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Exhibit 99.1
[Plug Power Logo Appears Here]
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Contacts:
August 2, 2000 William H. Largent
Chief Financial Officer
Mark A. Sperry
Chief Marketing Officer
Telephone: (518) 782-7700
PLUG POWER INC. REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS; EXECUTES AMENDMENT TO
DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH GE
August 2, 2000 - Latham, N.Y. - Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG), today reported
that revenues for the second quarter of 2000 were $2.4 million as compared to
$2.0 million for the second quarter ended June 30,1999. Net loss for the second
quarter of 2000 was $18.0 million, or $0.42 loss per diluted share, as compared
to $8.6 million, or $0.37 diluted loss per share, for the second quarter ended
June 30, 1999.
Weighted average shares outstanding for the quarter ended June 30, 2000
increased to 43.2 million shares from 23.5 million at June 30, 1999. This
increase was primarily as a result of our October 1999 initial public offering
of 6.8 million shares of common stock and the issuance of 9.2 million shares of
common stock as a result of the exercise of outstanding warrants and other
purchase rights at the time of the initial public offering.
The company recently completed an amendment to its distribution agreement with
GE Fuel Cell Systems that defines product specifications and delivery schedules
for pre-commercial and commercial model introductions. The new agreement allows
GE to extend the existing 10-year agreement by an additional 5 years.
"We are pleased to have an agreement in place that reflects the current
expectations for product specifications and delivery schedules for grid
independent and grid parallel products," said Barry Glickman, President of GE
Fuel Cell Systems. "The new agreement provides a solid basis for continued
collaboration between GE and Plug Power and will enhance GE Fuel Cell Systems'
ongoing efforts to develop global product distribution and servicing
partnerships."
GE Fuel Cell Systems continues to see very strong interest in the Plug Power
product with a number of agreements complete or in final document negotiations
covering distributors in the US, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East, plus
several additional deals at the letter of intent stage.
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In moving toward its goal of being the first company to have a million fuel cell
systems powering homes and buildings, Plug Power announced that it built 61 pre-
commercial systems in the first half of 2000. At the end of the second quarter,
Plug Power had 27 field test systems fueled by natural gas providing power to
homes and other buildings. These field systems, combined with others installed
in Plug Power's R&D facilities, have accumulated over 47,000 hours of run time
during the first six months of 2000. Based on the progress being made, the
company has adjusted its year 2000 manufacturing schedule to 125 systems.
Plug Power continues to advance development in the especially challenging fuel
processing area. To date, Plug Power has built over 100 fuel cell systems using
its own Gastec fuel processor proprietary technology. The fuel processor is the
part of the fuel cell system that extracts hydrogen from an available fuel -
such as natural gas or propane, and passes it along to the fuel stack where
electricity is electrochemically generated. During the second quarter, Plug
Power began testing on the first two of its fourth generation fuel processors in
their labs in Latham, NY and The Netherlands. This fourth generation design is
expected to meet the commercial specifications called for in the new Plug Power-
GE agreement.
The company's financial position remains strong, with $122M in unrestricted cash
available as of June 30, 2000. As previously stated, the company expects to
raise additional capital before the end of 2001. These additional funds will be
used to complete the product development effort and begin production of the
first commercial product. The company is now estimating that it will have full
commercial product availability during the first half of 2002 and does not
expect any significant sales to GE before this commercial launch date. Given
the revised product introduction schedule, the company believes it will not
achieve 100,000 unit manufacturing volumes until after 2003 and operating losses
will continue beyond 2003.
Plug Power has scheduled a conference call on August 2 at 11:00 AM (EST) to
review its second quarter 2000 results. Interested parties are invited to
participate. To listen to the conference call, please call (913)-981-4901. A
playback on our investor relations page will be available on the Plug Power web
site after 5:00 PM on August 2. Please send any questions related to the
financial results to [email protected] or call Steven Zenker,
Director of Investor Relations at 518-782-7700 extension 1248.
See the attached financial highlights for the second quarter 2000. For more
information on Plug Power visit our web site at hhtp://www.plugpower.com.
