Empresas y finanzas

Momentive Performance Materials Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Results



    Momentive Performance Materials Inc. ("Momentive" or the "Company")

    today reported its consolidated results for the fiscal three-month

    period ended March 30, 2008. Highlights include:

    Net sales of $656.6 million compared to $608.2 million in the fiscal

    three-month period ended April 1, 2007, an increase of 8.0%.

    Adjusted EBITDA of $105.9 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of

    $103.4 million in the fiscal three-month period ended April 1, 2007

    an increase of 2.4%.

    Operating income of $42.1 million versus operating income of $13.1

    million in the fiscal three-month period ended April 1, 2007.

    Net loss of $48.9 million compared to net loss of $57.3 million in the

    fiscal three-month period ended April 1, 2007.

    "We are pleased to report

    year-over-year growth in net sales and Adjusted EBITDA for the first

    quarter despite a challenging inflationary environment," said Jonathan Rich, president & CEO. He added, "Although

    we face rising raw material and energy costs, we continue to work to

    offset inflation through productivity and other cost savings measures

    and focus on growing the business through specialty products."
    For more information, interested parties may participate in Momentive´s

    First Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at

    9 A.M. EDT:

    = = = = = = = = = = =

    U.S. Toll-Free:

    800.638.5439
    - - - - - -

    Outside of the U.S.:

    +617.614.3945
    - - - - - -

    Password:

    62058731
    - - - - - -

    Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
    Certain statements included in this press release may constitute

    forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the

    Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities

    Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In addition, our management may from

    time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Forward-looking

    statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "estimate," "will" or "intend" and

    similar words or expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect

    our current views with respect to future events and are based on

    currently available financial, economic and competitive data and our

    current business plans. Actual results could vary materially depending

    on risks and uncertainties that may affect our operations, markets

    services, prices and other factors. Important factors that could cause

    actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking

    statements include, but are not limited to: our substantial leverage;

    limitations on flexibility in operating our business contained in the

    documents governing our indebtedness; changes in prices and availability

    of raw materials and key intermediates; rising energy costs; and risks

    associated with our separation from General Electric Company. For a more

    detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, see our Form 10-K

    for the year ended December 31, 2007 and our other reports filed with

    the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to

    publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of

    new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise

    required by law.
    About the Company
    Momentive Performance Materials Inc. is a premier specialty materials

    company, providing high-technology materials solutions to the silicones

    quartz and ceramics markets. The company, as a global leader with

    worldwide operations, has a robust product portfolio, an enduring

    tradition of service excellence, and industry-leading research and

    development capabilities. Momentive Performance Materials Inc. is

    controlled by an affiliate of Apollo Management L.P. Additional

    information is available at www.momentive.com.
    Summary Results
    The following table sets forth certain historical consolidated financial

    information, in both dollars and percentages of net sales, for the

    fiscal three-month periods ended March 30, 2008 and April 1, 2007:

    = = = = = = = = = = =

    Fiscal three-month periods ended

    - - - - - -

    March 30

    April 1

    - - - - - -

    2008

    2007

    - - - - - -

    (dollars in millions)

    - - - - - -

    Net sales

    - - - - - -

    Cost of sales, excluding depreciation

    $
    656.6

    100.0
    %

    $
    608.2

    100.0
    %
    - - - - - -

    Gross profit

    433.1

    66.0
    %

    409.2

    67.3
    %
    - - - - - -

    223.5

    34.0

    %

    199.0

    32.7

    %

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Selling, general and administrative expenses

    159.2

    24.2
    %

    160.9

    26.5
    %
    - - - - - -

    Research and development expenses

    17.9

    2.7
    %

    19.4

    3.2
    %
    - - - - - -

    Restructuring and other costs

    4.3

    0.7
    %

    5.6

    0.9
    %
    - - - - - -

    Operating income

    42.1

    6.4

    %

    13.1

    2.2

    %

    - - - - - -

    Other income (expenses)

    - - - - - -

    Interest expense, net

    (67.0
    )

    (10.2)

    %

    (68.1
    )

    (11.2)

    %
    - - - - - -

    Other income (expense), net

    (13.6
    )

    (2.1)

    %

    (5.0
    )

    (0.8)

    %

    - - - - - -

    Minority interests

    0.1

    -

    -

    -

    - - - - - -

    Loss before income taxes

    (38.4

    )

    (5.8)

    %

    (60.0)

    (9.9)

    %

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Income taxes

    10.5

    1.6

    %

    (2.7)

    (0.4)

    %

    - - - - - -

    Net loss

    $

    (48.9

    )

    (7.4)

    %

    $

    (57.3)

    (9.4)

    %

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Net Sales by Segment

    - - - - - -

    Silicones

    $
    589.7

    89.8
    %

    $
    534.8

    87.9
    %
    - - - - - -

    Quartz

    66.9

    10.2
    %

    73.4

    12.1
    %
    - - - - - -

    Total

    $

    656.6

    100.0

    %

    $

    608.2

    100.0

    %

    - - - - - -

    Net Sales. Net sales in the fiscal three-month

    period ended March 30, 2008 were $656.6 million, compared to $608.2

    million for the same period in 2007, an increase of 8.0%. The increase

    was primarily due to an increase in volume of 1%, an increase in selling

    prices, and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations of 4.5%.
    Net sales for our Silicones segment in the fiscal three-month period

    ended March 30, 2008 were $589.7 million, compared to $534.8 million for

    the same period in 2007, an increase of 10.3%. The increase was

    primarily due to higher sales volume of 2.6%, an increase in selling

    prices, and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations of 4.8%.
    Net sales for our Quartz segment in the fiscal three-month period ended

