Shares of Westport Innovations spike on strong Q1 revenue

Wesport says it expects the strong topline growth it posted in Q1 will dampen slightly in the remainder of fiscal 2014, and it will post revenue of between $175-million and $185-million for the year, up somehwere between 7% and 13%. Shares of Westport Innovations (TSX:WPT) are racing today after the Vancouver-based cleantech reported Q1, 2014 revenue that was up 39% over the same period last year. The company lost $23.9-million on revenue of $41.9-million, easily besting last year’s $31.8-million loss on $30.1-million in revenue.

CEO David Demers focused on the company’s bottom line.

“We have made a step change this quarter with Westport revenue growth of 39 per cent, year over year, and significant improvement on adjusted EBITDA from operations from an average loss of approximately $9.4-million to a $1.6-million loss,” he said. “We are on track to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA from operations by the end of 2014 by continuing to increase sales, shipping committed products, and applying cost and margin discipline. At the same time, we are confident that our investment projects will deliver shareholder value as these products come to market.”

Westport says it expects the strong topline growth it posted in Q1 will dampen slightly in the remainder of fiscal 2014, and it will post revenue of between $175-million and $185-million for the year, up somewhere between 7% and 13%. Management says It hopes to finally be EBITDA positive by the end of 2015.

The company said it made progress in several areas in the first quarter. Among them is news that it will develop a new engine with Hyundai that will run on natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, and will be used in industrial applications such as construction equipment or forklifts. Westport also highlighted a deal with Delphi Automotive that will see the pair ramp production of high-pressure direct injectors for heavy-duty engine applications to 100,000 units by 2018.

At press time, shares of Westport Innovations on the TSX were up 19.1% to $16.90.

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