DNMR - Danimer Scientific a Next Generation Bioplastics Company Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Results

- Completed Phase I Facility Expansion Helping Drive a 46% Increase in Full Year Revenue -

- Accelerating Growth from Intense Demand by Blue Chip Multinational Customers -

- Announced Planned Doubling of Greenfield Facility to Further Capture Market Opportunity -

- Completed Merger with Live Oak Acquisition Corp. in December 2020, Resulting in $380 Million of Cash to Help Fund Danimer’s Growth Plans and Long-term Objectives -

Danimer Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: DNMR) (“Danimer” or the “Company”), a leading next generation bioplastics company focused on the development and production of biodegradable materials, announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2020 ended December 31, 2020.

“I am pleased with our numerous accomplishments during 2020,” commented Stephen E. Croskrey, Chief Executive Officer of Danimer. “We ended the year with an exceptionally strong customer base, a commercial-scale bioplastic technology platform that we believe is unrivaled, and the financial flexibility to move the business forward. Our team overcame logistical challenges related to the pandemic and achieved strong 2020 results. In addition, we were thrilled to become a public company through the completion of our merger with Live Oak in December 2020. This strategic combination provided us with significant financial resources to service our multinational blue chip customers and fuel our capacity expansion objectives. We believe the breadth of opportunities available to us is immense and we are committed to growing our business to build long-term shareholder value.

“As we look forward, our focus will be to further position Danimer for long-term sustainable growth,” added Mr. Croskrey. “We are experiencing intense demand for our Nodax™ PHA technology, which is translating into long-term commitments for our products. Our facility expansions and recently announced planned doubling of our greenfield capacity will further extend the reach of our biodegradable (and compostable) products and help our customers achieve their ESG commitments to reduce plastic waste. In order to capture this remarkable market opportunity, we are utilizing our resources to not only scale our production capacity but also to invest near-term in our operational infrastructure. I look forward to building on our high growth trajectory as we execute our strategy and continue our fight against one of the world’s biggest environmental problems – plastic waste and pollution.”

Full Year 2020 Highlights

• Revenues increased 46% to $47.3 million compared to the prior year, driven by stronger demand and additional PHA production capacity at the Company’s Winchester, Kentucky facility brought online in 2020.

• Gross profit increased to $11.5 million, compared to $11.1 million in the prior year. Adjusted gross profit ¹ increased 19% to $16.6 million compared to the prior year, with stronger revenues offsetting initial inefficiencies and incremental expenses associated with nascent PHA production at the Kentucky facility. Adjusted gross profit excludes stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, as well as rent expense primarily associated with the Kentucky facility and production operations at the Company’s Bainbridge, Georgia location.

• Net loss of $12.6 million included $4.3 million of transaction costs and professional fees associated with becoming a public company.

• Adjusted EBITDA ¹ of ($3.2) million, compared to ($1.6) million in the prior year, with the increase in adjusted gross profit offset by the higher operating expenses, primarily attributable to an increase in headcount and salaries to support R&D efforts.

• Adjusted EBITDAR ¹ , which excludes rent expense primarily associated with the Company’s Kentucky Facility and Georgia production operations, was $0.4 million, compared to $1.5 million in the prior year.

• At December 31, 2020, total debt outstanding of $56.6 million and cash of $377.6 million, including transaction net proceeds resulting from the merger between Danimer and Live Oak completed in December 2020.

Facility Network Expansion Updates

Market demand remains robust for Danimer’s signature polymer, Nodax™ PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a 100% biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable plastic produced using canola oil as a primary feedstock. Expanding commitments from blue chip multinational consumer packaging customers support Danimer’s announced nameplate capacity additions to collectively produce and deliver up to an estimated 315 million pounds of finished PHA product per year.

• The Winchester, Kentucky facility is currently producing and shipping PHA at a commercial scale. In 2020, Danimer completed Phase I of its two-phase facility expansion, adding 20 million pounds of nameplate production capacity for the manufacture of PHA-based finished product. The facility started production runs in March 2020. The production ramp was negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic as well as the Company’s decision to conserve cash given the uncertainty in the economy. We are continuing to increase production volume at this facility. Building on this initial success, Phase II of the expansion is in process to bring the plant to its anticipated full capacity of 65 million finished pounds annually. Based on the timing of the completion of the merger with Live Oak, the construction of the Phase II expansion began in December 2020 and is now expected to come online in the second quarter of 2022.

• Today the Company announced that it plans to double the anticipated capacity of its previously disclosed greenfield facility from 125 million to 250 million finished pounds of PHA products annually. To be located in Bainbridge, Georgia, the new state-of-the-art facility is currently in the pre-construction engineering stage, and we expect to break ground in the first quarter of 2022. The greenfield capacity will come online in two phases, with an initial three fermenters expected to be operational in mid-2023 and the second set of three fermenters anticipated to come online in early 2024. Based on the current demand pipeline, the Company continues to forecast that capacity at the greenfield plant will be sold out.

