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RCON > SEC Filings for RCON > Form 10-Q on 15-May-2012All Recent SEC Filings

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Form 10-Q for RECON TECHNOLOGY, LTD


15-May-2012

Quarterly Report


Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis of our company's financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.

Overview

We are a company with limited liability incorporated in 2007 under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Headquartered in Beijing, we provide products and services to oil and gas companies and their affiliates through our contractually controlled affiliates ("variable interest entities" or "VIEs"), Beijing BHD Petroleum Technology Co. Ltd. ("BHD") and Nanjing Recon Technology Co., Ltd. ("Nanjing Recon," and, together with BHD, the "Domestic Companies"). We are the center of strategic management, financial control and human resources allocation for the Domestic Companies. Jining ENI Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("ENI") was previously one of our contractually controlled affiliates until December 16, 2010, when we ceased to have the power to direct its activities following a change of ownership. As a result of such change, ENI ceased to be our VIE starting December 16, 2010.

Through our contractual relationships with the Domestic Companies, we provide equipment, tools and other hardware related to oilfield production and management, and develop and sell our own specialized industrial automation control and information solutions. However, we do not engage in the production of petroleum or petroleum products.

Our business is mainly focused on the upstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. We derive our revenues from the sales and provision of (1) hardware products, (2) software products and (3) services. Our products and services involve most of the key procedures of the extraction and production of oil and gas, and include automation systems, equipment, tools and on-site technical services. For the nine months ended March 31, 2012, 91.90% of our revenues came from the sales of hardware and 8.10% from software. For the same period of 2011, 96.94% of our revenues came from the sales of hardware and 3.36% from software.

Our VIEs provide the oil and gas industry with equipment, production technologies and automation and services.

• Nanjing Recon: Nanjing Recon is a high-tech company that specializes in automation services for oilfield companies. It mainly focuses on providing automation solutions to the oil exploration industry, including monitoring wells, automatic metering to the joint station production, process monitor, and a variety of oilfield equipment and control systems.

• BHD: BHD is a high-tech company that specializes in transportation equipment and stimulation productions and services. Possessing proprietary patents and substantial industry experience, BHD has built up stable and strong working relationships with the major oilfields in China.

Products and Services

We provide the following three types of integrated products and services for our customers.

Equipment for Oil and Gas Production and Transportation

High-Efficiency Heating Furnaces. Crude petroleum contains certain impurities that must be removed before it can be sold, including water and natural gas. To remove the impurities and to prevent solidification and blockage in transport pipes, companies employ heating furnaces. BHD researched, implemented and developed a new oilfield furnace that is advanced, highly automated, reliable, easily operable, safe and highly heat-efficient (90% efficiency).

Burner. We serve as an agent for the Unigas Burner, which is designed and manufactured by UNIGAS, a European burning equipment production company. The burner we provide has the following characteristics: high degree of automation, energy conservation, high turn-down ratio, high security and environmental safety.

I-1

Oil and Gas Production Improvement Techniques

Packers of Fracturing. This utility model is used in concert with the security joint, hydraulic anchor, and slide brushing of sand spray in the well. It is used for easy seat sealing and sand-up prevention. The utility model reduces desilting volume and prevents sand-up, which makes the deblocking processes easier to realize. The back flushing is sand-stick proof.

Production Packer. At varying withdrawal points, the production packer separates different oil layers and protects the oil pipe from sand and permeation, promoting the recovery ratio.

Fissure Shaper. This is our proprietary product that is used along with a perforating gun to effectively increase perforation depth by between 46% and 80%, shape stratum fissures, improve stratum diversion capability and, as a result, improve our ability to locate oilfields and increase the output of oil wells.

Sand Prevention in Oil and Water Well. This technique processes additives that are resistant to elevated temperatures into "resin sand" which is transported to the bottom of the well via carrying fluid. The "resin sand" goes through the borehole, pilling up and compacting at the borehole and oil vacancy layer. An artificial borehole wall is then formed, functioning as a means of sand prevention. This sand prevention technique has been adapted to more than 100 wells, including heavy oil wells, light oil wells, water wells and gas wells, with a 100% success rate and a 98% effective rate.

