Fuwei Films Announces Its Unaudited Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2017

-Teleconference to be Held on Friday, May 19, 2017 at 9:00 am EDT–

BEIJING, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: FFHL) ("Fuwei Films" or the "Company"), a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality BOPET plastic films in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2017 ended March 31, 2017.

Highlights

Net sales during the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 were RMB67.9 million or US$9.9 million, compared to RMB62.1 million, during the same period in 2016, representing an increase of RMB5.8 million or 9.3%, mainly due to the increased sales price.

Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB3.72 or US$0.54 and RMB3.69 for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Our gross profit was RMB3.8 million or US$0.5 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, representing a gross margin of 5.5%, as compared to a gross margin of 9.0% for the same period in 2016. Correspondingly, gross margin rate decreased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the same period in 2016.

Mr. Zengyong Wang, Chairman and CEO of Fuwei Films, commented, "While we continue to face strong competition from emerging and incumbent players in the marketplace, which has led to oversupply relative to demand in the marketplace, we are encouraged by positive trends in the sales of specialty films. We believe our commitment to innovation and R&D has expanded our end-user applications that will enable the Company to capitalize on these opportunities despite challenging industry and economic conditions."

First Quarter 2017 Results

Net sales during the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 were RMB67.9 million or US$9.9 million, compared to RMB62.1 million, during the same period in 2016, representing an increase of RMB5.8 million or 9.3%, mainly due to the increased sales price.

In the first quarter of 2017, sales of specialty films were RMB21.8 million or US$3.2 million or 32.0% of our total revenues as compared to RMB21.8 million or 35.0% in the same period of 2016.

The following is a breakdown of commodity and specialty film sales (amounts in thousands):

Overseas sales were RMB13.2 million or US$1.9 million, or 19.4% of total revenues, compared with RMB12.5 million or 20.1% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2016, representing an increase of RMB0.7 million or 5.6%. While a decrease in sales volume caused a decrease of RMB0.2 million, this was offset by an increase of RMB0.9 million caused by the increase of sales price.

The following is a breakdown of PRC domestic and overseas sales (amounts in thousands except percentages):

Our gross profit was RMB3.8 million or US$0.5 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, representing a gross margin of 5.5%, as compared to a gross margin of 9.0% for the same period in 2016. Correspondingly, gross margin rate decreased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the same period in 2016. Our average cost of goods sold increased by 13.2% compared to the same period in 2016 due to the price increase of main raw materials. Consequently, the increase in the average cost of goods sold was significantly higher than that in average product sales prices during the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, which contributed to the decrease in our gross margin compared with the same period in 2016.

Operating expenses for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 were RMB13.8 million or US$2.0 million, which was RMB1.2 million, or 8.0% lower than the same period in 2016. This decrease was mainly due to the decreased allowance for doubtful accounts receivable.

Net loss attributable to the Company during the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 was RMB12.2 million or US$1.8 million compared to net loss attributable to the Company of RMB12.1 million during the same period in 2016.

Basic and diluted net loss per share was RMB3.72 or US$0.54 and RMB3.69 for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Total shareholders' equity was RMB253.3 million or US$36.8 million as of March 31, 2017, compared with RMB265.2 million as of December 31, 2016.

As of March 31, 2017, the Company had 3,265,837 basic and diluted ordinary shares outstanding.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a teleconference on Friday, May 19, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 9:00 p.m.Beijing time to discuss the financial results. To participate in the call, please dial +1-877-407-9205 in North America, or +1-201-689-8054 internationally, approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

A replay of the call can also be accessed via telephone by calling +1-877-481-4010 in North America, or +1-919-882-2331 internationally, and entering the following Conference ID: 10398. The replay will be available until June 19, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

About Fuwei Films

Fuwei Films conducts its business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fuwei Films (Shandong) Co., Ltd. ("Fuwei Shandong"). Fuwei Shandong develops, manufactures and distributes high-quality plastic films using the biaxial oriented stretch technique, otherwise known as BOPET film (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate). Fuwei's BOPET film is widely used to package food, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco, and alcohol, as well as in the imaging, electronics, and magnetic products industries.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which, among other things, include; significant competition in the BOPET film industry, especially the significant oversupply of BOPET films resulting from the rapid growth of the Chinese BOPET industry capacity, changes in the international market and trade barriers, especially the adverse impact of the antidumping investigation and imposition of an anti-dumping duty on imports of the BOPET films originating from the People's Republic of China ("China") conducted by certain main importing countries; fluctuations of RMB exchange rate, the reduce in demand for the Company's products or the loss of main customers which may result in the decrease of sales, and negatively influencing the Company's financial performance, uncertainty as to the future profitability, uncertainty as to the Company's ability to successfully operate its third BOPET production line, uncertainty as to the Company's ability to continuously develop new BOPET film products to be produced by the third production line and keep up with changes in BOPET film technology, risks associated with possible defects and errors in its products including complaints and claims from clients, uncertainty as to its ability to protect and enforce its intellectual property rights, uncertainty as to its ability to attract and retain qualified executives and personnel, and uncertainty in acquiring raw materials on time and on acceptable terms, particularly in light of the volatility in the prices of petroleum products in recent years, instability of power and energy supply, and the uncertainty regarding the future operation of the Company in connection with the changes in the labor law in China, the measures taken by the Chinese government to save energy and reduce emissions, and the complaints from nearby residents and local government about the noise caused by our production as well as the uncertainty of the impact of major shareholder transfer that have substantial influence over the Company and the Company's business operation including possible overlap of our BOPET products, customers and market orientation with an BOPET film manufacturer, which is controlled by the same individual who has control over the shares of our major shareholder. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Actual results of our operations may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors.

For more information, please contact:

In China:

Ms. Xiaoli Yu
Investor Relations Officer
Phone: +86-133-615-59266
Email: fuweiIR@fuweifilms.com

In the U.S.:

Vivian Chen
Investor Relations
Grayling
Phone: +1-646-284-9427
Email: vivian.chen@grayling.com

Financial Tables to Follow

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SOURCE Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd.