AMRI reported financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 and provided an update to its outlook for 2017.
Total revenue for the first quarter of 2017 was $163.8 million, an increase of 55%, compared to total revenue of $105.6 million reported in the first quarter of 2016.
Total contract revenue for the first quarter of 2017 was $160.2 million, an increase of 56% compared to contract revenue of $102.8 million reported in the first quarter of 2016, and organic contract revenue increased 7%.
Contract gross margin was 23% for the first quarter of 2017, consistent with contract gross margin for the first quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP contract gross margin was 27% in the first quarter of 2017, consistent with the first quarter of 2016 and reflects increased gross margin within our Drug Product (DP) business, offset by the addition of Euticals' Fine Chemicals (FC) and API businesses.
Recurring royalty revenue in the first quarter of 2017 was $3.6 million, an increase of 31% from $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2016 due primarily to the addition of royalties resulting from our collaboration partner's sales of nitroprusside.
General and administrative (SG&A) expense in the first quarter of 2017 was $33.4 million, up 36% from $24.6 million in the first quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP SG&A expense in the first quarter of 2017 was $27.0 million, up 47% from $18.4 million in the first quarter of 2016, due largely to additional SG&A from the Euticals' acquisition and investments we have made in key support functions.
Net loss was $10.7 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared to $10.1 million for the first quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP net income in the first quarter was $5.7 million compared to $2.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2016.
Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2017 was $24 million, an increase of $11 million or 83%, compared to the first quarter of 2016.
At March 31, 2017, AMRI had cash and cash equivalents of $35.2 million, compared to $52 million at December 31, 2016. During the first quarter of 2017, the company used cash of $6.4 million in operating activities primarily due to the timing of payments attributable to severance, employee compensation and benefits and payments to vendors that were primarily incurred and accrued as of December 31, 2016, as well as payments associated with increased inventory levels during the period. These outflows were partially offset by collections from customers during the period. Additionally, the company used cash of $4.1 million in investing activities, primarily attributable to $3.9 million of capital expenditures, and we used cash of $7.2 million in financing activities, primarily related to the principal payments of long-term debt of $4.0 million and net repayments on short-term borrowings of $2.0 million.
API contract revenue for the first quarter of 2017 increased 90% compared to the first quarter of 2016, due to $43.4 million of incremental revenue from our Euticals' API business and organic growth.
API contract gross margin for the first quarter of 2017 decreased 3 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2016, primarily due to gross margins attributable to Euticals as compared to our legacy API business. API non-GAAP contract gross margin for the first quarter of 2017 decreased 4 percentage points from the first quarter of 2016 also as a result of lower margins of Euticals' API business as compared to our legacy API business.
DP contract revenue for the first quarter of 2017 decreased 10% compared to the first quarter of 2016, primarily due to timing of shipments and planned site maintenance activities, partially offset by higher collaboration arrangement revenue. DP contract gross margin and non-GAAP contract gross margin for the first quarter 2017 both increased 9 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2016, primarily driven by the strong operational performance at the Albuquerque, NM facility.