Fourth Quarter Revenue Growth of 84% Caps Banner Year

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – September 27, 2023 – Thermal Energy International Inc. (“Thermal Energy” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: TMG, OTCQB: TMGEF), a provider of innovative energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction solutions to major corporations around the world, today reported its financial results today for the fourth quarter and year ended May 31, 2023. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

Highlights:

• Revenue: $21.1 million for the year and $8.2 million for the quarter, a 84% increase compared to the same quarter last year
• EBITDAⁱ: $1.7 million for the year and $1.2 million for the quarter, a 476% increase compared the same quarter last year
• Net income: $720 thousand for the year and $971 thousand for the quarter
• Order intake: $27.3 million for the year and $5.2 million for the quarter
• Order backlogⁱⁱ: $13 million as at May 31, 2023 and $21.4 million as at September 26, 2023

Overview

“The fourth quarter was one of our best quarters ever, setting new records for revenue and gross profit, and was a great finish to an excellent year,” said William Crossland, Thermal Energy CEO. “For the fiscal year, we had record gross profit and our second highest annual revenue and EBITDA. We saw a return in demand for our turn-key solutions, adding to the already strong growth we had in Custom Equipmentⁱⁱⁱ. Additionally, our order intake and number of signed project development agreements in fiscal 2023 were higher than ever.”

“We continue to see strong interest from companies looking to save money while reducing their carbon emissions. Since the end of our fiscal year, we’ve received $8.4 million in new orders, including a $4 million order from a multinational pharmaceutical company – our largest turn-key order since before the pandemic. Additionally, we have several active project development agreements that we expect to convert into orders, and we have a robust and growing business development pipeline, positioning us well for a solid fiscal 2024.”

Summary Financial Results

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Financial Review

Fourth quarter revenue was $8.2 million, up 84% from the same quarter the year before. The growth was mainly due to the higher revenues from both Custom Equipment and Turn-key Heat Recovery Projects due to the increase in sales orders received in fiscal year 2023. Gross profit increased 101% to a quarterly record of $3.8 million, due to the growth in revenues. Operating expenses were $845 thousand more than the same quarter last year mainly due to staff’s salary and incentive increase, change in foreign exchange gains and reduction in government subsidies received as compared to the last quarter of fiscal year 2022. Expenses are also up due to a number of growth-oriented investments being made such as additional project engineers, sales staff in new markets and a significant investment in the digitalization and automation of the key business processes, all of which are designed to increase efficiency, profitability and top line growth. Nonetheless, as a result of the increased revenues and gross profit, the net income and EBITDA for the quarter were $1.1 million and $967 thousand better than the fourth quarter last year, respectively.

For the year ended May 31, 2023, revenue was $21.1 million, up 33% from last year. The increase in revenues was mainly due to increased sales orders received in fiscal year 2023. Gross profit for the year was $9.6 million, an increase of $2.8 million, or 42%, mainly due to the increased revenue from GEM. Operating expenses incurred for the year amounted to $8.3 million, $140 thousand more than last year mainly because of increased staff costs, investment in digitalization, less government subsidies received, offset by the reduction in acquisition costs in the amount of $188 thousand, and the increase in foreign exchange gains of $84 thousand. As a result, the Company achieved net income of $720 thousand and EBITDA of $1.7 million, both representing an increase of $2.5 million from the prior year. 

Quarter end cash and working capital balances were both around $3 million.

Business Outlook and Order Summary

Orders received (“Order Intake”) during the year totalled $27.3 million, an increase of 130% compared to $11.8 million in the prior year and the highest 12-month order intake in the Company’s history. As a result, the Company ended the year with an order backlog of $13 million, up 166% from the $4.9 million at the end of the prior year.

The Company has also received $8.4 million in new orders subsequent to the May 31, 2023, year-end, bringing the current order backlog to $21.4 million as of September 26, 2023. A list and description of recent order highlights is available on page 15 of the Management’s Discussion and Analysis filed today.

