AoFrio Limited , a leading global refrigeration technology company, is providing an update on trading performance for the three months ended 31 March 2023 (Q1-2023).
• Revenue for Q1-2023 was $14.7m compared to $18.4m for the same period last year.
• IoT revenue was $9.4m compared to $7.7m in 2022, a 23% increase.
• Revenue from the sale of motor products was $5.3m, compared to $10.7m in Q1-2022. As previously indicated, customers held higher inventory positions than normal at the beginning of the year which in turn caused reduced Q1 demand. Demand is starting to return in Q2, albeit the Company remains cautious as beverage brands are also delaying orders on their bottle cooler manufacturers.
• Gross Margin was 32.3% (25.3% in Q1-2022), reflecting increased sales of higher margin IoT products.
• Operating Costs for Q1 were $5.4m compared to $5.2m for Q4-2022. The staffing level on 31 March was 107, a modest increase to the 105 on 31 December 2022. The Company continues to take a cautious approach to adding staff.
• EBITDA was a loss $0.4m (profit of $0.3m in Q1-2022).
• Compared to 31 December 2022, trade receivables decreased $6.4m to $19.0m and trade payables decreased by $5.5m to $19.5m.
• Cash on 31 March 2023 was $2.9m ($2.8m on 31 December 2022) and the Company had borrowed $4.1m under its $5m trade finance facility ($2.7m on 31 December 2022).
In April, the Company secured a $3m increase in its bank trade finance facility. The increase to $8m is to provide additional working capital flexibility for the next three months by which time we would expect our inventory and trade receivables to return to normal levels.
2023 Outlook
AoFrio is maintaining its 2023 guidance with forecast revenue growth expected to exceed 30%, trending towards NZ$100 million in revenue. EBITDA is expected to be around $3.5 million. Based on forecast cashflows the Company is sufficiently funded to execute its current business plans and is planning to fund growth internally.
CEO Greg Balla commented, “AoFrio remains cautious about its base demand in the short term, largely due to macro-economic issues in the regions we operate.
“We are taking a measured approach to planned investments, including staffing, until forecast demand for the remainder of the year is confirmed.
“We have made great progress on our product roadmap and are expecting to launch a new cellular controller, a SCS controller that has cellular communication embedded in the device. This is vital for our market entry strategy for North America and Europe. We will also launch a 25-watt motor which will allow us to take share in the food retail market.”
*EBITDA (i.e., Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, and impairment) is a non-GAAP earnings figure that equity analysts tend to focus on for comparable company performance analysis. AoFrio considers it a valuable financial indicator because it avoids the distortions caused by differences in amortisation and impairment policies.
Ends
Contact
Greg Balla
Chief Executive Officer
Phone + 64 21 938 601
Howard Milliner
Chief Financial Officer
+64 27 587 0455