Vertex Energy, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Revenue Rose 14% Year-Over-Year; Gross Profit Margin was 12.5%

Conference call to be held today at 9:00 A.M. EST

HOUSTON, Nov. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNR), a specialty refiner of alternative feedstocks and marketer of high-purity petroleum products, announced today its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2017.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIRD QUARTER 2017

• Consolidated revenue increased 14% to $32.5 million, compared to $28.5 million for the third quarter 2016.
• Gross profit was down 32% to $4.1 million, while gross profit margin was 12.5%.
• Overall volume was up 1%.
• Net loss available to common shareholders was $3.8 million, or a loss of $0.12 per share.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR NINE MONTHS 2017

• Consolidated revenue increased to $104.2 million, compared to $67.0 million for the same period a year ago.
• Gross profit increased to $13.6 million, while gross profit margin was 13%.
• Overall volume was up 19%.
• Net loss available to common shareholders was $10.6 million, or a loss of $0.32 per share.

Benjamin P. Cowart, Chairman and CEO of Vertex Energy, stated, "Our overall business operations remained open during the quarter despite the limited activity due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Our Heartland facility, which is located in Columbus, Ohio, and our Marrero facility, located in Marrero, Louisiana, were safe from the storms."

Mr. Cowart added, "Despite the impact of the storms on our third quarter financial results, we are pleased with the overall state of our business. We are encouraged by our progress in achieving our objectives for 2017. Our goals are to penetrate the marine fuel markets, build a high-purity base oil network through our Group III base oil import business, and grow our collections volumes. In addition, we are focused on monetizing our Myrtle Grove facility. We are encouraged by the progress of these initiatives this year, and believe that our business is well positioned."

Mr. Cowart concluded, "As for our financial targets for 2017, we expect our revenues will be between $138 million and $140 million, gross profit will be between $21 million and $22 million, and gross profit margins between 14% and 15% percent for the year ended December 31, 2017. We believe our business is strong and will continue to improve." 

THIRD QUARTER 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS CONFERENCE CALL

Management will host a conference call today at 9 A.M. EST. Those who wish to participate in the conference call may telephone 1-877-869-3847 from the U.S. and International callers may telephone 1-201-689-8261, approximately 15 minutes before the call. A webcast will also be available under the Investor Relations section at www.vertexenergy.com.

A digital replay will be available by telephone approximately two hours after the completion of the call until February 28, 2018, and may be accessed by dialing 1-877-660-6853 from the U.S. or 1-201-612-7415 for international callers using conference ID #13671958.

ABOUT VERTEX ENERGY, INC. 

Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNR) is a specialty refiner of alternative feedstocks and marketer of high-purity petroleum products. With its headquarters in Houston, Texas, Vertex is one of the largest processors of used motor oil in the U.S. and has processing capacity of over 115 million gallons annually with operations located in Houston and Port Arthur (TX), Marrero (LA), and Columbus (OH). Vertex also has a facility, Myrtle Grove, located on a 41 acre industrial complex along the Gulf Coast in Belle Chasse, LA, with existing hydroprocessing and plant infrastructure assets that includes nine million gallons of storage. Vertex has implemented a cost-effective strategy for building its feedstock supply by establishing a successful self-collection and aggregation system. The Company has built a reputation as a key supplier of Group II+ and Group III base oils to the lubricant manufacturing industry in North America. For more information on Vertex Energy please contact Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc.'s investor relations representative Marlon Nurse, D.M. at 212-564-4700 or visit our website at www.vertexenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management’s view of Vertex Energy’s future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” or “may,” and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of Vertex Energy, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Vertex Energy files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Vertex Energy’s future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Vertex Energy cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Vertex Energy undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by Vertex Energy.    

* EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. These measurements are not recognized in accordance
with GAAP and should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance.

EBITDA represents net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before unrealized losses (gains) on derivative contracts and stock-based compensation expense. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are presented because we believe they provide additional useful information to investors due to the various noncash items during the period. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation, or as substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: 

• EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital expenditures, or contractual commitments; 
• EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, working capital needs;
• EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on debt or cash income tax payments; 
• Although depreciation and amortization are noncash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
• Other companies in this industry may calculate EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA differently than Vertex Energy does, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.