Omega Protein Reports 2007 Results

13/03/08 Omega Protein Corporation, the nation's leading producer of Omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, today reported net income of $12.1 million ($0.72 a share) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, compared with net income of $4.6 million ($0.19 a share) for the year ended December 31, 2006.

For the year ended December 31, 2007, the Company had revenues of $157.1 million, compared with $139.8 million in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006. Omega Protein recorded operating income of $27.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, versus operating income of $8.0 million for the comparable period a year earlier.

Revenues for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2007 were $44.3 million compared with revenues of $26.1 million for the comparable quarter in 2006. Omega Protein recorded operating income of $8.8 million for the 2007 fourth quarter, versus operating income of $0.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2006.

Omega Protein's 2007 results reflect increased margins primarily due to higher sales prices received during the current year, partially offset by a decline in sales volume of both fish meal and fish oil. Additionally, results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2007 were favorably impacted by the settlement of the lawsuit with its property insurance carriers pertaining to damages sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The results for the year ended December 31, 2007 were also impacted by the net loss incurred during the first quarter of 2007 primarily due to the write-off of approximately $3.0 million in deferred debt issuance costs and prepayment fees resulting from the refinancing of the Company's prior credit agreement with a new credit facility which closed in March 2007. Excluding the settlement of the lawsuit and the write-off from the reported 2007 net income would have resulted in Omega Protein reporting approximately $7.2 million in net income ($0.43 a share).