Jones Soda Co

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss Jones Soto's financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31st, 2021. Before we begin, let me remind everyone of the company's safe harbor disclaimer. Certain portions of our comments today will concern future expectations, plans, and prospects of the company that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements containing verbs such as aims, anticipates, estimates, expects, believes, intends, plans, predicts, will, may, continue, projects, or targets, and negatives of these words and similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect our actual results include, among others, those that are discussed under the heading Risk Factors in our most recently filed reports with the SEC, including our annual report on the Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on the Form 10-Q, and our current reports on Form 8-K. In addition, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA. The most directly comparable gap measures and reconciliations for non-gap measures are available in the earnings release and other documents posted on the company's website under investor relations. I would like to remind everyone that this call will be available for replay through March 17, 2022, starting at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time tonight. A webcast replay will also be made available via the link provided in today's press release, as well as on the company's website. And now I'd like to turn the call over to President and CEO of Jones Soda, Mark Murray, please go ahead.

Thank you, Cody. And thank you everyone for joining us today. I'm pleased to say we finished the year strong with a great fourth quarter. Revenue for the quarter increased 18% to $2.9 million, marking our sixth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. 2021 marked the first full year of our three-year turnaround strategy, And as our results show, our team is doing a phenomenal job. For the year, we grew net revenue by 24%. We increased gross margins by 720 basis points. And we improved our adjusted EBITDA by $1.3 million, which includes an approximately $0.4 million in cannabis-related expenses that hit the fourth quarter of 2021. I want to thank our dedicated, talented employees as they navigate these very difficult times, but continue to deliver exceptional results. I'm very proud and grateful for a great team. 2021 was truly a transformational year for the organization. As we think about 2022 and beyond, the combination of continued momentum within our beverage division Our growing roster of strategic partnerships and our upcoming expected entry into the cannabis sector, we believe we are well positioned for increasing growth in a bright future. On the call today, I'll provide an update on our sales performance, marketing initiatives, operations, and discuss the launch of our cannabis products. We will then end with a Q&A session. Before I dive into those topics, I'd like to hand the call over to Joe to discuss our strong financial results for the quarter. Joe.

Thank you, Mark, and good afternoon, everyone. Net revenue in the fourth quarter increased 18% to $2.9 million compared to $2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. This increase was primarily due to continued sales momentum of the company's core bottled soda products and the growth across our channels. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue increased 260 basis points to 26.5% compared to 23.9% in the prior year period. The improvement was a result of the continued shift to a more favorable product mix, which includes the recovery of our food service business. Operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $2 million compared to $1.4 million in the same year-ago quarter. The uptick in expenses for the fourth quarter of 2021 was primarily due to the $400,000 of additional costs related to the company's expected strategic entry into the cannabis sector. Net loss in the fourth quarter was negative $1.3 million, or negative two cents per share, compared to a net loss of negative $900,000, or negative one cent per share, for the prior year period. The decrease in net loss was driven by the aforementioned expenses associated with the company's expected entry into the cannabis sector. Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was negative $1.2 million compared to negative $800,000 in the year-ago quarter. Now moving on to the balance sheet. At December 31, 2021, cash and cash equivalents were $4.7 million compared to $4.6 million on December 31, 2020. Working capital was $6 million at December 31, 2021, compared to $5.8 million at December 31, 2020. The only debt we carry are our outstanding convertible debt instruments. After year-end, we closed on the acquisition of Pinesar Gold in conjunction with the company's planned strategic entry into the cannabis sector. As a part of the deal, the company raised $11 million in concurrent financing from and also received final approval for the listing of Jones shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange, which began trading on February 18th, 2022. We believe this development increases the liquidity of our shares and enables the company to appeal to a broader group of investors. Now, I'll hand the call back over to Mark for his remarks.