Liqtech International Inc Q1 FY2024 Earnings Call

All right. Thank you very much, Jason, and good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today for the LiqTech International First Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call for the period ending March 31, 2024. Joining us on today's call from the company are Fei Chen, Chief Executive Officer; and Phillip Price, the company's Interim Chief Financial Officer. Before I turn the call over to management, let me remind listeners that there will be an open Q&A session at the end of today's call. If you dialed in through the traditional teleconference line, you can press star then one to ask a question. If you are listening through the webcast portal and would like to ask a question, you can submit your question through the ask a question feature in the webcast player. We'll do our best to get to as many questions as possible. Before we begin with prepared remarks, we submit for the record the following statements. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements reflect the good faith and judgment of management, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those discussed during the conference call. The company, therefore, urges all listeners to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks that may affect our business, financial condition, operations and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the company's actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. The company, therefore, encourages all listeners not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which pertain only as of this date and the date of the release and conference call. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect any events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release and conference call. That said, I'd like to turn the call over to Fei Chen, CEO of LiqTech International. Fei, please proceed.

Thank you, Robert, and good day to everyone on the call. I am excited to have this opportunity to speak with you and hear an update on the solid progress we have made as we maintain our focus on delivering against the strategic plan we instituted over the past year to successfully stabilize and grow our business initially through our established markets and then position ourselves for incremental growth through our target markets. As a quick reminder, our established markets are markets where we have extensive customer bases and typically have reduced sales cycle times. This includes commercial pool systems, diesel particulate filters, marine scrubbers, and other areas where we have recurring revenue opportunities such as plastics. These established business markets provide a strong and stable base of revenue for LiqTech and allow us to gain manufacturing efficiencies by leveraging our existing production capacity. Our target markets include key markets where our high-performance silicon carbon ceramic membrane can provide customers with a strong return on their investments. This includes specific industry filtration applications to remove solid oil pathogens and heavy metals from water as well as compounds from emissions and industrial off-gases. These areas tend to have longer sales cycles, but it's our belief that if we align ourselves with great partners and establish key reference customers, the sales cycles will decrease and the large market opportunity will open up for LiqTech. I am pleased to report that strategy is working. As I assume most of you saw, we are expecting a significant step-up sequentially in revenue for the second quarter, with revenue to be between $5 million and $5.5 million. This would represent an approximate 20% to 30% sequential revenue growth. But before we talk about a few of the forward-looking expectations and the drivers for the strong second quarter we expect, let's first look back at the progress made during the first quarter. Revenues during quarter 1 increased 6% compared to Q1 of 2023, driven by delivery of our first U.S.-based oil and gas produced water order as part of our new distribution agreement with Razorback Direct as well as strength in our DPF and the ceramic membrane business. The U.S.-based oil and gas order was a critical development for us in many ways. First, it expands our presence in North America by showcasing the benefit of our produced water treatment solutions to the oil and gas industry. And the second, the order comes rapidly on the heels of us signing our distribution agreement in March 2024, highlighting what we believe will be growing interest for our solutions in North America. The containerized pilot system that Razorback Direct ordered arrived in Houston on April 30th and will be used at a customer site to test, demonstrate and document the efficiency of LiqTech's ultrafiltration technology in treating produced water to facilitate beneficial industry reuse and meet current and future regulatory requirements. Longer term, the intention is to use the results from this pilot operation as a basis to defend and implement full-scale commercial systems for the onshore oil and gas application in the U.S. Let me be clear that our expectation is that this will not be a multi-year trial process. It is our belief that the initial results received in the next few months will help to validate our solutions and provide the data necessary for other customers to move forward. As we stated during our year-end call, the North American oil and gas market is going to be a key focus for LiqTech moving forward, and we couldn't be more pleased to be partnered with the great team at Razorback Direct, who has a strong presence in key oil and gas geographies in the U.S. Building on the success of the North American oil and gas order, we received another significant oil and gas produced water commercial pilot order in the first quarter from National Energy Services Reunited in the Middle