NXT Energy Solutions Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. My name is David and I will be your conferencing operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the NXT Energy Solutions 2020 Third Quarter End Operating and Financial Results Conference Call. All participants will be in listening-only mode for the first part of the conference call, with the ability to ask questions after the presentation by the company. For the question and answer session, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you wish to cancel your question, please press pound. So that all callers have an opportunity to answer a question, we will limit each caller to one question and a follow-up question. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. George Lucides, President and CEO of NXT Energy Solutions. Please go ahead, Mr. Lucides.

Thank you, David. Welcome and thank you everyone for joining us today for NXT Solutions Energy Solutions Third Quarter 2020 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call. This is George Licitas, and joining me today's conference call is Eugene Washishin, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Xiang Gui, Director of R&D and SFD Sensor Development, Rashid Tipu, Director of Geosciences for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Also, Enrique Hung, Director of Geosciences for the Americas, and Mohamed Saqib, Operations Director and Head of Interpretation. The purpose of today's call is to briefly discuss the highlights of the release of NXT's third quarter 2020 financial and operating results. Following our update, we will open up the line for questions. Please note, all statements made by the company and management during this call are subject to readers' advisory regarding forward-looking information and non-GAAP measures set forth in our Q3 2020 result press release and MD&A issued yesterday. All dollar amounts discussed in today's conference call are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. The complete financial and operating results are condensed and condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the third quarter of 2020 were published yesterday, November 16th, and are available on NXT's website, Cedar's website, and soon will be available on Edgard's website. Now I am turning over the call to Eugene for the financial review.

Thank you, George, and welcome everyone. As George mentioned, our third quarter 2020 financial statements and management discussion and analysis were filed on CDAR's website yesterday and will shortly be available on EDGAR. From a financial perspective, the focus remains on continuing to control and optimize non-core corporate costs and support of the business development effort. We continue to also participate in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Program during the quarter. For the third quarter, our financial results were as follows. Cash and short-term investments were $4.06 million at September 30th, and net working capital was $3.99 million. We currently expect a final payment of approximately $500,000 from the 2019 Nigerian SFD survey, which is in fact a performance bond later this year. We have elected not to enforce payment of it until either upon the completion of a new contract with PE Energy or at the closure of the 2019 contract. Operating activities used $830,000 of cash during the quarter and $2.53 million year-to-date. There was no revenue earned in the quarter. For the quarter, NXT recorded a net loss of approximately $1.5 million or a basic and diluted two cents per share based on 64.4 million weighted average common shares outstanding. This compares to a net loss of $0.8 million in Q3 2019 or one cent per share basic and diluted. For year to date, NXT recorded a net loss of approximately $4.31 million or basic and diluted of seven cents per share based on 64.4 million weighted common shares outstanding. This compares to a net income of $5.55 million in 2019 year-to-date were $0.08 per share basic and diluted. Total operating expenses for the third quarter were $1.44 million including survey costs. This includes non-cash expenses of $0.48 million related to amortization and stock-based compensation expenses. Total operating expenses for year-to-date were $4.67 million including survey costs. This includes non-cash expenses of $1.4 million related to amortization and stock-based compensation expenses. G&A expenses decreased 20% or $174,000 in Q3 2020 compared to 2019 as a result of the following. Salaries, benefits and consulting charges decreased by $148,000 or 38% due to the company participating in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Scientific Research and Development Tax Credit programs. Boarded professional fees and public company costs increased $30,000 or 13% due to professional fees. Premises and administrative overhead decreased 2% due to reduced office expenses. And business development costs decreased $51,000 or 91% due to business development discussions being conducted with teleconferences and online video conferencing. G&A expenses decreased 3% or $86,000 year to date compared to 2019 for the following reasons. Salaries, benefits and consulting charges decreased by $178,000 or 15% due to participation in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Shred Tax Credit. One less headcount in the first half of 2020 versus 2019, offset partially by $178,000 of salary costs being allocated to survey costs during 2019. Board professional fees and public company costs increased 15% due to higher professional fees. Premises and administrative overhead decreased $25,000 or 4% due to reduced spending on office expenses and building common area costs. And business development costs increased $16,000 or 14% due to the negotiation of further African surveys during quarter one of this year. During 2019, company resources were focused on the implementation of Nigerian SFD survey and business development expenses were minimal. To summarize some key financial points, we ended the quarter with $4.06 million of cash and short-term investments on hand and a net working capital balance of $3.99 million. Net loss for the quarter was $1.5 million. Cash used in operations was $829,000. continue to focus on cost control. I would now like to hand the call back over to George to further discuss our business update and forward plans.