Hoku Scientific Announces Earnings Conference Call for First Quarter Fiscal 2010

HONOLULU, HI--(Marketwire - July 16, 2009) - Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU), a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, announced today that it will hold a conference call with investors and analysts on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss results for the Company's first quarter fiscal year 2010 ended June 30, 2009 and the Company's business outlook.

The news release announcing the first quarter fiscal year 2010 ended June 30, 2009 results will be disseminated over a national wire service on July 30, 2009 prior to the conference call. The press release will be posted at the Company's website: www.hokucorp.com.

The dial-in number for the live audio call beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time is (719) 325-2348. A live webcast of the conference call will be available on Hoku's website at www.hokucorp.com.

A replay of the call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call via the web at www.hokucorp.com. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay until the Company's conference call to discuss its financial results for its second quarter of fiscal year 2010.

Hoku Announces Tax Increment Financing and Provides Update on Status of Vendor Agreements

POCATELLO, ID--(Marketwire - June 2, 2009) - Hoku Materials, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU), established to manufacture and sell polysilicon for the solar market, today announced the signing of an Economic Development Agreement with the City of Pocatello which could provide up to approximately $43 million of tax increment financing to Hoku over time.

According to the terms of the agreement, The Pocatello Development Authority has agreed to provide Hoku with tax increment financing as reimbursement for the Company's capital costs in building site infrastructure at its polysilicon production facility. This financing would be equal to 95% of the incremental property tax paid by Hoku, up to a maximum of approximately $26 million. In addition, once this initial $26 million cap is reached, Hoku will receive, as an incentive for hiring and maintaining certain numbers of employees, an additional tax reimbursement equal to 50% of the incremental property tax paid by the Company, up to a maximum of approximately $17 million.

Hoku clarified that the total amount of this financing would be reduced by the City of Pocatello's costs of constructing the public road planned to run along the southern perimeter of Hoku's project site, connecting Kraft Road to Highway 30 in Pocatello. If the City pays out of pocket, or obtains a bond to cover the cost of building the road, the initial $26 million in tax increment financing will be reduced on an equivalent basis, up to a maximum reduction of $11 million.

"We are pleased to have formalized this agreement with the City of Pocatello," said Dustin Shindo, chairman and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific. "While the tax increment financing is very important to us, perhaps more important is the strong support we continue to receive from the City of Pocatello and the State of Idaho. We are thankful and honored to be a part of the greater Pocatello community."

Pocatello mayor, Roger Chase, added, "The City of Pocatello continues to be impressed by Hoku's efforts. We believe strongly in sustainable, diversified economic development for our community, and plan to continue our focus on advancing renewable energy initiatives in Pocatello, Chubbuck, and Bannock County."

In addition, Hoku reported today that it had reached separate agreements with four key vendors: Idaho Power Company, Polymet Alloys, Inc., BHS Acquisitions, LLC, and AEG Power Solutions USA, Inc., formerly known as Saft Power Systems USA, Inc.

Owing to recent revisions to the timing and amount of prepayment deposits expected by Hoku from some of its polysilicon customers, Hoku had previously announced that it had begun adjusting its construction and procurement schedule in order to more closely match its cash outflows with these expected receipts. The Company explained that the vendor contract amendments announced today were reached in order to better align Hoku's capital expenditures and supply chain purchase obligations to this revised schedule.

In addition, Hoku reported it had reached an agreement with Great Western Malting Company to adjust the timing of its delivery of heated process water to more closely match Hoku's revised construction and ramp-up schedule.

"We are pleased to announce these developments," said Dustin Shindo. "In each case, Hoku was able to work collaboratively with our partners to make the necessary, incremental changes to our respective contracts, in order to compensate for revisions in the timing and amount of customer prepayments. In addition to continuing our focused efforts to match cash outflows to inflows, these amendments highlight the strength of Hoku's relationship with its vendors and partners, and provide further testament to Hoku's long-term partnership approach. Notwithstanding the schedule changes, and thanks to the ongoing support of these and other partners, we continue to expect to make our first shipments of product to customers in 2009."

Hoku Scientific, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2009 Results

HONOLULU, HI--(Marketwire - January 28, 2009) - Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU), a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008 and provided a general update on its business.

