ZUG, SWITZERLAND and
VANCOUVER, July 18, 2018 /CNW/ - HIVE Blockchain
Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (OTC:HVBTF) (the "Company" or
"HIVE") today announced its results for the fourth quarter and full
year ended March 31, 2018 (all
amounts in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated).
"It has been a transformational year for the Company as we have
grown from a 2.0 MW facility in Iceland to a company with more than 24 MW of
operations to date and digital currency mining assets in three
countries." said Harry Pokrandt,
President and CEO. "Despite volatility in the cryptocurrency
market, we have significantly grown our inventory of newly minted
coins and have a strong cash position. I am extremely pleased with
the operational and financial performance of HIVE and our position
as a leading blockchain infrastructure company."
FY 2018 Highlights
- Generated revenues of $13,081,395, with a gross mining
margin1 of $10,139,931,
from mining of digital currencies;
- Mined over 17,000 newly minted Ethereum and 54,000 Ethereum
Classic coins during the year ended March
31, 2018, including fourth quarter production of 9,800
Ethereum and 34,000 Ethereum Classic coins representing an increase
of 136% and 170%, respectively over third quarter production;
- Raised gross proceeds of $160
million (C$203 million) of
growth capital during the year to finance rapid expansion and
future growth opportunities and investments;
- Expanded operations with Genesis dedicated to GPU-based digital
currencies such as Ethereum and Ethereum Classic in Sweden and Iceland, with a total of 17.4 megawatts ("MW")
in production at March 31, 2018 and a
further 6.8 MW commencing production after March 31, 2018. The Company currently has 20.4 MW
in Sweden (the "Sweden GPU Data
Centre") and 3.8 MW in Iceland,
bringing the Company's digital currency mining footprint to a total
of 24.2 MW since its Change of Business in September 2017
- Executed further strategic partnership agreement with Genesis
to expand capacity with SHA-256 ASIC miners capable of mining
Bitcoin, including 20 MW to be dedicated to the operation of 200
petahashes ("PHs"), with estimated delivery in September 2018
- Return on investment of 20% by March
2018 through investment of $38,284,690 in data centre equipment since
September 2017 which has generated
digital currencies with a value of $7,754,307 (excluding $22,000,000 investment for Sweden phase 2 which came online March 2018);
- Net loss of $26,159,978 for the
year, including a one-time charge of $17,741,024 for the formation of the strategic
relationship with Genesis, representing 68% of the loss; and
- Announced in March 2018 and
closed subsequent to year end, the acquisition of Kolos Norway AS
("Kolos") provides a critical path for growth for the Company and
the potential to access a substantial amount of competitive green
power in a safe jurisdiction.
___________________
|
1
|
Gross mining margin
is a non-IFRS measure; see Non-IFRS Measures for
reconciliation
|
Financial Review
For the year ended March 31, 2018,
HIVE's gross mining margin was 78%, with revenues per average
megawatt of over $2 million. Fourth
quarter revenues were produced from an average of 9.84 MW of
production capacity, with Sweden Phase 2 coming online at the very
end of the quarter, increasing total capacity to 17.4 MW in
operation as at March 31, 2018. Below
is an analysis of the Company's revenues and gross mining margin
per MW for the year ended March 31,
2018:
(1)
|
Gross mining margin
equates to revenue less operating and maintenance costs and is a
non-IFRS measure; see detailed calculation in the annual
Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended March 31,
2018 for more information.
|
(2)
|
Average MW for a
period is calculated based on the computing capacity in production
on a daily basis for each period
|
The Company recorded a net loss from continuing operations of
$25,568,684; this included a one time
charge for the consideration for the strategic relationship with
Genesis of $17,741,024, non-cash
share-based compensation of $4,817,019 and general and administration
expenses of $4,541,282. The
Company's expenses include start up costs to develop a footprint in
Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway, as well as developing the business in
Canada.
Outlook
HIVE continues to execute on its aggressive growth strategy to
maintain its position as a market leader in the blockchain
infrastructure industry and will increase operations from 17.4 MW
of data centre equipment as at March 31,
2018 to 44.2 MW by September
2018; an increase of 154%. 6.8 MW for Phase 3 of the Sweden
GPU Data Centre has already commenced production in April 2018 and the 20 MW of SHA-256 AISC miners
is expected to provide an additional 200 PH by September. These
additional capacities were fully funded as at March 31, 2018 and their operation will not
create a significant change in the Company's overhead, the
additional mining margin will directly increase the Company's
profits.
HIVE continues to actively investigate other high efficiency
computing applications, such as artificial intelligence and graphic
rendering as well as private blockchain computing, which are
becoming more widespread as the blockchain technology grows and
develops.
