Clear Blue Technologies Provides Q4 2023 Corporate Update

Q4 Revenue of $2.1M exceeds top end of guidance range

Full year 2023 revenue more than doubles from 2022 level

TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. ("Clear Blue" or the "Company") (TSXV: CBLU) (FRANKFURT: 0YA) (OTCQB: CBUTF), announces a Q4 2023 corporate update, including preliminary Q4 financial results.

Q4 2023 Update – Telecom segment strength drove Q4 outperformance

• Revenue is expected to be $2.1M (up $1.922M from $178k in Q4 2022 and almost equal to Q3 2023, which was $2.2M), exceeding the previously announced Q4 guidance range of $1.8M - $2M. Q4 continued to exhibit very strong gross margins in line with previous periods (37% in Q3 2023).
• Revenue was distributed across all business units:
  • Nano-Grid systems is expected to be approximately 25% of revenue for 2023. Global investments in satellite technology to bring satellite as a viable alternative to ground-based microwave and cellular systems are driving community internet services and rural deployments. Solar Green energy funds are also moving into the sector to fund solar deployments for telecom, bringing fresh funding to drive projects.
  • Illumient systems are expected to contribute approximately 29% of for 2023. Solar Lighting growth in North America is expected to be driven by recent legislation in the U.S. and Canada. Customers’ increasing requirements for resiliency against extreme weather are also helping drive growth in this segment. Illumient provides the benefit of having the lights on when the grid goes down while eliminating pole to pole cabling risks.
  • Esite-Micro systems is expected to represent approximately 46% for 2023. Esite services existing installations of traditional larger cell towers. The majority of these have historically been grid or grid and diesel powered. The cost of diesel is up 300% or more since 2021, and the grid is becoming less reliable. Not only is the cost of diesel driving adoption but also the greening of telecom sites is a major focus across the industry. These sites are being converted to hybrid powered systems, including solar. As a result, Clear Blue is seeing significant customer interest in investments and programs in upgrading existing telecom sites. These investments will convert grid and diesel dependence towards solar energy.
• In the quarter the Company shipped 616 power control devices across 14 orders.
• Clear Blue converted a previously announced Parallel Wireless project to a full Esite-Micro solution, which shipped in Q4. The impact on Q4 revenue is expected to be $1.1M.
• 2024 revenue is expected to be significantly greater than 2023 and 2022 revenue which were $5.4M and $2.6M respectively. With typical business seasonality, strong sales orders in the first half of the year leads to stronger revenue in the second half of the year. Clear Blue’s business growth has accelerated following a challenging 2022 and 2023. This is expected to lead to increased order intake in 2024, followed by revenue growth.
• Clear Blue’s funnel indicates significant growth going into 2024. All product lines and verticals are expected to exhibit strong growth in both sales and revenue. Each of Nano, Micro and Illumient will deliver approximately one third of the revenue with Pico-Grid beginning to deliver as the sales Go To Market for this product ramps up. In addition to our base plan, the Company is tracking a few very large seven figure orders which could close by mid year. While there can be no assurance on timing or any specific order closing, they are indicative of the large investments being made by industry and the opportunity going forward for Clear Blue.
• The cash position at the end of the quarter was $0.5M, approximately $2M of accounts receivables and $2.0M in non-dilutive capital from across government programs all expected in early 2024.

“The fourth quarter of 2023 saw the Company’s quarterly performance continue on its pre-COVID trajectory even as significant costs have been removed from the business,” said Miriam Tuerk, CEO of Clear Blue. “2023 saw a return to growth, and we expect to see continued demand for our Illumient, Nano-Grid and Esite products throughout 2024. We believe our robust and growing pipeline is providing us increased visibility into order intake for 2024, driven by recent customer signals of market scale for our technology. These opportunities cumulatively represent an order pipeline in the low hundreds of millions of dollars, providing Clear Blue room for years of strong revenue growth.”