Financial Results

Revenue for the quarters ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 was $767,000 and $1.3 million, respectively, derived primarily from photovoltaic, or PV, system installation contracts. As of December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2008, deferred revenue of $12,000 and $36,000, respectively, was attributable to PV system installation projects and related service contracts.

Net loss, computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 was $863,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to $538,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the same period in fiscal 2008.

Non-GAAP net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 was $646,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to $274,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the same period in fiscal 2008. Non-GAAP net loss for the quarters ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 excludes non-cash stock-based compensation of $217,000 and $264,000, respectively. The accompanying schedules provide a reconciliation of net loss per share computed on a GAAP basis to net loss per share computed on a non-GAAP basis.

Dustin Shindo, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific, said, "Broader economic conditions had some effect on our PV system installation business during the third quarter of fiscal 2009 and are expected to continue to affect our sales in the quarter to come. However, in terms of aggregate capacity, we expect to install more than 1.4 megawatts of PV systems in fiscal 2009, compared to approximately 0.2 megawatts in fiscal 2008."

Mr. Shindo continued, "Regarding the financing for our power purchase agreements with the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, we had previously expected to sell our turnkey PV systems directly to a third-party investor, who would have also assumed ownership of the associated power purchase agreements. Instead, we elected to enter into a joint venture with UFA Renewable Fund I, LLC to finance the design and installation of these PV systems. This approach remains consistent with our cash management strategy for the construction of our polysilicon production facility, and allows us to participate in the cash flows from the sale of power to DOT over the twenty-year duration of the PPAs. However, it does not allow us to recognize revenue from the sale of these PV systems. As a result, we now expect to recognize approximately $5 million in revenues in fiscal 2009."

"Despite this revision to our fiscal 2009 revenue guidance, we are pleased with these results," Mr. Shindo concluded. "We are proud to have successfully secured PPA financing for the Hawaii State government's first major solar power installation, despite notable turbulence in the finance markets. And, we are pleased with our continued progress in our solar installation business. We have dramatically increased the aggregate amount of PV installed compared to FY 2008, and are beginning to see a backlog of projects in the design phase for future construction."

Business Updates

Hoku Materials Polysilicon Plant Update

Commenting on the Company's polysilicon subsidiary, Hoku Materials, Inc., Mr. Shindo said, "We continued to make significant progress on the construction of our polysilicon production facility, finishing the calendar year on schedule."

The Company reported that construction efforts during the past quarter had been focused on preparing the reactor building for the arrival of the first shipment of reactors, and on completing the required components for demonstration testing and early-stage production, including the vent gas recovery system and key infrastructure, such as electric power. The Company has already taken delivery of the first six reactors, and expects the remaining ten from the first order to arrive in the first half of calendar year 2009. The second order of twelve reactors is expected to arrive in Pocatello beginning in the second half of calendar year 2009.

"We continue actively working to mitigate the impact of delayed customer prepayments, but now expect that this may result in a shift of our planned production demonstration from the first quarter of calendar year 2009 to the second quarter of calendar year 2009," Mr. Shindo said. "Looking ahead, this may also cause us to shift our planned first commercial shipment from the first half of 2009 to the second half of 2009. As before, we plan to ramp-up production throughout the second half of calendar year 2009 and into calendar year 2010, when we expect to reach full production capability. We expect this revised schedule will still allow us to meet all delivery obligations to our current customers, and we will continue managing our project to ensure this remains the case."

Mr. Shindo concluded, "Viewed in terms of market conditions and expected customer prepayments, this has been a challenging quarter. However, we have taken a proactive approach to managing these challenges: adjusting capital expenditures where required; amending customer agreements when necessary; and developing a number of viable contingency financing strategies to resolve the current funding shortfall. As a result, we continue to make progress on our polysilicon project and fully expect to meet our contractual commitments to our customers."

Polysilicon Plant Financing Update

Hoku Materials continues to estimate that it will cost approximately $390 million to engineer, procure and construct its polysilicon production plant, and does not believe it will need to procure any additional equipment to increase the original planned production from 3,500 to 4,000 metric tons.

Hoku had received $98.5 million in prepayment deposits from its current customers as of December 31, 2008, and in January 2009, received subsequent prepayments from Jinko Solar in the amount of $7.5 million, for a total of $106 million received to date. As of December 31, 2008, the construction-in-progress for the project was $140.2 million.

