CrayoNano Q1 2024 Investor Update

Headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, with established operations in Taiwan.

‘Ongoing commercial traction and further improvements to market competitiveness’ 
Creating next-generation semiconductors that enable a more sustainable and healthier life for everyone

CrayoNano AS (NOTC: CNANO) is pleased to announce its Q1 2024 update, and progress post the period end.

CrayoNano is the industry’s only European fab-lite UV-C LED component supplier for disinfection and sterilization systems. The Company is addressing a hugely important global market with its proven and scalable innovative technology that enables a more sustainable and healthier life for everyone, with multiple applications across water, air and surface disinfection. Its UV-C LED products are a highly effective replacement to current methods through a lower power consumption, CO2 footprint and cost, as well as being environmentally safe.

Q1 2024 and Post Period Highlights

Q1:

• Global sales pipeline further scaled, with 24 new design-ins and 5 design-wins, an increase of 45% during the quarter
• 60% of the design-wins in water, one of them with a global acting strategic key customer in AMERICAS in the Point of Use water treatment segment, and 40% in surface disinfection
• Ongoing commercial traction and active discussions with a number of global names, some advanced
• Achieved first cost reduction for the UV-C LED product, providing benefits to customers through a 10% lower pricing and improving CrayoNano’s competitiveness in the marketplace

Post period end:

• Dr. Thomas Dobbertin appointed as CEO, strengthening and expanding the breadth of the Executive Team
• 2 new design-in partnership agreements signed with leading LED module experts: YuGuang Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Lighting Company (TSLC)
• 5 design-wins secured, illustrating the positive advancement of the pipeline following actively working with partners on design-ins
• Good progress being made in product development, and targeting to reduce the price-performance parameter by 50%, with pilot products anticipated to be ready by end Q4 2024

Jens Kielland, CFO, said:

“We continued to gain commercial traction and improve our competitiveness in the market during Q1 24. We are in active discussions with a number of global names, some advanced, and hope to announce a further contract as well as other strategic and commercial partnerships shortly. We are confident we can deliver meaningful progress in 2024 and are focused on scaling revenue, continuing to optimise our operating structure, and ongoing product development to grow our total addressable market.”

Introduction and Q1 2024 Overview

Recently the market has been experiencing longer qualification and design-in lead times, and therefore longer market entry timelines for products. This had a temporary impact on CrayoNano’s conversion of its extensive sales pipeline into further revenue growth in Q1 2024. Notwithstanding this, CrayoNano is in active discussions with a number of global names, some advanced, which could meaningfully scale revenue in the near-term, and hopes to announce a new contract as well as other partnerships shortly.

Alongside advancing contracts, progress in Q1 2024 included the further scaling of the global sales pipeline including design-ins, and improvements to the competitiveness of the UV-C LED product in the marketplace thereby growing the total addressable market. CrayoNano continues to have a secure order book of initial volume sales, and with the considerable scope to add contracts as the year progresses, is confident in the outturn for 2024.

Operational Review

Pipeline and Sales

CrayoNano’s key growth indicator is its sales funnel and pipeline. As above the extensive global sales pipeline covering APAC, AMERICAS and EMEA was further scaled in the period, demonstrating ongoing customer attraction and commercial traction. At the end of Q1 2024, CrayoNano had a pipeline featuring 170 sales leads, 144 opportunities, 76 ongoing design-in activities, and 16 design-wins. Within this, CrayoNano acquired 24 new design-ins and 5 design-wins, an increase of 45% during the quarter. They remain a key focus as they validate the commerciality of CrayoNano’s product and lead to significant revenue opportunity.

CrayoNano is currently focused on the more developed market areas such as the water disinfection sector, and the most meaningful opportunities in its pipeline supported by selective sales campaigns. CrayoNano is currently in active discussions and working closely with several global names, including a leading home appliance manufacturer, and hopes to announce a new design-in with a blue-chip brand shortly, as well as other strategic and commercial partnerships.

CrayoNano continues to have an order book of a minimum NOK 13m value to be delivered in 2024, with opportunities to increase the value of each secured frame contract beyond the initial volume amounts, as well as add meaningful new contracts as above. As detailed in the Financial Update below, revenue growth is anticipated to be second-half weighted due to the anticipated lead times.

Sales Channel Network

CrayoNano has continued to expand and leverage its sales channel partner network that was strongly established throughout 2023. To-date, CrayoNano has a total of 15 partner contracts in place across APAC, AMERICAS and EMEA, with the network supported by CrayoNano’s own local sales representatives across five countries.

CrayoNano continues be highly visibility in the marketplace, receiving very positive feedback from both customers and the wider industry, and recently attended the IUVA conference in the USA.

Operations and Supply Chain

CrayoNano strategically invested in its operations and inventory throughout 2023, and is commercially ready to deliver on its initial order book and large scale volume orders with little additional capex due to its fab-lite strategy.

Following the considerable progress made during 2023, CrayoNano is continuing to look at optimising its operating structure and introduce further efficiencies, including through increasing the level of operative business in Taiwan, the home of the semiconductor industry. By moving more of its supply chain operations to Taiwan, CrayoNano can generate significant cost savings, in line with its fab-lite model. As part of this, CrayoNano is currently in the process of onboarding and qualifying samples for a corresponding package foundry partnership, and anticipates signing a contract during Q3 2024.

Executive Team

It was announced on 13 May 2024 that Dr. Thomas Dobbertin had joined CrayoNano as CEO, strengthening and expanding the breadth of the Executive Team. Dr. Dobbertin has an extensive international track-record in leadership positions in the photonics and semiconductor industry, and will work alongside Jens Kielland who has resumed his role as CFO and the rest of the team. Dr. Dobbertin was formerly General Manager and Vice President at ams AG in Singapore for optical components and prior to this, headed up the global laser business at OSRAM Opto in Germany, servicing tier-1 clients globally.

