Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS), (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”),
which is proceeding to commercialize its proprietary
electrochemical lead recycling technology called AquaRefining™, has
provided a corporate update and announced results for the first
quarter ended March 31, 2018.
Recent Company Highlights:
• Four Aqua Refining modules now in production; currently
working to achieve 24-hour operations on four modules
• Shipped first 20 tonne batch of refined lead bullion
blocks to Johnson Controls (JCI)
• Reached an agreement with Johnson Controls (“JCI”) to
extend the timelines of entering and executing their Equipment
Supply Agreement by one year
• Entered settlement with Kanen Wealth Management to
strengthen company’s board and management team
• New Board and management members include:
- Steve Cotton as President
- Frank Knuettel II as Chief Financial Officer
- Shariq Yosufzai, Sushil ("Sam") Kapoor, and Eric Prouty as
independent directors
Company UpdateAqua Metals continues to work
towards scaling up operations at the world’s first AquaRefinery at
the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) in McCarran, Nevada.
As anticipated from a previous communication, a fourth
AquaRefining module has completed the conditioning period and has
been transferred from technical control to production. The Company
now has four AquaRefiners in production on one shift. The immediate
focus is to achieve 24-hour operations with the four modules before
bringing additional modules on line. The goal remains to have all
16 modules running for 24 hours; however, the Company believes that
initial operation of four modules for 24 hours a day will allow the
Company to reach full scale operations more rapidly. In addition,
this operational strategy allows the company to maximize lead
production, while enabling the remaining components of the plant to
be synchronized in support of increased AquaRefining. Once the
Company is satisfied with the operation of the first four modules,
four more modules will be brought into production. This process
will be repeated until full production is reached with all 16
modules. The company is currently adding staff and training for the
additional shifts.
As announced previously, all AquaRefined lead produced is being
melted in the refinery and cast into 2½ tonne blocks as refined
bullion. The bullion is an alloy of AquaRefined lead and priming
lead bullion previously purchased for the refinery start-up at
TRIC. The first 20 tonne batch of refined lead bullion blocks was
shipped from the plant in Reno, Nevada on May 7, 2018 and is
currently en route to JCI. The Company expects shipments of lead to
JCI to continue.
On April 12, 2018, Aqua Metals reached an agreement with JCI to
extend the timelines for entering and executing their Equipment
Supply Agreement by one year to April 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019,
respectively. The Equipment Supply Agreement details installation
of new greenfield builds, as well as conversion of existing JCI’s
(and certain strategic partners of JCI) existing lead smelters to a
lead recycling process utilizing the Company’s proprietary and
patented AquaRefining technology and equipment, know-how and
services.
Management Changes and Board EnhancementOn May
2, 2018, Aqua Metals entered into a settlement agreement with Kanen
Wealth Management, LLC (“Kanen”). Under the agreement, Aqua Metals
has expanded the Board from five to seven directors—all of which
are independent—and has appointed Kanen nominees S. Shariq Yosufzai
and Sushil ("Sam") Kapoor to the Board, effective May 2, 2018. Mr.
Yosufzai will serve as Aqua Metal’s new Non-Executive Chairman and
lead independent director.
In the first quarter, the Company’s Board of Directors approved
and was in the process of implementing a plan for CEO succession
and board refreshment. As part of this process, Stephen Clarke
resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the
Board. The Board also agreed to separate the roles of CEO and Board
Chairman, and subsequently, elected Eric Prouty, an experienced
sustainability-focused analyst and successful business development
consultant, as an independent director.
As part of the settlement agreement with Kanen, Steve Cotton—the
Company's former Chief Commercial Officer (from January 2015 to
June 2017)—has rejoined Aqua Metals as the President. Selwyn Mould
who has served briefly as the Company’s interim CEO, will resign
from that position after the filing of the Company’s first quarter
Form 10-Q and will remain with Aqua Metals as Chief Operating
Officer.
In April 2018, Aqua Metals appointed Frank Knuettel II as Chief
Financial Officer, and he will assume the role immediately
following the filing of the Company’s first quarter Form 10-Q. Mr.
Knuettel will succeed Thomas Murphy, who was named interim CFO on
March 5, 2018. Mr. Knuettel joins Aqua Metals with extensive
strategic and operational financial leadership, with over 20 years
of management and business experience in public and venture-backed
firms.
First Quarter 2018 Financials Total revenues in
the first quarter of 2018 were $1.7 million, compared to $0.9
million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and no revenue in the first
quarter of 2017.
The Company incurred an operating loss of $7.0 million during
the first quarter of 2018, compared to an operating loss of $4.5
million in the first quarter of 2017.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2018 was $7.5 million, or
($0.27) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $4.9 million,
or ($0.26) per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2017.
The Company had $17.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as of
March 31, 2018, compared to $30.6 million as of March 31, 2017. In
the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company raised approximately $13.8
million in net proceeds from an underwritten public offering. In
January 2018, the Company received an additional $2.1 million in
net proceeds from the underwriter exercising its overallotment
option from the December 2017 capital raise.
Conference Call and Webinar Aqua Metals will
host a conference call today, Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.
Pacific Daylight time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight time) to discuss
its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31,
2018.
Selwyn Mould, Chief Operating Officer, and Thomas Murphy, Chief
Financial Officer, will host the call, followed by a question and
answer session.
To access the call, please use the following information:
Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2018Time: 1:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight
time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight time)Dial-in: 1-855-327-6837
International Dial-in: 1-631-891-4304 Passcode: 10004831 Webcast:
http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=129640
A telephone replay will be available approximately two hours
after the call and will run through June 9, 2018 by dialing
1-844-512-2921 from the U.S., or 1-412-317-6671 from international
locations, and entering replay pin number: 10004831.
The webcast will be available for replay for 60 days on the
investor relations section of the company's website at
www.aquametals.com.
About Aqua MetalsAqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS)
is reinventing lead recycling with its patented and patent-pending
AquaRefining™ technology. AquaRefining is a room temperature,
water-based process that is fundamentally non-polluting. These
modular systems allow the Company to reduce environmental impact
and scale lead acid recycling production capacity both by building
its own AquaRefineries and licensing the AquaRefining technology to
partners. Aqua Metals is based in Alameda, California, and has
built its first recycling facility in Nevada’s Tahoe Reno
Industrial Complex. To learn more, please visit
www.aquametals.com.
Safe Harbor This press release contains
forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to our
plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements
that contain words such as “expects,” “contemplates,”
“anticipates,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes” and variations of
such words or similar expressions that predict or indicate future
events or trends, or that do not relate to historical
matters. The forward looking statements in this release
include the strength and efficacy of Aqua Metals’ portfolio of
patent applications and issued patents, the lead acid battery
recycling industry, the future of lead acid battery recycling via
traditional smelters, the Company’s development of its commercial
lead acid battery recycling facilities and the quality and
efficiency of the Company’s proposed lead acid battery recycling
operations. Those forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially. Among those factors are: (1)
the risk that the Company may not be able to produce and market
AquaRefined lead on a commercial basis or, if the Company
achieves commercial operations, that such operations will be
profitable, (2) the fact that the Company only recently commenced
production and has not generated any significant revenue to date,
thus subjecting the Company to all of the risks inherent in a
pre-revenue start-up; (3) the risk no further patents will be
issued on the Company’s patent applications or any other
application that it may file in the future and that those patents
issued to date and any patents issued in the future will be
sufficiently broad to adequately protect the Company’s technology,
(4) the risk that the Company’s initial patents and any other
patents that may be issued to it may be challenged, invalidated, or
circumvented, (5) risks related to Aqua Metals’ ability to raise
sufficient capital, as and when needed, to develop and operate its
recycling facilities and fund continuing losses from operations as
the Company endeavors to achieve profitability; (6) changes in the
federal, state and foreign laws regulating the recycling of lead
acid batteries; (7) the Company’s ability to protect its
proprietary technology, trade secrets and know-how and (8) those
other risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in the
Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 9, 2018
and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed with the
SEC. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on
any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake, and
specifically disclaims any obligation, to update or revise such
statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as
they occur, except as required by law.
Important Additional Information and
Where to Find It
This press release may be deemed to contain
solicitation material in respect of the solicitation of proxies
from the Company’s stockholders in connection with the Company’s
2018 Annual Meeting (the “Annual Meeting”). The Company has filed
with the SEC, and mailed to the Company’s stockholders, an amended
definitive proxy statement relating to the Annual Meeting, as well
as the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2017, filed with the SEC on March 15, 2018 (the
“Annual Report”). The definitive proxy statement contains
important information about the Company, the Annual Meeting and
related matters. Stockholders may obtain a free copy of the
Company’s amended definitive proxy statement, including any
amendments and supplements thereto, and other documents that the
Company files with the SEC on the SEC’s website, at www.sec.gov.
INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE AMENDED DEFINITIVE
PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO),
AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT SOLICITATION MATERIALS BECAUSE THESE
DOCUMENTS CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Aqua Metals, its directors and certain of the
Company’s executive officers may be deemed to be participants in
the solicitation of proxies from the Company’s stockholders in
connection with the Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names
of the Company’s directors and executive officers and their
respective interests in the Company was set forth in the Company’s
amended definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on May __,
2018 and other relevant solicitation materials filed by the
Company. Additional information regarding the participants in the
solicitation of proxies from the Company’s stockholders in
connection with the Annual Meeting, including updated information
as to their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or
otherwise, are included in the Company’s amended definitive proxy
statement and other relevant documents to be filed by the Company
with the SEC in connection with the Annual Meeting. These
documents, and any and all other documents filed by the Company
with the SEC, may be obtained by investors and stockholders free of
charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies will also be
available at no charge on the Company’s website at
www.aquametals.com.
|
Aqua Metals, Inc. |
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets |
(in thousands) |
(unaudited) |
|
ASSETS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 31, 2018 |
|
December 31, 2017 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and
cash equivalents |
$ |
17,497 |
|
|
$ |
22,793 |
|
Restricted cash |
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Accounts
receivable |
|
1,327 |
|
|
|
882 |
|
Inventory |
|
933 |
|
|
|
1,239 |
|
Prepaid
expenses and other current assets |
|
638 |
|
|
|
770 |
|
Total
current assets |
|
20,395 |
|
|
|
25,684 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Property
and equipment, net |
|
46,583 |
|
|
|
45,733 |
|
Intellectual property, net |
|
1,414 |
|
|
|
1,461 |
|
Other
assets |
|
1,564 |
|
|
|
1,564 |
|
Total
non-current assets |
|
49,561 |
|
|
|
48,758 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
assets |
$ |
69,956 |
|
|
$ |
74,442 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
payable |
$ |
2,084 |
|
|
$ |
1,436 |
|
Accrued
expenses |
|
1,671 |
|
|
|
1,801 |
|
Deferred
rent, current portion |
|
196 |
|
|
|
192 |
|
Notes
payable, current portion |
|
382 |
|
|
|
405 |
|
Total
current liabilities |
|
4,333 |
|
|
|
3,834 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deferred
rent, non-current portion |
|
722 |
|
|
|
771 |
|
Asset
retirement obligation |
|
712 |
|
|
|
701 |
|
Notes
payable, non-current portion |
|
8,763 |
|
|
|
8,839 |
|
Convertible note payable, non-current portion |
|
1,742 |
|
|
|
1,332 |
|
Total
liabilities |
|
16,272 |
|
|
|
15,477 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stockholders' equity |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common
stock and Additional paid-in capital |
|
116,058 |
|
|
|
113,807 |
|
Accumulated deficit |
|
(62,374 |
) |
|
|
(54,842 |
) |
Total
stockholders' equity |
|
53,684 |
|
|
|
58,965 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
liabilities and stockholders' equity |
$ |
69,956 |
|
|
$ |
74,442 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aqua Metals, Inc. |
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations |
(in thousands, except share and per share data) |
(unaudited) |
|
|
Three months ended |
|
March 31, |
|
March 31, |
|
2017 |
|
2018 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Product
sales |
$ |
- |
|
|
$ |
1,726 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating cost and
expense |
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of
product sales |
- |
|
|
5,436 |
|
Research
and development cost |
2,987 |
|
|
1,475 |
|
General
and administrative expense |
1,528 |
|
|
1,775 |
|
Total
operating expense |
4,515 |
|
|
8,686 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss from
operations |
|
(4,515 |
) |
|
|
(6,960 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other income and
expense |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
expense |
|
(388 |
) |
|
|
(587 |
) |
Interest
and other income |
11 |
|
|
17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
other income (expense), net |
|
(377 |
) |
|
|
(570 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
before income tax expense |
|
(4,892 |
) |
|
|
(7,530 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income tax expense |
|
(2 |
) |
|
|
(2 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net loss |
$ |
(4,894 |
) |
|
$ |
(7,532 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted average shares
outstanding, basic and diluted |
18,792,850 |
|
|
27,768,008 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted net
loss per share |
$ |
(0.26 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.27 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aqua Metals Media Relations:David ReganDirector
of MarketingMain: 415-336-3553www.aquametals.com
Investor Relations:MZ North AmericaGreg
FalesnikManaging DirectorMain:
949-385-6449greg.falesnik@mzgroup.uswww.mzgroup.us
Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024