Fourth Quarter 2021 Revenue and Full-Year 2021 Revenue Up 267% and 287% Year-Over-Year Respectively
SAN DIEGO / GLOBENEWSWIRE / March 17, 2022 / KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) (the “Company” or “KULR”), a leading developer of next-generation lithium-ion battery safety and thermal management technologies, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2021.
โThis past calendar year was a pivotal period in our corporate history as we achieved numerous milestones across the business,โ said KULR CEO Michael Mo. โWith the goal to maintain our growth trajectory, the entire team is laser focused on executing against key objectives in 2022. More specifically, we will continue to focus on the core growth sectors: energy storage, e-mobility and safe transportation of lithium-ion batteries within the full battery management lifecycle, from manufacturing through recycling and reuse. As we look to further commercialize our product lines this year, legacy products and partnerships in the aerospace, defense, government, and regulatory sectors will remain an essential cornerstone of our business. We will invest further into operations as we prepare for continued growth this year and beyond.โ
Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights:
- Revenue increased by 267% to $766,000 from the same year ago period
- As of December 31, 2021, the Company had $14.9 million of cash compared to $8.9 million in the same year ago period
- Gross margin was 70% in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to 76% in the same year ago period
Fourth Quarter 2021 and Recent Operational Highlights
- KULR appointed former NASA Johnson Space Center senior leader, Dr. William Walker, as its new Director of Engineering. Dr. Walker will work with the Companyโs engineering team on its next generation high-performance computing (โHPCโ) and hypersonic vehicle thermal management initiatives.
- KULR released a passive propagation resistant (โPPRโ) solution in its KULR-Tech Safe Case product family for maritime lithium-ion battery safety. The PPR solution meets the upcoming United States Coast Guardโs new safety requirements for the passenger vessel industry, and provides additional battery safety options for the cargo, fishing, and cruise verticals. The Companyโs solution prevents cell to cell thermal runaway propagation and prevents heat, fire, and explosion from exiting the KULR-Tech Safe Case enclosure.
- KULR received a three-year multi-million-dollar deployment order for its PPR solution suite from Volta Energy Products (โVoltaโ), a subsidiary of Viridi Parente, Inc. (โViridiโ). The PPR solution, which includes the patented thermal runaway shield (โTRSโ) product, will be used for Voltaโs stationary and mobile lithium-ion battery power systems. The initial deployment order totals approximately $1.6 million for immediate delivery with higher volume shipments expected throughout 2022.
- KULR acquired the patented intellectual property (โIPโ) rights from Centropy AB (โCentropyโ). The acquisition brings advanced carbon fiber based heatsink technology for HPC applications that strengthen KULRโs portfolio of thermal management solutions for cloud computing, AI, and crypto mining applications. Centropyโs cooling solutions will be integrated into KULRโs existing technology portfolio โ targeting air and liquid-cooling of HPC applications such as crypto mining, cloud computing, and AR/VR simulations.
- KULR received an initial order totaling approximately $500,000 for its PPR battery systems from the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) (โLMTโ). This initial order was for immediate delivery and is the starting point in the partnership as LMT leverages KULRโs technological advancements in PPR energy products for its Advanced Energy Systems.
- KULR joined Clarios in the U.S. Department of Energyโs (โDoEโ) lithium-ion battery lifecycle initiative to develop the manufacturing and reuse of lithium-ion batteries and their chemical elements in the United States for the purpose of domestic national interest.
- KULR expanded its services with Heritage Battery Recycling (โHBRโ) as a result of HBRโs merger with Retriev Technologies, creating the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America. In addition to the existing e-bike and scooter customer programs, KULR will also provide safe transportation logistics to Retrievโs battery collection operations in North America.
Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Revenues: Revenue increased 267% to $766,000 in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021, from $208,000 reported in the same year-ago period. The increase in revenue was mainly due to the scaling up of design and test services from larger customers. The Company continues to build its relationships with a wide range of energy, transport and aerospace partners and has billed 25 customers during the year ended December 31, 2021. These additions reflect managementโs commitment to build new customer relationships through a growing pool of referrals and business development leads.
Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses: SG&A expenses increased to $3.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 from $768,000 in the corresponding period last year. The increase in SG&A expenses was due to the addition of management and operations team members, sales and marketing activities, and non-cash stock-based compensation paid to employees and consultants.
R&D expenses: R&D expenses in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased to $705,000 from $68,000 in the same period last year, reflecting a combination of new engineering hires, investments in manufacturing automation, new product developments, and research in high-areal capacity battery electrodes and solid-state electrolyte.
Operating Loss: Loss from operations was $4.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to $677,000 from the same period last year. Higher SG&A costs offset higher sales while the gross margin decreased from 76% in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 70% in the comparable 2021 quarter, as a result of lower margins on some larger jobs.
Net Loss: Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2021 increased to $4.1 million, or a loss of $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $859,000, or a loss of $0.01 per share from the same period last year.
Full-Year 2021 Financial Highlights:
- Increased revenue by 287% compared to Full-Year 2020, mainly reflecting expansion in the commercialization roadmap
- Increased shareholder equity to $16.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2021, from $6.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2020
- Gross margins decreased to 54% in the year ended December 31, 2021, from 70% in the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to a change in product mix from higher margin products to lower margin services
Full-Year 2021 Financial Results
Revenues: Revenue increased 287% to $2.4 million in 2021 from $624,000 in 2020. The increase in revenue was mainly due to early success in the energy storage and battery transportation and recycling sectors. The Company continues to build its relationships with a wide range of energy, transport and aerospace partners and has billed 25 customers during the year ended December 31, 2021. These additions reflect managementโs commitment to build new customer relationships through a growing pool of referrals and business development leads.
Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses: SG&A expenses increased to $11.2 million in 2021 from $2.5 million in 2020. The 349% increase in SG&A expenses consisted primarily of stock-based compensation, marketing and advertising, salaries, payroll taxes and other benefits, accounting and tax, consulting fees, travel and entertainment, rent expense, office expenses, and legal and professional fees.
R&D expenses: R&D expenses in 2021 increased to $1.7 million from $290,000 in 2020, reflecting an increase in employee headcount spent on R&D and three new projects for automation, battery and drone design initiated during 2021.
Operating Loss: Loss from operations was $11.5 million in 2021, compared to $2.3 million in 2020. The increase in operating loss was primarily the result of increased engineering and manufacturing workforce combined with the move and buildout of a larger facility to accommodate continued growth through automation. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had 52 full time employees and 5 contractors compared to 9 employees and 4 consultants on December 31, 2020. Higher SG&A costs offset higher sales while gross margin decreased to 54% in 2021 from 70% in 2020, primarily due to a global increase in cost of materials and from a change in mix between higher margin products and lower margin services.
Net Loss: Net loss for 2021 increased to $11.9 million or a loss of $0.15 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.9 million, or a loss of $0.03 per share in 2020.
Cash Position: The Company reported cash balances of $14.9 million as of December 31, 2021, compared to $8.9 million in the same period last year. KULR believes its cash position provides runway to expand operations, support new business and fund ongoing product development.
Conference Call
The Company has scheduled a conference call for Thursday, March 17th, 2022 at 4:30pm ET to discuss these results. Michael Mo, KULRโs CEO; Keith Cochran, President & COO, and Simon Westbrook, CFO, will provide a business update for the Company and answer questions submitted by analysts in advance.
To access the call:
Dial-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Access Code: 422095
Please call the conference telephone number 10 minutes prior to the start time. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Investor Relations at 949-574-3860.
The conference call will be available for replay here and via the Investor Relations section of KULRโs website.
About KULR Technology Group Inc.
KULR Technology Group Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) develops, manufactures and licenses next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems. Leveraging the company’s roots in developing breakthrough cooling solutions for NASA space missions and backed by a strong intellectual property portfolio, KULR enables leading aerospace, electronics, energy storage, 5G infrastructure, and electric vehicle manufacturers to make their products cooler, lighter and safer for the consumer. For more information, please visit www.KULRTechnology.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 19, 2021. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” and “would” or similar words. All forecasts are provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are entirely on managementโs best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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