Amira Nature Foods Ltd Announces Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Results

Amira Nature Foods Ltd Announces Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Results

Third Quarter Revenue Increased 56.2% to $113.9 Million

Third Quarter EBITDA Increased 57.7% to $14.0 Million

Third Quarter Adjusted Profit After Tax Increased 175.6% to $5.9 Million

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amira Nature Foods Ltd (the "Company") (NYS: ANFI) , a leading global provider of packaged Indian specialty rice, today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2012.

Third Quarter Financial Highlights:

• Revenue increased 56.2% to $113.9 million, compared to $72.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

• EBITDA increased 57.7% to $14.0 million, compared to $8.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

• Profit after tax increased 94.1% to $4.2 million, compared to $2.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

• Excluding non-recurring IPO-related expenses of approximately $1.8 million, adjusted profit after tax increased 175.6% to $5.9 million, compared to $2.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

• Basic and diluted earnings per share ⁽¹⁾ was $0.11 compared to $0.09 for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

• For better quarter over quarter comparability, after adjusting for non-recurring IPO-related expenses and using 35.7 million fully diluted shares, adjusted earnings per share was $0.17 compared to $0.06 in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

"In the third quarter we continued to execute on our strategic initiatives as we experienced increased growth in India and internationally," stated Karan A. Chanana, Amira's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to report these efforts enabled us to generate revenue and EBITDA ahead of our expectations for the quarter. Going forward, we remain focused on strengthening our distribution in India, further developing our relationships with key retailers globally and continuing our expansion in new, high-growth markets with our strong Basmati and complementary product portfolio to capitalize on a number of growth opportunities around the world."

Third Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results

Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 56.2% to $113.9 million, compared to $72.9 million for the same period in fiscal 2012. The revenue increase was primarily due to increased sales volumes both in India and internationally. In addition, our third quarter revenue included $23.6 million associated with shipment of product to a repeat customer as previously disclosed, while the comparable shipment to this customer was made in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Excluding this shipment, revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 would have increased 23.8% to approximately $90.3 million.

Revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 for our Amira and third party branded products was 99.0% of total revenue, compared to 93.4% of total revenue, for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Sales of bulk commodity products to institutional customers in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 contributed 1.0% of total revenue, compared to 6.6% of total revenue, for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

Cost of materials including change in inventory of finished goods increased $28.0 million, or 50.2%, to $83.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 from $55.7 million in the same period last fiscal year. This increase primarily reflects the growth in our revenue. As a percentage of revenue, cost of material decreased to 73.5% in the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to 76.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

EBITDA (defined as profit after tax plus finance costs, non-recurring IPO-related expenses, income tax expense and depreciation & amortization) increased 57.7% to $14.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to $8.9 million in the same period last year. A reconciliation of EBITDA to the IFRS measure of profit after tax is provided in the financial tables section of this release.

Profit after tax for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 94.1% to $4.2 million, compared to $2.1 million in the same period last year. Basic and diluted earnings per share ⁽¹⁾ was $0.11 compared to $0.09 for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

Excluding non-recurring IPO-related expenses of approximately $1.8 million, adjusted profit after tax increased 175.6% to $5.9 million, compared to $2.1 million in the same period last year. For better quarter over quarter comparability, after adjusting for non-recurring IPO-related expenses and using 35.7 million fully diluted shares, adjusted earnings per share was $0.17 compared to $0.06 in the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Reconciliations of adjusted profit after tax, to the IFRS measure of profit after tax, and adjusted earnings per share, to basic and diluted earnings per share are provided in the financial tables section of this release.

First Nine Months Fiscal 2013 Results

For the first nine months of fiscal 2013, net revenue increased 35.6% to $273.4 million, compared to $201.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2012. EBITDA increased 44.9% to $34.5 million compared to $23.8 million for the same period in fiscal 2012. Profit after tax increased 128.3% to $10.7 million compared to $4.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2012. Excluding non-recurring IPO-related expenses of approximately $1.8 million, adjusted profit after tax increased 165.5% to $12.5 million, compared to $4.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2012. A reconciliation of adjusted profit after tax, to the IFRS measure of profit after tax is provided in the financial tables section of this release.

Basic and diluted earnings ⁽¹⁾ per share for the first nine months of fiscal 2013 was $0.37 compared to $0.19 for the same period in fiscal 2012. For better quarter over quarter comparability, after adjusting for non-recurring IPO-related expenses and using 35.7 million fully diluted shares, adjusted earnings per share was $0.35 for the first nine months of fiscal 2013 compared to $0.13 for the same period in fiscal 2012.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Highlights

Our harvest season began in the third quarter in October and ended in January. During this period, we prudently increased inventory in order to meet expected demand, which is reflected in changes in operating assets and liabilities in the cash flow statement for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2012.

On October 15, 2012, we completed an initial public offering (IPO) of our ordinary shares at $10.00 per share and raised $90 million. After paying fees and related offering expenses, we received approximately $81 million in net proceeds. Contemporaneously with the completion of the offering, approximately $77 million of these net proceeds were used to fund the purchase by our direct wholly owned subsidiary Amira Nature Foods, Ltd. of 80.4% of the equity shares of Amira Pure Foods Private Limited ("Amira India"). Amira India will use $25.0 million of this amount to partially fund the development of a new processing facility. As of the date of this release, Amira India has utilized approximately $52 million out of the funds to repay a portion of outstanding indebtedness and the Company's cash and cash equivalents were $32.7 million as of December 31, 2012 (including the amount reserved for the new processing facility and $3.8 million of the IPO net proceeds retained at ANFI to fund future operating expenses through 2015).

Fiscal 2013 Outlook

The Company expects full year fiscal 2013 revenue in the range of $405 million to $410 million, an increase of approximately 23% to 25% compared to fiscal 2012, and EBITDA in the range of $50 million to $52 million, an increase of approximately 25% to 30% compared to fiscal 2012.

Conference Call

The Company will hold an investor conference call today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The dial-in number for this conference call is (877) 407-3982 for North American listeners and (201) 493-6780 for international listeners. Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously webcast in the investor relations section of the company's website at http://www.amirafoods.com.

An audio replay will be available following the completion of the conference call by dialing (877) 870-5176 for North American listeners or (858) 384-5517 for international listeners (conference ID 408090). The webcast of the teleconference will be archived and available on the Company's website.

About Amira Nature Foods

Founded in 1915, Amira has evolved into a leading global provider of packaged Indian specialty rice, with sales in over 40 countries today. Amira sells Basmati rice, premium long-grain rice grown only in certain regions of the Indian sub-continent, under their flagship Amira brand as well as under other third party brands. Amira sells its products primarily in emerging markets through a broad distribution network. Amira's headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it also has offices in India, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as that we or our members of management "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "forecast," "estimate" or other words or phrases of similar import.Specifically, these statements include, among other things, statements that describe our expectations for the global rice market, the financial impact of new sales contracts on our revenue, our plans to make significant capital expenditures, and other statements of management's beliefs, intentions or goals.It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations, financial condition, or the price of our ordinary shares. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our ability to perform our agreements with customers; our ability to recognize revenue from our contracts; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; our reliance on a few customers for a substantial part of our revenue; our ability to implement our plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to our business and realize additional opportunities for growth; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.All forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors.Other than as required under the securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1)Basic and diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing our profit after tax, which starting with our first financial statements for the period in which our initial public offering occurred, or the third quarter of fiscal 2013, is reduced by the amount of a non-controlling interest reflecting the remaining approximately 19.6% of Amira India that will not be indirectly owned by us, by our weighted average outstanding ordinary shares, during the applicable period.