Lizhan Environmental (LZEN) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

We manufacture, distribute and market synthetic leather and other fabrics from recycled leather waste, among other materials. Our production facilities are strategically located in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province, which is in close proximity to many leather product manufacturers whose production facilities are located in Tongxiang, Haining and Wenzhou, all of which are situated in Zhejiang Province, which collectively are considered as one of the most important leather industry clusters in China. We believe that we are one of only a few Chinese synthetic fabric manufacturers that own an extensive range of finishing processes to manufacture synthetic leather and other fabrics, ranging from products which are manufactured entirely from chemical-based materials, such as our microfiber fabrics, to products such as recycled leather flocked fabric, which are manufactured from recycled genuine leather. We sell our products to furniture, automotive upholstery and garment manufacturers, as well as fabric distributors. We sell domestically in China and export to the US and other countries, including Nicaragua, Germany, Belgium, France and South Korea.

Investor Alert

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

ZHEJIANG, China, Oct. 5, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:LZEN), one of China's leading manufacturers of eco-friendly fabrics made from patented technologies, announced today that it has notified the NASDAQ Stock Market ("NASDAQ") of its intention to voluntarily delist from NASDAQ.

On April 12, 2012, the Company received a notification from the NASDAQ stating Lizhan had been given a period of 180 calendar days, or until October 15, 2012, to regain compliance with NASDAQ's Listing Rule 5500(a)(2), which requires that the bid price of a common share listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market close at a minimum of $1.00 per share.

The decision to voluntarily delist from NASDAQ was taken following the Company's Board of Directors detailed review of numerous factors, including among other things its inability to meet the minimum $1.00 price per share requirement, the applicable NASDAQ rules and regulations, Rule 12d2-2(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the significant compliance obligations and restrictions that result from the maintenance of the listing on NASDAQ and the Company's current financial condition. Based on these factors, the Company no longer sees sufficient value in maintaining its listing on NASDAQ.

The Company intends to file a Form 25 with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission on October 15, 2012 to commence the NASDAQ delisting process. It is expected that the delisting will take effect as of the close of trading in New York on October 25, 2012. Following delisting, Lizhan's common stock will no longer trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "LZEN." The Company's common stock will continue to be traded on the OTC Pink Sheets. Additionally, the Company will seek to commence trading on the OTCQB or OTCQX as soon as practicable. However, there can be no assurance that a market for the Company's shares will develop.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Three months Ended March 31, 2012 Financial Results

Net Sales for the three months ended March 31, 2012 were $5.3 million, a 10% decline from $5.9 million in the same period of fiscal 2011.
Gross Profit was $0.6 million compared to $1.2 million for the same quarter in 2011. The 50% decline was a result of lower production volumes, rising raw materials, manufacturing and labor costs.
Net Income attributable to common shareholders declined from $1.9 million of net income to a $2.5 million net loss for the six months ended March 31, 2012. The fully diluted earnings per share were -$0.18 and $0.15 in the first six months of 2012 and 2011, respectively.

The Company produced and sold approximately 3.4 million meters of fabric in the six months ended March 31, 2012, down 2.3 million meters from 5.7 million meters in the corresponding period in 2011. Domestic sales fell by approximately 27%, representing 60% of total sales, and sales to international customers decreased by 17%, representing 40% of sales.

Investor Alert

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

ZHEJIANG, China, April 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:LZEN), one of China's leading manufacturers of eco-friendly fabrics made from patented technologies, announced today that the Company has received an additional 180 days to regain compliance with NASDAQ's minimum $1 bid price per share requirement. In addition, NASDAQ approved the Company's application to list its shares on the NASDAQ Capital Market.

NASDAQ previously indicated to the Company that it had until April 9, 2012 to regain compliance with the minimum price per share requirement. However, based on the Company meeting the continued listing requirement for market value and all other applicable requirements for initial listing on the Capital Market with the exception of the bid price requirement, NASDAQ granted the Company 180 calendar days, to October 8, 2012, to regain compliance. If at any time during this additional compliance period the closing bid price of Lizhan's stock is at least $1 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, the Company will regain full compliance with its NASDAQ listing requirements.

