Marrone Bio Innovations Issues Shareholder Letter

DAVIS, Calif., March 23, 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,

Today, we’ve reported our fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 financial results, and I’m pleased to say that we have delivered on the three key commitments we have made to our shareholders:

• One, we continue to grow our base business.
• Two, we are closely managing our operating expenses.
• And, three, we are bringing novel, efficacious ag biological products to the market.
  

Our results in 2020 are outstanding by any measure, and even more so in the face of the continuing constraints from the global pandemic. I truly believe that within the broader agriculture sector we are in the right place, at the right time, that MBI is just hitting its stride and the outlook for this Company in 2021 and beyond is compelling.

Let me elaborate.

We delivered our 10^th consecutive quarter of increased revenues, with year-over-year growth of 31%, and a five-year revenue compound annual growth rate of 29%. We also delivered our ninth consecutive quarter of gross margins above 50%, with gross margins for the full year at 59.6%.

Our operating expenses have been lower in each of the last three quarters and for the full year. We ended 2020 with an operating expense ratio of 104%, a dramatic improvement from 150% for fiscal year 2019.

This combination of robust top line growth, continued strong margins and a flattening operating expense curve led to a 46% reduction in net loss for the year and a 31% improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. Operating cash mirrored these improvements, and by year-end we had seen a 25 percent drop in the use of cash.

From a commercial perspective, every piece of our business contributed to these results. Our foliar treatments in specialty crops – the heart of MBI historically – delivered more than 25% revenue growth year over year. Our BioUnite strategy continues to yield strong results, and we have new partnerships and product offerings coming to market that are poised to expand this part of our business.

We moved four products for crop health and crop nutrition out of our R&D pipeline and into the launch phase in 2020. They are now gaining traction with early market adoption, and have the potential to contribute meaningfully to sales. A fifth product is moving forward in 2021 – this one for crop protection - with introductory sales and expectations for greater long-term growth.