East. This unit will be used in Gulf Cooperation Council countries by one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in the world and is scheduled for delivery in June. This will be a key component of the strong second quarter that we are expecting. Similar to the U.S. order, we believe that this commercial test unit for produced water has the ability to open doors for additional orders with this customer and many other operators in the region. The Middle East tends to move a bit slower than in the U.S., but this one of our systems installed 2 years ago is operating to expectations. We believe there is an opportunity to move rapidly forward with other customers in this geography as well. Overall, I am pleased with the progress made against our oil and gas target market initiatives and look forward to incremental progress in 2024. Let's transition to a few key developments since our last call in our established markets, starting with marine scrubbers. Last week, we announced entry into a partnership with the Dan Marine Group, or DMG, to expand our presence in the Chinese shipbuilding and repair market for marine scrubber water treatment solutions as well as new exhaust gas recirculation water treatment systems for dual-fuel marine vessels. The agreement also includes servicing by DMG of existing LiqTech's marine installations, including fast delivery of spare parts and on-site repair work. Dan Marine Group has close customer relationships in the marine industry and a strong sales and service organization in China with locations close to customers for shipbuilding and repair. A key component to this partnership is our ability to leverage DMG's highly skilled sales and service capabilities to sell, install and service our marine water treatment systems. The other highlight here is the market for new exhaust gas recirculation water treatment systems for dual-fuel marine vessels. The maritime industry is undergoing a significant transition towards cleaner fuel and reduced environmental emissions. In the coming 5 years, more than half of the new vessels will be built with dual-fuel engines, which will be able to operate with LNG or methanol. For this new type of vessel, there is a need for highly efficient and reliable water treatment systems. LiqTech's solution is the perfect fit for this application. We look forward to the opportunities that this new partnership can bring for us in Chinese marine scrubbers and the exhaust gas recirculation market. The second key partnership we entered was with Franman, a well-established maritime representative in the shipping industry to market our scrubber water treatment solutions within Greece. For those not aware, Greece is the largest ship owning market in the world. Franman has close customer relationships with major shipping companies in Greece and possesses deep technical insight to ensure effective customer collaboration for the design and installation of new water treatment systems. With the combination of our unique silicon carbon ceramic filtration technology and years of successful commercial demonstration in the marine industry, we look forward to our two companies coming together effectively to expand our marine scrubber footprint and reduce environmental impact from shipping. As we look to the second quarter, beyond the key oil and gas order to the Middle East set for delivery in June, another key driver of our growth expectation is the commercial swimming pool market. During the second quarter, we expect to deliver 8 systems in total, with contributions coming from each of our key geographies and distribution partners. As a reminder, and for context, we delivered 20 swimming pool systems in all of 2023. The agreements we signed last year with Waterco, Total Pool, and Oxidigm are all contributors, with each delivering at least one system in Q2. I am pleased with the progress we have achieved in this key established market and look forward to continued market adoption in the years to come. Transitioning to our DPF business and the membrane business, another of our established markets. During the first quarter, DPF sales increased 31% compared to the year-ago first quarter, with sales of nearly $1.6 million. We are seeing increased interest for our DPF solutions within the European inland transportation market as renewed focus on black carbon emission reduction occurs. We are also seeing strong sales for our filters for emergency electricity generators. Similar to pool systems, we are pleased with the growth coming from our DPF solutions, which in many ways was an afterthought for LiqTech previously but has become a solid contributor for us today. On the ceramic membrane side, we are making inroads to a couple of key potential markets with pilot testing going on at customer sites. These markets include petrochemicals, water treatment, paper and pulp, and battery material concentration. We are also looking to scale up through OEM partners in China, Europe, and the U.S. We believe this can be a driver for this component of our operations going ahead and hope to have more to share with you in the coming quarters on this pilot test. To wrap things up before I turn over to Phillip to review the financials in more detail. As our outlook suggests, we expect to see good growth in the second quarter. We have 8 pool systems scheduled for delivery with contributions coming from each of our distribution partners. These orders, coupled with our Middle East oil and gas system set for delivery in June and an uptick in nearly each of our key established markets, recurring product offerings such as DPF filters and membranes provide us with optimism for both the second quarter and the rest of the year. I look forward to our continued successful execution against the strategic plan we set for us. With that said, let me turn the call over to Phillip to review the financial results in more detail.