Starting April 16, 2012, the Company's shares will be listed on NASDAQ's Capital Market.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2011 Results

Net Sales for the three months ended September 30, 2011 were $8.5 million, a 27% decline from $11.7 million in the same period of fiscal 2010
Net loss was $0.02 per share based on 13.6 million weighted average shares outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to $0.17 net income and 11.1 million shares in the same period last year, respectively.

The Company produced and sold approximately 12 million meters of fabric in the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, down 2 million meters from 14 million meters in the corresponding period in 2010. Domestic sales fell by approximately 33% and sales to international customers increased by 16%.

"We faced several challenges in the past year, which we are actively working to address," explained Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jiangfeng Liu. "The most encouraging development has been an improvement in our Colgre Products daily production from 1,000 meters per day in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 3,000 meters per day currently. Demand is building gradually and we are in active discussions with new customers in China and overseas."

Mr. Liu continued, "We do not expect to experience the production disruptions caused by the lack of steam supply that occurred from January to March of year 2011. We are also working on diversifying our raw materials suppliers, which should help improve our production stability and enhance our profitability."

Investor Alert

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT

ZHEJIANG, China, October 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: LZEN), one of China's leading manufacturers of eco-friendly fabrics made from patented technologies, announced today that the Company received two letters, dated October 11, 2011 and October 12, 2011, from The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that for the previous 30 consecutive business days, the bid price of the Company's ordinary shares closed below the minimum $1.00 per share and the market value of the Company's publicly held ordinary shares ("MVPHS") was below the minimum of $5,000,000, both requirements for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market pursuant to Nasdaq Marketplace Rules 5450(a)(1) (the "Minimum Bid Price Rule") and 5450(b)(1) (the "MVPHS Rule"), respectively. The Nasdaq letters have no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's ordinary shares.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

ZHEJIANG, China, August 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: LZEN), one of China's leading manufacturers of eco-friendly fabrics made from patented technologies, announced today its three- and nine-month results for the fiscal third quarter of 2011 ended June 30, 2011.

Financial Summary


$mill USD	Q3 2011 2011	Q3 2010 2010	% Chg.	YTD 2011 2011	YTD 2010 2010	% Chg.
Net Sales	$11.1	$12.2	-9%	$27.8	$34.6	-20%
Gross Profit	$1.3	$2.8	-56%	$5.5	$8.6	-35%
Operating Income	$0.1	$2.1	-97%	$1.8	$6.7	-73%
Net Income	$0.1	$1.9	-96%	$2.0	$6.3	-69%
EPS	$0.01	$0.17	-97%	$0.15	$0.57	-74%

"We experienced a challenging quarter, as pricing adjustments and higher sales of recycled leather flocked fabric were more than offset by significant increases in the cost of raw materials and labor," explained Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jiangfeng Liu. "While we have recently seen stabilization in prices for base fabrics, we anticipate a lag between our recent price increases and margin stability."

Mr. Liu continued, "We met an important milestone in June as we commenced production at our first Evergreen line. We also signed two important customers by securing $12.4 million in Evergreen orders while making consistent volume improvements. We will continue to take additional steps to optimize both output and profitability."

The Company had 30 customers for its ultra suede products and 45 customers for its flocked leather fabric products at June 30, 2011. Total backlog was approximately 1.8 million meters at the end of the third quarter, equal to approximately $6.9 million based on current market prices.

"To minimize production impacted by future government imposed power restrictions we completed the installation of three backup power generators."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

ZHEJIANG, China, June 3, 2011, /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: LZEN), one of China's leading manufacturers of eco-friendly fabrics made from patented technologies, today announced two separate orders totaling $12.4 million from two new international furniture customers. Lizhan expects to deliver approximately 915,000 meters of Evergreen Products over the next twelve months.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jianfeng Liu said, "We are delighted to have secured orders from two leading international customers, who provide penetration in new important markets and will generate revenue starting in the 3rd quarter. Novatex and Beijing Hengxin Kaibo Textile Co. Ltd. placed orders after conducting extensive quality testing, validating the high quality and compelling value that our Evergreen Products offer."

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 26 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter Results:

Net Sales for the three months ended March 31, 2011 decreased 48% to $5.9 million
Gross profit declined 60% to $1.2 million with gross margins of 20% compared to 26% in the year ago period due to lower plant utilization and higher raw materials costs.
The average capacity utilization was approximately 40% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 70% in the same period last year.
Net loss was $0.3 million or $0.03 per share, compared to a net profit of$2.2 million and $0.19 in earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Mr. Liu continued, "We have already started producing Evergreen Products on a limited basis and expect to book revenues from our first Evergreen Product line in the upcoming quarter. In addition, once we complete testing of the new equipment, we believe we can ramp production of our Evergreen Products in subsequent quarters. We have several orders in hand and expect to begin shipping products to select clients in June."

