Marrone Bio Innovations Issues Shareholder Letter

DAVIS, Calif., Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBII) (“Marrone Bio”), an international leader in providing growers with sustainable bioprotection and plant health solutions to support global agricultural needs, today released a letter to shareholders from Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Helash.

Dear Shareholders:

There is a rhythm to agriculture that is predictable even in unpredictable times. The first half of the year starts strong, as Southern Hemisphere row crops mature and move toward harvest. In the Northern Hemisphere, orchards are being pruned and prepped for bud set and pollination. Row crop farmers are finalizing seed and input selections, cautiously optimistic right now as crop prices have been recovering with better global trading patterns.

Everyone has an eye on the weather. We’ve seen the variability of weather conditions most noticeably here in California. In mid-January, we were facing extremely dry conditions with less than adequate topsoil moisture. We are now in a cycle of storms that has brought heavy rains, snow and winds, and the benefit of much needed additional snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.

As the leading supplier of biological ag solutions, our commercial activities follow this same seasonal pattern. When we reported our FY 2020 third-quarter earnings, we forecast that the second half of the year would be smaller than the first half, with our fourth quarters generally being the smallest in terms of revenue given seasonality. We also anticipated that we would finish the year with revenue growth in line with our four-year CAGR of 25%+, gross margins in our target mid-50s range, and continued progress on reducing operating expenses. We will report FY 2020 earnings in March, but subject to our quarter-end closing procedures and review process, all indicators are that our financial results will be in line with the expectations we outlined in the third quarter.

In FY 2020, we saw Pro Farm make significant strides and contributions to our success.  Partnerships – like those with Vive and Rizobacter – were struck to open new doors for us.  The R&D pipeline was thoroughly vetted, and we have a clear path to creating additional value from new products over the next 5-to-10 years.  Our MMM manufacturing facility is preparing for an expansion that will allow us to bring additional production in-house, improve gross margins and reduce working capital.