Thank you, Fei, and good morning, everyone. Now let's dive into the financial highlights for the quarter. Revenue came in at $4.2 million compared to $4.0 million in the same quarter last year, representing an increase of 6%. This performance falls within our previously disclosed guidance. Broken down by verticals, sales were as follows: Systems sales and related services of $1.5 million compared to $1.4 million in the same period last year and $1.6 million in Q4. DPF and ceramic membrane sales of $1.8 million compared to $1.4 million in the same period last year and up sequentially compared to the $1.4 million in Q4. And finally, plastics revenues of $0.9 million compared to $1.2 million in Q1 last year and $0.8 million in Q4. In summary, our Ceramics business experienced a significant increase, the system sales and related services recorded a slight uptick, and the Plastics underwent a notable decline. To be specific, the key revenue drivers for this quarter were the delivery of our first U.S.-based oil and gas produced water order as part of our new distribution agreement with Razorback Direct, along with increased sales of DPF and ceramic membranes attributed to focused sales efforts beginning from May 2023 that generated elevated activity in the current year. The decline in Plastics revenue relates solely to a large one-off sale that was recorded in 2023 without recurrence in the current year. In terms of our forward guidance, as Fei mentioned, we expect the revenue for the second quarter of 2024 to be between $5 million and $5.5 million, which would be a significant increase of approximately 20% to 30% compared to the just ended quarter. We remain committed to growing our business over the coming quarter as we work intensively to execute on our ambition to further penetrate the global oil and gas, chemicals, and pool system markets with our proven and industry-leading solutions. Looking at our gross profit for the quarter, we reported $0.3 million, or an implied gross profit margin of approximately 6.4% compared to $0.4 million and 9.8% in the prior year's first quarter. The unfavorable change is, first of all, a result of the revenue mix for the quarter. In particular, the delivery of the containerized oil and gas pilot system impacted margins, resulting in a decrease compared to typical levels. This decision was strategic, undertaken to showcase and validate the effectiveness of our technology. As we still have overhead and other fixed costs that are not fully being absorbed, one of our key metrics we look at to highlight the progress being made is our contribution margin. During the quarter, when you back out fixed costs, our contribution margin ended at approximately 39% compared to 43% in the same quarter reported last year, with the unfavorable change mainly explained by revenue mix and especially the delivery of the containerized oil and gas pilot system as mentioned before. From an operational perspective, we continue to have excess capacity with the recently installed new kilns and revitalization of our ceramics facility. Hence, the immediate focus is to leverage the positive momentum and compress delivery lead times while still ensuring the delivery of high-quality membranes and filters. As previously stated, we still maintain our guidance that our business will be breakeven measured on an adjusted EBITDA basis, assuming a quarterly revenue of approximately $7 million and potentially lower with the right revenue mix. Turning to OpEx, total operating expenses for the quarter were $2.3 million compared to $2.6 million in Q1 of 2023. This is a decrease of $0.3 million, or approximately 10%. The decrease mainly reflects the release of 2023 bonus provisions, offset by increased insurance costs and expenses associated with the CFO transition. As stated, over the last few quarters, we remain focused on running a lean business by monitoring costs and carefully evaluating our spending to ensure that we do not jeopardize our financial objectives. Moving to the next item, net other expenses during the quarter were $0.4 million compared to $0.2 million in Q1 of last year, with the development mainly explained by the non-cash loss associated with the sale of fixed assets, partly offset by a gain on currency transactions due to the euro's depreciation against the U.S. dollar during the period. Concluding on the P&L, the net loss for the quarter was $2.4 million, which was consistent with the net loss reported in the first quarter of last year. However, this quarter's result was driven by revenue growth and a decrease in operating expenses, offset by lower margins as well as an increase in other expenses. Finally, let me briefly comment on our cash flow and balance sheet before summarizing and handing back over to Fei. We ended the quarter with $7.7 million in cash, down $2.7 million compared to the fourth quarter. This is explained by the cash used in operating activities, a reduction in accrued expenses related to the release of bonus provisions, an increase in prepaid expenses due to annual insurance premiums and IT licenses paid, and finally, an increased inventories linked to the strategic sourcing for ongoing projects to cut delivery lead times. Also, historically, the first quarter has always been the most financially demanding period in terms of cash flow due to the annual expenses mentioned before. Finally, during this quarter, we managed to sell surplus equipment with the proceeds used to repay the related leasing liabilities in full. To summarize, balancing our cash flow remains a key KPI for our business as we're determined to preserve cash to maintain our strategic and financial flexibility. We also acknowledge that we need to increase the throughput of our existing facilities to accelerate growth, reduce lead times, and ultimately pave the way to a business and balance from both a net income and cash flow perspective. Thank you again for your continued support and back over to you, Fei.

