SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
REPORT OF
FOREIGN ISSUER
PURSUANT
TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of June 2009
|
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS
LIMITED
|
|
(Translation of Registrant's
Name Into
English)
|
|
Suite
810, Level 8
Landmark
North
39
Lung Sum Avenue
Sheung
Shui
New Territories, Hong
Kong
|
|
(Address of Principal
Executive
Offices)
|
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form
20-F x Form
40-F o
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in
this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)
Yes o No x
(If "Yes"
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-_______________.)
Attached
to this Report on Form 6-K is the press release issued by the registrant on June
22, 2009.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto
duly authorized.
| HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED | |||
|
Date: June
30, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/ ROLAND W. KOHL | |
| Roland W. Kohl | |||
| Chief Executive Officer | |||
 |
 |
|
CONTACT:
|
Gary
S. Maier
Maier
& Company, Inc.
(310)
442-9852
|
HIGHWAY
HOLDINGS REPORTS FISCAL 2009 FOURTH QUARTER/ YEAR-END RESULTS
--Profit
Up; Streamlining and Enhancements Strengthen Competitive Position--
HONG KONG —June 22, 2009 —
Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) today reported results
for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2009 -- reflecting gross
margin expansion, a return to profitability and a strong balance
sheet.
Net
income for the fiscal fourth quarter was $271,000, or $0.07 per diluted share,
compared with a net loss of $1.3 million, or $0.35 per share, a year
earlier. Net sales for the same period were $6.9 million compared
with $7.8 million a year earlier.
Net
income for fiscal year 2009 was $768,000, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared
with a net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.50 per share, in fiscal
2008. Net sales for fiscal 2009 were $33.7 million compared with
$33.1 million a year ago.
“Despite
a worldwide economic slowdown, the company was able to achieve an increase in
net sales in fiscal 2009 and return to profitability. However, demand
for manufacturing services in the short term is still weak and is not expected
to regain momentum until our international customers gradually start increasing
their orders to restore depleted inventories to meet anticipated consumer demand
as the global economy slowly recovers. The business environment, near
term, therefore, continues to be challenging and unpredictable -- with sales for
the first fiscal quarter expected to be soft, based on current order
flow. Nonetheless, we believe that the company is
well-positioned to capitalize on its solid financial footing and operational
strengths to maintain and hopefully increase existing business, as well as
capture business from those competitors that may not be able to survive the
turmoil,” said Roland Kohl, president and chief executive officer.
He
highlighted the company’s strongly improved balance sheet at March 31, 2009,
including increased cash and cash equivalents by $1.3 million;
decreased inventory by $1.8 million; decreased accounts receivable by $1.3
million; decreased accounts payable by $1.6 million; and a $2.0 million
reduction in short- and long-term liabilities.
Highway
Holdings Ltd.
2-2-2
Gross
profit increased sharply to $6.7 million from $5.1 million in fiscal 2008 due to
increased sales and a significant decrease in the cost of raw
materials. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 20 percent
compared with 15 percent a year earlier. As a result of significant
fluctuations in raw material costs compared with fiscal 2008, the company and
certain of its larger customers have agreed that the price of new manufacturing
orders will be periodically adjusted to reflect material fluctuations of raw
material costs. The increase in gross profit also reflects a focus on
streamlining the company’s workforce and implementing programs and systems to
enhance operations, including a reduction in the number of employees by almost
half. The reduction of employees partially reflects the company’s new
initiative to increase automation at its plants by replacing certain repetitive
tasks with robotics that are designed and manufactured by the
company.
Selling,
general and administrative expenses for fiscal 2009 decreased by $1.5 million,
or 20.8 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier – representing
17.3 percent of net sales versus 22.2 percent in fiscal 2008. The
decrease reflects the consolidation of certain administrative functions at its
recently acquired businesses. The company also noted that SG&A
expenses in fiscal 2008 included $510,000 of account provisions to cover certain
legal claims associated with a prior labor dispute impacting the company and the
southern region of China. Kohl noted that the full amount of the
provisions had not been realized, with the reinstatement of the balance
reflected in fiscal 2009 results.
The
company’s interest expenses decreased in fiscal 2009 to $141,000 from $225,000
in fiscal 2008 due to a decrease in interest rates, with interest income in
fiscal 2009 also decreasing by $65,000 due to the decrease in interest
rates. The company was more exposed to adverse changes in the value
of the Euro compared with the U.S. dollar in fiscal 2009, as sales to European
customers increased to $16.0 million from $14.4 million in fiscal
2008. Accordingly, the weakening of the Euro compared to the U.S.
dollar in fiscal 2009 resulted in a currency exchange loss of $330,000 in fiscal
2009 (the company had a currency exchange gain of $283,000 in fiscal
2008). Since the company does not undertake any currency hedging
transactions, its financial results will continue to be affected by the future
fluctuations of currencies. The company does, however, have
agreements with certain of its European customers that limit the risk of
currency fluctuations.
The
company’s balance sheet remains strong with total current assets at March 31,
2009 of $14.9 million; working capital of $9.0 million; and long-term debt, net
of the current portion, of only $294,000.
Kohl
highlighted the company’s cash position of $1.80 per diluted share and an
increase in total shareholders’ equity to $11.4 million at March 2009 from $10.4
million a year earlier – representing approximately $3.00 per diluted
share.
Highway
Holdings Ltd.
