Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. Q3 FY2020 Earnings Call

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ocean Power Technologies Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2020 Conference Call. This call is being webcast on the company's website at www.oceanpowertechnologies.com. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded and will be available for replay after its conclusion. On the call today are George Kirby, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Matthew Shafer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Following prepared remarks, there will be a time for questions. On March 9, 2020, OPT issued its earnings press release and filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All public filings can be viewed on the SEC website at sec.gov or you may go to the Investor Relations section of the OPT website, oceanpowertechnologies.com. Now let me reference the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. securities laws for forward-looking statements. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements that are within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are identified by certain words or phrases such as may, will, aim, will likely result, believe, expect, will continue, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan, contemplate, seek to, future, objective, goals, project, should, will pursue and similar expressions or variations of such expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by management regarding future circumstances over which the company may have little or no control and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, among others, the following: future financial performance, expected cash flow, ability to reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies, revenue growth and increased sales volume; success in key markets, competition, ability to enter into relationships with parties and other third parties, delivery and deployment of PowerBuoys, increasing the power output of PowerBuoys, hiring new key employees, expected cost of PowerBuoys products and building customer relationships. Please refer to our most recent forms 10-Q and 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties. We disclaim any obligation or intent to update the forward-looking statements in order to reflect these events or circumstances discussed in this call.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I'm going to review our business operations and provide an update on our commercial activities and developments during the third quarter and up to today. Then Matt Shafer will provide a review of our financials. I'm excited that we can report substantially increased third quarter revenue, an increase of more than 170% as a result of revenue generated from the Enel Green Power project or EGP. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, we announced the first sale of our PB3 PowerBuoy in the company's history to EGP. Last week, we shipped the PB3 to South America on schedule to install a turnkey ocean-based laboratory in April off the coast of Chile. We anticipate recognizing revenues of nearly $1.8 million from this project in fiscal year 2020. We recently announced that Eni, one of the world's largest energy companies, has extended its lease of the PB3 PowerBuoy and contracted an additional scope of work to provide a power and communication solution for an entirely new application in the Adriatic Sea. After more than a year of continuous and error-free operation, we're looking forward to redeploying the PB3 as part of explorers' ecologically sustainable life-extension strategies for oil and gas platforms at the end of their productive phase. On the heels of our repeat business with Eni, we recently announced that we are working with Taiwan-based BAP Precision to provide PowerBuoy joint surveillance solutions for government agency contract pursuits regarding policing territorial waters. This relationship with an established satellite data solutions provider to industry and government has the potential to open new markets for OPT. Together, we're looking to provide power and data communication solutions for surveillance challenges related to protecting fisheries, trafficking, and foreign encroachment upon territorial waters. We also recently announced we're working with Modus Seabed Intervention and Saab Seaeye on a groundbreaking, carbon-free subsea residency solution for autonomous underwater vehicles known as AUVs. A self-contained system exempt from any existing ocean infrastructure has the potential to revolutionize the industrial use of AUVs and make untethered long-term residency a cost-effective reality. We're jointly pursuing U.S. government development and demonstration funding for the concept, which will include the development of an innovative, integrated mooring and subsea power and data transmission cable that we believe will also bring substantial savings to future deployments. Production of our newest product, the hybrid PowerBuoy, is advancing rapidly. We plan to have a prototype ready for in-water testing before the end of the fiscal year in April. Discussions are underway with prospective launch customers in advance of open water testing of the hybrid PowerBuoy planned for this spring. The hybrid PowerBuoy will provide OPT with flexibility in the reliable commercial sea power and data communication solutions we can offer to customers. The hybrid's onboard batteries will be charged with solar power, with a clean-fueled Stirling engine as backup when environmental conditions don't allow for solar charging. Designed for easy deployment almost anywhere in the world, applications for the hybrid PowerBuoy include surveillance, subsea charging, and secure data connectivity for offshore industries, including defense, security, oil and gas, science and research, aquaculture, and telecommunications. We've seen a very real desire for carbon-reducing autonomous offshore power and communications solutions. And we're just beginning to tap into those possibilities. We believe that our success will bring strong financial performance to OPT and value to our shareholders. Finally, I'd like to spend a moment reflecting on OPT's ongoing commitment to safety. At the end of December, we reached a safety milestone with more than 1,000 continuous days without a lost time incident. Several years ago, we made a conscious decision to foster and maintain a culture of safety. We've built and deployed multiple PowerBuoy projects around the world, developed new products, and even relocated our headquarters and manufacturing base without incident. I'm genuinely proud of our team's safety record and what it means to our relationships with customers and partners. Now let me turn the call over to Matt to discuss the financials.