Hoku had previously confirmed that Wealthy Rise International, Ltd. (Solargiga) had failed to make prepayment deposits in the aggregate amount of $43 million, which, according to the terms of its contract, are past due. Hoku reported that the two companies remained in discussions to resolve the late payments, and that it expects to either amend its contract with Solargiga, or terminate the sales agreement altogether. In the event Hoku terminates the Solargiga agreement, Hoku expects to supplement the unmet prepayment commitments by reselling the polysilicon capacity to other current or future customers.

Notwithstanding Solargiga's current default, Hoku plans to fund the project cost through a combination of customer prepayment commitments, cash generated through operating activities, and through one or more additional financing strategies.

"To replace unmet and revised customer prepayment commitments, we are actively working to reallocate Solargiga production capacity and recaptured Jinko Solar capacity, and we have seen a marked uptick recently in new business inquiries," said Dustin Shindo. "And, while current market conditions are certainly not favorable for financing, our shelf registration statement remains active, so we have additional flexibility, should the markets improve over the coming quarters."

If required, Hoku has said it has the ability to defer some of its planned capital expenditure by delaying the construction of its trichlorosilane (TCS) production facility and purchasing TCS on a contract basis from a North American supplier. The Company has also reported that additional capital expenditure reductions may be possible by further delaying the arrival of additional reactors, while still ensuring enough production capacity to fulfill its current contractual obligations.

Mr. Shindo commented: "With the ongoing support of our customers and partners -- especially our project engineers, contractors and equipment providers -- we have successfully navigated a challenging quarter and look forward to resolving the current uncertainty regarding our contract with Solargiga. We also are increasingly optimistic about the outlook for establishing new polysilicon sales relationships."

Hoku Solar Update

The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Hoku Solar, Inc., markets, sells and installs turnkey photovoltaic, or PV, power systems in Hawaii.

Commenting on Hoku Solar, Mr. Shindo said, "We continued to build our Hawaii-focused PV installation business during the past quarter, completing the installation of nearly 40 kilowatts of clean solar power for Xcel International (Billabong) and initiating the installation of the first two of seven projects for the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, Airports Division (DOTA). We also successfully secured the financing for the DOTA projects by establishing a joint venture with U.S. Bancorp and United Fund Advisors."

Mr. Shindo continued, "During the upcoming quarter, Hoku Solar expects to complete the installation of all seven airport PV systems, and will focus on the financing and delivery of other pipeline PV integration projects."

Summary

"In summary, like many companies, we have been affected by the adverse macroeconomic conditions over the past quarter. However, we have been able to mitigate the long-term impacts through careful planning and conservative cash management," said Mr. Shindo. "Importantly, we believe Hoku Materials remains well-positioned for on-time delivery of polysilicon to our current customers. We have financing options, flexibility in our project CAPEX model and the continued, invaluable support of our customers and our project team -- including our engineering and construction partners, and our key equipment suppliers."

Mr. Shindo continued, "In Hawaii, Hoku Solar is in the process of completing the largest PV installation to date for the State government, so we continue to see good results from our ongoing efforts to grow our PV systems installation business."

"Thus, in both our solar installation and polysilicon businesses, a combination of strong partnerships, strategic planning and proactive management has allowed us to continue making progress, despite very challenging external market conditions. We are pleased by the results of this approach and expect to continue building momentum throughout 2009," concluded Mr. Shindo.

Hoku Scientific Tapped For Xcel Solar Project

HALEIWA, HI--(Marketwire - October 1, 2008) - The Xcel Building, owned by Ed D'Ascoli, founder and president of Xcel International, Inc. (Xcel), has selected Hoku Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU) that designs, engineers and installs turnkey photovoltaic (PV) power systems, to install a PV power system on the Xcel Building.

Located in the historic town of Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu (Hawaii), the Xcel Building is Xcel's headquarters and manufacturing facility. Hoku Solar plans to install a 34-kilowatt PV system, expected to generate more than 53,500 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable solar electricity each year and will contribute directly to Xcel's ongoing corporate sustainability initiative.

Once installed, Xcel's PV system is expected to produce enough electricity over its lifetime to power the equivalent of 151 homes for one year, and offset more than 885 tons of carbon dioxide emissions -- the equivalent of removing more than 57 cars from Hawaii's roadways.

