Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining us today for M Vest Water's presentation of our second quarter and half-year results for 2024 . I am Mr. Tor Olav Gabrielsen. I am the Executive Chairman of M Vest Water, and I'm also joined by our CFO, Morten Hilton Thomassen, who will guide you through the financials later in the presentation. I will start with a walkthrough of our agenda for today. We start with the recent highlights, followed by a brief presentation of the company, before we walk you through the most important developments during the second quarter and half year of twenty twenty-four. If you have any questions, use the Zoom chat function, and we will answer as best as we can during the Q&A session at the end of the presentation.
As a reminder, this meeting is being recorded, and the recording will be available on our website shortly after the meeting. Let's start with the highlights. In April and August, M Vest Water was awarded our first two international contracts, one for the oil and gas sector in the Middle East and the other for a salmon slaughterhouse in Iceland. We also recently achieved a breakthrough with our newly developed Norwafloc, which completely replaces synthetic polymers for our clients in dredging, municipal wastewater, sand and gravel washing, and mining. We find that oil companies in the Middle East are increasing their focus on securing groundwater reservoirs and oil production. For this reason, M Vest Water has signed an agent agreement to further boost our sales activities in the Middle East.
We are also very pleased to announce that we surpassed the total revenue of last year by the end of this second quarter, 2024. Finally, we completed the capital injection and placement in April, where we strengthened our capital with 28 million NOK from both existing owners and new quality investors. This successful completion at market price, without discount, provided essential growth capital for the expansion of our business in targeted markets. M Vest Water is a developer of green and biodegradable water and wastewater treatment products. We are helping industries to solve water pollution challenges. Our two main products are the Norwafloc, which is a green and biodegradable chemical, and the Norwapol, which is a high-performance filtration technology. In addition, M Vest Water is an equipment and solution provider, offering both chemical and technical support to our clients.
We have established facilities in Norway and Germany, and also operate in the U.S. and the Middle East through partnerships and agent agreements. We target multi-million-dollar industries that are all global, in strong demand, with solid annual growth, and introduce a better result to our end users. Our target industries are oil and gas, aquaculture, municipal wastewater, and dredging. So there is enough water on Earth, but is it enough clean water? In many parts of the world, there is a sufficient supply of fresh water. In other areas, people and industry are completely dependent on groundwater. There are 37 gigantic groundwater reservoirs in the world, and 21 of these are on track to be empty as industry and human consumption drains more water than nature itself manages to supply.
3% of all water on Earth is fresh water, but only 1% is available as usable water, as the rest is tied up as ice on Poles and glaciers. Also, more than 80% of the world's wastewater flows back into its surroundings without any water treatment. All of this has enormous consequences for groundwater, surface water, and the ocean. Experts estimate that between 12-15 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean annually. Discharge of these invisible plastics, the nano and microplastics, amounts to between 1-3 million tons annually. The paradox is that the chemicals used for water treatment leave behind nano and microplastics in the nature. M Vest Water addresses all these issues and contributes to finding sustainable solutions for water purification and sludge treatment.
The global water treatment chemical market is expected to reach $50 billion by 2028, with an estimated annual growth of 8%. M Vest Water targets the four verticals shown on the map. The common denominator for these industries is that they consume large amounts of water and need water purification to reduce emissions to nature, as well as sludge treatment to ensure reuse and thus prevent further littering. The oil and gas sector has a strong focus on reducing water consumption and reusing water used to pump up oil from oil wells. Similarly, the aquaculture industry, it is important to utilize the value of biological waste, including separating nitrogen and phosphorus, to reuse the sludge, for example, as fertilizer. The dredging industry generates enormous amounts of sludge, a material that is attractive and valuable for reuse in landscaping.
However, the use of synthetic chemicals has significantly restrained this reuse, further increasing the incentives to search for alternative green solutions. Then we are moving to business updates, starting with our developments in the oil and gas industry. As most of you following us may recall, M Vest Water's journey started in Norway, developing green chemicals for the removal of oil and water, and an oil terminal on the west coast of Norway was used for testing and developing of our technology. This terminal is still a paying client. In 2023, we qualified our Norwapol technology in the U.S. in collaboration with one of the world's largest oil majors. The qualification demonstrated its competitiveness, while also providing significant technical and environmental advantages.
The Middle East market is evolving in parallel with our strategy to implement our proven and applicable technology in both these regions, known as the two largest oil-producing areas in the world. We now observe that market players in the Middle East are increasing their focus on water treatment and are actively seeking greener solutions to replace conventional methods that have been used for decades. This map highlights the world's most critical and vital groundwater reservoirs, with the red areas in North Africa and the Middle East being the most critical. In Saudi Arabia, water is being extracted at ten times the rate that nature replenishes these reservoirs. In Kuwait, it's even more alarming, with a rate of 38 times. Both government authorities and oil companies recognize the urgent need for action, not only to secure sufficient drinking water, but also, not at least, to sustain oil production.
For M Vest Water, we are noticing increased activity in the form of inquiries. Therefore, in the second quarter, we won our first contract in this market, a pilot to be carried out in 2025 . Although the scope of this contract is limited, the potential for duplicating the solution to several other sites is large and intended. We have recently entered into an agent agreement with a reputable company, Energy Solutions Trading, to further boost our sales activities in this market. Dredging and municipal wastewater were the main motivations for our business establishment in Germany. After nearly two years of development and testing, we finally made a significant breakthrough with our Norwafloc products. We have reached a major milestone by replacing 100% of synthetic chemicals with green chemicals.
