Press release 2024-05-16, 08:00
THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY - 31 MARCH 2023
- Net sales increased by 25.5 percent to 36.9 MSEK (29.4). Adjusted for foreign exchange rate effects between the comparison periods, net sales increased by 28.7 percent.
- Order intake decreased by 14.8 percent to 30.5 MSEK (35.7). Adjusted for foreign exchange rate effects between the comparison periods, order intake decreased by 13.1 percent.
- Operating profit before depreciation (EBITDA) amounted to -9.1 MSEK (-11.9) and operating profit before financial items (EBIT) amounted to -11.4 MSEK (-13.3).
- Profit before tax amounted to -12.4 MSEK (-13.7).
- Earnings per share amounted to -0.9 SEK (-1.7).
- Cash flow amounted to 5.4 MSEK (1.0), of which -13.5 MSEK (-23.2) from operating activities, -1.2 MSEK (-4.0) from investment activities and 9.4 MSEK (28.2) from financing activities.
- Cash and Cash Equivalents was 45.4 MSEK (31.4) at the end of the period.
- FlexQube receives a cart order worth approx. 7.3 MSEK from a customer within the robotics and automation sector in the US.
EVENTS AFTER THE END OF THE QUARTER
- As part of the company's completed development of its AMR, FlexQube is implementing a reorganization aimed at maximizing the company's focus on sales. The reorganization also involves reduced operational costs and investments, resulting in savings of approximately 11 MSEK annually.
- The previously announced AMR order to one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles has been partially delivered as planned. Phase 1 of the project, which includes two Navigator AMRs and six motorized carriers, has been delivered, integrated, and commissioned at the customer's site. Following a thorough testing process, the customer has approved the delivery and formally taken over the system. The system delivers materials to the customer's assembly line, replacing transportation previously carried out by forklifts.
- FlexQube has received approval notification from the patent office in Canada regarding a patent for a non-load-bearing robot navigating motorized carts. The patent is expected to be formally granted during the second quarter of 2024. Similar patents have previously been granted in Europe and the USA.
- The previously announced AMR project with a pilot customer, one of the world's largest car manufacturers, has entered a new phase where the product has been approved for use in real-world environments and actual user cases. Currently, the first application is being planned at one of the customer's factories in the USA, with implementation scheduled for Q3 2024.
Link to the report for the first quarter 2024: https://flexqubegroup.com/secure-file.php?file=fa4c37fc565b708424a703a2e47310d2.pdf
The entire quarterly report is also attached to this press release.
CEO LETTER
FULL FOCUS ON SALES AND MORE EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION CREATES POSITIVE MOMENTUM FOR THE UPCOMING QUARTERS
Sales increased compared to the same quarter of the previous year and the fourth quarter. However we had higher sales expectations, but the outcome is as a direct consequence of the order intake in the previous quarter. The order intake decreases by 14.8% to 30.5 MSEK compared to the first quarter of the previous year. During the period, we have continued in a somewhat cautious market where the number of projects is relatively good but the decision time among customers is generally longer. Our pipeline remains strong and has increased during the period. However, we acknowledge that we need to become even better at quickly and efficiently identifying and converting our pipeline.
To create higher efficiency in the organization, and above all to create an even higher sales focus throughout the organization, we have made a number of changes. This is because we have now left a long period with a high focus on product development, especially regarding the fully developed AMR system, FlexQube Navigator, to now redirect our resources towards activities that directly support sales. As part of this shift, we have established a new role as global sales director, which is held by the former CEO and founder, Anders Fogelberg. In his new role Anders will have full focus on driving the sales organization to higher efficiency and providing relevant and well-packaged solutions to our customers. Anders possesses outstanding knowledge of the company's products, and I cannot imagine anyone more suitable to lead this department. We have made changes to our sales and design process to increase scalability, enabling us to leverage new salespeople faster and handle more projects.