"Hoku is pleased to partner with Ed D'Ascoli and the Xcel Building on this exciting project," said Dustin Shindo, chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific. "Commercial scale PV systems make proven business sense in Hawaii, and we are proud to have been selected to help integrate clean, sustainable power into Xcel's operations."

"Xcel is focused on finding meaningful ways to reduce our environmental footprint that make good business sense," said Ed D'Ascoli, founder and president of Xcel. "Our company was built on a passion for the ocean, so we are mission-compelled to do everything we can -- as a company and as individuals -- to implement sustainable strategies into our core business. And, like Xcel, Hoku is a global company with deep local roots committed to our community and environment. We saw a natural fit between our companies."

Hoku Scientific Announces Investors Conference Call

KAPOLEI, HI--(Marketwire - July 2, 2008) - Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU), a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, announced today that it will hold a conference call with investors and analysts on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss results for the Company's first quarter fiscal year 2009 ended June 30, 2008 and the Company's business outlook.

The news release announcing the first quarter fiscal year 2009 results will be disseminated over a national wire service on July 16, 2008 after the market close. The press release will be posted at the Company's website: www.hokuscientific.com.

The dial-in number for the live audio call beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time is (719) 325-4911. A live webcast of the conference call will be available on Hoku's website at www.hokuscientific.com.

A replay of the call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call via the web at www.hokuscientific.com. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay until the Company's conference call to discuss its financial results for its second quarter of fiscal year 2009.

Hoku Scientific Moves Forward On Polysilicon Plant

KAPOLEI, HI--(Marketwire - December 5, 2007) - Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU) today announced that it has signed a non-binding term sheet with Merrill Lynch for Hoku Materials, Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary, to borrow approximately up to $185 million for the construction, procurement and start-up of its planned polysilicon production plant in Pocatello, Idaho. The closing of the loan and the availability of the funds to Hoku Materials is subject to several conditions, including the completion by Merrill Lynch of its due diligence, the negotiation and execution of definitive loan and collateral documents, and the receipt of third-party consents. In addition, prior to receiving any of the loan proceeds, Hoku Scientific will be required to provide Hoku Materials with approximately $35 million in cash for use in the construction of the planned polysilicon plant. To meet this and other capital requirements, Hoku Scientific will be required to secure additional financing.

"Signing this term sheet is a milestone step towards financing the construction of our polysilicon plant," said Dustin Shindo, Chief Executive Officer of Hoku Scientific.

The Pocatello facility is expected to produce approximately 2,500 metric tons of solar-grade polysilicon per year when it is running at full capacity, and the first customer shipments are planned for the beginning of 2009. Hoku recently announced plans for Phase II of its planned polysilicon facilities, which would increase its capacity beyond 2,500 metric tons per year to meet its obligations to Solarfun Power Hong Kong Limited. Hoku began construction in May 2007 of its Phase I, 2,500 metric tons per year, facility, and estimates that total construction costs for Phase I will be approximately $290 million.

In addition to the loan and Hoku's cash contribution, Hoku's customers, SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., Global Expertise Wafer Division Ltd., and Solarfun Power Hong Kong Limited, have committed to prepay a combined total of approximately $240 million for future product shipments to support Hoku's construction and start-up costs. Receipt by Hoku of these prepayments is subject to Hoku's successful completion of specified plant construction, process implementation and production milestones.

This non-binding term sheet will expire on the earlier of the termination of negotiations between the parties or May 31, 2008. In addition, as the term sheet is preliminary and non-binding there may be additional material closing conditions required in connection with any transaction.

Hoku Scientific Sinks 250 mil Into Solar Power

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - 5:16 PM HAST Tuesday

Hoku Scientific says it will invest $250 million to enter the solar power market.
The move comes less than a week after the U.S. Navy agreed to use the first two of 10 Hoku-manufactured fuel cell power plants at Pearl Harbor Naval Station. That caused Hoku's stock price to increase 40 percent.
"Our plans to enter the solar power market represents the logical extension of our business as a provider of clean-energy technologies, and complements our core fuel cell business," said Dustin Shindo, chairman, president and CEO of Hoku Scientific (Nasdaq: HOKU).
Kapolei-based Hoku plans to manufacture the solar fuel cells in Singapore and will call the project "Hoku Solar." Hoku Solar hopes to have a manufacturing capacity of 30 megawatts per year by the second half of 2007.