Product Development

CrayoNano has made further progress in the development of its next UV-C LEDs, and is continuing to grow the total addressable market and applications for its product through ongoing technology and pricing. Through recent engineering, CrayoNano has been able to achieve a first cost reduction for its UV-C LED product, providing benefits to customers through a 10% lower pricing and improving its competitiveness in the marketplace. CrayoNano is still targeting to implement a significant step forward to a market leading position by reducing the price-performance parameter by 50%. Good progress was made in Q1 2024 and to date, with pilot products anticipated to be ready by end Q4 2024 followed by production and deliveries in Q2 2025. Driving down the price-performance KPI is key to growing the total addressable market and becoming competitive against other disinfection technology.

Post Period Update

Post the period end to-date, CrayoNano has signed two new design-in partnership agreements, the first being with YuGuang Electronics, representing CrayoNano’s third design-in partnership in the Asia-Pacific region. YuGuang Electronics is a leader in LED module and light engine manufacturing, and the partnership serves to strengthen CrayoNano’s operations and market presence in the water disinfection sector. In May 2024, CrayoNano then signed a design-in partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Lighting Company (TSLC), a renown UK-LED system and module design expert.

CrayoNano has also secured five design-wins since the period end to date, illustrating the ongoing positive advancement of the pipeline following actively working with partners on design-ins. These design-wins cover a disinfection solution for the Korean public transportation system, water and surface disinfection for smart farming, and further water disinfection reactors.

Q1 2024 Financial Update

Revenue and Operating Costs

Sales revenue in Q1 2024 was NOK 129,000 (Q1 2023: NOK 135,000) and related to sample shipments to prospective customers and initial sales to distributors. The sales performance reflects the longer lead-times as detailed above. Notwithstanding this, and as detailed in the Operational Review, CrayoNano continues to have a secure order book of a minimum NOK 13m to be delivered in 2024, expected to be second-half weighted, with opportunities to increase the value of existing contracts, and add meaningful new ones.

Total operating costs in Q1 2024 were NOK 17.3m, a decrease of NOK 6.0m (25.8%) compared with Q1 2023 (Q1 2023: NOK 23.3m). This reflects success in optimising the operating structure and introducing efficiencies, including the strategically important moving of operations to Taiwan. Further operating efficiencies are expected to be introduced over the coming year due to the actions detailed in the Operational Review. As a result, despite considerable scaling of revenue in 2024 against 2023 (2023: total revenue NOK 0.9m), total operating costs in 2024 are anticipated to be of a similar level to 2023.

CrayoNano already has the operating structure and purchased inventory in place to deliver on the initial NOK 13m order book. In addition, only modest additional operating costs and capex would be required to deliver on additional large scale volume orders. With CrayoNano’s fab-lite strategy, capex requirements are low, with capex mainly related to R&D and intangible assets.

As a consequence of the optimisation and efficiencies to-date, EBITDA in Q1 2024 was NOK -17.2m, a reduction of NOK 4.2m against Q1 2023 (Q1 2023: NOK -21.5m).

Cash Flow Development and Balance Sheet

Net cash flow from operating activities in Q1 2024 was NOK -15.7m (Q1 2023: NOK -24.0m; Q4 2023: NOK -19.0m). At the end of Q1 2024, available cash was NOK 13.2m (Q4 2023: NOK 40.5m), including that available through its asset backed lending facility. This facility was successfully secured in 2023, and can be increased based on the scale-up of commercial activities.

The reduction in available cash is driven by; i) a negative operating result; ii) an increase in working capital including a continued modest investment in inventory to support delivery and scaling of revenue in 2024; and iii) a final patent payment.

Having strategic inventory is an important asset to support revenue generation as well as mitigate against any product availability constraints in the market. Inventory was NOK 14.8m at the end of Q1 2024, a modest increase on Q4 2023 (Q4 2023: NOK 13.7m).

Financing

As detailed in the Q4 2023 Investor Update, CrayoNano has a funding requirement prior to reaching breakeven through the scaling of revenue, and continues to look at a number of options in relation to funding. The Company continues to progress both short-term and longer-term funding discussions, and hopes to be in a position to provide an update on short-term funding very shortly, with any offer being made available to all shareholders on the same terms.

At the current monthly opex of approximately NOK 6m, CrayoNano would be breakeven at approximately NOK 150m sales revenue using a +50% gross margin assumption. To give an idea of the progression to breakeven, the weighted pipeline for 2024 currently shows projected sales revenue of NOK 67m, and NOK 133m for 2025. The sales pipeline contains many large individual potential contracts, so any one of these would materially advance CrayoNano to a breakeven position.

Q1 2024 Results Presentation and Q&A

CrayoNano will deliver a live presentation via webcast at 10:00 CET today (09:00 GMT). The live video webcast will be accessible via the Company’s website: https://webcast.openbriefing.com/crayonano-may24/

Presentation is available here.

An audio recording will also be made available after the webcast via the same link.

For more information, please contact:

CFO Jens Kielland
Email investor@crayonano.com
Phone +47 72 90 98 60

About CrayoNano

CrayoNano develops and manufactures nanomaterials-based semiconductor components using proprietary technologies. Headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, with established operations in Taiwan, CrayoNano supports customers with global sales representatives and distributors in EMEA, APAC and the Americas. CrayoNano’s innovative semiconductor components advance global solutions in health and safety, water purification, consumer, and industrial applications, and more. CrayoNano is registered on Euronext OTC in Norway under the ticker “CNANO”.