EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Beyond Meat Inc. released its first quarterly earnings report since the company’s initial public offering. For the first quarter ended March 30, 2019, the company had a net loss of $6.6 million, or a loss of $0.95 per common share, compared to a net loss of $5.7 million, or a loss of $0.98 per common share in the year-ago period.

The expanded net loss was driven by higher operating expenses, higher interest expense and an increase in other non-operating expenses, a majority of which were related to mark-to-market adjustments on outstanding warrants, partially offset by the increase in gross profit, the company said.

Net revenues for the first quarter were $40.2 million, compared to $12.8 million in the first quarter of 2018. The company attributed the result to an increase in sales of the Beyond Burger, expansion in retail and foodservice distribution and greater consumer demand. Beyond Meat also discontinued its frozen chicken strips product line during the first quarter, causing a decline in the company’s revenues from frozen products.

“We are very pleased with our successful IPO during the month of May and our strong first quarter financial results that we believe demonstrate mainstream consumers’ desire for plant-based meat products in the United States and internationally,” said Ethan Brown, president and CEO. “Our team continued to scale our business in both retail and foodservice as we benefited from broad-based growth in the first quarter. Looking ahead, we believe we are in the early stages of achieving the growth that Beyond Meat is capable of as we remain focused on efforts to increase brand awareness, expand our distribution channels, launch additional innovative products, and invest in our infrastructure and capacity to be able to serve a robust global market for plant-based meats.”

The company reported pro forma basic and diluted net loss per common share, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, was $0.14 per common share in the first quarter of 2019 compared to $0.13 per common share a year ago.

Beyond Meat narrowed its losses from operations in the first quarter to $5.3 million from $5.6 million in the first quarter of 2018. The company said, “This improvement was driven entirely by the year-over-year increase in gross profit, partially offset by higher operating expenses as the company continues to invest in its internal research and development and marketing capabilities and incur higher absolute costs to support its expanded manufacturing and supply chain operations.”

Gross profit for the first quarter was $10.8 million, or 26.8 percent as a percentage of net revenues, compared to $2.1 million, or 16.1 percent as a percentage of net revenues, in the year-ago period. The result primarily was due to more product sold and improved production efficiencies.

“We are pleased with our expansion in gross margin and the progress we are achieving in adjusted EBITDA, which gives us confidence in our ability to continue to improve profitability and cash flow generation as we rapidly scale our business,” said Mark Nelson, CFO and treasurer.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $2.1 million compared to a loss of $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2018.

For the full year, the company expects net revenues to exceed $210 million compared to 2018, and adjusted EBITDA to approximately break-even.