Thermal Energy increases profit margins through shift in product sales

Despite an overall drop in revenue year-over-year, Thermal Energy International (CVE:TMG) trimmed its net loss and boasted a strong order backlog in its fiscal first quarter.

The Ottawa clean tech firm collected $2.1 million in revenue in the three months ended Aug. 31, a decrease of 16.5 per cent from the same period a year ago. According to the company’s MD&A documents, the drop in revenue comes from the loss of sales of its heat recovery systems.

These losses are offset, however, by an increase in sales of its GEM condensate return systems, a method for capturing steam-based energy. Sales of these systems rose 55 per cent from a year previous, contributing to a gross profit of $1.5 million in the quarter, compared to $1.1 million in Q1 2016.

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The Ottawa-based company posted a net loss for the quarter of $80,000, an improvement from the $452,000 loss in the same period last year. The company says this was a result of the aforementioned product split and the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against the UK sterling, where a significant portion of the company’s international sales take place.

After calculating exchange differences, the company’s comprehensive loss sat at $336,00 for the quarter, compared to $308,000 a year ago.

Thermal Energy also noted that its product order backlog – the revenue it has booked in near future but has not yet translated to its official financial earnings – sits at $7.8 million as of Oct. 18, more than double where it stood a year ago.

According to the company’s statements, these orders include major deals with hospitals and a global brewing company, as well as deals from across the biotech, mining and resources, textile and food service packaging industries.

“With two proven products that reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions, and with governments around the world taking unprecedented action with regards to climate change, we believe we are well-positioned to continue our strong track record of growth,” Thermal Energy CEO William Crossland said in a statement announcing the company’s results.

The words apparently failed to reassure investors, who pushed the company’s share price down by one-quarter to 12 cents during Thursday trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company’s stock, which recently hit a five-year high, recovered some of the lost ground Thursday afternoon and sat at 13.5 cents at 3 p.m.

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