    March 30, 2008 were $66.9 million, compared to $73.4 million for the

    same period in 2007, a decrease of 8.9%. The decrease was primarily due

    to a lower demand for semiconductor related products.
    Cost of Sales, Excluding Depreciation. Cost of

    sales, excluding depreciation, in the fiscal three-month period ended

    March 30, 2008 was $433.1 million, compared to $409.2 million for the

    same period in 2007, an increase of 5.8%. The increase was primarily due

    to inflation on raw materials, energy and labor costs, offset by

    inventory fair value step up costs related to purchase accounting of

    $23.4 million recorded in 2007. In addition, cost of sales was impacted

    by the sales volume noted above and changes in foreign currency exchange

    rates.
    Gross Profit. Gross profit in the fiscal three-month

    period ended March 30, 2008 was $223.5 million, compared to $199.0

    million for the same period in 2007, an increase of 12.3%. The increase

    was primarily due to growth in net sales, partially offset by the

    increased cost of sales.
    Covenant Compliance
    Certain covenants contained in the credit agreement governing our credit

    facilities and the indentures governing the Senior Notes, Senior Toggle

    Notes and Senior Subordinated Notes (i) require the maintenance of a net

    first-lien secured indebtedness to Adjusted EBITDA ratio and/or

    (ii) restrict our ability to take certain actions such as incurring

    additional debt or making acquisitions if we are unable to meet certain

    financial tests. For example, the indenture covenants restrict our

    ability to incur additional indebtedness (subject to certain exceptions)

    unless we are able to comply, on a pro forma basis, with an Adjusted

    EBITDA to Fixed Charges ratio (measured on a trailing four-quarter

    basis) of 2.0:1.0. Inability to comply with such covenants can result in

    limiting our long-term growth prospects by hindering our ability to

    incur future indebtedness or grow through acquisitions. The Company is

    in compliance with the covenant requirements at March 30, 2008.
    Financial Measures that Supplement GAAP
    EBITDA consists of earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and

    amortization. EBITDA is a measure commonly used in our industry and we

    present EBITDA to enhance your understanding of our operating

    performance. We use EBITDA as one criterion for evaluating our

    performance relative to that of our peers. We believe that EBITDA is an

    operating performance measure, and not a liquidity measure, that

    provides investors and analysts with a measure of operating results

    unaffected by differences in capital structures, capital investment

    cycles and ages of related assets among otherwise comparable companies.

    Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA further adjusted for unusual items

    and other pro forma adjustments as described in the table and footnotes

    below, permitted in calculating covenant compliance in the indentures

    governing the notes and the credit agreement governing our credit

    facilities to test the permissibility of certain types of transactions.

    However, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements of financial

    performance under U.S. GAAP, and our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not

    be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. You

    should not consider our EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP

    financial measures, as an alternative to operating or net income

    determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of our

    operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows from operating

    activities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as an indicator of

    our cash flows or as a measure of liquidity.
    The following table reconciles net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

    for the periods presented:

    = = = = = = = = = = =

    Fiscal three-month period ended

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    March 30, 2008

    April 1, 2007

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    (dollars in millions)

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Net Loss

    $

    (48.9

    )

    $

    (57.3

    )

    - - - - - -

    Interest expense, net

    67.0

    68.1

    - - - - - -

    Income taxes

    10.5

    (2.7

    )

    - - - - - -

    Depreciation and amortization

    56.0

    59.9

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    EBITDA

    $
    84.6

    $

    68.0

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Minority Interest

    (a)
    $
    0.1

    $
    -

    - - - - - -

    Non Cash, Purchase accounting effects

    (b)

    -

    23.4

    - - - - - -

    Stand-alone savings - assessment

    (c)

    1.8

    (1.7

    )

    - - - - - -

    Cost savings - new initiatives

    (d)

    6.2

    1.9

    - - - - - -

    Restructuring and other costs

    (e)

    4.3

    5.6

    - - - - - -

    Transaction and initial costs

    (f)

    8.9

    6.2

    - - - - - -

    - - - - - -

    Adjusted EBITDA

    $
    105.9

    $
    103.4

    - - - - - -

    (a) Reflects the elimination of minority interests resulting from the

    Shenzhen joint venture.
    (b) Represents non-cash charges in cost of sales during the fiscal

    three-month period ended April 1, 2007 resulting from the sales of

    inventories revalued at fair value through purchase accounting at the

    date of the Acquisition.
    (c) For the fiscal three-month period ended March 30, 2008, reflects

    transition services provided by GE of $1.8 million. For the fiscal

    three-month period ended April 1, 2007 reflects additional costs

    required to achieve normalized stand alone functionality offset by $5.2

    million of transition services provided by GE, as well as $4.1 million

    of stand-alone cost incurred.
    (d) Represents estimated cost savings from initiatives being implemented

    by management, including headcount reductions, and indirect cost savings.
    (e) Relates primarily to restructuring and non-recurring expenditures.
    (f) For the fiscal three-month periods ended March 30, 2008 and April 1

    2007, represents (i) non-cash mark-to-market revaluation of foreign

    currency forward contracts, and gains or losses on revaluation of our

    Euro denominated debt, (ii) management fee paid to Apollo, (iii)

    stock-based compensation and (iv) other non-recurring costs.
    Business Outlook
    We anticipate that the combination of raw material inflation and volume

    softness in key domestic markets will adversely impact our performance

    in the second quarter. We will continue to work towards offsetting these

    trends with further cost initiatives and price increases where

    applicable.