Stockhouse (Sh): Please tell me a little bit about Octus Energy’s business
Chris Soderquist (CS): Octus Energy (OTC:BB: OCTI, Stock Forum) is a smart energy efficiency company that significantly reduces energy costs for commercial and institutional building owners through the sale, implementation and management energy-efficient lighting, HVAC and energy automation systems. The market for Octus’s solutions in the U.S. is an estimated $50 billion per year, based on the potential energy savings for commercial buildings. Octus monetizes the energy savings it creates through three business units:
- Smart Energy Technologies: Proprietary and best-in-class energy-efficiency solutions including Wickool, a passive evaporative cooling solution exclusively licensed from the University of California and commercially demonstrated by major retailers.
- Energy Project Development: Development, financing and management of commercial building energy retrofits, where the energy savings fund facility improvement. Octus and its partners have developed more than 1,500 energy-efficiency projects
- The Octus Smart Energy Platform (OctusSEP): A portfolio of smart devices, sensors, network appliances and software-enabled energy management services that enable building managers to command, control and monitor energy use in real time, from any device.
Commercial development is propelled through affiliations with leading energy institutions, including the California Lighting Technology Center and the Western Cooling Efficiency Center. Octus was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Davis, California.
Sh: What distinguishes your company from others in your space?
CS:
- Experience: First-tier executive team supported by an Industry Advisory Group composed of the world’s leading energy efficiency and alternative energy experts.
- Business model: Diverse but synergistic combination of proprietary energy-efficiency products, software-enabled energy management services, and energy project development and financing expertise to maximize energy savings for small-to-medium sized commercial building owners.
- Project development: More than 1,500 commercial energy-efficiency projects developed through Octus’s partner, Quantum Energy Solutions.
- Access to markets and technologies: Intimate working relationships with the University of California, Davis Energy Efficiency Center, California Lighting Technology Center, and Western Cooling Efficiency Center drive access to emerging technologies and relationships with customers and partners.
Sh: What would you say is the biggest risk for investors in your stock?
CS: Aside from risks disclosed in our most-recent annual report, two potential growth inhibitors are access to growth capital (to fund operations and maximize pursuit of business opportunities) and access to project financing.
Sh:Much cash do you have? Do you have sufficient funding for the foreseeable future or will you be going back to the market for more capital?
CS: Please see our most-recent SEC filings (Cash on hand as of December 31, 2009 was $23,003). We do anticipate the need to raise additional capital to fund operations and growth, and in concert with potential acquisitions.
Sh:What challenges do you face in operating your business?
CS:
- Speed: Maximizing the market opportunity to capture and leverage federal, state and local energy efficiency financial incentives.
- Execution: Focusing resources on product, service and project development sales opportunities that generate the highest returns for Octus and our clients.
- Capital: Raising sufficient capital – and generating free cash flow through operations – to fuel execution and maximize penetration of the market opportunity.
Sh: What do your shareholders have to look forward to in the coming year?
CS: Resources in 2009 were invested in building a platform (people, product and service offerings, market relationships) upon which Octus can aggressively tap a $50 billion opportunity (U.S.) to generate energy savings for commercial buildings. Octus’s strategy for the coming year has shifted to sales and marketing through its three energy-efficiency business units, and the pursuit of targeted acquisitions that can help fuel growth.
Sh:Are you benefitting from Obama’s green energy program? If so, how?
CS: Octus stands to benefit tremendously through ARRA and related federal, state and local investments in energy efficiency. In particular, the economics for our product, service and project development offerings are greatly accentuated – our clients are saving more money and generating greater returns on their investments in energy-efficiency solutions thanks, primarily, to utility company and regional government financial incentives. In addition, numerous project financing alternatives are emerging, including on-bill financing, property-tax financing, and creative energy savings debt and equity offerings, all of which have a catalytic effect on Octus’s sales activities.
Sh: How close are you to profitability?
CS: Octus initiated revenue in Q1-2010. We have not provided financial guidance for 2010. Please refer to our SEC filings and recent news releases for more information.
Public company comparables in this industry include: Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV, Stock Forum), Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON, Stock Forum), Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI, Stock Forum), Lime EnergyCo. (NASDAQ: LIME, Stock Forum), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI, Stock Forum), Honeywell (NYSE: HON, Stock Forum), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (NYSE: SAI, Stock Forum).