Thank you, Phillip. In closing, we remain committed to executing against our strategic road map, focused on long-term value creation. Over the past years, we have launched a clearly defined commercial strategy that has already yielded positive results. Going forward, our business will be underpinned by strong continuing revenues within our established businesses and increased foothold in our strategic target markets. The growth we expect in quarter 2 and the results of the year coupled with improved operational execution across the organization will be key to driving sustainable change in gross margins and positive cash flows. I look forward to continuing to execute against our strategic initiatives in 2024 to drive value creation for our shareholders. One final comment before I turn it over to your questions. I will be participating together with Phillip in the Lytham Partners Spring 2024 Investor Conference on May 30. If you would like to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please contact Robert Blum and he will be happy to coordinate for you. With that, operator, we would be happy to take any questions.

Our first question comes from Rob Brown from Lake Street Capital Markets.

Congratulations on all the progress.

Thank you, Rob.

I guess the first question is on the U.S. oil and gas market. Great to see some progress there in getting delivery. Could you give us a sense of how the pilot program plays out? I think you talked about a relatively short assessment period and then maybe a sense of how the market development and pipeline development happens after that.

And as I mentioned in the talk, the pilot has arrived in the U.S. on the 30th of April. And actually, now it's already at the customer site. We are very happy to start running already this week and the coming week. So we expect in the coming months or so, we're going to have the first testing results. So that will really give a clear indication about the performance of our pilot plant for the U.S. produced water. And we are already discussing with different companies and especially also with Razorback Direct about a pipeline. So there's a lot of things going on, and it's like really people are excited to see the results of this pilot testing. So we are really excited to see the progress in the next couple of months.

Okay, great. Given that the Middle East system has been operational for a few years, I expect the results to be positive. I’d like to understand the benefits that customers receive with your system and what sales pitch Razorback presents to its customer base.

Thank you, Rob. That's an excellent question. One major advantage of our system is that our membrane is particularly well-suited for this type of water treatment, which involves high oil, metal, and solid content. We have proven this effectiveness in the Middle East and through our marine scrubber market. Our membrane performs exceptionally well for this treatment and can be cleaned efficiently to maintain filtration effectiveness. This sets our membrane apart from polymer membranes, as we provide a longer lifespan and high efficiency over time. Additionally, we offer a containerized solution that is very user-friendly. It can be easily transported in a truck from one location to another. The modular design means that only basic utilities need to be available at the customer site, allowing us to quickly set up the container, connect it, and begin treatment without the need for extensive civil construction. The system’s compact design also means it has a small footprint, making it convenient to use, with operating costs significantly lower than other existing technologies in the market. We will be able to showcase these advantages through our pilot testing, including both the quality of our filtration and operational cost data, which will help refine our sales pitch as we conclude our pilot tests in a few months.

Okay. Great. And then on the Q2 ramp in revenue, I think you mentioned pool systems really stepping up. Could the pool market, does that become more of a diversified stream of activity there going forward? Or is there some kind of one-time stocking stuff going down, but just a sense of how the pool market is developing and how you see it playing out over the next 18 months or so?

We are currently focused on Europe and Australia, and we are beginning to enter the U.S. market to expand our presence, which has not been a priority for us until now. In the next six months, we will be exploring new territories for our pool system.

Okay. Great. Regarding the partnerships, you continue to form some significant collaborations. How many more partnerships do you anticipate establishing, or do you think the ones you have announced thus far will sufficiently cover your current efforts?

I mean, we have just announced the 2 partnerships. And as you see, we will continue to find partners, maybe different types of partners. But for marine, for example, we have Dan Marine, which is really for sales and distribution, and Franman is different because they have a strong network with ship owners. So what we're trying to do is get partners through a whole stakeholder group. In this way, our sales and market penetration will be much more efficient. So this is our strategy, as we've already built quite a few partnerships, and we want to be more clever in really using the partnerships in multiple dimensions to move our sales ahead more efficiently in the selected verticals we are working in.

Our next question comes from Lucas Ward from Ascendiant Capital Markets.

Lucas Ward here. Fei and Phillip, congratulations on your business progress. So I wanted to look at the overall revenue opportunity and just sort of understand like what are the keys to really scaling it up? Because it looks like you have so many opportunities in different geographies and different verticals, and you have the filter opportunities and the system opportunities. It's almost like you're planting seeds in a lot of different places. And so I guess I wanted to ask from your perspective, what are the keys to really scaling those up and growing them?

