Eric G. Wintemute
Analyst · Richard Paget of Imperial Capital
Thank you, David. I must tell you I've never been more enthusiastic about American Vanguard's future than I am today. The opportunities that we have to grow our business over the next 2 years are extraordinary. And we are making the critical, operational and organizational investments necessary to take full advantage of those opportunities. For many years we have advocated the use of broad-spectrum soil insecticides to enhance the yield achieved by corn growers, whether they're using traditional hybrid seed on refuge acres or genetically modified trait seed. For a number of reasons, this advice is now particularly relevant. The economic profitability of corn -- of growing corn relative to soybeans and other raw crops has prompted growers in the Midwest to plant corn year-after-year on the same acres in lieu of the traditional rotation of crops. This corn-on-corn practice has provided soil insects with an unchanging environment in which to proliferate. The resulting expansion of insect populations has created an intensification of test pressure that can overwhelm single defensive measures, whether genetic or chemical. Additionally, recent genetic defenses have been focused on defeating the primary midwest soil insect, the corn rootworm. However, there are other secondary soil insect such as cutworms, wireworms and nematodes that are relatively less affected by seed trait technology. And on some acres, these pests can do as much serious root damage as the rootworm. So to provide a truly comprehensive root defense, 2 sets of tools are necessary. Finally, as we all know, when growers use a single defensive technique, whether genetic or chemical, for an extended period of time, Mother Nature tends to work around an obstacle, by adapting tolerance to the defense in question. We've seen this time and time again with the continued use of certain chemicals, and now are beginning to see this in certain areas with various nonchemical defenses. So whether it is the intensification of pest pressure or the presence of various secondary insects, or the tenacity of Mother Nature's adaptive capabilities, we believe it is far better to use multiple defensive technology, the "Best of Both Worlds", to achieve sustainable control with integrated pest management measures. In corn, we have multiple soil insecticide products for customers to choose from, Aztec, Smartchoice, Counter and Force, allowing customers to rotate their chemical defenses. And we also offered the safest, most efficient and most advanced clothes delivery equipment system for the deployment of our Granular Soil Insecticides. With data recording capabilities to permit productivity analysis as part of newly evolving precision farming methods, we believe that, together, these products and the state-of-the-art equipment systems will become the planting standard for soil insect control, each corn planting season. Due to the groundswell of demand for these products, we're increasing our production capacity. At our Axis, Alabama plant, we've begun running 24/7 since midyear to accommodate this demand. And our investment in laboratory, quality control and process technology capabilities are designed to ensure that we remain ahead of the curve in supplying this growing market. This is AMVAC's sweet spot, our wheel house, and we intend to take full advantage of this game-changing opportunity. As you recall, our agreement with the Monsanto Company to co-market a post-emerging corn herbicide impact as part of the Roundup Ready PLUS feed management platform is beginning its second year. Under this multiyear agreement, the impact is listed as endorsed product in the Monsanto incentive program to help control the continuing proliferation of glyphosate-resistant weeds. Through our own efforts, Impact has been used on roughly 3 million acres of U.S. corn. While Monsanto's Roundup glyphosate brands are applied to over 40 million corn acres in United States. We believe that combined promotional efforts by the sales and marketing forces of both organizations to encourage and incentivize growers to use both products together, should result in an increased usage of Impact over the next few years. This collaboration has been very well received in the marketplace with distributors and retailers increasing their stocking orders for the upcoming season. As we indicated in our earnings release, we expect to be able to meet this demand with adequate supplies of Impact, to achieve expanded sales in 2013 and future years. In other crops, we find our business expanding as well. Our insecticide Thimet, which grew 30% in 2012, continues to maintain a strong market position. Our nematicide counter continues to be extensively used in sugar beets and bananas, as well as in corn, which I mentioned earlier. Our Mocap and Nemacur and nematicide continued their growth on potatoes, bananas, coffee and a number of other crops. Other products, such as our foliar insecticide, Bidrin, for cotton; Folex, our harvest defoliant for cotton and Dibrom for mosquito control have excellent market positions and additional growth potential. While it is projected that cotton makers in the United States may decline, in 2013, to less than 10 million acres, we believe that our Bidrin and Folex products will continue to do substantial business on the prime cotton acreage in the southeastern region of United States. We are very excited about the recent registration and upcoming commercialization of our potato sprout inhibitor, SmartBlock. This is a superior technology for maintaining premium, quality potatoes during lengthy storage for both fresh, grocery purchases, and for the commercial processors of consumer products like french fries and potato chips. The excitement over this compound continues to build. We anticipate additional registration approvals in Canada and Europe, and we believe that in time, this product will make a significant penetration of a 45 million global market and become a significant contributor to AMVAC's growth in future years. As we reported earlier in 2012, American Vanguard has established an international subsidiary in the Netherlands to focus resources on the important long range goal of significant global expansion. We have hired a seasoned group of crop protection professionals to manage that undertaking. We will continue to assemble the necessary marketing, sales, regulatory, procurement and operational personnel to extend our reach into Eastern Europe, North Africa, South America and specific markets in Asia. We believe that we can register some of our existing products in new countries, acquire existing registered products in these markets and collaborate with industry peers, who are already positioned in various markets through licensing and distribution arrangements. We will keep you posted periodically on the progress of this initiative. Another area of considerable interest in recent years within the crop protection and pest management industry is the development of treatment agents that derive from naturally occurring sources versus the synthetic chemistry building blocks that are the basis of traditional pesticides. Such natural pesticides are considered desirable for their environmental-friendly profile. In the fourth quarter of 2012, American Vanguard entered this domain by establishing a majority-owned subsidiary partnering with TyraTech, a Carolina-based developer of active ingredients derived from natural oils. Such natural chemistries can demonstrate efficacy and utility in many applications, including personal care, animal health and pest control. The subsidiary that we formed is called AMVAC technologies, and will focus on the development of products for pest control applications. In fact, AMVAC already has its first commercial products being marketed under the Terminix brand name. These products are penetrating the large-volume U.S. retailer distribution channel and already occupy shelf space adjacent to other well-known bug spray products at one of the largest consumer home improvement chains. We are also contemplating the use of TyraTech's unique screening technology to explore the potential for combining such natural-based agents with our traditional synthetic chemical-active ingredients to create a new class of hybrid pest control agents. American Vanguard continues to focus on improving agricultural productivity and safeguarding public health. We provide many yields and enhancement solutions, branded under our YES acronym for agricultural customers and we are dedicated to developing safe, effective products for commercial and consumer pest control markets. As you can see, there's a lot to look forward to in 2013 and beyond. In the near-term, our success will be driven by strong demand for Granular Soil Insecticides in corn and other crops. Our co-marketing collaboration with Monsanto and Impact and our expanding footprint in international business and non-crop pest control. Longer-term, we believe that investments that we're making today, the organizational skills that we're developing and the broad range of opportunities that are in front of us spell a bright future for this company. And now, we'll be happy to entertain any questions you may have. Rob?