Water Locating and Plugging Technique. High water cut affects the normal production of oilfields. Previously, there was no sophisticated method for water locating and tubular column plugging in China. The mechanical water locating and tubular column plugging technique we have developed resolves the problem of high water cut wells. This technique conducts a self-sealing test during multi-stage usage and is reliable to separate different production sets effectively. The water location switch forms a complete set by which the water locating and plugging can be finished in one trip. The tubular column is adaptable to several oil drilling methods and is available for water locating and plugging in second and third class layers.

Fracture Acidizing. We inject acid to layers under pressure, which can form or expand fissures. The treatment process of the acid is defined as fracture acidizing. The technique is mainly adapted to oil and gas wells that are blocked up relatively deeply, or the ones in the zones of low permeability.

Electronic Break-Down Service. This service resolves block-up and freezing problems by generating heat from the electric resistivity of the drive pipe and utilizing a loop tank composed of an oil pipe and a drive pipe. This technique saves energy and is environment friendly. It can increase the production of oilfields that are in the middle and later periods.

Automation System and Services

Pumping Unit Controller. Functions as a monitor to the pumping unit, and also collects data for load, pressure, voltage, and startup and shutdown control.

RTU Monitor. Collects gas well pressure data.

Wireless Dynamometer and Wireless Pressure Gauge. These products replace wired technology with cordless displacement sensor technology. They are easy to install and significantly reduce the work load associated with cable laying.

Electric Multi-way Valve for Oilfield Metering Station Flow Control. This multi-way valve is used before the test separator to replace the existing three valve manifolds. It facilitates the electronic control of the connection of the oil lead pipeline with the separator.

Natural Gas Flow Computer System. The flow computer system is used in natural gas stations and gas distribution stations to measure flow.

Recon SCADA Oilfield Monitor and Data Acquisition System. Recon SCADA is a system which applies to the oil well, measurement station, and the union station for supervision and data collection.

EPC Service of Pipeline SCADA System. A service technique for pipeline monitoring and data acquisition after crude oil transmission.

EPC Service of Oil and Gas Wells SCADA System. A service technique for monitoring and data acquisition of oil wells and natural gas wells.

EPC Service of Oilfield Video Surveillance and Control System. A video surveillance technique for controlling the oil and gas wellhead area and the measurement station area.

I-2

Technique Service for "Digital Oilfield" Transformation. Includes engineering technique services such as oil and gas SCADA system, video surveillance and control system and communication systems.

Factors Affecting Our Business

Business Outlook

The oilfield engineering and technical service industry is generally divided into five sections: (1) exploration, (2) drilling and completion, (3) testing and logging, (4) production and (5) oilfield construction. Thus far our businesses have only been involved in production. Our management plans to expand our core business, move into new markets, and develop new businesses. Management anticipates great opportunities both in new markets and our existing markets. We believe that many existing wells and oilfields need to improve or renew their equipment and service to maintain production, and techniques and services like ours will be needed as new oil and gas fields are developed. In the next three years, we will focus on:

Measuring Equipment and Service. Our priority is the development of our well, pipeline and oilfield SCADA engineering project contracting service, oilfield video surveillance and control system, and reforming technical support service. According to conservative estimates, the potential market for our wireless indicator and remote monitoring system (SCADA) is approximately ¥5 billion.

Market Demand for Gathering and Transferring Equipment. (1) Furnace. We estimate the total market demand in China for furnaces like ours at about 2,000 units per year, of which 500 are expected to come from new wells and 1,500 are expected to come from reconstruction of old wells. The potential market is estimated at ¥800 million (approximately $121 million) based on an average price of ¥400,000 (approximately $60,498) per furnace. (2) Oil/water separator. We estimate the total market demand in China at about 800 units per year, of which 300 are expected to come from new wells and 500 are expected to come from reconstruction of old wells. The potential market is about ¥400 million (approximately $60 million) based on an average price of ¥500,000 (approximately $75,622). (3) Burner. We estimate the total market demand in China at about 5,000 units per year, of which 1,000 are expected to come from new wells and 4,000 are expected to come from reconstruction of old wells. The potential market is about ¥300 million (approximately $45 million) based on an average unit price of ¥60,000 (approximately $9,075).

