TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 30, 2014) - Symax Lift (Holdings) Co. Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SYL) ("Symax" or the "Company") announces its financial results for the three-month period and fiscal year ending December 31, 2013.

Highlights

  • Sales increased to $32.5 million during 2013, representing a 22% increase over the previous year.

  • Sales of the Green Passenger Elevator increased by 86% to $14.5 million, sales of Dingtai Passenger Elevator, decreased by 1% to $13.5 million, and the sales of other elevators & after-sale services decreased by 14% to $4.4 million. The increase was mainly due to the Company's marketing and selling strategy being adjusted to focus on the increasing demand from Chinese government sponsored housing projects, developments in Chinese Tier 3, Tier 4 cities and small Tier 2 cities, and the restructuring of its sales team and sales network to cover the whole China except for Tibet.

  • Gross profit increased to $8.8 million during 2013, representing a 26% increase over the previous year. Gross margin slightly improved from 26% in 2012 to 27% in 2013.

  • Operation expenses increased by 13% to $6.9 million during 2013 over the previous year. Over 90% of this rise in operation expenses was the result of increased G&A expenses due to the start-up costs for developing stairlift products, the construction of new facilities for Symax Chongqing and bad debt expenses accrued for doubtful accounts. Share-based compensation expenses also contributed to this rise.

  • Net income increased to $799,000 ($0.03 per share) during 2013, compared to $77,000 ($0.00 per share) in 2012. EBITDA was $2.6 million during 2013, representing an increase of 81% over the previous year.

  • As at December 31, 2013, the Company had total cash of $1.6 million and short term bank loans of $6.3 million.

  • Symax has undertaken an expansion of its domestic Chinese business with a new manufacturing facility located in Wanzhou, Chongqing to be put into use in July, 2014. Upon completion, this facility is expected to double the Company's production capacity by the end of 2014. The Company has also undertaken an expansion of its service network in support of its geographic market expansion. The Company has introduced a new product line of stairlift products and is expected to launch these products in the Chinese domestic market and the North American market in July, 2014.

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

In Thousands of Canadian Dollars Twelve Months Ended December 31
except per share and percentage data 2013 2012 % Change
Sales 32,458 26,593 22 %
Gross profit 8,809 6,979 26 %
Gross margin 27 % 26 %
Operating expenses 6,876 6,078 13 %
Operating income 1,933 901 115 %
Other income (loss) (812 ) (708 ) 15 %
Income taxes (322 ) (116 ) 178 %
Net income 799 77 938 %
EBITDA 2,634 1,459 81 %
Earnings per share - basic $ 0.03 $ 0.00
Earnings per share - diluted $ 0.03 $ 0.00
As at December 31
2013 2012
Total Assets 49,089 35,387
Current liabilities 33,309 25,447
Long Term liabilities 4,562 498
Shareholders' equity 11,218 9,443

"With adjustments to the Company's marketing and selling strategy, restructured sales team and sales network, Symax's sales in 2013 increased by 22% and the Company expects continuing growth in 2014. In addition, the Company's stairlift products will be launched into the North American market in July, 2014 and the Symax Chongqing plant will be put into operation in July, 2014," stated Ms. Sabrina Zhang, CEO of Symax. "We look forward to recognizing higher revenues from these activities and we will continue to focus on tightening our costs to deliver better bottom line results as we move forward."

About Symax Lift Holdings

Symax is in the business of the development, manufacturing, and sale of elevators, as well as the provision of after-sales services in China and worldwide. Symax's products and services are classified into two separate offerings; a main line of standardized products which include passenger elevators, goods/freight elevators, villa elevators, panorama elevators, hospital elevators, residential and commercial escalators and moving walkways; and customized elevator products.

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward looking statements". Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects,", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward looking statements, except as required by law, in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.