3-3-3
About
Highway Holdings
Highway
Holdings produces a wide variety of high-quality products for blue chip original
equipment manufacturers -- from simple parts and components to
sub-assemblies. It also manufactures finished products, such as light
fixtures, LED lights, radio chimes and other electronic
products. Highway Holdings is headquartered in Hong Kong and
currently operates three manufacturing facilities in the People's Republic of
China.
Except
for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this
press release are forward-looking statements which involve risks and
uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental,
political and technological factors affecting the company's revenues,
operations, markets, products and prices, and other factors discussed in the
company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
without limitation, the company’s annual reports on Form 20-F.
(Financial
Tables Follow)
# # #
HIGHWAY
HOLDINGS LIMITED AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Statement of Income
(Dollars
in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
|
Quarter
ended
|
Year
End
|
|||||||||||||||
|
(Unaudited)
|
(Audited)
|
|||||||||||||||
|
March
31
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March
31
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|||||||||||||||
|
2009
|
2008
|
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||||||||
|
Net
sales
|
$ | 6,906 | $ | 7,771 | $ | 33,729 | $ | 33,164 | ||||||||
|
Cost
of sales
|
5,593 | 7,012 | 27,025 | 28,090 | ||||||||||||
|
Gross
profit
|
1,313 | 759 | 6,704 | 5,074 | ||||||||||||
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Selling,
general and administrative expenses
|
1,331 | 2,354 | 5,823 | 7,351 | ||||||||||||
|
Operating
(loss) Income
|
(18 | ) | (1,595 | ) | 881 | (2,277 | ) | |||||||||
|
Non-operating
items
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Interest
expense
|
(15 | ) | (44 | ) | (141 | ) | (225 | ) | ||||||||
|
Exchange
(loss) gain, net
|
(51 | ) | 107 | (330 | ) | 283 | ||||||||||
|
Interest
income
|
7 | 18 | 36 | 100 | ||||||||||||
|
Other
income
|
172 | 123 | 229 | 173 | ||||||||||||
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Total
non-operating income (expenses)
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113 | 204 | (206 | ) | 331 | |||||||||||
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Net
income (loss) before income tax
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95 | (1,391 | ) | 675 | 1,946 | |||||||||||
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Income
taxes
|
119 | (9 | ) | 35 | (28 | ) | ||||||||||
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Income
(loss) before minority interests
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214 | (1,400 | ) | 710 | (1,974 | ) | ||||||||||
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Minority
Interests
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57 | 53 | 58 | 53 | ||||||||||||
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Net
income (loss)
|
$ | 271 | $ | (1,347 | ) | $ | 768 | $ | (1,921 | ) | ||||||
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Earnings
(loss) per share - basic
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$ | 0.07 | $ | (0.35 | ) | $ | 0.21 | $ | (0.50 | ) | ||||||
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Weight
average number of shares - basic
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3,744 | 3,810 | 3,744 | 3,734 | ||||||||||||
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Earnings
(loss) per share - diluted
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$ | 0.07 | $ | (0.35 | ) | $ | 0.20 | $ | (0.50 | ) | ||||||
|
Weight
average number of shares - diluted
|
3,774 | 3,810 | 3,774 | 3,734 | ||||||||||||
HIGHWAY HOLDINGS LIMITED AND
SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated
Balance Sheet
(In
thousands, except per share data)
|
March
31
|
March
31
|
|||||||
|
2009
|
2008
|
|||||||
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Current assets:
|
||||||||
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Cash
and cash equivalents
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$ | 5,809 | $ | 3,889 | ||||
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Restricted
cash
|
1,028 | 1,671 | ||||||
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Accounts
receivable, net of doubtful accounts
|
3,426 | 4,766 | ||||||
|
Inventories
|
4,010 | 5,775 | ||||||
|
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets
|
672 | 689 | ||||||
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Total
current assets
|
14,945 | 16,790 | ||||||
|
Property,
plant and equipment, (net)
|
2,840 | 3,646 | ||||||
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Industrial
property rights
|
24 | 52 | ||||||
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Investment
and advance in affiliate
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2 | 2 | ||||||
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Total
assets
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17,811 | 20,490 | ||||||
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Current liabilities:
|
||||||||
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Accounts
payable
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$ | 2,166 | $ | 3,757 | ||||
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Short-term
borrowing
|
1,850 | 2,214 | ||||||
|
Current
portion of long-term debt
|
259 | 311 | ||||||
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Accrual
payroll and employee benefits
|
373 | 988 | ||||||
|
Other
liabilities and accrued expenses
|
1,257 | 1,964 | ||||||
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Total
current liabilities
|
5,905 | 9,234 | ||||||
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Long-term
debt – net of current portion
|
294 | 522 | ||||||
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Deferred
income taxes
|
163 | 189 | ||||||
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Total
liabilities
|
6,362 | 9,945 | ||||||
|
Minority
Interest
|
93 | 151 | ||||||
|
Shareholders' equity:
|
||||||||
|
Common
shares, $0.01 par value, authorized 20,000,000 shares
|
37 | 38 | ||||||
|
Additional
paid-in capital
|
11,224 | 11,562 | ||||||
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Retained
earnings / (loss)
|
154 | (614 | ) | |||||
|
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss
|
(6 | ) | (26 | ) | ||||
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Treasury
shares, at cost - 37,800 shares
|
(53 | ) | (566 | ) | ||||
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Total
shareholders' equity
|
11,356 | 10,394 | ||||||
|
Total
liabilities and shareholders' equity
|
17,811 | 20,490 | ||||||