New Business of Proprietary Oil/Water Separators and Horizontal Well Fracturing Technology. Among the products and services we provide to private oilfield companies, we are now offering our proprietary oil/water separators and horizontal well fracturing technology by establishing our own work team in this area. Our new business of proprietary oil/water separators and horizontal well fracturing technology has generated approximately ¥10 million revenues during the nine months ended March 31, 2012.

Growth Strategy

As a smaller domestic company, it is our basic strategy to focus on developing our onshore oilfield business, that is, the upstream of the industry. Due to the remote location and difficult environments of China's oil and gas fields, foreign competitors rarely enter those areas.

Large domestic oil companies prefer to focus on their exploration and development businesses to earn higher margins and keep their competitive advantage. With regard to private oilfield service companies, we estimate that approximately 90% specialize in the manufacture of drilling and production equipment. Thus, the market for technical support and project service is still in its early stage. Our management insists on providing high quality products and service in the oilfield where we have a geographical advantage. This allows us to avoid conflicts of interest with bigger suppliers of drilling equipment and keep our position within the market segment. Our mission is to increase the automation and safety levels of industrial petroleum production in China, and improve the underdeveloped working process and management mode by using advanced technologies. At the same time, we are always looking to improve our business and to increase our earning capability.

Industry and Recent Developments

Oilfield drilling and production equipment and engineering technique services are applied in the process of oil and gas extraction. Therefore, the exploration and exploitation activities of petroleum companies directly influences demand for oilfield technical services and corresponding equipment. The number of new oil and gas wells each year is a key indicator of the market and reflects the prosperity of the oilfield service industry. China is the world's second-largest petroleum producing country, with nearly 30,000 wells drilled and annual drill depths of 49,000,000 meters. In the long run, factors affecting the development of petroleum companies include prices of oil and gas, and China's national energy strategy. In the short to medium term, petroleum companies plan their development activities according to the level of demand.

I-3

Thus, the level of demand for oil and gas in the short- to medium-term affects the number of oil and gas wells. Meanwhile, well prospecting is done to ensure the supply of oil and gas in the medium to long term. At present, China is in shortage of oil and gas. The difference between supply and demand is growing. For the three state-owned petroleum companies, the top priority is to ensure the nation supply and to promote stable and increased oilfield production. The capital expenditures are determined by the national energy strategy to a large extent. Under such circumstances, despite the adverse domestic and international market conditions influencing the Chinese oil market in 2010 and 2011, the investment by petroleum companies to upstream prospecting and development continues to increase. Advanced oilfield drill equipment and technique services are in greater demand, as petroleum companies make efforts to promote effectiveness and reduce costs.

Recently, China's dependence on imported oil exceeded 50%, and an increasingly serious "gas shortage" also put stress on China's energy supply. The government has decided to invest more in the construction of gas storage and long-distance natural gas transportation pipeline. Our management believes our current product lines and experience in pipeline transportation and monitoring and development of automation products could help us grow rapidly and develop to be a leader in this segment of the oilfield service industry.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations - Generally

Our operating results in any period are subject to general conditions typically affecting the Chinese oilfield service industry including:

• the amount of spending by our customers, primarily those in the oil and gas industry;

• growing demand from large corporations for improved management and software designed to achieve such corporate performance;

• the procurement processes of our customers, especially those in the oil and gas industry;

• competition and related pricing pressure from other oilfield service solution providers, especially those targeting the Chinese oil and gas industry;

• the ongoing development of the oilfield service market in China; and

• inflation and other macroeconomic factors.

