Amyris raises $83M from new, existing shareholders, as losses widen on ramp-up slowdown

February 28, 2012 |

In California, Amyris has completed a $58.7 million private placement of its common stock and placed $25 million in 3% senior unsecured notes due in 2017. The private placement of its common stock included Temasek Holdings, Total, and Naxyris, as well as new investors Biolding Investment, and entities affiliated with Kleiner Perkins investor John Doerr and Amyris director Fernando Reinach. The purchase and sale price for the shares was $5.78 per share.

Biolding will invest an additional $15 million in common stock upon satisfaction by Amyris of criteria associated with the commissioning of Amyris’s Paraíso Bioenergia SA production plant in Brazil by March 31, 2013.  The notes have a conversion price of $7.0682 per share, which represents an 18% premium over the consolidated closing bid price of Amyris common stock.

At the same time, the company reported 2011 revenues of $147.0 million versus $80.3 million for 2010.  The company reported a net loss of $178.9 million for 2011 compared to  $123.9 million in 2010. For the fourth quarter, the company lost $59.4 million on sales of $41.5 million.

At Cowen and Company, analysts Rob Stone and James Medvedeff wrote: “We believe that dilution from the financing was already reflected in the share price following the update call on February 9th. The additional cash should support ramp plans at least through Y.E. 2012, so we think reduced uncertainty should drive a positive stock move.

“Ramp problems, unabsorbed overhead and startup drove negative GM. Expenses were below the St. and should decline. We are sharply cutting estimates on delayed new plants. However, R&D funding, the recent financing and project debt should cover cash needs. A broad customer base and large TAM remain. We see 40% upside in AMRS relative to the market in 12 months.”

Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov writes: “At this point there is poor visibility on production economics and we have slim conviction in our estimates.  We are very much in “wait-and-see” mode with Amyris and we reiterate our Market Perform rating. The main culprit behind the [4Q11] miss was a very high cost of goods sold, which resulted in a gross margin of negative 54%.  In view of the aforementioned scale-up difficulties, the cost overrun is not too surprising.”

Category: Fuels

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