Thank you, George, and good morning, everyone. We recorded revenue of $725,000 for the third quarter of fiscal 2020, an increase of $457,000 compared to $268,000 for the same quarter last year. This increase was due to revenue from the new EGP project. The cost of revenues rose by $281,000 to $681,000 compared to $400,000 in the previous year's third quarter. This rise was a result of higher upfront spending and material costs associated with the new customer revenue-generating project with EGP. The net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 was $2.9 million, compared to a net loss of $2.6 million in the same quarter last year. The $300,000 increase in net loss was primarily due to a delay in receiving funds from the sale of net operating losses credits, although this was partially offset by reduced spending in product development costs. We expect to receive proceeds from this year's sale of net operating loss credits soon. Revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2020 was $1.1 million, an increase of $700,000 from $400,000 in the prior year period, mainly due to the new project with EGP. The cost of revenues increased by $1.3 million during the nine months ended January 31, 2020, compared to $1.2 million during the same period in 2019, attributed to higher costs associated with the new EGP project, which was balanced by lower spending on the Eni and Premier Oil projects compared to the same timeframe in fiscal 2019. The net loss for the first nine months of fiscal 2020 was $9.1 million, down from a net loss of $9.7 million for the prior year period. The reduction in net loss was mainly due to higher revenues, lower spending in engineering and product development, and a decrease in selling, general, and administrative costs, although these improvements were somewhat offset by the delay in receiving funds from the sale of net operating loss credits. Now, regarding the balance sheet, total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash stood at $10.8 million as of January 31, 2020, down by $6.4 million from April 30, 2019. Our net cash used in operating activities during the nine months ended January 31, 2020, was $8.6 million, a decrease of $1.3 million compared to $9.9 million during the corresponding period in the previous year, principally due to increased cost containment efforts and the new revenue-generating customer contract with EGP. With that, I will now turn it back to George.

Thanks, Matt. Operator, we're now ready for questions.

You seem to be doing very well in growing the business. I had an observation. You said in the North Sea, where you have particularly active wave action, you can actually generate extra power. Is that correct?

Yes. Robert. And absolutely, that's correct.

Have you considered taking the extra electric power and using it through electrolysis to convert it into hydrogen, which can then be utilized in hydrogen cells? These cells are capable of powering large electric motors, similar to what companies like Plug Power are doing. If you look into them, you’ll see they are powering vans and forklifts, with customers like Walmart and Amazon, and they are developing solutions for vans and trucks used in deliveries. Hydrogen cells are quite powerful and compact. So, with the extra power you have, you could generate hydrogen, which can then power these types of cells to run electric motors on various platforms or other applications. This process is completely self-contained and environmentally friendly. Have you thought about something like that?

Robert, we're aware of the technology. I think you might have even emailed us with some thoughts on that as well. We've talked to the team about that as well as our customers. And the general feeling predominantly from our customers is they would rather use the extra power that we're actually generating for onboard payloads. So for instance, the buoy that we had in the North Sea, for the particular payloads that we had onboard, we were not using that extra power. But our customer, Premier Oil, is looking at other opportunities to use that additional power directly as opposed to through hydrogen creation and then turning electric motors. But I appreciate the thought. And it's something that, like all new technologies, we're open to looking at.

A couple of questions for you. On the contract with the satellite company in Taiwan, how many buoy is that potentially to monitor illegal fishing activities or what you're doing over there?

All right. That's a good question. The LOI actually states one or more. And we're looking at this particular market in particular because of the multi-buoy opportunities that are there. So I wish I could say a little bit more about exactly what's going on there and how far we are along in the process, but unfortunately, I can't. I cannot.

Okay. On the Gulf oil and gas company, what's the status with that?

When do you mean the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas company that we announced a study with?

