St. Louis, Missouri, USA
November 15, 2021

• Third quarter year-over-year consolidated revenues increased 13% as reported and 35%, as adjusted for the divested barley business, to $32 million. 

• Ingredients segment revenues were $23.1 million, an increase of 34% as reported and 80%, as adjusted for the divested barley business. 

• 2021 consolidated revenues expected to meet or exceed guidance of $127 million.

• Farmer commitments for 2022 planting of non-GMO Ultra-High Protein soybean acres well underway.

• Crop Accelerator is now operational and expected to help bring innovative seed varieties to market faster than traditional breeding methods.

• Recently acquired soy crush facility is up and running, which represents an important enabler of the integrated business model. 

Benson Hill, Inc. (the “Company” or “Benson Hill”), a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants with its cutting-edge food innovation engine, today announced operating and financial results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2021.

“There is a sense of urgency today to move beyond the current commodity food system to meet the growing consumer demand for better food choices,” said Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. “The team at Benson Hill embraces this challenge through a novel combination of CropOS® and an integrated go-to-market approach. We believe we can unlock the natural genetic diversity of plants to create more nutritious, sustainable, and affordable food, feed and ingredient options. Now is the time for bold action to take advantage of a tremendous opportunity in the plant-based protein market.”

Crisp continued, “In the third quarter, we continued to see strong year-over-year revenue growth, particularly in our Ingredients segment, and we are on track to meet or exceed our 2021 revenue guidance of $127 million. The harvesting of our proprietary soybean crop for this year is nearing completion, and farmers are committing now to plant our Ultra-High Protein soybean acres for the 2022 planting season. In addition, we recently achieved two milestones in the execution of our strategy with the opening of our Crop Accelerator and the startup of our recently acquired Indiana-based soy crush facility. Our momentum continues, and we believe we are positioned to create significant value for our shareholders as the ‘picks and shovels’ in the rapidly growing plant-based food revolution.”

Third Quarter 2021 Results as Compared to The Same Period of 2020

Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures can be found on page 9. 

• Revenues were $32.0 million, an increase of $3.8 million, or 13%. Excluding $4.4 million in revenues from a barley business sold in October 2020, revenues grew 35%. The performance in the quarter was driven by strong results in the Ingredients segment.

• Gross profit was $0.4 million, a decline of $0.9 million. Excluding $0.7 million in gross profit contribution from the barley operations in Q3’2020, gross profit declined $0.2 million. Gross profit margins in the quarter were 1.3%. 

• Selling, general and administrative expenses were $28.1 million, which included $11.7 million of transaction and public company expenses related to the merger with Star Peak Corp II on September 29, 2021. SG&A was in line with expectations, excluding these expenses.

• R&D expenses were $10.5 million, an increase of $3.7 million, primarily to continue expanding scientific capabilities to support the current and future product pipeline.

• Reported net loss was $34.3 million compared to a net loss of $16.9 million.

• Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $20.1 million compared to a loss of $12.0 million. The Company recognized a loss of $11.7 million on the extinguishment of $37.5 million of high-cost debt. 

Ingredients Segment

• Revenues for the segment were $23.1 million, an increase of $5.9 million, or 34%. Excluding the $4.4 million contribution from the barley operations, which was sold in October 2020, revenues grew 80% The performance in the quarter includes the introductory year of proprietary high protein soybeans, soybean oil and soybean meal products from the 2020 crop and higher volumes and average selling prices for commodity yellow pea. 

• Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was a loss of $5.3 million, an increase in loss by $3.1 million. The introduction of new products, startup costs for the acquired soy crush facility, and higher research and development costs to support existing and future products impacted year over year results.

Fresh Segment

• Revenues for the segment were $8.8 million, a decrease of $2.1 million, or 19%. The decline in revenue was primarily driven by lower average selling prices and sales volumes. The U.S. produce industry continues to have an oversupply condition as a result of higher regional and ex-U.S. crop yields.

• Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $2.4 million, which was a decline of $0.9 million.

Innovation and Technology Initiatives
Benson Hill opened its state-of-the-art, technology enabled Crop Accelerator facility on time and under budget. The Crop Accelerator aims to help reduce lead times associated with crop innovation by doubling the plant growth cycles per year. The facility is also expected to provide a more than twenty-fold expansion in testing capacity and incorporate automation and imaging capabilities. This advances the Company’s breeding programs, particularly in soybean and yellow pea, and is expected to generate additional proprietary data streams for incorporation into the predictive and simulation capabilities in the CropOS®technology platform. The Crop Accelerator is an example of Benson Hill’s ability to rethink the product development process to increase efficiency and speed to market for current product improvements and contribute to the development of future innovations planned for its proprietary ingredient pipeline.

Business Execution Update
The harvest of the 2021 proprietary soybean crop is nearly complete with extensive data collection of protein, yield, phenotypes, soybean composition, soil health, and other variables. These data streams will help us work with farmers to optimize their profitability and sustainability on farm. The data is also expected to enhance the CropOS® technology platform at the field level, which is helping to refine farmer contracting plans for the 2022 planting season. The Company is currently contracting acres for 2022 with a large proportion of Ultra-High Protein acres already committed by farmers. 

In addition, Benson Hill commenced operations of its soy crush facility in Seymour, Indiana. The facility was acquired to help enable the planned commercialization of its proprietary soybean portfolio. The Company made investments for the startup of the facility and plans further upgrades for dependable and cost-effective soy crushing. The integrated business model for soy is a critical component to deliver on the rapidly growing demand for plant-based protein ingredients.

Consolidated Nine Month 2021 Highlights as Compared to The Same Period of 2020

Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures can be found on page 9. 

• Revenues were $103.5 million, an increase of $12.7 million, or 14%. Revenues increased 33% excluding $13.0 million in revenues from the barley business sold in October of 2020. The increase was primarily driven by sales of proprietary soybeans, soybean oil and soybean meal, higher average selling prices on yellow peas and higher sales volumes of fresh produce. Partially offsetting these increases was the impact of lower average selling prices of fresh produce.

• Gross profit and gross profit margin were $0.9 million and 1%, respectively. The positive impact from the favorable market for yellow pea ingredient was offset by lower average selling prices for fresh product, higher than planned transportation costs, initial startup costs of the soy crush facility, and losses generated by the commercial launch of the proprietary soy products. The company incurred a one-time $2.8 million excess freight expense during the second quarter to ship seeds from South America for the planting season. In the prior year, the barley operation generated $2.0 million in gross profit. Excluding these non-recurring items, adjusted gross profit was $3.7 million, a decline of $4.4 million. Gross profit margins excluding the excess freight costs were 3.6%. 

• Reported net loss was $84.0 million compared to a loss of $41.8 million. Net loss includes $18.2 million for transaction and public company costs related to the business combination with Star Peak Corp II and acquisitions.

• Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $50.8 million compared to a loss of $29.7 million. 

• Cash on hand was $257 million as of September 30, 2021.

Website: https://bensonhill.com/

Published: November 15, 2021