Danbury Business Dodges Debtors, Shuffles Execs

DANBURY, CT — FuelCell Energy, Inc. released its quarterly earnings report last week which revealed some new executive appointments as well as a slightly rosier debt outlook. The alternative energy manufacturer has its headquarters in Danbury and production facilities in Torrington.

On Sept. 12, the company's Board of Directors appointed its president and CEO, Jason Few, as its chief commercial officer. Few takes over that role from Jennifer D. Arasimowicz, who was appointed the company’s new chief administrative officer. Arasimowicz will continue to serve as the company’s general counsel, corporate secretary, and executive vice president. Arasimowiczserved as president in a temporary capacity following the employment termination of Chip Bottone on June 5.

The company also sold off approximately 34.4 million shares of its common stock at an average sale price of $0.42 per share, according to the Form 8-K filed, and raised aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $14.6 million before deducting expenses and commissions. The company used $2.1 million of that to pay down some of its debt to Hercules Capital, leaving approximately $3.6 million on the loan. The company announced it will be paying an additional $2.2 million to Hercules this week. The payments back FuelCell away from defaulting on the loan, based on the terms of its agreement, and from bankruptcy.

The bullet may have been dodged, but that freight train is still speeding down the track. FuelCell reported an $8.3 million loss for its third fiscal quarter ending in July, and the news that it has not sold a fuel cell power plant in six months. The company reported unrestricted cash reserves at the end of July of about $16 million.

On the year, shares of FuelCell have dived 93.94 percent, with highs and lows between $0.13 and $13.68.