Deal Flow

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

On March 24, 2011, the Tongxiang Branch of China Citic Bank agreed to provide Hongzhan (Zhejiang) New Material Co. Ltd. ("Hongzhan"), a subsidiary of Lizhan Environmental Corporation ("Lizhan" or the "Company"), with a line of credit in the principal amount of up to $3.4 million (approximately RMB 22,000,000). At the end of March 2011, the Company drew down approximately $1.7 million (approximately RMB 10,000,000) from this line of credit at an interest rate of 7.272% per annum. The loan matures on March 23, 2012. The proceeds of the loan were only used for working capital of the Company, such as payment of salaries, utilities and other customary operational expenses. Lizhan's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jianfeng Liu, and Mr. Liu's wife, have entered into guarantee agreements with the bank pursuant to which Mr. and Mrs. Liu have provided personal guarantees on amounts drawn by Hongzhan from the line of credit. The loan is secured by Hongzhan's construction in progress and land use rights for approximately 17,200 square meters of real property. If Hongzhan defaults on the loan, the bank may exercise its remedies against the Company's land use rights for its real property.

In addition, on March 31, 2011, the Tongxiang Branch of the Industry and Commercial Bank of China agreed to provide Lizhan Textile (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. ("Lizhan Textile"), a subsidiary of the Company, with a line of credit in the principal amount of up to$6.1 million (approximately RMB 40 million). On April 8, 2011, Lizhan Textile drew down approximately $1.9 million(approximately RMB 12.3 million) from this line of credit at an interest rate of 6.7275% per annum. The proceeds of the loan were used for the purchase of raw materials for Evergreen Products. The Company intends to use the balance of this line of credit for the purchase of raw materials. Lizhan's subsidiary, Hongzhan, provided a guarantee through April 5, 2013 on amounts drawn by Lizhan Textile from the line of credit.

Liquidity Requirements

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Our primary sources of financing have been cash generated from operations, short-term loans, long-term loans, lines of credit from banks in China, proceeds from bank acceptance notes and proceeds from our recent initial public offering. We expect to continue to finance our operations and working capital needs in 2011 from these sources.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter 2011 Results:

Sales of recycled leather flocked fabric increased $42.5% to $7.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 from $5.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010
Gross profit increased by 14.7% to $3.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 from $2.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010
Gross profit percentage increased by 16.3% from 24.4% in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 to 28.3% in the first quarter of fiscal 2011
Operating Expenses increased by 100% to $0.95 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to $0.47 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010
Sales to international customers increased by 15.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2010
Basic and fully diluted earnings per share were $0.18 in the first quarter of fiscal 2011

In commenting on the results for the Company's first quarter of fiscal year 2011, Mr. Jianfeng Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Lizhan commented, "During the quarter we increased the sales of our higher margin recycled leather flocked fabric by 42.5%. As a result, we increased our gross margin by 16.0% while improving the operational efficiency of existing products. In addition, during the quarter, we successfully tested and produced our new Evergreen Products and have subsequently begun to produce these products for commercial sale. We intend to gradually continue to invest and expand our production capacity for both recycled leather flocked fabric and our new Evergreen Products to gradually meet our customer's growing demand."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 05:00:00 GMT

2010 Financial Highlights

2010 net income increased 199.7% to $8.2 million from $2.7 million
in 2009 and revenue increased 114.3% to $46.3 million from $21.6 million
2010 gross profit increased 201.2% to $11.3 million
2010 operating income increased 264.6% to $8.4 million
2010 basic and fully diluted earnings per share increased to $0.74

The Company has experienced substantial growth since it launched commercial production in November 2007. In 2009, the Company launched the production and sales of recycled leather flocked fabric products, which are higher margin and environmentally friendly products that are consist of fabrics that are flocked with recycled leather powder to improve the texture of the fabric. This product accounted for 54.3% and 73.9% of our overall revenue in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, respectively, and the gross margin of this product has increased to 28% from 19%. The Company recently completed the construction of its Evergreen Product facility, which has the design capacity to produce 6.4 million meters of fabrics annually. As of September 30, 2010, the original facility had the design capacity to produce 15 million meters of fabrics annually.

