Clear Blue Technologies Intl Inc. (CBLU.V) delivers clean, managed, “wireless power” to meet the need for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid power for lighting, telecom, security, IoT devices, and other mission-critical systems.
The company offers a number of innovative products: Solar Controller, Solar and Wind Controller, Telecom Power Pack, Illuminence Cloud Control, Nano-Grid Power Pack, and IOT solutions.
Previous coverage was issued on May 2019, February 2020 and September 2020.
News releases
Oct. 22 - Solve Grid Infrastructure Issues in Fifth Project with the City of Toronto for Smart Off-Grid Solar Lighting: Completed a critical project with the Kingsway Business Improvement Association (BIA) and the City of Toronto to install Illumient Smart Off-Grid lighting in Toronto.
Oct. 30 - Win Contract to Power Rural Telecom with Nuran Wireless for Orange in Cameroon: Multi-year contract valued at approximately C$1.45M; Phase 1 will commence delivery in Q4 2020.
NuRAN and Clear Blue will provide Rural Telecommunications systems and ongoing operational services in Cameroon to Orange S.A. (NYSE: ORAN), one of the world’s largest mobile network operators.
Clear Blue will provide its Smart Off-Grid solar-powered telecom solution as part of the ‘Network-as-a-Service’ (‘NaaS’) project. Phase 1 roll-out across 120 sites will take 12 months, commencing in Q4 2020. The initial contract value for Clear Blue’s participation in Phase 1 is approximately $650K CAD. The rollout to begin in early 2021 conditional on financing.
Nov. 9 - Off-Grid Lighting Illuminates Rural Intersections in North Dakota: Completed four additional phases to bring the total to 7 phases of regional installations of its Illumient cleantech Smart Off-Grid lighting at rural intersections in North Dakota for the Department of Transport (DOT). As part of an initiative to reduce traffic accidents in the state, Clear Blue expects to have all lighting systems up and running by the end of 2020, for over 100 rural intersections.
The total sale value for this multi-phase project was approximately $650,000 CAD and it generates approximately $100,000 per year of recurring revenue as part of Clear Blue’s Energy as a Service offering
Nov. 17 - Awarded $5M Deal with Major Telecom Operator: A major innovative telecom infrastructure operator selected Clear Blue to power 400 telecommunications sites in rural Africa.
The initial order of Smart Off-Grid Power Systems is worth approximately $5 million CAD in revenue to Clear Blue during Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, with gross margins in line with what the Company has historically reported. Clear Blue currently expects that 30% of this revenue will be realized in Q4 2020, and the remainder in Q1 2021.
Under the 3-year service agreement, Clear Blue will also provide on-going management through Illumience, its cloud-based management and control service, which will result in additional monthly revenues on an ongoing basis.
Clear Blue has been building its inventory in anticipation of this order and already has 1,000 Smart Off-Grid devices manufactured and ready for shipment in Q4. Furthermore, Clear Blue anticipates that the roll-out of these rural telecom sites will expand to 2,000 sites or more in Africa. Follow-on orders to provide Smart Off-Grid Power for these sites could bring significant revenues for Clear Blue over the next two years.
This latest agreement is the largest single project between Clear Blue and this major telecom operator to date and represents a large-scale roll out of telecommunications infrastructure designed to support rural communities in Africa. Clear Blue will leverage its experience in serving these emerging markets through its technical expertise and proven history to ensure its success and secure the greater potential future value.
Nov. 18 - Announces Q3 2020 Financial Results.
Nov. 27 - Clear Blue’s Illumient Smart Off-Grid Lights Up the American Parkway in Allentown Pennsylvania: 80 lights to service the American Parkway had a total contract value of CAD 650K, which includes annual recurring revenues for the next three years. All systems shipped in 2020, and installations to begin over the next few months .
Dec. 7 - Announces Private Placement Led By Echelon Wealth Partners: Gross proceeds of up to approximately CAD$3,000,000, The Offering will consist up to 7,894,800 units at $0.38 cents (Warrant $0.55 cents - One half).
Proceeds to be used for sales, marketing, research and development, and working capital requirements.
Dec. 14 - Announces Upsizing to Previously Announced Private Placement to $4,350,000. Upsized the Initial Offering to gross proceeds of up to approximately CAD$4,350,000 to accommodate investor demand. It is expected that certain directors and officers of the Company will participate in the Offering.
Dec. 21 -Appoints Farrukh Anwar as Chief Financial Officer: In this role, Mr. Anwar will be responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the company, while assisting the board of directors on strategic and tactical matters relating to global operations, project-based financing, future M&A activities, and growth financing.
Lastly, Clear Blue has re-engaged German Research GmbH as its investor relations consultant in Germany under an extension to the agreement originally signed with German Research in November, 2018.
Dec. 22 - Announces Closing of Upsized and Oversubscribed Brokered Offering Led by Echelon Wealth Partners Inc.: Approximately $5M with the issuance of 13,157,800 units at of C$0.38 per Unit (Warrant at 0.55 cents).
Jan. 12 - Updates Investors on Major Global Corporate Initiatives: Today provides an update for its investors on key global corporate initiatives, including the opening of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, the issuance of a new technology patent and important product and software updates.
Expansion to Kenya: Established a subsidiary, Clear Blue Kenya. This comes with the opening of a new satellite office in Nairobi, Kenya, with two full-time employees and plans for additional hires in 2021. The office will provide field Research & Development (R&D) and a second operations service team to support Clear Blue’s recurring Illumience management service for full customer support, troubleshooting and technical support for systems across EMEA.
