Clear Blue Technologies Announces Q3 2022 Financial Results
December 5, 2022
Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. announces its financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2022 (“Q3 2022”). A complete set of Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion & Analysis (“MD&A”) has been filed at www.sedar.com. All dollar amounts are denominated in Canadian dollars.
Key Financial Results
On a Trailing Four Quarter (“TFQ”) basis:
- Revenue was $4,090,017 for the TFQ ending Q3 2022, down from $9,021,716. The decline in revenue was due to customer delays in site deployments as a result of supply chain shortages of telecom equipment, capital project spending delays, and cumulative global economic issues over the last three years;
- TFQ Recurring Revenue was $736,969, a 51% increase from $488,136 in the corresponding TFQ of 2021;
- Gross profit percentage was up 1% to 30% from 29% in the prior TFQ period of 2021. This represented a gross profit of $1,238,245 as compared to $2,607,287 for the prior period;
- Non-IFRS Adjusted EBITDA was $(3,792,410) versus $(2,558,365) for the previous TFQ of 2021.
For Q3 2022:
- Revenues were $451,421. Q3 revenue was adversely impacted by $1.1M due to an unfulfilled Q3 order and a Q1 order reversal because of customer non-payment. Additionally, a key telecom customer delayed a $1M project due to a supply chain issue with their telecom equipment component availability, which is now expected in 2023;
- Bookings were $1,814,037, up 18% from $1,536,118 as of December 31, 2021;
- Recurring revenue comprised $142,940 of total revenue and increased 14% from $125,612 in Q3 2021. Ongoing services revenue is expected to increase yearly as more units are deployed;
- Gross profit was $135,575 or 30% compared to $882,139 or 39% for Q3 2021;
- Quarterly Non-IFRS Adjusted EBITDA was $(987,427) versus $(336,282) in Q3 2021.
Key Balance Sheet Updates:
- The Company was awarded a $5-million R&D grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The grant will fund the development of Clear Blue’s Pico-Grid product, as well as enable Clear Blue to bring machine learning artificial intelligence into its industry-leading management cloud platform, Illumience. The first tranche of this grant is expected in Q4 2022;
- The Company received the first monthly payment from the $4-million interest-free non-dilutive financing agreement that it was awarded from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The funds from this financing will provide monthly cash payments to the Company until March 2024;
- The above two non-dilutive financings will provide coverage for approximately 60% of the Company’s net cash burn monthly expenses. As a result, the Company expects to achieve net zero cash burn in 2023, even taking into consideration a very conservative budget for the year. Moreover, with recent cost-cutting initiatives in place, the Company expects to reach positive adjusted EBITDA at approximately $8 million in annual revenue, down from a previous $12-$14M revenue needed for positive adjusted EBITDA;
- Management has the ability to reduce costs and add capital to the business in order to ensure a net zero cash burn for 2023.
Management Commentary and Outlook
While Clear Blue was able to deliver strong growth in 2020 and 2021, the cumulative effects of three years of Covid-19, supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine and the current global economy have impacted the Company’s 2022 results. The YTD results reflect the impact of this and were specifically impacted by over $2.1 million in revenue from two customers – one who was unable to secure their financing and another who is experiencing a delay in the shipping of the telecommunications equipment that Clear Blue powers.
Clear Blue anticipates that Q4, too, will continue to be a soft quarter. From a guidance perspective, the Company now believes that many customers are currently deferring much of the remainder of their 2022 plans to 2023. With this increased level of customer caution, the Company now expects its 2022 year-end results to come in below the guidance range reported in August.
“During Q3, Clear Blue’s most critical focus was to secure its balance sheet and ensure sufficient working capital to manage through this uncertain economic period that is affecting many of our customers and prospects,” said Miriam Tuerk, CEO of Clear Blue. “The $9-million grant and interest-free loan that we secured from the Government of Canada provides a strong foundation to grow our business over the next 18 months. As a result, we expect the Company to be in a cash-flow-neutral position even with very conservative revenue assumptions.
From a medium- and long-term perspective, Clear Blue has a very robust $400 million sales pipeline. The Company’s confidence in the prospects for revenue growth is largely driven by a strong level of customer interest in solar, which we see accelerating, and we have early Bookings that give us visibility for strong growth in the first half of 2023.”
