,229. For the year ended December 31, 2012, cash generated by operating activities was $1,506,365 as compared to cash used by operating activities of $136,355 in 2011.

Capital expenditures were $84,772 in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to $9,410 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase is primarily due to the purchase of additional equipment. For the year ended December 31, 2012, capital expenditures were $179,131 as compared to $85,650 in 2011.

Free Cash Flow in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $602,578 compared to free cash flow of $371,819 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Free Cash Flow for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $1,453,152 as compared to negative Free Cash Flow of $221,005 in 2011. Sutron defines Free Cash Flow as net cash provided or used by operating activities less cash used in the purchase of property and equipment.

ABOUT SUTRON CORPORATION

Sutron Corporation, headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, is a project driven business. Our quarterly results may fluctuate substantially based upon contract awards that are difficult to project in terms of timing and may be delayed due to differing time frames in securing government approvals and funding. We provide hydrological, meteorological, oceanic and aviation real-time data collection products, systems, software and services to a diversified customer base of federal, state, local and foreign governments, engineering companies, universities and hydropower companies. Over 70,000 Sutron stations have been installed worldwide. We manufacture our dataloggers, satellite transmitters and sensors. Our product and systems are designed to offer commonality of components and uniform interfaces in order to build modular, open, distributed systems that provide excellent performance regardless of the number of sensors or field stations.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include without limitation any statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, EBITDA, financing plans, business strategy, bookings, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should" and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.