Parans Solar Lighting AB (publ) publishes Interim Report, January - March 2021: Focus on China, subsidiary established

KEY FIGURES FIRST QUARTER

All comparative figures refer to the corresponding period last year

• Net sales reached 2,463 kSEK (199)
• Profit/loss totaled –6,160 kSEK (–3,860)
• Earnings per share: –0,06 SEK (–0,07)
• Number of shares: 105,035,562 (56,793,893)
• Cash and bank balances: 20,589 kSEK (7,105)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING FIRST QUARTER

• During the first quarter, the company has made a number of shifts in terms of management. On 23 March, an extra ordinary general meeting was held whereby a partly new board of directors was elected, with Fred Sun as new chairman of the board. Fred Sun also represents Parans’ largest shareholder, Qingdao Photon Technology Co Ltd (QPT).
• A new CEO was appointed, Helen Forsling, who chose to resign during the first quarter. On 30 March, the new board decided to reappoint Anders Koritz as CEO. Before this, Anders was Parans’ CEO since 2016.
• Parans’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Parans Light Technologies Ltd (PLT) was registered, which represents a milestone for Parans’ Chinese business ahead. As a result, the company will be able to start up operations and start the commercialization of this significant market.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER FIRST QUARTER

• After the registration and legalization of Parans’ wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary, PLT, a frame agreement has been transferred from QPT to PLT. The frame agreement includes five construction projects close to the city Qingdao through which PLT has the possibility to receive orders of Parans’ SP4-system, IoT Street Lights and 5G Smart Towers. See separate press release 6 & 7 April 2021.
• The work of building a partner network in China has begun. After the end of the period, Parans subsidiary PLT has contracted its first three distributors, and the plan is to greatly expand the network with additional distributors across China. The first three distributors have signed orders for demo equipment amounting to a total of SEK 1.5 million.
• Parans board of directors decided to reverse the previously announced decision to establish a subsidiary in Shanghai. The reason is that this subsidiary would have a negative impact on the commercial development, which is in full progress in Qingdao, where PLT is registered.

CEO COMMENTS

Dear shareholder

The first quarter meant a fresh start, not only for me as CEO but also for Parans Solar Lighting as a company. We have passed a number of important milestones in our work to build a profitable, growth-oriented business with base in our newly established Chinese subsidiary PLT. At the same time we have received a request to undergo a new listing process at Spotlight Stock Market, due to the major operational changes we are implementing. Our goal is to meet Spotlight’s listing requirements and we cooperate with them so that the listing process can be carried out as quickly as possible.

LISTING REVIEW AND A STRICTER INFORMATION POLICY

In connection with the listing review, we have had dialogue with Spotlight about the company’s information policy. Our plans for a strategic partnership with QPT were first announced in November 2019. We saw great potential in this early on and there has been a natural desire to tell the investors what opportunities we saw with the deal, even though it was a long and time consuming process to get it on board. We have not always had the whole picture clear for ourselves, but we still wanted to continuously tell about the progress because we have seen it as relevant and important.

During the first quarter, we got our subsidiary PLT on board. Today, I am as firmly convinced as ever that the deal is the right path for the company, and that it can give us the conditions to create significant value for the company and the shareholders. However, we note in retrospect that the information we have provided to the market has not always been appropriate to create a complete picture of the deal and its consequences. It has been too fragmented, we have recieved remarks that certain information has been missing and we have to an excessive extent provided information underhand based on the assesments of those responsible.

We are now correcting this in connection with the listing review, as a listing document will be published to meet Spotlights requirements and to be transparent. As a consequence of this, we have also decided to adopt a stricter information policy, with a significantly lower frequence of press releases. Instead, we will collect progress reports and strategic statements in our quarterly reports, and as a general rule, we will publish press releases only when they meet the criteria for insider information in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation MAR. This is in line with the requirements we have for ourselves as a listed company and it should be seen as an increased rigor and maturity of the company as we now have better conditions for generating a positive cash flow and a positive result.

FOCUS ON CHINA

Through the deal with QPT, we have established our subsidiary in China and we have chosen to focus significant parts of our resources on this market as we make the assessment that this is where we can generate the largest sales in the short term.

In the investment agreement signed in May 2020 with QPT, the majority of the tangible assets and all personnel were to be transferred to Parans subsidiary, PLT. It has now been almost a year since this agreement was written and during this time, together with QPT, we have come to the conclusion that we will only transfer the most important key people from QPT and that we do not intend to take on a large fixed cost mass in the form of production equipment and production personnel. Instead we will source IoT Street Lights and 5G Smart Towers that we sell, from external subcontractors. This enables more flexibility in adapting production capacity and it reduces the financial risk. We will build our own capacity in sales, purchashing, design, administration and product development as it is of strategic importance that we bild our own technical know-how and that we own our customers and our market.

PARTNER STRUCTURE THE KEY TO SALES DEVELOPMENT

We will continue to build our sales through strong partnerships with strategic distributors in our key markets. This also applies in China, where the sales efforts and the process of building a partner network are now in full swing. We are establishing an efficient structure to quickly contract and train new distributors in Qingdao, where Parans subsidiary PLT is based. PLT has recently contracted its first three distributors, and the plan is to greatly expand the network with additional distributors across China. The first three distributors have signed orders for demo equipment amounting to a total of 1.5 million SEK, demonstrating their commitment and belief in our offering and its commercial potential.

In the coming period, the execution of the tunnel project to the Netherlands will be an important part of our operational work and it is expected to represent a significant part of the company’s sales outside China during the year.

Mölndal, Sweden, 7 May 2021

Anders Koritz

CEO - Parans Solar Lighting

The complete Interim Report is attached and available at http://www.parans.com/  

For more information contact:

Anders Koritz, CEO Parans Solar Lighting AB (publ), Telephone: 0733-211 635, anders.koritz@parans.com www.parans.com

About Parans Solar Lighting AB (publ)

Parans Solar Lighting offers sunlight for indoor environments through and innovative system that capture and lead the sunlight. Parans, which has developed the technology, are primarily aimed towards property owners, architects, and major employers around the world. Parans Solar Lighting is listed on Spotlight Stock Market and is based in Mölndal, Sweden. How the Parans system works: https://youtu.be/eflcbj2lpWo

This information is the kind of information that Parans Solar LightingAB (publ) is obliged to publish according to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). The Information was published on behalf to the Board of Directors on 7 May 2021 at 08:30 CET.