{"id":7993,"date":"2019-02-22T07:02:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T07:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heliospectra.com\/blog\/mfn_news\/year-end-report-2018-heliospectra-ab-publ\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T17:39:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T17:39:39","slug":"year-end-report-2018-heliospectra-ab-publ","status":"publish","type":"mfn_news","link":"https:\/\/heliospectra.com\/blog\/mfn_news\/year-end-report-2018-heliospectra-ab-publ\/","title":{"rendered":"Year End Report 2018, Heliospectra AB ( publ)"},"content":{"rendered":"
GOTHENBURG, Sweden \/ SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 22, 2019 –<\/p>\n
Heliospectra AB (publ) (OTCQB: HLSPY, FIRSTNORTH: HELIO), a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, are today presenting its Year-End Report for 2018.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/div>\n
Financial Report<\/p>\n
October-December:<\/p>\n
January-December:<\/p>\n
Important Events<\/p>\n
January – March<\/p>\n
April – June<\/p>\n
July – September<\/p>\n
October – December<\/p>\n
Events since the end of the period<\/p>\n
CEO’s Comments<\/p>\n
Dear Shareholders of Heliospectra AB (publ),<\/p>\n
2018 was a critical year for Heliospectra as we strengthened the foundation of our company to ensure that we execute against our strategic objectives. In the second half of the year we went through a reorganization which resulted in building a highly efficient, global team focused on generating revenue and working closely with growers and customers to truly understand their needs. The introduction of helioCARETM, our technical services, at the beginning of 2018 is one such example. Besides creating a new revenue stream helioCARE adds value to current and new customers and strengthen our position as thought leaders. We further the commercial advancement of helioCORE™ and Heliospectra’s world-class integrated and connected LED lighting solutions. <\/p>\n
During 2018, we proactively responded to market demand generated from urbanization and population growth as well as food security policies and other public\/private initiatives driving economic diversification and resource conservation. Vertical farming has accelerated the need for integrated solutions with food growers worldwide. Based on Heliospectra’s observations and market engagement, we introduced our new SIERA light bar family in Q2. With SIERA product now shipping, we predict the series will be an industry leader based on product performance and results to date. Moreover, our industry-leading technology was selected and specified for several milestone projects during 2018, including installation at one of the world’s top five largest LED horticultural facilities for medicinal crops.<\/p>\n
As I reported last quarter, we realized as our company develops that we must focus our work and growth on fewer, but much larger-scale customers and facilities. This required us to partner with suppliers who can deliver higher volumes at far greater efficiency. At the end of Q3.2018, we finalized our transition and are now working with a new global manufacturer with highly scalable capacity in Sweden. As was expected and reported, this achievement and transition presented our company with some interim challenges in order fulfillment and affected our gross margin. This transformation forced us to prioritize orders and our existing customers so that we did have to turn away some new inquiries. With our new capacity and supply chain in place, Heliospectra is well-positioned to offer our products in larger volume with improved delivery time and a more favorable gross margin.<\/p>\n
While Heliospectra invested in upgrading our technology platforms and manufacturing capacities in 2018, we managed to improve net sales by 26 percent, order intake by 9 percent compared to 2017 while operating loss remained unchanged. We further improved our working capital in 2018 compared to last year. The fact that we ask customers to pay for orders in advance of delivery also supports our favorable working capital. This has strengthened our capital efficiency by minimizing risks to accounts receivables and significantly reducing the bad debt costs. While our gross margin did drop 4% due to some strategic pricing decisions and the supply chain transition that phased out raw materials no longer used, Heliospectra is now poised for more efficient and streamlined production and standardized pricing which will positively impact COGS and margins moving forward. <\/p>\n
Today I am confident that we have built a solid foundation to scale our business and respond to the fast-growing market. Looking ahead, I view 2019 with confidence as a year that we will harvest the results of our efforts and persistence. This is supported by our highest-quality product portfolio and our world-class team. We will continue creating customer value and exceeding customer expectations to grow our market presence.<\/p>\n
In closing, I appreciate the steadfast support of our stakeholders. Your guidance and contributions along with the hard work of the Heliospectra team in 2018 have positioned our company as the industry leader and value-driven company that will dominate the horticultural lighting and technology markets for years to come.<\/p>\n
Ali Ahmadian, CEO<\/p>\n
Heliospectra AB (publ) <\/p>\n
To read the full report visit: http:\/\/ir.heliospectra.com\/en\/reports-downloads\/<\/a><\/p>\n