Consolidated Water Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CWCO), a leading developer and operator of advanced water supply and treatment plants, reported results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2022. All comparisons are to the same year-ago period unless otherwise noted.

The company will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow to discuss the results (see dial-in information below).

Third Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

• Total revenue increased 53% to $25.1 million.
• Retail revenue increased 20% to $6.3 million.
• Bulk revenue increased 26% to $8.7 million.
• Services revenue increased 172% to $8.7 million.
• Net income from continuing operations attributable to company stockholders was $824,000 or $0.05 per share.
• Paid quarterly cash dividend of $0.085 per share ($0.34 on an annualized basis), totaling $1.2 million in dividends in the third quarter of 2022.
• As of September 30, 2022, cash and cash equivalents totaled $51.1 million, up $2.0 million from $49.1 million as of June 30, 2022, with working capital at $71.1 million, debt of only $0.2 million, and stockholders’ equity totaling $158.8 million.
• Secured a $10 million revolving credit line with Scotia Bank to assist with short-term financing and working capital needs.

Third Quarter 2022 Operational Highlights

• Commenced construction of $82 million advanced water treatment plant in Goodyear, Arizona.
• Completed the design and preliminary construction permitting for the 2.64 million gallon per day seawater desalination plant in the Cayman Islands.
• In August, all COVID-related travel restrictions to enter the Cayman Islands were eliminated by the Cayman Islands government, indicating that the 2023 tourist season and the associated volume of water sold will return to more historical levels.
  

Management Commentary

“Our 53% increase in revenue in Q3 reflected strong growth across three of our four business segments,” commented Consolidated Water CEO, Rick McTaggart. “However, certain higher G&A expenses last quarter affected net income, including employee bonus accruals resulting from our strengthened financial performance, higher salaries due to cost-of-living increases that were given earlier this year, and bank fees related to the transfer of our profits from our Bahamas subsidiary.

“Our retail water segment benefited from a 14% increase in the volume of water sold in Grand Cayman that was due to the continued return of tourist activity to the Cayman Islands. Our services segment revenue increased by $5.5 million, due primarily to PERC Water’s ongoing construction of an $82 million advanced water treatment plant in Goodyear, Arizona. We anticipate reporting additional revenue from this project in the fourth quarter and throughout 2023, and until the construction is completed by June 2024 as planned.

“Also in Q3, we completed the design and preliminary permitting activities for the new desalination plant we are constructing on Grand Cayman under the 10-year design, build and operate contract with the island’s water authority. While the revenue generated by the design phase of this project was minimal in Q3, we broke ground last month and expect to recognize significant additional revenue beginning in the fourth quarter.

“We expect revenue generated over the approximate 11.5-year term of the water authority contract to total about $20 million (based on January 2022 values). We expect the majority of the revenue to be generated by the construction and sale of the plant during the first 18 months, with the rest earned from bulk water sales over the following 10 years.

“We are finally seeing some increased activity in the Caribbean market for seawater desalination and are following some opportunities there. We are also awaiting the resolution of the design, build, operate bidding process for a 1.7 million gallon per day seawater plant in Honolulu, Hawaii, which has been extended to the end of this year.

“Our California-based subsidiary, PERC Water, has been working on some exciting wastewater recycling projects in the Southwestern U.S. In October, we announced that PERC was awarded an expanded 10-year, $49.2 million contract to operate and maintain two advanced water treatment facilities in Southern California.

“This milestone win is the longest-term operation and maintenance contract PERC has ever signed, and represents an affirmation of the world-class services that PERC provides. This win also supports our plans for growing this segment of our business in the Western U.S., a region that has been experiencing unprecedented drought conditions.

“Also in October, we exercised our option to purchase the remaining 39% minority interest in PERC. The purchase price will be based upon a third-party valuation which is currently underway.

“While we saw some quarterly and year-over-year growth in our manufacturing segment in Q3, it continued to be held back by supply chain constraints as well as challenging economic conditions that increased costs. However, we began to see improvement last month, which allowed us to advance more of our large order backlog through the manufacturing process. Our contracted manufacturing backlog increased over the past three months to a record $20 million, and we anticipate most of this will be booked as revenue next year.

“Looking ahead with our retail water operations, while visitor numbers to the Cayman Islands remain below pre-COVID-19 levels, we are encouraged by recent indications that the 2023 tourist season will return to more historical levels. In August, all COVID-related restrictions for travel to the Cayman Islands were eliminated by the Cayman Islands government. Then earlier this month, Cayman Airlines resumed its nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Grand Cayman.

“In all, we see many positive factors driving continued growth for Consolidated Water over the coming quarters, from continued recovery of tourism in Grand Cayman and ongoing construction projects there and in the U.S., to our manufacturing backlog and the increased project bidding activity in the U.S. and the Caribbean. We expect that the more than $150 million in major multi-year projects that we secured this year will have a greater positive impact to our earnings in future quarters, while supporting our outlook for continued growth in our services segment. All of these activities and trends represent strong catalysts for growth and positive returns ahead.”

