February 24, 2009 ndash; Analyst Comments ndash; ThinkEquityrsquo;s David Woodburn reiterated his BUY rating and $3 price target this morning on Verenium (Nasdaq:VRNM) citing the second commercialization agreement signed with BP last week, and better than expected financial performance on Mondayrsquo;s report.

Verenium reported Q4 revenues of $19.7 million, up from $13 million for the same period last year. Net loss came in for the quarter at $12.6 million, or $0.19 per share, down from the $21.6 million, or $0.35 per share reported last year. FY08 revenues were $69.7 million, up from $46.3 million for the same period last year. Net loss for the year was $185.5 million, or $2.89 per share, compared with a net loss of $107.6 million, or $1.97 per share last year.

Woodburnrsquo;s Key Takeaways

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Q4 revenues exceeded $41.2 million estimate and consensus estimate of $15 million and sales of key enzyme Phyzyme beat his estimate of $7.8 million, while product gross margin of 33% beat expectations

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; SGamp;A and Ramp;D expense were both higher than expected

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Management is preserving cash on hand, which is a good sign in the current environment

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Continuing to make progress in ethanol business ndash; application for DOE loan guarantee submitted last wee and producing cellulosic at Jennings demo plant

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Total revenue estimates for 2009 are $90 million and product gross margin of 32% with EPS estimate moving to a loss of $0.74 from previous estimate of an $0.86 loss.

middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; At net present value calculation of the enzyme business returns a value of about $2.30 per share and applying a peer group EV/revenue multiple of potential ldquo;ownedrdquo; cellulosic ethanol revenues results in about $0.52 per share. nbsp;
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