Unfavorable changes in any of these general conditions could negatively affect the number and size of the projects we undertake, the number of products we sell, the amount of services we provide, the price of our products and services, and otherwise affect our results of operations.

Our operating results in any period are more directly affected by company-specific factors including:

• our revenue growth, in terms of the proportion of our business dedicated to large companies and our ability to successfully develop, introduce and market new solutions and services;

• our ability to increase our revenues from both old and new customers in the oil and gas industry in China;

• our ability to effectively manage our operating costs and expenses; and

• our ability to effectively implement any targeted acquisitions and/or strategic alliances so as to provide efficient access to markets and industries in the oil and gas industry in China.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Estimates and Assumptions

We prepare our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP), which require us to make judgments, estimates and assumptions. We continually evaluate these estimates and assumptions based on the most recently available information, our own historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Since the use of estimates is an integral component of the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. An accounting policy is considered critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time such estimate is made, and if different accounting estimates that reasonably could have been used, or changes in the accounting estimates that are reasonably likely to occur periodically, could materially impact the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. We believe that the following policies involve a higher degree of judgment and complexity in their application and require us to make significant accounting estimates. The following descriptions of critical accounting policies, judgments and estimates should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and other disclosures included in this quarterly report. Significant accounting estimates reflected in our Company's unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, and useful lives of property and equipment.

I-4

Consolidation of VIEs

We recognize an entity as a VIE if it either (i) has insufficient equity to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or (ii) has equity investors who lack the characteristics of a controlling financial interest. We consolidate a VIE as its primary beneficiary when we have both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE.

Assets recognized as a result of consolidating VIEs do not represent additional assets that could be used to satisfy claims against our general assets. Conversely, liabilities recognized as a result of consolidating these VIEs do not represent additional claims on our general assets; rather, they represent claims against the specific assets of the consolidated VIEs.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue when the following four criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) delivery has occurred or services have been provided, (3) the sales price is fixed or determinable, and
(4) collectability is reasonably assured. Delivery does not occur until products have been shipped or services have been provided to the client and the client has signed a completion and acceptance report, risk of loss has transferred to the client, client acceptance provisions have lapsed, or we have objective evidence that the criteria specified in client acceptance provisions have been satisfied. The sales price is not considered to be fixed or determinable until all contingencies related to the sale have been resolved.

Hardware

Revenue from hardware sales is generally recognized when the product is shipped to the customer and when there are no unfulfilled company obligations that affect the customer's final acceptance of the arrangement.

Software

We sell self-developed software. For software sales, we recognize revenues in accordance with the provisions of ASC 985-605, "Software Revenue Recognition," and related interpretations. Revenue from software is recognized according to project contracts. Contract costs are accumulated during the periods of installation and testing or commissioning. Usually this is short term. Revenue is not recognized until completion of the contracts and receipt of acceptance statements.

Deferred income represents unearned amounts billed to customers related to sales contracts.

Cost of Revenues

When the criteria for revenue recognition have been met, costs incurred are recognized as cost of revenues. Cost of revenues includes wages, materials, handling charges, the cost of purchased equipment and pipes, and other expenses associated with manufactured products and services provided to customers. We expect cost of revenues to grow as our revenues grow. It is possible that we could incur development costs with little revenue recognition, but based upon our past history, we expect our revenues to grow.

Fair Values of Financial Instruments

The carrying amounts reported in the condensed consolidated balance sheets for trade accounts receivable, other receivables, purchase advances, trade accounts payable, accrued liabilities, advances from customers, short-term bank loan and short-term borrowings approximate fair value because of the immediate or short-term maturity of these financial instruments. Long-term other receivables approximate fair value because the interest rate approximates the market rate.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Trade receivables are carried at original invoiced amount less a provision for any potential uncollectible amounts. Provisions are applied to trade receivables where events or changes in circumstances indicate that the balance may not be collectible. The identification of doubtful accounts requires the use of judgment and estimates of management. Our management must make estimates of the collectability of our accounts receivable. Management specifically analyzes trade accounts receivable, historical bad debts, customer creditworthiness, current economic trends and changes in our customer payment terms when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts.