Third Quarter 2022 Financial Summary

Revenue for the third quarter of 2022 was $25.1 million, up 53% compared to $16.4 million in the same year-ago period. The increase was primarily driven by increases of $1.0 million in the retail segment, $1.8 million in the bulk segment, $5.5 million in the services segment and $291,000 in the manufacturing segment.

The increase in retail revenue reflects a 14% increase in the volume of water sold. The retail revenue also increased as a result of higher energy costs that increased the energy pass-through component of the company’s water rates, as well as a more favorable rate mix.

The increase in bulk segment revenue was attributable to an increase in energy costs for CW-Bahamas, which increased the energy pass-through component of CW-Bahamas’ rates.

The increase in services segment revenue was due to increases in both plant design and construction revenue and operating and maintenance revenue, with most of the revenue increase resulting from PERC’s progress on its contract with Liberty Utilities for the construction of a water treatment plant in Goodyear, Arizona.

The increase in manufacturing segment revenue was due to slightly greater project activity.

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2022 was $6.8 million or 27.3% of total revenue, up 20% from $5.7 million or 34.7% of total revenue for the same year-ago period.

Net income from continuing operations attributable to Consolidated Water stockholders for the third quarter of 2022 was $824,000 or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $1.4 million or $0.09 per basic and diluted share for the same year-ago period.

Net income attributable to Consolidated Water stockholders for the third quarter of 2022, which includes the results of discontinued operations, was $318,000 or $0.02 per basic and fully diluted share, up from net income of $286,000 or $0.02 per basic and fully diluted share for the same year-ago period.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $51.1 million as of September 30, 2022, as compared to $49.1 million as of June 30, 2022. The increase was due to cash generated from operating activities.

First Nine Months 2022 Financial Summary

Revenue for the first nine months of 2022 was $65.7 million, up 31% compared to $50.2 million in the same year-ago period. The increase was primarily driven by increases of $2.5 million in the retail segment, $4.6 million in the bulk segment, $8.0 million in the services segment and $345,000 in the manufacturing segment.

Retail revenue increased primarily due to a 10% increase in the volume of water sold. The retail revenue also increased as a result of higher energy costs that increased the energy pass-through component of the company’s water rates, as well as a more favorable rate mix.

The increase in bulk segment revenue was due to an increase in energy costs for CW-Bahamas, which increased the energy pass-through component of CW-Bahamas’ rates and, to a lesser extent, an increase of 4% in the volume of water sold by CW-Bahamas.

The increase in services segment revenue was due to increases in both plant design and construction revenue and operating and maintenance revenue, with most of the revenue increase resulting from PERC’s progress on its contract with Liberty Utilities for the construction of a water treatment plant in Goodyear, Arizona.

The increase in manufacturing segment revenue was due to slightly greater project activity.

Gross profit for the first nine months of 2022 was $21.5 million or 32.7% of total revenue, up 20% from $17.9 million or 35.6% of total revenue in the same year-ago period.

Net income from continuing operations attributable to stockholders for the first nine months of 2022 was $5.9 million or $0.38 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $1.2 million or $0.07 per basic and diluted share in the same year-ago period.

Net income attributable to Consolidated Water stockholders for the first nine months of 2022, which includes the results of discontinued operations, was $4.3 million or $0.28 per basic and fully diluted share, up from a net loss of $390,000 or $(0.03) per basic and fully diluted share in the same year-ago period.

Third Quarter Segment Results

First Nine Months Segment Results

Conference Call

Consolidated Water management will host a conference call tomorrow to discuss these results, followed by a question-and-answer period.

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (8:00 a.m. Pacific time)
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-844-875-6913
International dial-in number: 1-412-317-6709
Conference ID: 8640208

Please call the conference telephone number five minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact CMA at 1-949-432-7566.

A replay of the call will be available after 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through November 22, 2022, as well as available for replay via the Investors section of the Consolidated Water website at www.cwco.com.

Toll-free replay number: 1-877-344-7529
International replay number: 1-412-317-0088
Replay ID: 8640208

About Consolidated Water Co. Ltd.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. develops and operates advanced water supply and treatment plants and water distribution systems. The company operates water production facilities in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands and operates water treatment facilities in the United States. The company also manufactures and services a wide range of products and provides design, engineering, management, operating and other services applicable to commercial and municipal water production, supply and treatment, and industrial water and wastewater treatment. For more information, visit www.cwco.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe", "estimate", "project", "intend", "expect", "should", "will" or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to (i) continued acceptance of the company's products and services in the marketplace; (ii) changes in its relationships with the governments of the jurisdictions in which it operates; (iii) the outcome of its negotiations with the Cayman government regarding a new retail license agreement; (iv) the collection of its delinquent accounts receivable in the Bahamas; (v) the possible adverse impact of the COVID-19 virus on the company’s business; and (vi) various other risks, as detailed in the company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting the company’s Secretary at the company’s executive offices or at the “Investors – SEC Filings” page of the company’s website at http://ir.cwco.com/docs. Except as otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Contact:
David W. Sasnett
Executive Vice President and CFO
Tel (954) 509-8200
dsasnett@cwco.com

Investor Relations Contact
Ron Both or Grant Stude
CMA
Tel (949) 432-7566
Email Contact

Media Contact:
Tim Randall
CMA
Tel (949) 432-7572
Email Contact

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