Business Outlook

As blue chip multinational customers continue to introduce more sustainable alternatives to straws, consumable containers, and flexible packaging, among other products, Danimer has experienced intense demand and accelerating growth for its marine degradable PHA products, the highest standard of biodegradability, which offer a better beginning-of-life and end-of-life cycle solution than any of today’s traditional plastics. Increasing PHA production availability from the completed Phase I capacity expansion at the Kentucky facility is expected to support a significant ramp up in revenue for 2021. The Company expects Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow from operations to benefit in 2021 from operational efficiencies as the Kentucky facility increases utilization levels, with a partial offset from accelerated investments in headcount and technology to build out the public company infrastructure and operational platform needed to support the planned transformational expansion of the production facility network. For the full year 2021, the Company anticipates capital expenditures to be in the range of $100 million to $125 million, primarily to invest in the planned capacity expansions to meet the expected current and long-term demand from its growing customer base.

Webcast and Conference Call

The Company will host a webcast and conference call on Monday, March 29, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time to review fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results, discuss recent events and conduct a question-and-answer session. The live webcast will be available at www.danimerscientific.com in the Investor Relations section. The conference call will also be accessible by dialing 1-877-407-9208 (Domestic) and 1-201-493-6784 (International). A replay of the webcast will be available on the Company’s website.

About Danimer

Danimer is a pioneer in creating more sustainable, more natural ways to make plastic products. For more than a decade, its renewable and sustainable biopolymers have helped create plastic products that are biodegradable and compostable and return to nature instead of polluting our lands and waters. Danimer’s technology can be found in a vast array of plastic end products that people use every day. Applications for its biopolymers include additives, aqueous coatings, fibers, filaments, films and injection-molded articles, among others. Danimer now holds more than 150 granted patents and pending patent applications in more than 20 countries for a range of manufacturing processes and biopolymer formulations. For more information, visit www.DanimerScientific.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Please note that in this press release we may use words such as “appears,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “future,” and similar expressions which constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are made based on Management’s expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results of operations or financial condition of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, the overall level of consumer demand on its products; general economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer confidence, preferences, and behavior; disruption and volatility in the global currency, capital, and credit markets; the financial strength of the Company's customers; the Company's ability to implement its business strategy, including, but not limited to, its ability to expand its production facilities and plants to meet customer demand for its products and the timing thereof; risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to the Company; the ability of the Company to execute and integrate acquisitions; changes in governmental regulation, legislation or public opinion relating to its products; the Company’s exposure to product liability or product warranty claims and other loss contingencies; disruptions and other impacts to the Company’s business, as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic and government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response; stability of the Company’s manufacturing facilities and suppliers, as well as consumer demand for its products, in light of disease epidemics and health-related concerns such as the COVID-19 global pandemic; the impact that global climate change trends may have on the Company and its suppliers and customers; the Company's ability to protect patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights; any breaches of, or interruptions in, its information systems; the ability of its information technology systems or information security systems to operate effectively, including as a result of security breaches, viruses, hackers, malware, natural disasters, vendor business interruptions or other causes; its ability to properly maintain, protect, repair or upgrade its information technology systems or information security systems, or problems with its transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems; the impact of adverse publicity about the Company and/or its brands, including without limitation, through social media or in connection with brand damaging events and/or public perception; fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products as well as foreign currency fluctuations; its ability to utilize potential net operating loss carryforwards; and changes in tax laws and liabilities, tariffs, legal, regulatory, political and economic risks . More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to the Company as of the date of this press release, and speak only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

(1) - Retroactively reflects reverse acquisition.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes the non-GAAP financial measures “Adjusted EBITDA”, “Adjusted EBITDAR” and “Adjusted Gross Profit”. Danimer management views these metrics as a useful way to look at the performance of its operations between periods and to exclude decisions on capital investment and financing that might otherwise impact the review of profitability of the business based on present market conditions.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income or loss prior to interest income, interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, as adjusted to add back certain charges that Danimer may record each period such as stock-compensation expense, as well as non-recurring charges such as (i) asset disposal gains or losses as well as other significant gains or losses such as debt extinguishments; (ii) legal settlements; or (iii) other discrete non-recurring items. Danimer believes these items are not considered an indicator of ongoing performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of performance defined in accordance with GAAP. The measure is used as a supplement to GAAP results in evaluating certain aspects of Danimer’s business, as described below.

Adjusted EBITDAR is defined as Adjusted EBITDA plus rent expense.

Adjusted Gross Profit is defined as Gross Profit plus depreciation, stock-based compensation and rent expense.

Danimer believes that each of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit is useful to investors in evaluating the Company’s performance because each measure considers the performance of the Company’s operations, excluding decisions made with respect to capital investment, financing and other non-recurring charges as outlined in the preceding paragraph. Danimer believes these non-GAAP metrics offers additional financial information that, when coupled with the GAAP results and the reconciliation to GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of its results of operations and the factors and trends affecting its business.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit should not be considered as an alternative to net income or loss as an indicator of its performance or as alternatives to any other measure prescribed by GAAP as there are limitations to using such non-GAAP measures. Although Danimer believes that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit may enhance an evaluation of its operating performance based on recent revenue generation and product/overhead cost control because it excludes the impact of prior decisions made about capital investment, financing and other expenses, (i) other companies in Danimer’s industry may define Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit differently than Danimer does and, as a result, they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies in its industry, and (ii) Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit exclude certain financial information that some may consider important in evaluating Danimer’s performance.

Danimer compensates for these limitations by providing disclosure of the differences between Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDAR and Adjusted Gross Profit and GAAP results, including providing a reconciliation to GAAP results, to enable investors to perform their own analysis of Danimer’s operating results.

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