Press Releases

TORONTO, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (Clear Blue or “the Company”) (TSXV: CBLU) (FRANKFURT: 0YA), the Smart Off-Grid™ company, today reported its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Key Financial Results (all figures in Canadian dollars)

• Clear Blue’s offices were closed in March 2020 as a result of COVID-19, impacting our ability to ship and recognize revenue for Q1. As a result, trailing Four Quarterly (TFQ) Revenue of $3,869,206, a 2% increase over the previous period;
• Quarterly revenues of $238,171 in Q1, a 30% decrease over Q1 2019;
• TFQ Gross Margin percentage decreased from 25.1% to 22.3%, a reduction resulting from a new allocation, beginning in Q4 2019 as a result of our scale, to record direct service cost expenses to Gross Margin. Without this, TFQ Gross Margin increased to 25.6%;
• Q1 2020 Gross Margin percentage of 32%, relative to 31% in Q1 2019;
• On a TFQ basis, Adjusted EBITDA (see Non-IFRS Measures) was $(3,703,721) versus $(5,063,072) in 2019, a 27% improvement. Q1 Adjusted EBITDA was ($903,424) versus (1,387,771), a 35% improvement;
• Clear Blue has undertaken a strong cost reduction plan as a general part of its overall 2020 plan to improve its EBITDA. In addition, additional cost reductions were undertaken in March to mitigate the short-term impact of COVID-19. Additionally, a number of government COVID-19 funding programs have been obtained in order to assist in funding of salaries over the period.

Subsequent Events

The period following the quarter end on March 31, 2020 was notable for the Company with the following outcomes:

• On April 20, 2020, the Company announced the signing of a Large Rollout project with an initial purchase order for 50 units of a planned multi-year 500-unit sale. The contract envisages 2020 sales for Clear Blue of an estimated $3.5 million;
• On April 14, 2020, the Company arranged additional liquidity through a $5 million loan from BDC Capital Inc. The Company has received the first $2 million tranche with an additional $3 million available by meeting certain financial milestones.

Chief Executive Officer Remarks 

As with most firms, the pandemic has had an impact on Clear Blue. However, we have a number of factors that bode well for our future:

• The majority of Clear Blue’s revenue is in the second half of the year, so the timing of our shut down could minimize the impact;
• We believe the telecommunications sector is a critical industry, illustrated by our dependence upon online services through this period. Coming out of the pandemic, we believe that telecommunications services will be in great demand, boding well for our telecom vertical;
• Additionally, as many in industry and government are now discussing, post pandemic economic stimulus and investments may be focused on climate change, which bodes well for our business across all verticals and geographies.

Clear Blue’s team has been working hard through this period reading ourselves for the next level of scale that we anticipate for 2020. While the future has a great degree of uncertainty, we are optimistic and working very hard on all fronts to ensure we emerge as the industry leader with strong growth and returns for our shareholders as well as beneficial technologies and services for our customers.

Q1 2020 Revenue and Gross Margin

TFQ revenue for the period ended March 31, 2020, impacted by the office shutdown due to the pandemic, was $3,869,206, an increase of 2% over revenue of 3,795,626 in the TFQ period ended March 31, 2019. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $238,170 a decrease of 30% over Q1 2019 revenue of $340,266.

On a TFQ basis, gross margin was $862,030, a decrease of 10% over TFQ gross margin of $954,081 for the previous equivalent TFQ period, the decrease due to new allocations out of operating expenses and into COGs. Without that, gross margin would have been $992,161 or 25.64%. Gross profit was $77,134 or 32% for the period ended March 31, 2020, an increase from 31% the same period in 2019.

Q1 2020 Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the TFQ ended March 31, 2020 were 5,426,746, a decrease of $765,893 or 12% compared to the same period in 2019. Quarterly, operating expenses decreased by $253,905 or 17% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2020 versus 2019.

