Revenue up 51% compared to same quarter, prior year
Calgary, AB — Blackline Safety Corp. (TSX Venture: BLN), a leading manufacturer of connected worker safety monitoring solutions, announced record first quarter revenue in its results for the quarter ended January 31, 2018.
“Blackline continues to see significant revenue growth based on the success in the field of our award-winning connected safety technology,” said Cody Slater, Blackline Safety CEO and Chairman. “No other vendor of wireless gas detection or lone worker systems offers a turnkey solution with 3G connectivity, voice calling and plug-and-play cartridges as offered by our G7 product line.”
“During the quarter, we launched a range of new sensors to address new customer scenarios and completed development of a major firmware update for the G7. This new firmware will enable users to choose their preferred language for the G7 interface, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch,” said Slater. “This capability will provide additional support for our growth in the European market where this quarter we saw a 245% increase in revenue over last year.”
Slater stated, “Traditional gas detectors require every single detector to be removed from the field and handled individually to update their firmware, resulting in a labor and logistics-intensive program. In contrast, when we deploy new G7 firmware updates wirelessly ‘over-the-air.’ There’s zero impact on end users, further demonstrating the value of our connected technology for businesses.”
“The full G7 product line, which started shipping only last quarter, targets a wide variety of industries — from the energy sector to petrochemical, utilities, manufacturing and many others,” said Slater. “Already, we are seeing the results of the launch of the G7 with product revenue up over 80%, as more customers throughout this range of industries recognize the value of our revolutionary G7 connected safety product.”
Highlights
- Total revenue of $3.8M, a 51% increase over the prior year’s Q1
- Product revenue of $1.5M, an 83% increase over the prior year’s Q1
- Service revenue of $2.3M, a 36% increase over the prior year’s Q1
- European revenue of $701k, a 245% increase over the prior year’s Q1
- Contracted future service revenue grew to $4.5M, a 34% increase over the prior year’s Q1
- Blackline launched new gas sensors and G7 device firmware with multi-language support
- Blackline Safety named Manufacturer of the Year at the Oil & Gas Awards
The subsequent values in this release are in thousands, except for percentages and per share data.
Financial Highlights
| Quarter Ended January 31 | |||
| 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Revenue | $3,803 | $2,515 | 51% |
| Gross Margin | $1,693 | $1,251 | 35% |
| Gross Margin Percentage | 45% | 50% | (10)% |
| Net Loss | ($1,604) | ($2,065) | 22% |
| Net Loss excluding stock-based compensation expense | ($1,501) | ($1,481) | (1)% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | ($136) | ($191) | 29% |
| Loss per Share | ($0.05) | ($0.07) | 29% |
Key Financial Information
First quarter revenue was $3,803 compared to $2,515 in the comparable quarter of the prior fiscal year, resulting in an increase of 51% or $1,288.
Product revenue during the first quarter was $1,465, an increase of 83% compared to $802 in the comparable quarter of the prior fiscal year. This increase was driven by shipments of Blackline’s G7c and G7x products in the period, particularly in Europe with an increase of 245% in total revenues in this region.
Service revenue was $2,338, an increase of 36% compared to $1,714 in the same period last year, attributed to new service activations by end customers from the continued solid growth in product sales and adoption of the Blackline Complete leasing program.
Contracted future service revenue, representing the value of future Blackline Complete lease commitments, was $4,510 as at January 31, 2018, an increase of 34% from Q1 FY2017.
Gross margin for the first quarter was $1,693 compared to $1,251 in the comparable quarter of the prior year, an increase of 35% over the comparable period from the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $(136) for the first quarter compared to $(191) in the comparable quarter of the prior year. The improvement in the Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter is attributable to an increase in revenues and gross margin quarter-over-quarter.
Blackline’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis on financial condition and results of operations for the period ended January 31, 2018 are available at www.sedar.com. All results are reported in Canadian dollars. To learn more about Blackline Safety, visit www.blacklinesafety.com and follow Blackline on Twitter @blacklinesafety.
About Blackline Safety: Blackline Safety is a global connected safety technology leader. Providing comprehensive live-monitoring and wireless gas detection, we help teams working in hazardous environments respond to emergencies in real-time and manage efficient evacuations, accounting for everyone’s safety along the way. With millions invested in technology research and development, Blackline Safety is recognized for quality and innovation. Our talented team of designers and engineers create and manufacture in-house — from wearable technology and personal gas detectors to cloud-hosted infrastructure and web-based interfaces for global industry. We deliver the world’s first turn-key, work-anywhere connected safety monitoring solution with gas detection, 3G wireless, satellite communications, two-way speakerphone, employee messaging and live monitoring to meet the demanding safety challenges of organizations in over 200 countries. For more information, visit www.BlacklineSafety.com.
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