PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Jan. 7, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mistras Group, Inc. (NYSE:MG), a leading "one source" global provider of technology-enabled asset protection solutions, today reported financial results for its second quarter and first six months of fiscal year 2015, which ended November 30, 2014.

Revenues increased by 32% over the prior year's second quarter, reaching a record level of $206.9 million. Net income for the second quarter achieved another record of $10.4 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared with the prior year second quarter's net income of $9.3 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. Acquisition-related items added $0.02 of earnings per diluted share in the second quarter of fiscal year 2015 and $0.01 per diluted share in the corresponding prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA rose 25% over the prior year's second quarter, to a record level of $28.2 million compared with the prior year's $22.6 million.

Revenues increased by 28% over the prior year's first six months, reaching $373.5 million. Net income for the first six months was $12.1 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, compared with the prior year's $14.9 million, or $0.51 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA of $41.4 million in the first six months of fiscal year 2015 was 7% higher than the comparable prior year amount of $38.6 million.

The Company's year-on-year revenue growth remained robust, exceeding 20% for the third consecutive quarter. The Company's Services segment experienced strong year-on-year growth of over 48%, of which 22% was organic, driven by market share gains, a healthy fall turnaround season, and project work. The Company's 32% year-on-year revenue growth was led by a combination of acquisitions (+19%) and strong organic growth (+14%), offset in part by weaker foreign exchange (-1%).

Gross profit margins improved sequentially to 28.5% from 25.2% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, but were lower than the prior year's 30.6%. As with the Company's revenue growth, this change was also driven primarily by the Services segment, which saw gross profit margins improve to 27.5% from the first quarter's 24.4%, but lower than the prior year's 28.4%. The improvement from the first quarter was driven by a seasonal uptick and healthy turnaround volume, while the unfavorable comparison to the prior year's second quarter was driven by the Company's continued investment in the Canadian oil sands region, as well as an adverse sales mix in some international countries.

Key Financial Metrics:

Revenues

• Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 32% over prior year. Organic revenue growth was 14%.
• Services segment revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 48% over prior year, including 22% organic growth and 26% acquisition growth.
• International segment revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 declined 5% vs. prior year, with components: organic (-5%), acquisitions (+2%) and foreign exchange (-2%).
• Products and Systems segment revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 declined by 13% (all organic) compared with prior year.

Gross Profit

• Gross profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased by 23% over prior year on a 32% increase in revenues;
• Gross margin for the second quarter of fiscal year 2015 was 28.5% of revenues vs. 30.6% in the prior year.

Operating Cash Flow

• The Company's operating cash flow was $3.2 million for the first half of fiscal year 2015.

Sotirios Vahaviolos, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "This was the strongest quarter that Mistras has ever had in terms of Adjusted EBITDA, net income, earnings per diluted share and revenue. The fact that this performance followed a difficult first quarter makes it even more gratifying. We are very encouraged by the continued strong organic revenue growth in our Services segment and we continue to work on several initiatives to improve our profit margins. Our progress to date is encouraging and bodes well for future results."

Dr. Vahaviolos continued, "We are excited about our expansion into two new areas, the Gulf offshore market, via our acquisition of The Nacher Corporation, and our continued efforts to grow organically in the Canadian oil sands region. NACHER has gotten off to a fast start, helping to propel our acquisition-related revenue growth, and we remain optimistic about our efforts in the Canadian oil sands for the second half of the fiscal year."

Outlook and Guidance for Fiscal 2015

Based on the strong second quarter and additional upside from NACHER, the Company is increasing its revenue expectation for fiscal year 2015 to a range of $720 million to $740 million, representing growth of 16% to 19% over prior year.

The Company expects its Adjusted EBITDA to be within the high end of its previously announced range of from $78 million to $84 million, representing an increase of from 11% to 20% over prior year.

Conference Call

In connection with this release, Mistras will hold a conference call on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern). The call will be broadcast over the Web and can be accessed on Mistras' Website, www.mistrasgroup.com. Individuals in the U.S. wishing to participate in the conference call by phone may call 1-844-832-7227 and use confirmation code 55599260 when prompted. The International dial-in number is 1-224-633-1529.

About Mistras Group, Inc.

Mistras offers one of the broadest "one source" services and technology-enabled asset protection solution portfolios in the industry used to evaluate the structural integrity of energy, industrial and public infrastructure. Mission critical services and solutions are delivered globally and provide customers with the ability to extend the useful life of their assets, improve productivity and profitability, comply with government safety and environmental regulations and enhance risk management operational decisions.

Mistras uniquely combines its industry leading products and technologies - 24/7 on-line monitoring of critical assets; mechanical integrity ("MI") and non-destructive testing ("NDT") services; destructive testing services; and its proprietary world class data warehousing and analysis software - to provide comprehensive and competitive products, systems and services solutions from a single source provider.

For more information, please visit the company's website at www.mistrasgroup.com.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" about Mistras' financial results and estimates, products and services, business model, strategy, growth opportunities, profitability and competitive position, and other matters. These forward-looking statements generally use words such as "future," "possible," "potential," "targeted," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "may," "should," "could," "would" and other similar words and phrases. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. A list, description and discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 8, 2014, as updated by our reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and Mistras undertakes no obligation to update such statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

* Use of Non-GAAP Measures

The term "Adjusted EBITDA" used in this release is a financial measurement not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. ("US GAAP"). A Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to a financial measurement under US GAAP is set forth in a table attached to this press release. In addition, the Company has also included in the attached tables non-GAAP measurements "EBITDA", "Segment and Total Company Income from Operations before Acquisition-Related Expense (Benefit), net", "Net Income Excluding Acquisition-related Items" and "Diluted EPS Excluding Acquisition-related Items," reconciling these measurements to financial measurements under US GAAP. The Company believes that investors and other users of the financial statements benefit from the presentation of these non-GAAP measurements because they provide additional metrics to compare the Company's operating performance on a consistent basis and measure underlying trends and results of the Company's business.

CONTACT: Media Contact:

         Nestor S. Makarigakis,

         Group Director of Marketing Communications

         marcom@mistrasgroup.com

         1(609)716-4000