I mean, that was a very good observation. We are planting the seeds because what we have found out is our strategic focus areas, which means swimming pool systems, DPF, marine, and oil and gas. If we just look at the membrane and if we look at all this together, we actually have addressed the market potential of USD 4 billion. So today, we have market share of less than 1%. So we are in the process of clearing the way and planting the seeds for the next wave of growth. What you can see is the DPF actually, we are doing very well now in Europe. We want to see in the next years where the new playground is, but we would still like to grow in Europe first. The pool system is growing well now in the U.K., Australia, and Spain, and we would like to also enter other markets. So you'll see now it's really about building the foundation for fast growth in the future. We really feel we can see the last years as we've done in different segments, and it’s the right way to go. We are continuing to plant the seeds, and we will harvest them in the coming period. It's really a very exciting period ahead for us.

And Lucas, also, just to add some color, it's also just not to rely on only one business area. So to spread our risk.

Got it. Okay. Can you comment more on competition? Like how much of a factor it is because the way you presented it, it sounds like it's mostly a sales and marketing challenge. It's a matter of finding the right partners and the resources and just going after it. But could you also comment on who you see in various verticals and geographies? Are they the same players over and over again? And how much does competition impact your ability to get those design wins?

The interesting thing about our market is that we don't have a uniform competitor across all the segments. We actually have different competition in each segment, and they are all different from one another. If we take DPF, we actually had a competitor in Denmark, but that company has been acquired by another company, and the production has moved to China. This gives us a competitive advantage because we are a European company, and many European customers prefer to buy from a European company. We do have some competition in Germany, Japan, and France. However, we are in a niche where we are very flexible and can deliver quickly with a high-end product. This gives us a solid base for revenue. In the swimming pool area, our competition technology is sand filters, but our filtration technology solution for pool systems is much more environmentally friendly, energy-saving, and reduces water and chemical consumption. So we have some really unique value propositions for this market. It's really just about marketing and sales speed from our side pushing ahead. In the oil and gas areas, we are still new, and we are trying to get in. However, we definitely see a need for our solutions in that sector. We have not seen significant competition yet, but we remain alert to see what emerges when we have opened the door and demonstrated our technology. In the marine area, we do face very strong competition, but we have taken some good initiatives, making us dominant. Many cheaper solutions are coming from China with a performance issue, and we are trying to reclaim market share with better high-quality solutions. In summary, across different segments, we have different competition.

Okay. One more question on operating expenses. It was surprisingly low. It hasn't been this low for a long time, and it was attributed to this release of bonus provisions. I just wanted to understand what that means and what I should expect going forward in terms of modeling operating expenses.

Yes, of course. So the release of bonus provisions relates to the 2023 KPIs. Since we didn't meet the targets, we released the bonus provisions, hence the positive effect on the OpEx. The level you should expect is around $2.6 million for the quarter.

Okay. That's all I had.

Okay. We are very cost-conscious. We are trying to increase our output from production and the sales team. Therefore, we are trying to become more efficient. This is one of our key performance indicators, and we are also working on improving our processes across the value chain.

Our next question comes from George Melas from MKH Management.

Good job on the quarter and the progress. I had a question about the U.S. oil and gas order. I'm trying to understand how it happened so fast. Was it that Razorback sort of had a customer that had a problem, and they went looking for technology and found you and signed that distribution agreement, and then they were able to propose a solution to their customer? Or did they sign a relationship with you first and then started looking for customers, and one happened to happen so fast?

I think that's a very interesting question. I have to say in this way, we are very happy. We found this very good partner to work with because they are in the oil and gas market and are very much alert to what customers need. They have a very strong customer network already. So they know exactly what the customer is looking for and what technology they lack. We discovered that the chemistry of these two companies matches very well, and there are some very clever technical and commercial people at Razorback Direct. So since we started discussions, we had already begun presenting our technology to them while they informed us about their customer needs. It was not like we signed the contract, and then we commenced work together. We began working together simultaneously with signing the contract, and that's why, in less than a month, we found the customer. But I have to say, they have really good customers who need new solutions for their problems, so this was a very good match.