Full financial results including Management’s Discussion and Analysis and accompanying notes to the financial results are available on www.SEDAR.com and investors-thermalenergy.com/en/financial-overview.

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ENDS

For media enquiries contact:
Thermal Energy International Inc.
Canada: 613-723-6776
UK: +44 (0)117 917 2179
Marketing@thermalenergy.com

For investor enquiries:
Thermal Energy International Inc.
613-723-6776
Investors@thermalenergy.com

About Thermal Energy International Inc.

Thermal Energy International Inc. provides energy efficiency and emissions reduction solutions to Fortune 500 and other large multinational companies. We save our customers money by reducing their fuel use and cutting their carbon emissions. Thermal Energy’s proprietary and proven solutions can recover up to 80% of energy lost in typical boiler plant and steam system operations while delivering a high return on investment with a short, compelling payback.

Thermal Energy is a fully accredited professional engineering firm with engineering offices in Ottawa, Canada, Pittsburgh, USA, as well as Bristol, UK, with sales offices in Canada, UK, USA, Germany, Poland, and Italy. By providing a unique mix of proprietary products together with process, energy, and environmental engineering expertise, Thermal Energy can deliver unique, site-specific turnkey and custom engineered solutions with significant financial and environmental benefits for our customers.

Thermal Energy’s common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol TMG and on the OTCQB under the symbol TMGEF. For more information, visit our investor website at https://investors-thermalenergy.com or company website at www.thermalenergy.com and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GoThermalEnergy.

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This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, and amongst other things, based on management’s expectations, estimates and projections, the anticipated effectiveness of the Company’s products and services, the timing of revenues to be received by the Company, the anticipated effects of COVID-19 on the business, backlog and revenue, the expectation that orders in backlog will become revenue, the anticipated benefits of the Company’s current efforts at training and business improvement efforts, opportunities for growth, the Company’s belief that it can capitalize on opportunities, the size of markets and opportunities open to the Company and expectations that order intake will bounce back.. Information as to the amount of heat recovered, energy savings and payback period associated with Thermal Energy International’s products are based on the Company’s own testing and average customer results to date. Statements relating to the expected installation and revenue recognition for projects, statements about the anticipated effectiveness and lifespan of the Company’s products, statements about the expected environmental effects and cost savings associated with the Company’s products and statements about the Company’s ability to cross-sell its products and sell to more sites are forward looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, some of which are outside of the Company’s control, could cause events and results to differ materially from those stated. Fulfilment of orders, installation of product and activation of product could all be delayed for a number of reasons, some of which are outside of the Company’s control, which would result in anticipated revenues from such projects being delayed or in the most serious cases eliminated. Actions taken by the Company’s customers and factors inherent in the customer’s facilities but not anticipated by the Company can have a negative impact on the expected effectiveness and lifespan of the Company’s products and on the expected environmental effects and cost savings expected from the Company’s products. Any customer’s willingness to purchase additional products from the Company and whether orders in the Company’s backlog as described above will turn into revenue is dependent on many factors, some of which are outside of the Company’s control, including but not limited to the customer’s perceived needs and the continuing financial viability of the customer. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements except as required by law.  Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with the Company’s business as described in the Company’s most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis available at www.SEDAR.com.    

EBITDA and backlog are non-IFRS financial measures, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please refer to the Company’s most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis available at www.SEDAR .com for more details about these non-IFRS financial measures.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

i EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortization, impairment of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expense. See note below about non-IFRS measures.

ii Order backlog represents any purchase orders that have been received by the Company but have not yet been reflected as revenue in the Company’s published financial statements. See note below about non-IFRS measures.

iii Custom equipment refers to indirect contact heat recovery solutions (HEATSPONGE and SIDEKICK), and condensate return system solutions (GEMTM steam traps). Turn-key solution refers to direct contact heat recovery solutions (e.g., FLU-ACE®).