5/15/2023

speaker
Ian Patel
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you for holding. We look forward to talking with you soon. Please hold the line and we'll be right back with you.

speaker
Call Operator
Conference Call Moderator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CEA Industries Q1 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today are the company's Chairman and CEO, Tony McDonald. as well as the company's CFO, Ian Patel. At this time, all participants have been placed on listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions at the end. If you would like to ask a question via the phone lines, you may press star 1 to enter the queue at any time. Should your question be answered and you wish to leave the queue, please press star 2. If you have joined via the webcast, please use the Ask a Question button on your webcast viewer window. Before we begin, please be advised that this call may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events. These forward-looking statements are based on what we believe are reasonable assumptions which ultimately could prove to be inaccurate and are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. These statements reflect CEA Industries' current beliefs and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in this call, including the risk factors set forth in the company's Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC. Please refer to their SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with their business. The forward-looking statements that the company has made are intended to be within the meaning of forward-looking statements in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended. Also, please note that the company filed its quarterly report on Form 10Q and issued a press release announcing first quarter results earlier today. These documents can be found on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at ceaindustries.com. If you would like to be added to the company's email distribution list, please send an email to info at ceaindustries.com. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Tony McDonald, Chairman and CEO of CEA Industries. Sir, the floor is yours.

speaker
Tony McDonald
Chairman and CEO

Well, thank you and good afternoon, everyone. Our first quarter performance reflects the completion of several previously delayed projects as well as the successful implementation of our strategic cost-cutting initiatives. These resulted in double-digit revenue growth and material savings in operating expenses. Currently, we are moving in the right direction, though we remain mindful of the ongoing market conditions and we will proceed cautiously in the periods ahead. As we mentioned on our last earnings call, the macro environment has continued to present challenges, affecting both operators and consumers over the past year. Within the cannabis industry specifically, operators have faced prolonged headwinds from pricing pressure and shrinking consumer walls as inflation persists. As a result, capital expenditures in the sector have reduced significantly, resulting in delayed, paused, or eliminated construction projects. These conditions have had an adverse impact on our projected bookings and revenue. To help offset the macro environment, we have sharpened focus on diversifying our customer base outside of cannabis, while actively evaluating our operations to identify and deliver efficiencies and cost savings. Specifically, we reduced our workforce in February in conjunction with several other expense saving programs, which resulted in a 24% reduction of operating expenses compared to the year-ago period and a 9% reduction from fourth quarter of 2022. We plan to continue identifying savings opportunities as we assess each segment of our business to ensure efficiency and effectiveness without compromising the high level of service we provide to our customers. Touching briefly on our customers, subsequent to quarter end, we signed two contracts, one within cannabis and the other in the vertical agriculture industry. I'd like to briefly highlight each. First, we signed our largest design contract in company history to provide architectural and engineering services to a southeast cannabis cultivator. We expect to complete construction on this 60,000 square foot cultivation and 20,000 square foot processing facility by the end of the year. Shortly after this project was signed, we announced another contract win with a vertical indoor ag farming company called Farm One. Under the contract, we will leverage our indoor agriculture climate control technologies and mechanical engineering capabilities to deliver a holistic HVAC system design for their New York-based vertical farming facility. We've already begun working with their team to strategize on the most optimal HVAC equipment for their cultivation goals. Although we are navigating a challenging environment, we believe we are well equipped to win more contracts and continue serving customers in both the cannabis and vertical agriculture industries. I'll now hand it over to Ian Patel, our Chief Financial Officer, to discuss financial highlights for the quarter before wrapping up with closing remarks. Ian?

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