Gaithersburg, MD, Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mPhase Technologies, Inc. (OTC Pink: XDSL) (“mPhase” or the “Company”), a technology company developing the mPower EV+ (electric vehicle) charging network and consumer engagement platform, today issued a letter to shareholders from its Chairman & CEO, Anshu Bhatnagar, a copy of which can be found on the investor relations section of our website.
Valued Shareholders,
By almost every measure, 2021 was an extraordinary year. The pandemic in its many forms has been a cruel force for most companies, helping some, but hurting most, and spawning side storms in the form of supply chain issues, social unrest and a list of challenges too long to list. Last year (and even the year before) we kept our heads down and forged forward with a strategy that not only kept our company on solid footing, but also set us up for a breakout year in 2022. We will be reporting our fiscal 2022 Q2 results in a few weeks, and shareholders will once again see that we are one of the few companies that did not cede any ground in terms of revenue or momentum during the worst of the pandemic.
In 2021, we were one of the top performing stocks on OTC Markets, with a 52-week return of 339.2%, and this performance is even more remarkable given the steps we took to improve our business during the year. Early in 2021 we recapitalized, replacing our last remaining variable rate debt with more institutional fixed-rate debt placed with longer-term holders, significantly bolstering our balance sheet. We ended that first pandemic year with little cash on hand, but by the September 2021 quarter end, had $1.8 million in cash and current assets of $16.7 million. Our stockholder equity is on an upward trend, reaching a record $12.2 million in fiscal Q1 2022, a 53% improvement in just three quarters.
Based on this rapid improvement, we are starting 2022 with some compelling metrics. mPhase, currently the only profitable public company in the EV charging space, has annual sales in excess of $32 million, has guided to double digit growth, and is trading at just 0.6X sales compared to peers that trade from 20-60X sales. I am excited to say that our results to date are just the beginning of what we think we can do as our growth curve accelerates.
For those who are new to our story, a recap will set the stage for the upcoming year. Last January we began putting together a strategy that leveraged our existing consumer engagement technology to bring a new kind of EV+ charging ecosystem to the marketplace. We are rewriting mobility! Everyone is looking at companies that talk about being net-zero. We will lead the way in the net zero transition. Today car manufacturers are racing towards an electric future. We will provide a new sustainable technology that allows for that transition.
We are in the early stages of a global shift in how the world produces and uses energy driven by substantial cost reductions, network computing and intelligence, decarbonization and consumerization of energy. Consumers are looking forward to a future of better products delivered in different ways.
Over the last few quarters, we have assembled the team and partnerships to make that strategy a reality. In 2022, shareholder’s will have the opportunity to see our EV+ concept take shape under the “mPower” name in multiple parts of the U.S.
Our mission statement describes our future: “Making a green lifestyle easier and more productive by empowering the way people shop, dine, fuel, and interact with the world to create a richer life experience.” We are currently launching an EV+ connected ecosystem that combines EV charging with powerful consumer engagement tools, adds in extra functionality via future initiatives such as a green marketplace, and creates multiple SaaS/TaaS revenue streams. Our model is fundamentally different than any other strategy in the EV charging space today.
We organized our company around the concept of assembling a team of technology experts in software-based disciplines to support AI-based products. So, we already had a deep in-house tech team in place before we designed our EV ecosystem. Over the course of 2021, we methodically built our senior management team, first through the addition of blockchain and intelligent automation expert Venkat Kodumudi as COO; followed by international staffing and HR expert Luis Buentello as Chief Human Resources Officer; and 18-year financial veteran Angelia Hrytsyshyn as CFO. This month, we continued building our team through the addition of renewable energy industry expert Isida Tushe as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Furthermore, we enhanced our board by appointing a PwC veteran and energy industry CFO, James Engler, as our fourth independent board member. These key additions to our team brought us a wealth of knowledge on energy company practices and enabled us to strengthen our corporate governance through the formation of a truly independent board.
It is important to remember that we are building an EV+ charging “ecosystem,” which involves significantly more software and technology integration than what is found in competing charging networks. This is a major advantage for us, because replicating that value-added software is outside the scope of most charging companies. So, the “+” part of our mPower EV+ platform is a true differentiator in the marketplace.
When we report our Q2 numbers next month, we expect to mark our 11th straight quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, a remarkable achievement, given the challenges of two years of global business disruption. A significant portion of our new business is subscription based, so our revenue will initially lean toward a pure SaaS model before charging transaction volumes become more relevant.
Last year, we announced 3,265 mPower ecosystem sites in three states, but that is just the beginning. One of the unique attributes of our platform is its ability to utilize EV charging and non-charging sites in the same network, helping to transition consumers into an EV-centric mindset, even before EV ownership. Our initial target is to layer our consumer engagement onto all sites, with EV charging in about 15% of locations. By this same time next year, we plan to have a multi-state footprint of more than 10,000 mPower locations, with a mix of revenue-producing configurations that includes strategically placed EV charging stations surrounded by other supporting mPower sites. In order to better differentiate our charging stations, we are rebranding under an mPower-purple color that was selected to visibly stand out in the marketplace.
In terms of EV charging locations, our initial push will be primarily level 2 locations in the first half of 2022. We have assessed our capital needs and will be partnering on all other add-on services (such as 5G, microgrid & solar), in order to maximize our EV footprint as quickly as possible. We have a large number of sites available for EV charging; and a concentrated focus on this vertical is essential during the “land-grab” period in this space, when locking down high-quality locations is most important.
One of our primary goals in 2022 is to uplist to a listed exchange, so that remains a central theme in our strategic plan. With the formation of our oversight committees last week, we completed a major milestone on the path to becoming a much larger company. We are committed to building shareholder value in the coming year, which will include a heightened level of investor outreach, potential research coverage, industry-focused PR, social media, and new partnerships.
EV+ is a term we hope to make synonymous with mPower, as we work to create a new kind of ecosystem for the EV-centric world that will be synonymous with travel and commerce by the end of this decade. On behalf of our expanding mPower team, I would like to thank those of you who have helped us reach this pivotal point in our journey and look forward to sharing some exciting new developments in the coming weeks and months.
Thank you for your continued support of mPhase Technologies.
Regards,
Anshu Bhatnagar
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Investor Contact:
ir@mphasetech.com
Investor Contact
Brian M. Prenoveau, CFA
MZ Group - MZ North America
561-489-5315
XDSL@mzgroup.us
www.mzgroup.us
