Energy Focus, Inc. announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
“Over the past year, amidst significant upheaval to our primary commercial and military customers and markets and our efforts to bring safely enclosed, high-dose UVCD products to market, we have built an organization ready to execute,” commented Stephen Socolof, Interim CEO and Lead Independent Director. “Our focus for 2022 is on that execution, both in our traditional markets, centered around our innovative and differentiated EnFocus™ powerline and control platform, our Redcap ® emergency battery backup tubular LEDs, our ruggedized LED solutions for military and maritime applications, and our new UVCD solutions designed to destroy over 99.9 percent of various airborne pathogens, including coronavirus, influenza and mold. Importantly, we are increasing our initiatives on our core markets, light commercial and particularly military applications, where Energy Focus has a very recognized brand and built competitive advantages centered around differentiated technology and intellectual property. Our focus is to re-engage these markets to drive improved results, complemented by the contribution from our UVCD products that could broaden our market reach and scalability.”
On January 11, 2022, the Board of Directors of Energy Focus, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Mr. Socolof, the Company’s Lead Independent Director, to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer, replacing James Tu, the former Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Socolof has served as a member of the Board of Directors since May 2019, and as the Company’s Lead Independent Director since September 2019. He has been Managing Partner of Tech Council Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, since 2018 and remains a Managing Partner of New Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that he co-founded in 2001. On February 11, 2022, the Company entered into a Separation and Release Agreement with Mr. Tu and he resigned from the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has begun a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer.
In addition, on February 24, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had appointed Jeffery R. Parker and Brian J. Lagarto as independent directors of the Company. Mr. Parker, 58, has spent nearly 30 years managing companies in the display, LED, medical and lighting markets. He has a proven track record of driving growth and market leadership in the lighting industry by bringing innovative products to market, and since 2019, has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Luminii, LLC, a manufacturer of architectural LED lighting systems. Mr. Lagarto, 56, retired in 2021 from SharkNinja Operating LLC, a leading global producer of small household appliances under the Shark and Ninja brands. At SharkNinja, Mr. Lagarto served primarily as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer from 2009 to 2017, as well as Chief Operating Officer from 2017 to 2018, with responsibility for global finance and operations. From 2019 until his retirement, he served as Chief People & Strategy Officer, with responsibility for corporate strategy, organizational design, talent and culture.
“As we move forward, we continue to focus on improving our gross and operating margins through innovation, as well as value add and value engineering work at the cost of goods sold level, and management rigor at the sales and operating levels,” continued Mr. Socolof. “Our development work on the initial UVCD solutions is complete, and we have concentrated our near-term focus on applications with immediate potential, and on opportunities of which resources can be quickly adjusted based on market reaction. In addition, we have reorganized our operations to better focus on the two core areas of our business, LED lighting and control solutions and our new UVC disinfection solutions. In 2021, Greg Galluccio joined us as Senior Vice President of Product Management and Engineering. Greg has 35 years of diverse experience in the electrical and lighting industries at much larger organizations, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Leviton Manufacturing, and he is charged with refreshing and defining our technology roadmap and go-to-market strategy. I am also excited about the recent additions of Jeff Parker and Brian Lagarto to our board of directors. Jeff’s lighting industry expertise, and Brian’s extensive experience scaling up a worldwide consumer products brand, will be valuable resources for Energy Focus.”
Full-Year 2021 Financial Results
Net sales were $9.9 million for 2021, compared with $16.8 million for 2020. Net sales from commercial products were $4.7 million, or 47.5% of total net sales, for 2021, compared with $5.4 million, or 32.1% of total net sales, for 2020. The decrease in net sales of commercial products reflects continuing fluctuations in the timing, pace and size of commercial projects, including impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Net sales from military and maritime market (“MMM”) products were $5.2 million, or 52.5% of total net sales, for 2021, compared with $11.4 million, or 67.9% of total net sales, for 2020. The decrease in net MMM product sales in 2021, as compared to 2020 was mainly due to the reduced availability of government funding and the delayed timing of expected orders, as well as higher in-house sales and short-term contracts awarded and performed in 2020.
Gross profit was $1.7 million, or 17.2% of net sales, for 2021, compared with gross profit of $5.2 million, or 30.8% of net sales, for 2020. The year-over-year decrease in gross margin was driven primarily by lower sales, resulting in an overhang in fixed costs against the lower sales volume of $1.0 million, or 10.1% of net sales, and unfavorable inventory and warranty reserve adjustments aggregating $0.3 million, or 2.9% of net sales. Gross margin for 2021 included favorable price and usage variances for material and labor of $0.8 million, or 8.3% of net sales. Adjusted gross margin, as defined under “Non-GAAP Measures” below, was 18.8% for full-year 2021, compared to 27.1% in the prior year, primarily driven by low sales in 2021.