I-5

Property and Equipment



We record property and equipment at cost. We depreciate property and equipment
on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives using the following
annual rates:



                       Items                    Useful life
                       Motor vehicles            5-10 years
                       Office equipment           2-5 years
                       Leasehold improvements       5 years

We expense maintenance and repair expenditures as they do not improve or extend an asset's productive life. These estimates are reasonably likely to change in the future since they are based upon matters that are highly uncertain such as general economic conditions, potential changes in technology and estimated cash flows from the use of these assets.

Valuation of Long-Lived Assets

We review the carrying values of our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that they may not be recoverable. When such an event occurs, we project undiscounted cash flows to be generated from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition over the remaining life of the asset. If projections indicate that the carrying value of the long-lived asset will not be recovered, we reduce the carrying value of the long-lived asset by the estimated excess of the carrying value over the projected discounted cash flows. In the past, we have not had to make significant adjustments to the carrying values of our long-lived assets, and we do not anticipate a need to do so in the future. However, circumstances could cause us to have to reduce the value of our capitalized software more rapidly than we have in the past if our revenues were to significantly decline. Estimated cash flows from the use of the long-lived assets are highly uncertain and therefore the estimation of the need to impair these assets is reasonably likely to change in the future. Should the economy or acceptance of our software change in the future, it is likely that our estimate of the future cash flows from the use of these assets will change by a material amount.

Results of Operations

Three Months Ended March 31, 2012 Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2011

Our historical reporting results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period.

Revenues



                                          For the Three Months Ended March 31,
                                 2012            2011           Increase        Percentage
                                                                (Decrease)         Change
  Hardware                   ¥  8,987,916     ¥ 4,877,721     ¥  4,110,195            84.26 %
  Hardware-related parties      4,031,206       3,883,878          147,328             3.79 %
  Total revenues             ¥ 13,019,122     ¥ 8,761,599     ¥  4,257,523            48.59 %

Revenues. Our total revenues increased by 48.59%, or ¥4,257,523 ($673,158), from ¥8,761,599 for the three months ended March 31, 2011 to ¥13,019,122 ($2,058,457) for the same period of 2012. The increase in revenues for the three-month period was due mainly to the increase in hardware sales by ¥4,110,195 ($649,864), attributable to (i) the increase in revenue from the automation business by ¥4 million, mainly from our new client Sinopec's Southwest Branch, (ii) the increase in revenue from horizontal well fracturing by ¥2.7 million this quarter, and (iii) partially offset by the decrease in revenue from furnaces due to normal changes in client needs.

During the three months ended March 31, 2012, 68.97% of our revenues were generated directly through our business engagements with operating subsidiaries of CNPC and Sinopec. Long-term cooperation made it possible for us to improve our service quality, products' popularity and adaptability for a very limited number of customers. Further, this long-term cooperation improves our ability to collect receivables on time.

Cost and Margin



                                      For the Three Months Ended March 31,
                             2012            2011           Increase        Percentage
                                                            (Decrease)         Change
      Total revenues     ¥ 13,019,122     ¥ 8,761,599     ¥  4,257,523            48.59 %
      Cost of revenues      6,786,052       7,321,069         (535,017 )          (7.31 %)
      Gross profit       ¥  6,233,070     ¥ 1,440,530     ¥  4,792,540           332.69 %
      Margin %                  47.88 %         16.44 %          31.43 %

I-6

Cost of Revenues. Our cost of revenues includes costs related to the design, implementation, delivery and maintenance of our software solutions and raw materials. All materials and components we need can be purchased or manufactured under contract. Usually the prices for electronic components do not fluctuate substantially due to market competition, and we do not expect them to significantly affect our cost of revenues. However, specialized equipment and chemical products may be directly influenced by the price moves of metal and . . .

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