In commenting on the 2010 results, Mr. Jianfeng Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Lizhan commented, "The momentum that we have achieved in driving our business model is clearly a reflection of the exceptional year experienced operationally and financially by the Company in 2010. Major initiatives were also taken during the year that will lay the foundation for significant expected growth in 2011 and beyond."

"Our record revenues in 2010, outstanding margins and profit, all are reflections of our success in addressing our customers' needs, making the necessary investment in our research and development, increasing market penetration both domestically and internationally, and most importantly, enhancing the quality of our products."

Mr. Liu added, "We are gratified to see the continued sales growth of our recycled leather flocked fabric products. Our present efforts to complete the preparation of the production process for our new Evergreen product line expands our commitment to provide 'cutting-edge,' environmentally-friendly product innovations that provide value and quality to our customers. In order to ensure the necessary resources for our growth, the Company proudly became a publicly listed Company on Nasdaq in November of 2010, subsequent to our 2010 year end. This listing enabled the Company to raise funds in the U.S. capital markets which we intend to use for a portion of the financing of our second Evergreen Product production line by May 2011, and to establish a diverse base of investors in the Company. We have initiated an investor relations program in order to make the Company more known in the U.S. market in the coming months."

"I want to personally wish our employees, their families, and our shareholders much health and prosperity in the coming New Year and thank you all for your support."

GeoTeam® Note: Fourth quarter 2010 vs. 2009 EPS was $0.10 vs. $0.03.

IPO Activity

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

uthereLizhab Environmental Corporation is planning initial public offering.

Company Snapshot:

Manufactures, distributes and markets synthetic leather and other fabrics from recycled leather waste, among other materials.

Industry Snapshot:

According to Global Industry Analysts (GIA), the global market for leather goods was estimated at $82 billion in 2008 and is projected to grow at 4.63% from 2008 to 2012, driven by the rising gross domestic product or GDP and a larger high networth individual population. Travel items and women’s bags account for 73.4% of global leather consumption in 2009. Demand for leather goods is high in recent years, as a result of an increase in business and holiday travels, increase in the proportion of women in the corporate world, the higher disposable income of women, fashion consciousness, and influx of innovative design and the affordable price of leather products.

Global Demand for Leather Goods

Synthetic, or artificial, leather looks and feels like natural leather, but is made on a fabric base rather than from animal skin. The fabric, due to its leather-like finish, acts as a substitute for leather and is fast replacing it in many industries such as apparel, footwear, upholstery, and automobiles. The growth in the synthetic leather industry is attributed to several factors including awareness of animal protection, pollution and high price of genuine leather. The high-pitched campaign against cruelty meted out to animals in the leather industry and resulted in growing awareness for an alternative to leather.
As the labor-intensive leather industry center migrated to Asia from the west since 1990, especially to China, the Chinese leather industry has seen rapid development. According to GIA, China is currently the largest production base and the largest exporter of leather goods in the world.

Use Of proceeds:

We intend to use approximately $9.0 million of our net proceeds from this offering for the installation of three production lines (production lines 2, 3 and 4) in the Evergreen Product facility that we are in the process of completing. We expect production line 2 to be installed and begin operating on a large scale by February 2011. We plan to begin installing production lines 3 and 4 in fiscal year 2011 and to utilize these production lines for production of Evergreen Products beginning in November 2011 and April 2012, respectively. We intend to use the remaining net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Underwriter: Maxim Group LLC

Proposed offering price: $5.25

Post IPO Share Calculation: (Post 1 to 1.6 reverse split)

11,143,750: Pre IPO outstanding shares
1,786,964: Newly issued shares
142,857: Shares from warrants issued to underwriters
267,856: Over-allotments
25,000: Miscellaneous

GeoTeam® best effort calculation of total post IPO shares assuming full conversions: 13,311,607

Financial Snapshot:

During the nine months ended June 30, 2010:

Revenues of approximately $34.6 million as compared to revenues of approximately $15.9 million during the nine months ended June 30, 2009, an increase of approximately $18.8 million, or 118.2%.
Net income totaled approximately $6.3 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2010, as compared to approximately $2.4 million for the nine months ended June 30, 2009, an increase of 166.1%.