At the end of last quarter, we received our first commercial order for our brand-new AMR system, FlexQube Navigator, to a highly reputable customer who is a multinational manufacturer of trucks. The project is well underway, and delivery to the customer is ongoing. The project has grown and will be fully delivered by the beginning of the third quarter. We are also currently working with the customer on potentially additional projects where the strength of our concept becomes clear, with a non-load-bearing AMR that connects to motorized carts and forms a common autonomous solution. This provides flexible and efficient material handling along with very high security. In cases where forklift trucks are used to move materials of various sizes, which is a very common process in manufacturing or warehousing, many want to move away from such a solution due to accident risks and increased efficiency. Therefore, we see that this first order will be followed by many more. We look forward to the remainder of 2024 with great confidence where, in addition to increasing the volumes of our new AMR system, we will also continue to work with a customer in North America on another clearly value-creating application linked to our new AMR system, which will make our solution relevant for other applications and customers.
The result for the first quarter is primarily driven by the continued relatively low sales. The positive aspects of the result are that the operational product margin remains good, and the cost base is heading in the right direction. The aforementioned reorganization for full focus on sales has led to reduced operational costs and investments totaling approximately 11 MSEK annually, in addition to the 17 MSEK already communicated during the fourth quarter of 2023, to achieve the goal of reaching a positive cash flow and positive EBITDA by the end of the year. One-time costs for the latter package have impacted the result by approximately 1 MSEK during the first quarter, and the cost savings will take effect throughout the second quarter.
The market continues to be cautious in Europe. Mexico and the USA have, in the wake of hopes for interest rate cuts and more factory investments, continued to have a more positive market situation with many projects in the market. We have a strong offering with our broad product portfolio, and thus, we can deliver very competitive solutions. The focus going forward is to significantly increase sales, which applies to all our products but primarily to increase revenues from our robot systems where we now have full focus on sales of both AGV and AMR systems. Resources that previously worked on development are now focused on working with customer projects and their applications.
AMR
During the quarter, we have obtained the highly important certifications from TÜV for our new AMR system, FlexQube Navigator, for both the EU and the USA. These certifications serve as evidence that our innovative and patented AMR system also meets the high standards required to sell this type of system in Europe and North America.
The work to establish partnerships with system integrators who will sell and install the AMR system to end customers has continued during the quarter, and a Master Use Agreement (MUA) with a new integrator has been finalized. Several discussions are ongoing with potential partners in the Nordic region, other parts of Europe, Mexico, and the USA. We see significant interest and therefore expect to expand with several additional integrators during the upcoming quarters of 2024.
AGV
During the quarter, we have increased our focus on training the sales force in our AGV product, and we now also have dedicated resources to target the markets in the USA and Mexico. This has resulted in greater market penetration and increased interest from our customers. We expect to see interest and the number of projects increase throughout 2024.
We are now leaving behind an intense development phase, and it feels very inspiring to focus 100% on sales. This is the first time since FlexQube was listed on Nasdaq First North in 2017, and I am convinced that we will see clear effects in the future. We have had a positive start to the second quarter, and our goal remains to achieve profitability and positive cash flow by the end of 2024.
Mårten Frostne
CEO FlexQube AB (publ)
About FlexQube
FlexQube is a technology company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden with subsidiaries in USA, Mexico, Germany and England. FlexQube offers solutions for cart-based material handling using a patented modular concept. FlexQube develops and designs customized solutions for both robotic and mechanical cart logistics. Through the own developed and unique automation concept FlexQube can offer robust and self-driving robotic carts. FlexQube has more than 1000 customers in 38 countries with primary markets being North America and Europe.
FlexQube's customers can be found within the manufacturing industry, distribution- and warehousing. We represent some of the most successful companies in the world with a significant share being represented on the Fortune 500 list. These companies exist within automotive, electric vehicle manufacturing, online retail, heavy-duty trucks, industrial automation and retail logistics.
For more information, contact:
CEO, Mårten Frostne
marten.frostne@flexqube.com
+46 721 55 19 37
CFO, Mikael Lindbäck
mikael.lindback@flexqube.com
+46 761 04 10 28
The share (FLEXQ) is traded on Nasdaq First North. FNCA Sweden AB, telephone +46 8-528 00 399, is the Company's Certified Adviser. Read more at www.flexqube.com
This information is insider information that FlexQube AB (publ) is obliged to disclose in accordance with EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was provided by the above contact persons for publication on May 16, 2024, at. 08:00 CET.