Okay. Great. How many different solutions can they offer their customers for treating produced water? Clearly, they have some solutions currently, but you provide a new technology. What alternatives have they presented in the past?

I mean, this is general knowledge in the market for all the people in the oil and gas market. The pretreatment for produced water is rather tough because the water is nasty. You have a lot of oil and metal content, as well as salt and many solid particles. Traditionally, there are many different kinds of chemical treatment methods for this part. Most people do not like using chemical mixtures today. So when they see our solutions, they seek something more automated, user-friendly, and kinder to the environment. They really get excited about this and see immediate potential because they are somewhat tired of chemical processes. So you can be lucky sometimes. I think we are lucky because they are looking for something better than what they have today.

Okay. Great. And then one final question on the pool systems. Given the existing distributors that you have, so assuming you're not adding any distributors, but I think you will; but with the existing distributors, do you expect to have to beat the 2023 deliveries? You had 20 deliveries in '23 with the existing distributors. Can you match that or beat that? In terms of what visibility do you have in the pool system?

We are definitely trying to work with our existing distributors to make them much more efficient. I expect their sales to grow because, I mean, if they grow their sales, we can grow our revenue. At the same time, we're also going to build new distributors in the next half year. It's a combination of both. But I definitely expect our distributors' sales to grow each year.

Okay. And then what kind of visibility do you have into their pipeline?

We have total new transparency. So we really work closely together. They are really our partners.

Fei and Phillip, I've got just a couple of questions here through the webcast portal that I want to make sure we get addressed. So I'll try to move through a few of these quickly and summarize where there's some overlap. The first one is, can you talk about sort of your general sales approach in the United States? It seems like that's a focus area for you. Is this going to be sort of a team approach, marketing, distributors? Just expand a little bit more on your focus in the U.S.

We have the first distribution partner for the oil and gas area, Razorback Direct. What we're doing with them is really working very closely together. We do the testing together, and we do the marketing together, and we pursue the sales pipeline together. Their people will handle the ground service, and we will be the back office and also the technical support for them. They will be our arms and legs on the ground in the U.S. This approach also extends to our pool systems, where we expect to find some partners in the U.S. market to help us with marketing and sales and also potentially with servicing in the future. So it’s really about forging strong partnerships to maximize sales penetration in this massive U.S. market.

All right. Fantastic. A couple of questions here. Just sort of talking about your breakeven, which I know you talked on a little bit, but maybe just to expand a little bit on sort of the outlook here, your breakeven rate sort of goals in terms of achieving positive cash flow, etc.

Yes. As we mentioned before, we still maintain the guidance for when the business will be breakeven, and that's with a quarterly revenue of approximately $7 million, potentially lower if we have the right revenue mix. Regarding cash flow, that’s, of course, a key KPI for us; we are determined to preserve cash to maintain our strategic and financial flexibility. We also acknowledge that we need to increase the throughput of our existing facilities to accelerate growth, reduce lead times, and ultimately pave the way to a balanced business from both a net income and cash flow perspective. Our main focus is on running a lean business.

All right. Fantastic. It looks like I've got one last question here. You've talked about some of the growth, I guess, within the DPF solutions referenced European inland transportation and electricity emergency generators. Maybe just expand on what some of the drivers are for that? Is it sort of a sales approach? Or is this sort of a market-driven approach? Just expand a little bit more on the DPF growth there.

I would say it's a very strong trend. We have seen it now in the market. In European inland transportation, awareness is increasing. There’s growing public and political focus on emissions from inland transportation. Thus, countries like the Netherlands and Germany are looking into this area. We have been gaining positive traction from good customers who are seriously looking into emission reduction, and we expect this trend to continue to grow in the coming years, definitely. For electricity emergency generators, it’s largely due to the increased number of data centers around the world that require DPF installation, especially in connection with artificial intelligence, leading to an increase in data centers being built. They need DPF installations, and we are becoming a preferred partner globally, not just in Europe but also the U.S. This is a two-way relationship; we are proactively targeting customers while also benefiting from customer initiatives to approach us. Overall, we are very excited about the development and are confident the DPF market will remain a growing market for us in the coming years.

All right. Fantastic. Very helpful. It appears we have no further questions here either online or through the teleconference. So Fei, I'll go ahead and turn it back over to you for closing remarks.

Thank you, Robert. Thank you all very much for being with us today. We look forward to communicating with you all soon again. Thank you.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.