Lightbridge
Announces 2012 Third Quarter Business Update and Financial Results
Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR), a leading innovator of
next generation nuclear fuel designs and provider of nuclear energy consulting
services to commercial and governmental organizations, today provided a
business update on the progress of its nuclear fuel technology and consulting
operations and reported financial results for the quarter and nine months ended
September 30, 2012.
"Lightbridge achieved key strategic
milestones in the development of our fuel technology during the quarter,"
said Seth Grae, President and Chief Executive
Officer. "We also are encouraged by the ongoing involvement of our
advisory services division in several new consulting opportunities, as well as
the positive momentum that continues to build throughout the commercial nuclear
power market. Nuclear energy is increasingly recognized as a source of
long-term, efficient, base-load and carbon-free electric power."
Lightbridge is developing and
commercializing next generation nuclear fuel technology with indicated benefits
of increasing power output of existing and new reactors by up to 30%, reducing
nuclear waste, improving safety and enhancing proliferation resistance.
Grae said that the Company has completed
what is understood to be the last key step in obtaining Part 810 export
authorization prior to that authorization being granted by the U.S. Department
of Energy for proposed collaborative work in Russia with Rosatom
entities. The last step in this export authorization review process was
achieved when Rosatom recently provided non-proliferation assurances to DOE.
Lightbridge also secured final approval
from Russian fuel fabricator TVEL relating to fabrication of
Lightbridge-designed metallic fuel samples for irradiation testing in the MIR
research reactor in Dimitrovgrad, Russia, and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR)
at Idaho National Laboratory. "We are in the advanced stages of
contract negotiations with TVEL and its subsidiary companies," Grae said.
"We expect these negotiations to be completed in the next few
months."
Lightbridge remains on track to begin loop
irradiation in 2013 of the Company's metallic fuel samples at the MIR research
reactor, he added. Discussions on preliminary irradiation plans continue
with authorities at the Dimitrovgrad test facility.
"These irradiations will be performed
under prototypic pressurized water reactor operating conditions and will
provide data needed for regulatory licensing and demonstration of
Lightbridge-designed lead test assemblies in a commercial PWR," Grae said.
"Irradiated samples from this program at MIR will also be used for
additional out-of-reactor tests to demonstrate the metallic fuel's behavior
during severe accident scenarios and provide proof of the safety benefits of
Lightbridge-designed fuel."
Advances have been made in experiment
planning and design for irradiation testing of Lightbridge metallic fuel
samples in the Idaho National Laboratory test reactor. "The teams
have agreed on a single fuel rod design that is compatible with both a capsule
irradiation rig and a loop irradiation rig design that addresses uncertainty
around reactor availability between now and when fuel samples are delivered to
the laboratory," Grae said.
Lightbridge has also made progress in
ongoing negotiations with fuel fabrication partners relating to metal fuel
fabrication and demonstration work in the U.S. "We believe these
negotiations will conclude in late 2012 or early 2013," Grae said.
"Having our fuel fabricated in the U.S. would streamline production for a
major segment of the fuel's addressable market."
Subsequent to the end of the third
quarter, Lightbridge announced that a peer-reviewed article on the Company's
fuel technology will be published in the December 2012 edition of the
prestigious journal Nuclear Technology. An abstract of the article is
available at http://www.new.ans.org/pubs/journals/nt/v_180:3.
Financial Results
Revenue for the third quarter ended
September 30, 2012 was $0.6 million, compared to $1.7 million for the same
period of 2011. For the nine months, revenue totaled $2.8 million, versus
$5.5 million for the same period last year. Net loss for the 2012 quarter
was $1.2 million, or $0.10 per share, versus a net loss of $1.2 million, or
$0.09 per share, in the comparable period a year ago. For the nine months
ended September 30, 2012, the Company's net loss was $3.4 million, or $0.27 per
share, compared to a net loss of $4.0 million, or $0.32 per share, a year
ago. Lightbridge revenues are derived primarily from consulting and
strategic advisory services for foreign governments planning to create or
expand electricity generation capabilities using nuclear power plants, and are
used to help fund the continuing development of the Company's nuclear fuel
technologies. Revenues were primarily generated from contracts in place
with governmental entities in the United Arab Emira tes.
Balance Sheet Overview
At September 30 2012, the Company had
approximately $5.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and
marketable securities, and approximately $5.6 million of working capital, with
no long-term debt. Stockholders' equity was approximately $6.3 million at
September 30, 2012 compared with $8.8 million on December 31, 2011.
Common shares outstanding at September 30, 2012 totaled 12,523,872.
2012 Third Quarter Conference Call
Lightbridge will hold a conference call on
Friday, November 9, at 11 a.m. EST to discuss the Company's 2012 third quarter
results and provide an update on recent corporate developments. Seth
Grae, President and Chief Executive Officer, will lead the call and additional
members of the senior management team will be available to answer
questions. Please submit questions for Lightbridge executive management
in writing before or during the conference call to ir@ltbridge.com. All questions will be read aloud
and answered during the call.
Date: Friday, November 9, 2012
Time: 11 a.m. EST
Domestic Call-In: 1-800-860-2442
International Call-In: 1-412-858-4600
Canada Call-In: 866-605-3852
Live Webcast: http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=89921. Approximately one hour after the
live event, an archived webcast will be available at this same URL.
Audio Replay: Available one hour after the conference through 9 a.m.
November 16, 2012. Domestic call-in: 877-344-7529; international
call-in: 412-317-0088. Conference # 10013656.
About Lightbridge Corporation
Lightbridge is a US nuclear energy company
based in McLean, Virginia with operations in Abu Dhabi, Moscow and
London. The Company develops proprietary, proliferation resistant, next
generation nuclear fuel technologies for current and future nuclear reactor
systems. The Company also provides comprehensive advisory services for established
and emerging nuclear programs based on a philosophy of transparency,
non-proliferation, safety and operational excellence. Lightbridge's
breakthrough fuel technology is establishing new global standards for safe and
clean nuclear power and leading the way to a sustainable energy future.
Lightbridge consultants provide integrated strategic advice and expertise
across a range of disciplines including regulatory affairs, nuclear reactor
procurement and deployment, reactor and fuel technology and international
relations. The Company leverages those broad and integrated capabilities
by offering its services to commercial entities and gove rnments with a need to
establish or expand nuclear industry capabilities and infrastructure.
Lightbridge is on Twitter. Sign up
to follow @LightbridgeCorp at http://twitter.com/lightbridgecorp.
Forward Looking Statement
This news release contains statements that
are forward-looking in nature, including statements regarding the Company's
competitive position and product and service offerings. These statements
are based on current expectations on the date of this news release and involve
a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly
from such estimates. The risks include, but are not limited to, the
degree of market adoption of the Company's product and service offerings;
market competition; dependence on strategic partners; and the Company's ability
to manage its business effectively in a rapidly evolving market. Certain
of these and other risks are set forth in more detail in Lightbridge's filings
with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Lightbridge does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forwa
rd-looking statements, whether as the result of new