Non-IFRS Adjusted EBITDA

The company now reports Non-IFRS Adjusted EBITDA. For the TFQ, adjusted EBITDA was $(3,703,721) as compared to $(5,063,072) for the previous TFQ. Quarterly, Q1 2020 Adjusted EBITDA was $(903,424), a 35% improvement over Q1 2019.

Q1 2020 Net loss and comprehensive loss

TFQ net loss of the period ended March 31, 2020 was $(3,703,721) compared to $(5,063,072) for the TFQ ended March 31, 2019, a 27% improvement. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of ($1,100,790) versus to a net loss of ($1,467,859) in Q1 2019, which is a 25% improvement.

Outlook

Clear Blue competes in a marketplace where most competitors focus on large, on-grid systems or on one-time sales of hardware products. The Company’s focus is on the wireless off-grid market and our business model focuses on an ongoing Energy as a Service where customers receive long term assurance of reliable power. For this service, the Company is paid additional revenue over time for that reliability. As a result, Clear Blue maintains its first mover advantage through the experience generated from more than 5,000 units deployed in 37 countries and more than 2.4 million days of operating data generated by managing these facilities from our Toronto headquarters. This data and our operational track record are significant competitive advantages in every potential sale.

Q1 has traditionally been a slow quarter for Clear Blue. In 2018 and 2019, Q1 represented 9% of the full year revenue. As a result, the results from Q1 2020 may not have a meaningful impact on the full year 2020 results. That being said, the continued shut down and slow down due to the pandemic, the longer it occurs, could begin to impact Clear Blue more significantly. As of today, our book of sales is higher than it was last year, but some of the large contracts we expected, while still ongoing, are materializing more slowly due to disruptions in our customers’ operations.

Our focus on expense management and our previous R&D investments are beginning to yield stronger bottom line results, with a 35% improvement on the bottom line. We believe our continued efforts will yield positive results in that respect.

For guidance, we have previously provided forecasts of telecom Proof of Concept, First Installs, and Rollout orders as a measure of future opportunity. While these activities are continuing to progress, the speed and pace of these initiatives may be affected by COVID-19 related shutdowns. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company cannot provide an estimate of similar projects for 2020 at this time, although it has already received orders for one new POC and 1 First Install in 2021.

From a long-term perspective, management believes its market potential remains very strong. This confidence derives from the Company's strong sales funnel and continued customer interest throughout this period. Additionally, the company believes that the telecom sector and clean energy marketplace will be areas of key investment and growth for the coming years, positioning Clear Blue as a company with strong growth potential.

Conference Call 
The Company will host a conference call to discuss its latest financial results at 11:00 AM Eastern Time (Canada/U.S.) on Thursday, 28th of May 2020. Those interested can register at

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sG3jLx3iR1GIcaoRw5xz4Q

About Clear Blue Technologies International 
Clear Blue Technologies International, the Smart Off-Grid™ company, was founded on a vision of delivering clean, managed, “wireless power” to meet the global need for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid power for lighting, telecom, security, Internet of Things devices, and other mission-critical systems. Today, Clear Blue has thousands of systems under management across 35 countries, including the U.S. and Canada. Clear Blue is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol CBLU.

Legal Disclaimer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Resulting Issuer’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Clear Blue's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information contained herein may include, but is not limited to, information concerning the prospective operating results and performance of the Company, including the potential for a successful Rollout project win in 2020.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Resulting Issuer is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Resulting Issuer to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements.

An investment in securities of the Resulting Issuer is speculative and subject to several risks including, without limitation, the risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Resulting Issuer's listing application dated July 12, 2018. Although the Resulting Issuer has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

In connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Resulting Issuer has made certain assumptions. Although the Resulting Issuer believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Resulting Issuer does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Resulting Issuer or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Media Contact:
Becky Nye
Director
Montieth & Company
155 E 44th St., New York, NY 10017
bnye@montiethco.com
+1 646.864.3517

Investor Relations:
Miriam Tuerk
Co-Founder and CEO
+1 (855) 733-0119 x200
investors@clearbluetechnologies.com
http://www.clearbluetechnologies.com/en/investors