Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
4/4/2014
International Isotopes suffered another negative year in 2013, with a net loss of approximately $2.5 million, according to a company release this week. The net loss in 2013 increased approximately ten percent compared to the $2.2 million net loss suffered in 2012. The company placed much of the blame for the poor year on a decrease in availability of cobalt material, along with the increase in cost of obtaining cobalt material for its isotope production activities. “We are not aware of any near future price increases that could potentially affect our cost of revenues and we will continue to implement cost cutting and process improvement measures to further reduce the cost of revenue and operational expenses, which should contribute to much improved performance within our segments and for the overall improved financial performance for the company in 2014,” International Isotopes President Steve Laflin said in a statement.
Laflin pointed to the delaying of active work on its uranium de-conversion facility as an example of its efforts to implement cost cutting measures. “As a part of our efforts to further improve the financial performance of the Company, and until such time that there are additional opportunities in the nuclear sector for depleted uranium de-conversion services, we will continue to delay further engineering work on the de-conversion project until we are able to secure additional contracts for de-conversion services.” The company remains hopeful that it will eventually secure enough contracts to move forward with the project, Laflin said during a call with investors earlier this year. The company announced in its third quarter results last year that active engineering and construction work for the facility, to be built in New Mexico, needed to be put on hold after it could not secure financing without contract commitments.
Laflin also highlighted this week the company’s improving radiological services segment, which saw the largest percentage increase over any of its business segments in 2013. International Isotopes reported that the radiological services segment’s sales “increased to approximately $0.8 million in 2013 compared to approximately $0.2 million in 2012, an increase of over 330%.” Laflin said the company’s hot cell has expanded the segment’s opportunities. “And perhaps most significantly, our additional Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed activities for field services and use of our new portable hot cell are expected to help us continue the rapid growth of revenue within the Radiological Services segment,” Laflin said.
INIS Introduces New Lightweight Flood Source Product
International Isotopes also announced this week that it had received NRC approval on its ‘RadLite’ lightweight flood source, making the product available this week. The new product is 60 percent lighter and 60 percent thinner than the original flood source design, the company said. RadQual, the company who sells the product, has an exclusive manufacturing agreement with International Isotopes, which owns 24.5 percent of the company. “The new innovative RadLite(TM) is designed to provide our clients with an easier to use flood source that we believe ensures that they receive the same high quality, safety and reliability that they expect from all RadQual products,” Managing Partner of RadQual Peter Ouimette said in a statement.