LiqTech International Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2017 Results

BALLERUP, Denmark, March 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LiqTech International, Inc. (NYSE MKT: LIQT), a clean technology company that manufactures and markets highly specialized filtration technologies, announced today its financial and operational results for fourth quarter and fiscal year 2017. 

Financial highlights for the three months ended December 31, 2017 

• Net sales for the three months ended December 31, 2017 were $3.0 million compared to $2.6 million for the same period in 2016, representing an increase of $0.4 million or 15%.
  
  The increase in net sales was primarily driven by an increase in sales of membranes and systems of $0.4 million. The sales of diesel particulate filters (DPF) of $1.5 million was at the same level as the three months ended December 31, 2016.
  
  
• Gross profit for the three months ended December 31, 2017 was $0.1 million compared to a negative gross profit of $0.8 million for the same period in 2016, representing an improvement of $0.9 million.
  
  Included in gross profit is depreciation of $0.2 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
  
  
• Net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2017 was $1.0 million compared to a loss of $11.4 million for the same period of 2016, representing an improvement of $10.4 million.

Financial highlights for the year ended December 31, 2017 

• Net sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $11.3 million compared to $13.9 million for the same period in 2016, representing a decrease of $2.6 million or 19%.
  
  The decrease in sales consists of an increase in sales of DPFs of $1.4 million offset by a decrease in sales of liquid filters of $3.8 million and a decrease in Kiln furniture of $0.2.
  
  The increase in demand for our DPFs is mainly due to an increase in market activity in China compared to the same period last year. The decrease in demand for our liquid filters and systems is due to significant larger water filtrations systems sales in 2016 compared to 2017 and the delay in marine scrubber systems sales in 2017 compared to 2016.
  
  
• Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $0.2 million compared to $1.4 million for same period in 2016, representing a decrease of $1.2 million or 86%.
  
  The decrease in gross profit was due to lower sales activity in general, lower gross margin and due to lower sales activity for our liquid filters and systems, which historically have a higher gross margin, compared to the same period in 2016.
  
  Included in gross profit is depreciation of $0.9 million and $1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
  
  
• Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $4.5 million compared to a loss of $16.4million for the year ended December 31, 2016, representing an improvement of $11.9 million.
  
  
• Cash on hand and restricted cash for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $2.5 million compared to $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, representing an increase of $1.3 million or 108%.
  
  
• Working capital for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $4.7 million compared to $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 representing an increase of $1.2 million.

In discussing the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2017 results, Mr. Sune Mathiesen, LiqTech CEO, remarked: "Our results for the fourth quarter were largely in line with our expectations. We were happy to note the anticipated and earlier discussed ramp-up in our marine scrubber business. Following the IMO decision in November 2016 to implement a new lower global cap on sulphur emissions from international shipping, we have continued to invest significant resources in developing the marine scrubber market. We have been working in this emerging industry for almost 4 years now and we have made continuous improvements to our technology. Today we offer a very competitive solution for scrubber manufactures and ship owners. Our systems are of modular design and we offer significant advantages in terms of foot-print, quality of discharge, short delivery times, Capex and Opex.

We are encouraged by the development in our marine scrubber business, and we believe that our long-term commitment has positioned us well to be one of the market leaders for water treatment systems to this industry. Even though still in early stages, we have noted an increasing interest from ship owners to install scrubbers. Analysts following the industry expect that the pace of adoption of scrubbers will continue to increase. Based on the feed-back from our customers we share this belief, and we are ready to ramp-up our business to match the increased demand. We are happy with the progress we made so far and we believe that we will make further progress in the first half of 2018.

In 2017 we dedicated most of our resources to the marine scrubber industry. We believe that this has proven the right choice. In 2018 we will continue these efforts. In addition to this we will dedicate more resources into the power plant industry. We have been successful in establishing ourselves in this industry in Denmark and we are planning to broaden this out to other geographical areas. Our systems for power plants are very similar to the systems we have developed for marine scrubbers and we offer the same advantages. We are of course also continuing our efforts to establish our technology in the swimming pool, oil & gas, mining, drinking water and aquaculture markets. The long-term goal is to see the same adoption of our technology as we now see in the marine scrubber market.

We are also continuing our efforts to establish our DPF technology in the Chinese market. We have worked with Chinese and American manufactures of exhaust systems to approve our product to the new higher emission standards that are being implemented in China now, and in February 2018 we announced a new order for China.

We believe that our narrowed focus and the development of standardized systems has proven to be the right choice. We are continuing our efforts to turn the Company profitable and we believe that 2018 will prove to be a turning point in our business."

Conference Call Details  

Interested parties may participate in the call by dialing (877) 407-8029 or (201) 689-8029. It is recommended to dial in approximately 10 to 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. The conference call will also be available on replay starting at 3 pm EDT on March 30, 2017 and ending on April 20, 2017. To access the replay, please dial (877) 660-6853 and enter the conference id # 13658247. The access number for the replay for international callers is (201) 612-7415.

Callers from Denmark can dial in using the following numbers:
Denmark (fixed) ATT                         802 521 64
Denmark (mobile) ATT                      802 519 17

ABOUT LIQTECH INTERNATIONAL, INC.

LiqTech International, Inc., a Nevada corporation, is a clean technology company that for more than a decade has developed and provided state-of-the-art technologies for gas and liquid purification using ceramic silicon carbide filters, particularly highly specialized filters for the control of soot exhaust particles from diesel engines and for liquid filtration. Using nanotechnology, LiqTech develops products using proprietary silicon carbide technology. LiqTech's products are based on unique silicon carbide membranes which facilitate new applications and improve existing technologies. In particular, Provital Solutions A/S (www.provital.dk), the Company's subsidiary, has developed a new standard of water filtration technology to meet the ever- increasing demand for higher water quality. By incorporating LiqTech's SiC liquid membrane technology with its longstanding systems design experience and capabilities it offers solutions to the most difficult water pollution problem.

For more information, please visit www.liqtech.com  
Follow LiqTech on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/liqtech-international  
Follow LiqTech on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiqTech

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Although the forward-looking statements in this release reflect the good faith judgment of management, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release.

CONTACT:                    

Aldo Petersen, Chairman, 
+45 2390 0000, ap@liqtech.com

Sune Mathiesen, CEO 
+45 5197 0908, sma@liqtech.com

-Financial Tables Follow-                 

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SOURCE LiqTech International, Inc.