External revenue increase of 18% despite difficult market conditions

Inside information

Interim financial report for Q1 2023

Today, LED iBond International’s (LED iBond) Board of Directors approved the interim report for Q1. Martin Løbel, CEO of LED iBond international comments:

“It is positive that LED iBond continue to increase revenue from external customers in a difficult market. I’m also pleased to see that we improved EBITDA by TDKK 906 and reduced our cash burn by 50%. In Q1, we have developed improved solutions for both indoor farming market and smart building. The market and customer awareness are increasing due to focused marketing activities, resulting in a growing pipeline of opportunities, hopefully resulting in growing sales as we start to offer even more complete solutions”.

Financial key figures

Business development

• In the smart building market potential customers have widely recognized the uniqueness of the flagship product TRACY® - both in terms of design, slim formfactor, ease-of-installation and energy efficiency - which positions the company for strong growth in the market for solar carport and parking garage lighting in particular LED iBond continues to experience an interest and request for quotations from potential customers and partners across Europe, Middle East and North America.
  
  LED iBond has received an order from the UK for TRACY to be installed in a solar carport solution hosting charging stations for electrical vehicles. If the charging station operator approves the solar carport solution with TRACY, the solution shall potentially be used in greater numbers across Europe, and thereby represent significant revenue for LED iBond.   
• LED iBond launched TRACY Interior in black back in fall 2022 and have received another order from Korea for an indoor lighting project.
• As announced in company announcement no. 71, 24 March 2023, LED iBond has been exploring how LED iBond’s Horticulture lighting solutions can be applied in the well-establish greenhouse market as top-lighting and not only in vertical farms. Based on initial feedback from potential customers in Denmark, LED iBond has initiated the design and development of a unique top-lighting solution and expect to close the first orders for pilot projects in Q2. As such, new prototypes are expected to be available for further customer engagement and the first installation in Q3.
• Acceleration of top-line growth remains the number one priority. As a result, the company will in the short term continue to focus sales and marketing efforts on selected smart building market segments to boost short-term revenue growth and on indoor farming projects for longer-term growth. In addition, the company continues to operate with tight cost control.

Financial Development

• Revenue from external customers amounted to TDKK 875 in Q1 2023, an increase of TDKK 131 (18%) relative to the same quarter last year.  
• Other external costs, including Cost of Sales and Other External Expenses, amounted to TDKK 1,019 in Q1 2023, a decrease of TDKK 503 (33%) compared to Q1 2022. The decrease is primarily due to focus and optimisation of sales, marketing, and admin costs.  
• In Q1 2023, staff costs amounted to TDKK 2,438, a decrease of TDKK 1,159 (32%) compared to Q1 2022. The decrease is due to a reduction in number of FTEs. As of 31 March 2023, the number of FTEs was 11.
• Higher revenue combined with operational cost improvement resulted in an EBITDA improvement of TDKK 906 (27%).
• EBIT improved by TDKK 1,383 (25%) compared to the same quarter last year. In addition to the operational improvements, a reduction in depreciation and amortisation improved EBIT by an additional TDKK 476.
• The cash burn rate was reduced by 50% due to the improved EBITDA, working capital optimisation and a more focused investment strategy in development projects.
• Net cash outflows in Q1 2023 amounted to TDKK 4,088 compared to TDKK 8,172 in the year-ago quarter, which is a cash improvement of TDKK 4,084.
• At the end of Q1 2023, total equity amounted to TDKK 26,536 (corresponding to a solvency ratio of 63%) compared to TDKK 30,990 (corresponding to a solvency ratio of 65%) on 31 December 2022.
• The cash balance stood at TDKK 4,937 at the end of Q1 2023, as compared to TDKK 9,025 at the end of 2022.
• To continue to stimulate growth through investment in sales and marketing activities, product development, and to extend the Company’s runway towards self-sustained operations, the management and Board of directors are currently evaluating relevant opportunities for raising capital to support the business going forward.

Patents and IPR update

• European Patent Office (EPO) have granted LED iBond its Family Fam4A patent (application No. 19164880.7) in respect of the designated contracting states under the Office. The mention of the grant will be published in European Patent Bulletin 23/23 of 7 June 23.
  
  LED iBond have decide to pursue a validation of the patent as a Unitary Patent in the participating EU member states via a centralised EPO procedure and will submit a request for such unitary effect shortly.

• European Patent application (EP4111832A1) for an Air Transport Unit, referred to as Fam8 in LED iBond’s 2021 prospectus (https://ledibond.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LED-iBond-International-Prospectus-rights-issue-1.pdf ), has been withdrawn due to limited commercial value of the solution as original envisioned when the patent application was filled. 

• Baldr Light ApS has been selected to present its technology in a poster session with the title “Far UVC Solid State Light Emitting Device Towards High Efficiency and Output” at the first-ever International Conference on Far-UVC Science and Technology (ICFUST) to be held at Columbia University, New York in June 2023. Baldr Light ApS (CVR. 42193208) is owned jointly by LED iBond International A/S (50%) and the US based company Solar-Tectic LLC (50%). The purpose of Baldr light ApS is to develop and apply for a patent (https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2022188937A1/en?q=(Chaudhari)&inventor=frederiksen&oq=Chaudhari+frederiksen) for a new lighting technology capable of generating Far UV C lighting for disinfection purposes.
   

Number of Shares

On 31 March 2023, the number of outstanding shares in LED iBond International A/S was 25,850,871, unchanged from the beginning of the quarter.

Financial calendar

• Q2 2023 Results and Half Year report 2023               24 August 2023
• Interim financial report Q3 2023                                   29 November 2023
• Q4 2023 Results and Annual report 2023                   26 March 2024

The interim Q1 report for 2023 is attached to this company announcement and is also available here: https://ledibond.com/financial-reports

Further Information

Martin Løbel, CEO
Mobile: +45 2722 6237
Email: mlo@ledibond.com

Company contact
LED iBond International A/S
Agern Allé 5A
2970 Hørsholm
Denmark

CVR 36041609

+45 7070 7855
info@ledibond.com
www.ledibond.com

Certified advisor

Västra Hamnen Corporate Finance
Jungmansgatan 12
211 19 Malmö
Sweden

Telephone: +46 40 200 250
Email: ca@vhcorp.se

About LED iBond International A/S

Founded in 2014, LED iBond International offers innovative lighting solutions, based on years of development and deep knowledge of modern LED technology combined with advanced packaging and assembly technology. Our patented technology platform includes a very thin formfactor of only 6 mm for the light panels, offering a unique value proposition based on high design flexibility, robustness, IoT integration, and low total costs of ownership due to market leading energy efficiency and superior cooling properties. The technology platform also reduces the installation cost due a modular design with a limited need for traditional electrical wiring.    

LED iBond’s technology has been installed in many projects, ranging from intelligent shelf lighting to numerous large scale illumination projects such as various parking facilities and as the indoor installation of 3.2 kilometres of TRACY®, the company’s innovative flagship product, at the Technical University of Denmark.

LED iBond is focusing on three key business lines: Smart Building (Industry & Home), Vertical Farming, and UV Disinfection, all projected to show significant growth in the years to come. For Vertical Farming LED iBond’s roadmap includes lighting solutions which incorporate advanced IT management with monitoring using sensors, cameras, and plant analysis. Manufacturing takes place in Denmark in LED iBond’s own production facility with highly automated assembly lines.

LED iBond International A/S is admitted to trading on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark (ticker: LEDIBOND).