Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 Results
Fiscal 2023 Revenues Increased 55%
MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J., July 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (“OPT” or “the Company”) (NYSE American: OPTT), today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter (“4Q23”) and full-year ended April 30, 2023 (“FY23”). Highlights include:
4Q23 HIGHLIGHTS
? Total orders for the 4Q23 were $2.3 million, as compared to $0.7 million for the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2022 (“4Q22”). ? Revenues for the 4Q23 of $1.0 million grew 29.5% over 4Q22 revenues. ? In April 2023, OPT completed a $0.5M extension of its lease contract to continue providing their WAM-V® 22 Autonomous Surface Vehicle asset to a U.S. Government Agency Overseas for ongoing autonomous maritime activities. ? In March 2023, OPT deployed the scalable Mass-on-Spring Wave Energy Converter (MOSWEC) PowerBuoy® off the coast of New Jersey as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Phase II development project, which is a $1.1 million follow-on project.
FY23 HIGHLIGHTS
? Total orders for FY23 were $6.3 million, a 250% increase when compared to total orders of $1.8 million for full year ended April 30, 2022 (“FY22”). ? Revenues for FY23 increased 55.3% to $2.7 million, over FY22. ? Gross profit for FY23 was $0.2 million, as compared to a gross loss of $(0.1) million in FY22. ? Partnered with Task Force 59 of the U.S. Navy on a new project in Bahrain to support the Digital Horizon exercise for use of Unmanned Surface Vehicles which was completed in January 2023. ? Awarded a minimum $0.4 million follow-on new contract with Task Force 59 in Bahrain to provide WAM-V’s to support the International Maritime Exercise 2023 (IMX23) because of the successful demonstrations during Digital Horizon. ? Obtained final acceptance for the buoy deployed at Enel Green Power Chile (EGP). ? Deployed the first WAM-V 16 leased to Sulmara Subsea, Inc. (Sulmara) and obtained follow on orders for additional WAM-V leases from Sulmara. The initial lease to Sulmara was noteworthy as it was the first WAM-V sale using our leasing model. ? Awarded contract for $0.5 million with Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate on Maritime Domain Awareness – Sensors (MDA-S) Initiative which is expected to be completed during fiscal 2024. ? Made considerable progress on the development of Maritime Domain Awareness Services (MDAS) platform. ? Completed Phase I for $0.2 million on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) SBIR Dynamic Swarming of unmanned surface vehicles (USV’s) for Hydrographic Surveys in Disaster Recovery Project. The goal of the project is to design a command-and-control infrastructure to optimize sonar data and USV survey lines to facilitate many USV’s to autonomously survey a disaster area, such as those created by hurricanes. ? Entered final phase of integration of Marine Advanced Robotics (MAR), including the start of manufacturing WAM-Vs at our New Jersey facility.
Management Commentary – Dr. Philipp Stratmann, OPT’s President and Chief Executive Officer
“Fiscal 2023 was a milestone year for our Company as we put our strategy of becoming a leading provider of autonomous vehicles and Data-as-a-Service for the marine industry in motion. Highlights include significant progress on MDAS platform and expanding the government agencies we work with. In addition, we had our best year of revenue generation since fiscal 2015 and generated a positive gross margin for the first time since fiscal 2016. Most importantly, as we look to the future, we continue to grow our order pipeline, which now stands at approximately $68 million, which gives us confidence that we will meet or exceed $15 million of contracted orders in fiscal 2024. I am pleased with our progress this past year and with the interest that our company is generating.”
4Q23 FINANCIALS
? Revenues for the 4Q23 were $1.0 million, 29.5% growth over 4Q22 revenues. ? Gross loss for 4Q23 was $133 thousand, as compared to a gross loss of $44 thousand in Q422. ? Operating expenses were $8.8 million in the 4Q23, up sequentially from $7.2 million in 3Q23, due to timing of projects and programs. ? Net loss was ($9.5) million for 4Q23, as compared to a net loss of ($5.1) million for the 4Q22.
FY23 FINANCIALS
? Revenues for FY23 increased to $2.7 million, a 55.3% increase over FY22. This growth has been driven by sales of WAM-V autonomous vehicles and an increase in strategic consulting services during the year. ? Gross profit for FY23 was $0.2 million, as compared to a gross loss of $(0.1) million for FY22. ? Operating expenses were $28.3 million in FY23, as compared to $21.5 million in FY22, primarily due to the inclusion of a full year of activity related to our MAR acquisition, and strategic increases in bonus and headcount, including additional resource needs in the areas of sales and marketing. ? Net loss was ($26.3) million for FY23, as compared to a net loss of ($18.9) million for FY22 which included non-cash equity compensation expense of $1.5 million and $1.2 million for FY23 and FY22, respectively. ? Backlog was $4.0 million as of April 30, 2023. Our backlog includes unfilled firm written orders for our products and services from commercial or governmental customers, which we call orders. We believe the disclosure of orders is a useful metric for investors, as it helps support our future revenue expectations and adds validity to our strategic growth plan. Company management uses orders as a tool to manage expected growth, budget and cash requirements, and to monitor the success of our sales and marketing efforts. If any of our orders were to be terminated, delayed or revised downward, our orders and our backlog would be reduced by the expected value of the remaining terms of such contract.
Balance Sheet:
? Combined cash, unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of April 30, 2023, was $34.7 million, which compares to $40.9 million as of January 31, 2023, and $57.3 million at the beginning of the fiscal year. ? The Company continues to have no bank debt as of April 30, 2023. ? Net cash used in operating activities for FY23 was approximately $21.7 million, compared to $21.3 million FY22.
Introduction of Fiscal 2024 Annual Guidance
The Company is also introducing the following select guidance for full-year fiscal 2024:
? Contracted orders for FY24 are expected to be approximately $15 million. This represents growth of more than 2x over FY23.
The Company’s anticipated order growth will be driven primarily by the continued ramp in its DaaS line, WAM-V sales and leases, and its strategic consulting business.
Conference Call & Webcast
As announced on June 15, 2023, a conference call to discuss OPT’s financial results will be held tomorrow morning, Thursday, July 13, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. Philipp Stratmann, CEO, Bob Powers, CFO, and Joseph Dipietro, Treasurer and Controller, will host the call.
? The dial-in numbers for the conference call are 877-407-8291 or 201-689-8345.
? Live webcast: Link to 4Q23 Webcast for OPT
? Call Replay: Will be available by telephone approximately two hours after the call’s completion until August 13, 2023. You may access the replay by dialing 877-660-6853 from the U.S. or 201-612-7415 for international callers and using the Conference ID 1373 8942.
? Webcast Replay: The archived webcast will also be available on the OPT investor relations section of its website.
About Ocean Power Technologies
Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. provides ocean data collection and reporting, marine power, offshore communications and Domain Awareness Services products, integrated solutions, and consulting services. Our solutions focus on four major service areas: Data as a Service (“DaaS”), which includes data collected by our Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V®) autonomous vehicles or our PowerBuoy® product lines; Robotics as a Service (“RaaS”), which provides a lower cost subscription model for our customers to access use of our WAM-V’s®; Power as a Service (“PaaS”), which includes our PowerBuoy® and subsea battery products; and our Strategic Consulting Services. We offer our products and services to a wide range of customers, including those in government and offshore energy, oil and gas, construction, wind power and other industries. Our solutions are primarily suited to ocean and other offshore environments, and support generation of actionable intelligence on a standalone basis or working with other data sources. The Company is headquartered in Monroe Township, New Jersey. To learn more, visit www.OceanPowerTechnologies.com.