"HIVE continues to strive for growth and has delivered on its
development plan to date, meeting key milestones and positioning
itself as a blockchain infrastructure leader, as evidenced by the
Company's achievements." said Frank
Holmes, Chairman. "It has been impressive to watch HIVE
expand over the past nine months and deploy capital in a prudent
and efficient manner. I am excited about the strong pipeline of new
opportunities and eagerly anticipate the next twelve months of
operations as the Company sees the launch of further production
capacity."
Management Update
HIVE is pleased to announce Stephan
Metz as Country Manager in Zug, Switzerland. Mr. Metz is an accomplished
cross-border legal and tax expert, with experience in securities
law. Prior to joining HIVE, Mr. Metz worked as a Senior Manager at
PWC and as a digital currency advisor assisting individuals
relocate their businesses to Zug. He has invaluable experience in a
rapidly evolving digital currency ecosystem, including tax
structuring for mining companies, digital currency funds, trading
platforms and ICOs. Mr. Metz's experience and leadership will add
additional expertise to the management team of HIVE and help
increase operational efficiency in both Europe and internationally.
Financial Statements and MD&A
The Company's Financial Statements and Management's Discussion
and Analysis (MD&A) for the three and twelve months ended
March 31, 2018 will be accessible on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com under HIVE's profile and on the Company's
website at www.HIVEblockchain.com.
Webcast Details
Management will host a webcast on Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 8:30am Eastern Time to discuss the financial
results for the three and twelve months ended March 31, 2018. Presenting on the webcast will be
Harry Pokrandt, CEO, President and
Director and Jessica Van Den Akker,
Chief Financial Officer. Analysts and interested investors may
register for the webcast or visit www.HIVEblockchain.com for more
information.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented,
TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector
to traditional capital markets. HIVE is strategically partnered
with Genesis Mining Ltd. to build the next generation of blockchain
infrastructure. HIVE owns state-of-the-art GPU-based digital
currency mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden, which produce newly minted digital
currencies like Ethereum continuously, and provides shareholders
with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining
as well as a growing portfolio of crypto-coins.
For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list,
please visit www.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow @HIVEblockchain on
Twitter and subscribe to HIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf Of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
"Harry Pokrandt"
President, CEO and Director
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news
release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning
of applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release
includes information about the Company's planned expansion of
SHA-256 ASIC miners, including timing of delivery in September 2018, expected electrical consumption
and digital currencies (Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash) expected to be
mined with the SHA-256 ASIC miners; the Company's plans to develop
computing capacity on its property in Norway; the Company's plans to pursue other
high efficiency computing applications (such as artificial
intelligence, graphic rendering and private blockchain computing);
the Company's strategy to rapidly acquire, develop and operate data
centres and potential growth of the Company's computing capacity;
expected electrical and mining capacity; the value of the Company's
digital currency inventory; the business goals and objectives of
the Company, and other forward-looking information including but
not limited to information concerning the intentions, plans and
future actions of the Company.
The forward-looking information in this news release reflects
the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company
based on information currently available to the Company. In
connection with the forward-looking information contained in this
news release, the Company has made assumptions about the Company's
ability to complete the acquisition and operation of SHA-256 ASIC
miners; the Company's ability to develop computing capacity on its
property in Norway; the Company's
ongoing partnership with Genesis; historical prices of digital
currencies and the ability of the Company to mine digital
currencies will be consistent with historical prices; and there
will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from
operating its business. The Company has also assumed that no
significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of
business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions
inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable,
forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future
performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on
such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in such forward-looking information include,
but are not limited to, the Company may not complete its planned
expansion of SHA-256 ASIC miners in the terms currently
anticipated, or at all, and as such the Company may not realize any
additional electrical consumption or digital currency from the
SHA-256 ASIC miners; the Company may not develop any additional
computing capacity on its property in Norway; the Company may not be able to mine or
liquidate digital currency at economic values, or at all; the
Company's digital currency inventory and operations are at risk of
loss, theft or cybercrime; the general acceptance and use of
digital currencies may never gain widespread or significant
acceptance; the ongoing partnership with Genesis; the digital
currency market; a decline in digital currency prices may have a
significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the
volatility of digital currency prices; and other related risks as
more fully set out in the Company's Management Discussion and
Analysis for the Year Ended March 31,
2018, Filing Statement of the Company dated September 14, 2017 and other documents disclosed
under the Company's filings at www.sedar.com.
This news release also contains "financial outlook" in the
form of gross mining margins, which is intended to provide
additional information only and may not be an appropriate or
accurate prediction of future performance, and should not be used
as such. The gross mining margins disclosed in this news
release are based on the assumptions disclosed in this news release
and the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Year
Ended March 31, 2018, which
assumptions are based upon management's best estimates but are
inherently speculative and there is no guarantee that such
assumptions and estimates will prove to be correct.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking information or financial outlook, which speak only
as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly
release the results of any revisions to forward-looking information
or financial outlook that may be made to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events except as required by law.
SOURCE HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.