Yes. Last year, because it was approved, I saw on the last filing. What's the next stage?

Well, first of all, we completed that study, and we completed it successfully with that customer. We have, as you may recall from about this time last year, we have an existing master service contract with them where they can purchase further services or equipment under that MSC just simply by writing work orders, if you will. So it tremendously simplifies the contracting process. We continue to talk to them. There's obviously a lot going on with these oil companies right now. But we're far from done with our potential work in the Gulf of Mexico right now.

Okay. Regarding Premier Oil, I understand you have had a $1 billion agreement for almost nine months now, which was a nine-month lease with the option to extend. Where does that stand at this point, since the nine months is approaching?

Yes. No, that's a great question. Premier Oil and OPT and also the partners that went into this project, InterMoor and Pulse, we decided to bring that buoy back in. It's actually quayside right now. We're looking at bringing that buoy back over to the U.S. to get it refurbished. We've got a number of opportunities that we're positioning it for that could require a quick turnaround on units with new customers. With regards to Premier Oil, we haven't really talked a whole lot about this yet, but the customer has gone on record in a very public way about moving forward with OPT on new projects. In particular, we're anxious to work with Premier around a Phase 2, especially with the decommissioning of the Huntington field coming next April, which I had also talked a little bit about in the public. So we're really excited about Premier Oil as a repeat customer, and we are trying to figure out how we can accelerate work with them here in the near future. First step, get that buoy back here, and get it turned around so that we can redeploy it for someone else.

So the buoy is not clear.

Say again?

Especially with the decommissioning of the Huntington field coming next April, which I had also discussed publicly. We are really excited about Premier Oil as a repeat customer, and we are looking for ways to accelerate our work with them soon. The first step is to get that buoy back here and turn it around so we can redeploy it for someone else.

I'm sorry, Peter, you're breaking up.

Two questions there. What do your power buoys cost? I know the new one and the other one, whatever the P3 is. And when do you think you'll need to go to market for some more financing?

Both very good questions. So to address the cost question first. Naturally, this is competitive information, but we'll tell you what we've put out in the marketplace. The PB3 on average is anywhere from $700,000 to $900,000. Of course, that price will go down based on volume because our costs go down naturally. And also as we continue to commercialize, we're driving costs out of all of our products. So we're able to address it that way. What I can say about the hybrid, because we don't have the prototype released yet, is we're planning on it being a fraction of what the PB3 is.

And regards financing?

With regards to financing, as we reported right now, we have over $10 million in cash.

That's right. It's $10.8 million as of January 31.

Right. So outside of the current vehicles that we have in place, we really don't have any plans to raise any capital.

So you think you're good for another 9 months or so, depending on business, I guess?

Well, we anticipate business picking up, and that's what our anticipation is, and we're trying to bring that to fruition. But with regards to our existing vehicles, I mean, for right now all that I can say is we're not planning on doing anything different.

And then furthermore, as we talked about in our 10-Q that we filed yesterday, we have cash into the quarter ended October 31 of this year.

I think your stock is currently down around $0.55 or $0.56, which is significantly lower than its cash value. I understand you are being cautious with your funds, but is there a chance you might consider buying back some of that stock to reduce the float and potentially increase the stock price once business picks up?

We have no plans to conduct a stock buyback right now. Obviously, like all public companies right now with the current market conditions, we're watching our share price very closely. But we believe with news that we anticipate coming out in the future that we're hoping will have a positive effect for shareholders and result in a positive impact on the stock.

And how many shares outstanding do you have right now?

Yes. We have 9.1 million shares outstanding.

At the end of last quarter, you had 6.3 million shares, and now you get 9-point whatever? Why is that?

Sure. So we have an equity line of credit and an ATM in place at the market facility, which we currently use from time to time.

Okay. 9.3 million shares outstanding now. Okay.

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any additional or closing comments.

Thank you, operator. I want to close on the following points. There's a lot of good news coming out of OPT with new product development, new partnerships and new and returning customers. As we look at the long-term outlook, there are many more positive developments to come, and we fully intend to continue to build on this momentum. As always, I want to thank the entire OPT team for their continuing contributions to our ongoing success. Thank you all for joining us today.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines or log off the webcast at this time, and have a wonderful day.