Plug Power is a leading U.S. designer and developer of on-site, electricity
generation systems utilizing proton exchange membrane fuel cells for residential
applications. Since being founded in 1997, the Latham, N.Y.- based company has
grown from 22 to over 500 employees. Plug Power's strategic partners and
investors include DTE Energy Company, Michigan's largest electricity utility;
Mechanical Technology Incorporated, an early developer for fuel cell
technologies; General
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Electric Company, one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation
technology and energy services; and Sempra Energy subsidiary, Southern
California Gas Company, the largest U.S. natural gas distribution company.
###
This press release may include statements which are not historical facts and are
considered "forward- looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Plug
Power's current views about future events and financial performance. These
forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such
as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," and similar expressions
identifying forward-looking statements. Investors should not rely on forward-
looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks,
uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from Plug Power's expectations, and Plug Power expressly does not
undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. These factors include,
but are not limited to, the following: (i) the cost and timing of development
and market acceptance of Plug Power's fuel cell systems, (ii) competitive
factors, such as price competition and new product introductions, (iii) the cost
and availability of products, (iv) the fourth generation reformer design meeting
Plug Power's commercial specifications, (v) the cost of complying with current
governmental regulations, (vi) unanticipated expenses or delays in resolving
Year 2000 computer issues by either Plug Power or those with whom Plug Power
does business, and (vii) other factors detailed from time to time in Plug
Power's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Plug Power Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
(Unaudited)
June 30, December 31,
Assets 2000 1999
-------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- ----------------
<S> <C> <C>
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $110,797,623 $171,496,286
Restricted cash 275,000 275,000
Marketable securities 11,242,180 -
Accounts receivable 4,632,854 5,212,943
Inventory 2,606,335 304,711
Prepaid development costs 2,166,667 -
Other current assets 466,898 124,380
------------ ------------
Total current assets 132,187,557 177,413,320
Restricted cash 5,600,274 5,600,274
Property, plant and equipment, net 28,747,562 23,333,791
Intangible assets 8,505,528 -
Investment in affiliates 11,142,696 9,778,250
Prepaid development costs 4,208,333 -
------------ ------------
Total assets $190,391,950 $216,125,635
============ ============
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 4,543,264 $ 4,644,496
Accrued expenses and other currrent liabilities 5,572,483 3,557,301
------------ ------------
Total current liabilities 10,115,747 8,201,797
Long-term debt and other liabilities 6,366,818 6,517,304
------------ ------------
Total liabilities 16,482,565 14,719,101
Stockholders' equity 173,909,385 201,406,534
------------ ------------
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $190,391,950 $216,125,635
============ ============
</TABLE>
Plug Power Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,
------------------------------ -----------------------------------
2000 1999 2000 1999
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Contract revenue $ 2,417,764 $ 1,957,778 $ 5,350,557 $ 3,695,535
Cost of contract revenue 3,491,553 2,934,430 7,390,300 5,117,834
------------ ----------- ------------ ------------
Loss on contracts (1,073,789) (976,652) (2,039,743) (1,422,299)
In-process research and development - - 4,984,000 -
Research and development expense 16,932,662 4,799,472 28,376,834 7,780,246
General and administrative expense 1,696,570 2,670,636 3,253,000 5,599,736
Interest expense 59,145 - 154,615 -
------------ ----------- ------------ ------------
Operating loss (19,762,166) (8,446,760) (38,808,192) (14,802,281)
Interest income 2,184,312 174,283 4,492,478 218,033
------------ ----------- ------------ ------------
Loss before equity in losses of affiliate (17,577,854) (8,272,477) (34,315,714) (14,584,248)
Equity in losses of affiliate (455,304) (312,948) (963,304) (500,448)
------------ ----------- ------------ ------------
Net loss $(18,033,158) $(8,585,425) $(35,279,018) $(15,084,696)
============ =========== ============ ============
Loss per share - basic and diluted $ (0.42) $ (0.37) $ (0.82) $ (0.71)
============ =========== ============ ============
Weighted average number of shares outstanding 43,151,810 23,468,613 43,053,998 21,299,034
============ =========== ============ ============
</TABLE>