Operating loss was $8.7 million for 2021. This compares with an operating loss of $4.1 million for 2020. Net loss was $7.9 million, or ($1.73) per basic and diluted share of common stock, for 2021, inclusive of a non-cash, pre-tax gain of $0.8 million from the forgiveness of the Company’s Paycheck Protection Program loan, as well as other income recorded relating to the Employee Retention Tax Credit (“ERTC”) of $0.9 million ($431 thousand of which was received during the fourth quarter of 2021, with the remainder expected during 2022). This compares with a net loss of $6.0 million, or ($1.83) per basic and diluted share of common stock, for 2020, which included a non-cash, pre-tax loss of $1.1 million resulting from the revaluation of the warrant liability through December 2020, when the outstanding warrant holders agreed to modifications that qualified the warrants for equity accounting treatment.
Adjusted EBITDA, as defined under “Non-GAAP Measures” below, was a loss of $7.9 million for 2021, compared with a loss of $3.5 million for 2020. The increased Adjusted EBITDA loss in 2021, as compared to 2020, was primarily due to lower sales and the overhang of fixed costs over the lower sales volume.
Cash was $2.7 million as of December 31, 2021 as compared to $1.8 million as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had total availability, as defined under “Non-GAAP Measures” below, of $4.4 million, which consisted of $2.7 million of cash and $1.7 million of additional borrowing availability under its credit facilities. This compares to total availability of $3.5 million as of December 31, 2020.
Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results:
Net sales were $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, down 35.8% compared with $3.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Net sales from commercial products were $1.2 million, or 48.6% of total net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2021, flat as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting the continuing impacts on our customers of the COVID-19 pandemic due to fluctuations in the timing, pace, and size of commercial projects. Net sales from MMM products were $1.2 million, or 51.4% of total net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2021, down from $2.6 million, or 69.2% of total net sales, in the fourth quarter of 2020. Sales were higher in the prior period due to a large order from a U.S. shipbuilder in 2020 that drove a significant part of the MMM business. Sequentially, net sales were down slightly as compared to $2.7 million in the third quarter of 2021, mainly due to a 23.2% decrease in commercial product sales from the third quarter of 2021.
Gross profit was $0.2 million, or 7.9% of net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with gross profit of $1.4 million, or 38.3% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of 2020. Sequentially, this compares with a gross profit of $0.6 million, or 20.5% of net sales, in the third quarter of 2021. The year-over-year decline in gross margin was primarily driven by lower MMM product sales, an overhang of fixed costs of $0.5 million, or 19.1% of net sales, against the lower sales volume, a negative margin impact from sales product mix of $0.2 million, or 8.7% of net sales, and unfavorable inventory reserve adjustments of $0.2 million, or 9.5% of net sales. These were offset slightly by favorable price and usage variances for material and labor of $0.2 million, or 7.4% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Adjusted gross margin, as defined under “Non-GAAP Measures” below, was 14.7% for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 27.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020 and compared sequentially to 17.9% in the third quarter of 2021. The decrease in adjusted gross margin from the fourth quarter of 2020 is mainly due to lower MMM sales and negative margin impacts from increased fixed costs and product mix as discussed above. The decrease in adjusted gross margin from the third quarter of 2021 is primarily attributable to lower commercial product sales and an overhang of fixed costs of $0.2 million, or 9.9% of net sales, against the lower sales volume.
Operating loss was $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with an operating loss of $0.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Sequentially, this compares to an operating loss of $1.8 million in the third quarter of 2021. The year-over-year increase in the operating loss was primarily attributable to lower net sales, an increase in the SG&A impact of increased headcount and salaries, and increased advertising and promotion costs.
Net loss was $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with net income of $0.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was inclusive of a $1.2 million non-cash, pre-tax gain resulting from the final revaluation of the warrant liability during the fourth quarter of 2020. Sequentially, this compares to a net loss of $1.1 million in the third quarter of 2021, which was inclusive of a $0.9 million non-cash, pre-tax gain resulting from other income recorded relating to the ERTC.
Net loss per basic and diluted share of common stock was ($0.50) for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with net income per basic and diluted share of common stock of $0.01 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Sequentially, this compares to a net loss per basic and diluted share of common stock of ($0.22) in the third quarter of 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA, as defined under “Non-GAAP Measures” below, was a loss of $2.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with a loss of $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and a loss of $1.7 million in the third quarter of 2021.
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