International Isotopes recorded nearly $230,000 in net income for the second quarter of 2020, even as it wrestled with the continued ramifications of a May 2019 cesium-137 release in Seattle.
Revenue for the three-month period ended June 30 came in at nearly $2.16 million for the Idaho Falls, Idaho, nuclear medicine company. That was up from $2.14 million in the same quarter of 2019, according to an Aug. 14 quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After a $1.2 million net loss for the quarter in 2019, net income landed at $229,328 in the most recent earnings term.
The six-month numbers were not quite as strong: nearly $4.5 million in sales this year, compared to just shy of $4.7 million a year ago; a net loss of $193,166, though that did represent a notable improvement from the $1.2 million net loss of 2019.
“The increase in revenue for the three month period was largely the result of increased sales of radiochemical products,” International Isotopes said in an Aug. 18 press release. “The decline in revenue for the six month period was largely the result of the negative impact of COVID-19 upon sales of radiochemical and nuclear medicine products.”
As an example of the impact of the pandemic, the company noted the short-term shutdowns of medical imaging clinics that use its products. However, sales have been on the rise since June, the release says.
Quarter-over-quarter revenue grew in its radiochemical products and cobalt products business lines, respectively up 44% to $1.1 million and 5% to $224,666. Sales dipped 16% to $777,873 for nuclear medicine products and largely evaporated for radiological services – plunging 80% to $43,967.
“We are pleased with the continued improvement in our financial performance driven largely by revenue growth in our radiochemical segment,” President and CEO Steve Laflin said in the release. “Certainly the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the revenue growth within this segment and our nuclear medicine products segment. However, we believe that many of the medical procedures related to both of these segments have been delayed, not canceled, and there should be a pent-up demand for these products.”
International Isotopes has stopped performing field radiological services in the wake of the incident in which its workers unintentionally cut into a cesium-137 sealed source while removing it from a blood irradiator at a research and training facility for the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center.
The company has since been cited for violations of Washington state regulations, and is under review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for potential breaches of its federal materials license and federal regulations. Both proceedings could result in civil penalties, but the state and federal agencies said they had no updates this week.
“It is not possible at this time to predict the timing or outcome of these matters or to estimate a potential amount of loss, if any,” according to the 10-Q filed with the SEC.
The source removal was being conducted under a radiological security program for the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The agency is funding what could be a $60 million cleanup job, which NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Brent Park said Thursday should be completed in 2021.
Management said it believes that International Isotopes should be indemnified under the Price-Anderson Act against any state penalty. That has been its overall position for expenses related to the Seattle event, which through June have exceeded $2.4 million. International Isotopes’ insurance provider paid out $964,958 for expenses last year. The Department of Energy, which oversaw the radiological security program under which the accident occurred, paid $576,732 during the first half of this year, the 10-Q says.
