Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp Announces First Quarter FY 2015 Results

Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp (the “Company” or “TIC”) (NYSE MKT:TIK) announced results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2015 ended June 30, 2014. For the three months ended June 30, 2014, the Company recorded net sales of $3,129,076 versus net sales of $3,199,975 in the year ago quarter. This did not include any TS-4530A sales to the Army or any ITATS deliveries. Total operating expenses increased by $229k versus the year ago quarter with substantially all of the increase related to higher legal costs relating to the Aeroflex litigation. Gross margins, at 36% were also affected by higher labor and overhead variances due in part to additional staffing associated with the startup of the TS-4530A and ITATS programs. Taken together, this resulted in an operating loss of $242,872 as compared to an operating profit of $52,531 for the three months ended June 30, 2013. For the three months ended June 30, 2014, the Company recorded a net loss of $384,005 ($0.12 per share) as opposed to a net loss of $85,772 ($0.03 per share) in the year ago quarter. The current quarter results were adversely impacted by a $133,881 ($0.04 per share) charge due to the revaluation of the common stock warrants due to the increase in stock price versus a gain of $24,572 in the year ago quarter. Interest expense continued to decline falling to $62,480 in the current quarter versus $104,077 in the year ago quarter.

The Company had also announced the receipt of full rate production approval for the U.S. Army TS-4530A KITS with expected deliveries of about $450k per month, which commenced in July 2014. The U.S. Army is still working to secure production approval for the complete SETS, but this could take several additional months. As of June 30, 2014, the Company has open orders for 2,350 kits and 687 sets, totaling $19.5 million. The Company also began shipping the first U.S. Navy ITATS production units in July 2014. As of June 30, 2014, the Company has open orders for the AN/ARM-206 (ITATS) for 102 units at a contract value of $5.7 million, including additional enhancements. The Company has also begun to receive higher priced non-Navy orders for this test set.

The Company continues to ship the AN/USM-708 CRAFT test sets and should complete the shipment of all of the non-revenue producing ship in place units by August 2014 which should allow us to increase our CRAFT shipments to the Navy and other customers. In October 2013, the Company received an additional contract for the CRAFT program with a maximum value of $9.5 million. The order is a not-to-exceed $9.5 million fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (“IDIQ”) contract for the manufacture and delivery of communications/navigation radio frequency avionics flight line tester CRAFT AN/USM-708 and/or AN/USM-719. The Company has received delivery orders against this new contract for the additional test sets at a total value of $4.1 million but is required to ship the older lower priced orders first. The Company currently has open orders for the AN/USM-708 and AN/USM-719 for 331 units, totaling $8.5 million, and an option to purchase up to $5.4 million of additional units. The Company believes that the Navy will continue to exercise these higher priced IDIQ options and we also anticipate additional orders from other domestic and international customers.

As such, Tel anticipates improvement in revenues and profitability for the remainder of fiscal year 2015. The revenue increase from the TS-4530A and ITATS shipments should also enhance the Company’s liquidity position. At June 30, 2014, the Company’s backlog was approximately $36.0 million as compared to approximately $34.2 million at June 30, 2013.

On July 17, 2014, based on the review of publicly available and Section 1009(f) of the NYSE MKT Company Guide, the NYSE MKT has indicated that the Company had resolved the continued listing deficiencies with respect to both Sections 1003(a)(ii) and 1003(4)(iv) of the Company Guide, since it has reported net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 and demonstrated that it has remedied its financial impairment. As is the case with all listed issuers on the NYSE-MKT, the Company’s continued listing eligibility will be assessed on an ongoing basis.

Jeff O’Hara, President and Chief Executive Officer of TIC, stated, “The first quarter was challenging as we invested a significant amount of time and labor and inventory dollars in ramping up for the TS-4530A and ITATS programs, and we also experienced much higher legal costs related to the deposition phase of the Aeroflex lawsuit. These legal expenses are expected to decline over the next quarter but this will continue to be a drag on profitability until this case is resolved. Working down the CRAFT ship in place was a major achievement as this will allow us to start shipping some of the higher priced Navy CRAFT orders starting in the third fiscal quarter. We are excited to be in KIT production on the TS-4530A program and are pushing for the release of the TS-4530A SETS that should increase monthly revenues by over $500,000. The Company anticipates that second quarter revenues should exceed year ago levels with the third and fourth quarters expected to increase substantially due to higher CRAFT production levels and sales prices and the achievement of full rate production on the TS-4530A and ITATS programs.”

Investor Conference Call Today at 5 p.m.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast today, August 13, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company’s fiscal 2015 first quarter results.

To participate in the call by phone, dial (877) 407-8035 approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start time. International callers please dial (201) 689-8035.

To access the live webcast, log onto the Tel-Instrument Electronics’ website at https://www.telinstrument.com/learn-about-telinstrument/investor-relations.html.

We encourage everyone to read our full results of operations contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 13, 2014 at sec.gov.

About Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp

Tel-Instrument is a leading designer and manufacturer of avionics test and measurement solutions for the global commercial air transport, general aviation, and government/military aerospace and defense markets. Tel-Instrument provides instruments to test, measure, calibrate, and repair a wide range of airborne navigation and communication equipment. For further information please visit our website at www.telinstrument.com.

This press release includes statements that are not historical in nature and may be characterized as “forward-looking statements,” including those related to future financial and operating results, benefits, and synergies of the combined companies, statements concerning the Company’s outlook, pricing trends, and forces within the industry, the completion dates of capital projects, expected sales growth, cost reduction strategies, and their results, long-term goals of the Company and other statements of expectations, beliefs, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends, and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. All predictions as to future results contain a measure of uncertainty and, accordingly, actual results could differ materially. Among the factors which could cause a difference are: changes in the general economy; changes in demand for the Company’s products or in the cost and availability of its raw materials; the actions of its competitors; the success of our customers; technological change; changes in employee relations; government regulations; litigation, including its inherent uncertainty; difficulties in plant operations and materials; transportation, environmental matters; and other unforeseen circumstances. A number of these factors are discussed in the Company’s previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.