Tecnoglass Back in NASDAQ Compliance After Filing Annual and Quarterly Reports

Barranquilla, Colombia-based construction materials firm Tecnoglass has submitted its 2015 annual report, 2016 first quarter earnings report, and amended financial statements for all annual and quarterly reports dating back to 2013 in order to comply with NASDAQ rules for continued listing. The company had previously been told by the exchange that it was running afoul of Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) due to the lack of recent filings and had until June 17 to regain compliance.

For the older filings, the restatements “resulted in no impact to our operating cash flows,” according to Tecnoglass CEO José Manuel Daes. The changes were necessary to revise the accounting methodology for certain non-cash items.

To ensure such issues don’t continue, Tecnoglass also announced that it has hired Deloitte & Touche as an external consultant for all matters related to SEC reporting, U.S. GAAP accounting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. The firm has previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Marcum LLP.

Tecnoglass is coming off of record growth last year. Total revenues for the full year 2015 increased 21.2% to $239.4 million compared to the prior year, led by 40.1% growth in U.S. revenues to $142.4 million USD. Operating income rose to $39.6 million USD compared to $27.2 million USD in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 36.5% to $65.5 million USD compared to the prior year.

In an interview with Finance Colombia, José Baes said that he expects even better growth ahead. His optimism is in part based on Tecnoglass making a transition from sourcing certain high-end products to manufacturing them on site. “By making the glass in-house, we reduced the cost by 30 to 40 percent of the material,” said Baes. “So that puts us in a totally different ball game, and I’d like to show that the next two to three years we plan to grow by 25 percent at least every year, organically.”

Overall, Tecnoglass has a $384 million USD market cap (fully diluted) and has grown by 40 percent per year over the past three years (EBITDA), according to the stock news publication Seeking Alpha. Run by brothers José and Cristian Baes, the company counts the United States as its biggest market for the architectural glass, windows, and associated aluminum products it manufactures for both commercial and residential construction.

In addition to issuing financial restatements, Tecnoglass has promoted Santiago Giraldo to head of investor relations. Giraldo previously served as the company’s deputy chief financial officer.

“Santiago’s professional experience and financial acumen are highly aligned with the direction of Tecnoglass,” said José Daes. “Combined with the addition of Deloitte and continued investments in our financial infrastructure, we are actively enhancing our ability to improve overall operations and generate value for shareholders as a U.S. listed publicly traded company.”