New EU Patent: On September 10, 2020, the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany, granted EU patent No. 3314750 (“System and Method for Charging Autonomously Powered Devices Using Variable Power Source”). This European patent has been validated in Germany, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, expanding Clear Blue’s patent portfolio to include 9 patents in 5 countries with 2 additional pending patent applications for Canada.
Significant Product Enhancements: Clear Blue made significant improvements and advancements to its existing power products and management software for enhanced analytics, an improved user interface and increased energy and efficiency capabilities for Smart Off-Grid Controller, Smart DC/DC Converter, and Illumience. (see details in PR)
Feb. 4 - In partnership with Rukun Al Yaqeen International, Completes Third Illumient Project Totaling $1.5M USD for a Residential Development and Two Regional Airports for Petroleum Development Oman: Partnered with Rukun Al Yaqeen International (RAY International or RAYOMAN). These projects involved a total of almost 900 Illumient Smart Off-Grid Lighting systems with Illumience Energy-as-a-Service remote monitoring, control and management.
Feb. 24 - Named Top Performer on TSX Venture Exchange:
Mar. 3 - Illumient Lights Up Railway Safety Switches: In partnership with Metro-Tech Sales & Consulting, Inc. announces the completion of a project that provided Illumient solar lights to illuminate safety switches in a Conrail operated switchyard in Greenwich County, New Jersey.
Mar. 16 - Announces 2020 Financial Results.
Apr. 9 - Delivers Green Energy for Hy-Vee: Announces 3 new store projects with the US-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee. After 6 years, this will bring the total store count to 16 across Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri that have implemented Illumient Smart Off-Grid Lighting from Clear Blue. The most recent orders were for over $80,000 CAD and includes approximately $15,000 in a three-year, Energy-as-a-Service recurring revenue contract.
Apr. 12 - Starts Trading in the U.S. on the OTCQB: U.S. public market under the ticker symbol CBUTF.
Summary
The last eight months were very eventful for CBLU.V
Projects
CBLU.V announced over $6M in new projects. The agreement with a Major Telecom Operator ($5M) for 400 rural sites was the largest. At the time CBLU.V disclosed that 30% of the revenue is to be realized in Q4 2020, the rest in Q1 2021.
CBLU.V was also awarded a multi-year contract with Nuran Wireless for Orange Cameroon for $1.5M (initial value of $0.675M). In addition, Clear Blue also reported a number of engagements: Rukun Al Yaqeen International in Oman ($1.5M). City of Toronto, North Dakota ($0.650M initial value with $0.10M recurring annual) Allentown, PA ($0.650M initial value with 0.095M recurring annual) Greenwich County, New Jersey, among others.
Other achievements
In early January, Clear Blue provided a corporate update which included three major accomplishments.
Expansion to Kenya: Established Clear Blue Kenya (a subsidiary) with the opening of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of the office is to provide field research & development and operational support across the EMEA.
New EU Patent: Patent No. 3314750 (“System and Method for Charging Autonomously Powered Devices Using Variable Power Source”). This EU patent has been validated in Germany, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, expanding Clear Blue’s patent portfolio to include 9 patents in 5 countries with 2 additional pending patent applications for Canada.
Significant Product Enhancements: Advancements to its existing power products and management software for enhanced analytics, an improved user interface and increased energy and efficiency capabilities for Smart Off-Grid Controller, Smart DC/DC Converter, and Illumience.
Appointments
Farrukh Anwar as the new CFO and German Research GmbH as investor relations.
Earnings
Overall, Clear Blue's performance in FY2020 exceeded FY 2019 despite Covid-19. Historically, Q3 and Q4 earnings tends to be stronger than Q1 and Q2. Not only did revenues bounced back from the first half of FY 2020, it also eclipsed comparative quarters year over year. Additionally, the net loss in Q4 2020 was much lower than Q4 2019.
Bookings also grew significantly from Q3 2020 ($1.4M) to Q4 2020($4.15M) with a reported backlog of ($0.97M).
Financing
In December, an initial $3M placement was undertaken. Seven days later, it was increased to $4.35M. A week later, CBLU.V closed for about $5M by issuing 13,157,800 units at of C$0.38 per Unit (Warrant at 0.55 cents).
In Short
CBLU.V has performed very well in the past twelve months; FY 2020 was the company's best year to date. The award of two major contracts in Africa and the ongoing engagement from multiple projects in North America were key drivers.
In the past week CBLU.V went from $0.33 cents to $0.49 cents likely due to the anticipation of a strong Q1 2021 to be released on May 27, 2021. Warrants from the last financing ($0.55 cents) aligns well with R1 ($0.57 cents).
Though CBLU.V does not traditionally issue guidance, when reporting FY 2020 earnings it stated that it expected $3M in revenue in Q1 2021 (a single project) vs. $238,298 in Q1 2020 (multiple projects). As such, Clear Blue is set to begin FY 2021 with strong earnings. For perspective, total revenue in FY2020 was $4.0M, FY 2019 $3.9M, and FY 2018 $3.7M. Hence, will the upcoming Q1 2021 performance be an outlier or the beginning of a new growth phase?
This remains to be articulated by Clear Blue. Though it is not unusual for companies at this stage of growth to have lumpy earnings, CBLU.V's recurring revenue model remain highly diversified and bodes well for the future.
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