To our knowledge, M Vest Water is the first in the world to produce a natural substitute for synthetic polymers in sludge dewatering. Moving forward, this will be a key priority. The market for these solutions is large, both in Europe and globally, driven by the need to maintain shipping lanes in major ports and rivers, while addressing the urgent priority of reducing pollution in lakes and rivers. It is important to add that our new Norwafloc is applicable not only for dredging and sewage sludge, but also for sand and gravel operation, sand moving, and mining. M Vest Water offers solutions across various segments in the aquaculture industry, such as fish meal factories and land-based farming.
Over the past year, however, our focus has been on salmon slaughterhouses, an emerging market where M Vest Water, together with our partner, Downstream Marine, is establishing ourselves as the preferred supplier of water treatment solutions and the best available technology in the industry. From December 2023 , slaughterhouses must comply with the new EU discharge regulations. There are currently 45 plants in Norway awaiting responses to their discharge exemption requests. To our knowledge, two plants have been mandated to implement chemical treatment, and both have adopted M Vest Water's solution, which enables the valuable reuse of biowaste. In addition, we have been awarded a contract from an Icelandic salmon slaughterhouse. Overal l, this ensures a steady supply of green chemicals to three slaughterhouses, generating recurring revenue in the upcoming periods.
We experience a high level of lead generation and sales activities across our target segments. We see an increased interest in our products and level of inbound inquiries. Currently, we need to prioritize our resources in order to develop good leads into our opportunities and tender portfolio, but we expect the high level of interest and activity to materialize into sales. I will now turn it over to Mr. Morten Thomassen, who will give you an update on the financials and provide you with a brief summary before our Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you to Olav. In the second quarter, M Vest Water made positive strides financially. By the end of first half of the year, we had already exceeded our annual revenues for 2023, reflecting a growing demand for our solutions. Revenues reached 9.9 million NOK for the quarter, up from 3.6 million NOK in the second quarter of 2023. While equipment sales to the aquaculture industry still account for the majority of our revenues, there is a positive trend in sales of our green chemicals, generating recurring revenue streams. Loss before tax was 4.8 million NOK. Cash flow from operating activities was negative 1.8 million NOK. In April, we completed a private placement and converted shareholder loans, both at market price without discount, strengthening our capital base by a total of 28 million NOK.
We are grateful for our shareholders' trust and support, which are essential for driving our strategic goals forward. Looking ahead, it's important to recognize that the markets we operate in are large, global, and evolving, particularly as the demand for greener solutions in water and sludge treatment grows. Advancements in environmentally friendly technologies are crucial for ensuring global access to fresh water. The capital raised in the second quarter will be used to position the company for future growth, and we have already started preparing for the expansion. M Vest Water is actively engaged in several projects across Germany, the U.S., and the Middle East, each offering significant growth potential, which may require an increase in working capital in the future. Our recent technological advancements, together with signing our first two international contracts, confirm the quality and competitiveness of our technology.
Lastly, we would like to mention that in the beginning of this month, we began chemical water treatment at two salmon slaughterhouses. This will increase our sales of chemicals and generate recurring revenue streams in the upcoming periods. And with that, we are done with the presentation, and we'll move on to the Q&A session.
Very good. And that concludes the presentation of the results, and we'll now move on with the Q&A session. And just as a reminder, if you have a question, please feel free to submit them into the Q&A box function, and we will cover as many as possible. Starting off about the Middle East, what type of companies, customers do you work with? Why is this region attractive for M Vest Water, and can you say something about contract sizes?
Thank you very much, Andreas. We are working with national oil companies in these types of regions, often in collaboration with global oil majors, which are very often the operators on the fields. The region is attractive due to several factors. One of them is that it's, it is a lot of. The volumes of produced water in this area is quite high. That is due to the age of the wells. When you have an aging well, it's more water coming out together with the oil.
The other reason is that in these areas, like, I didn't mention it in the presentation, the groundwater reservoirs are quite scarce, and in certain areas, the regulations are now tightening because it has been when they inject the water into the wells again, there has been some leakage into the groundwater reservoirs. Therefore, it is very important, and then the governments are tightening these regulations. On contract sizes, Morten, you can correct me or supply any additional answers, but we are working with contract sizes, everything from $50,000 to maybe $1 million in contract size for a year. That depends on the size of the field.
But that is a combination of man-hours, equipment sales, but mostly, and the most important thing is, we are also selling more and more NorwaFloc, our chemical, into this, which is a better margin on. But yes, so it depends on the fields. We have a tender portfolio now, which is quite diverse. Morten, do you have something to add to that?
No, yes, I think the audience wants to hear about the larger contracts here, but we are looking into contracts with- that could provide us with, let's say, $1 million a year of sale of chemicals.
Okay, very good.
A typical field, let's say 100,000 barrels, that might be equivalent to that kind of contract size, as Morten mentioned.
Okay, very good. Moving on. What should we expect for revenues in the second half of 2024? Lower due to less equipment sales?
It's hard to project. We have a... As I said, we have a quite diverse tender portfolio. Right now, some in across different segments. Of course, these tenders, some of them are quite equipment heavy in front. We have this year, as Morten said, we have had equipment sales during the past quarters. What we're seeing now is an increase in the chemical recurring sales with a higher margin. But if some of the tenders go through, we might also have an increase. So it's very hard for me to say because of the size and the composition of the current tender portfolio.
But as I said, it's the positive brand is that it is an increase in the recurring revenues of the chemicals.
Okay. Then a question from Pat Daslingstali. "Can you elaborate a bit on why the gross margins are so low?
Maybe I can answer that to all of
Yes.
Yeah, I see who asked the questions. Thank you, Pat. I'm not sure if I understand the question fully, because in my terms, the gross margin is what we sort of our gross earnings on the sales that we have. In our terminology, we have achieved the margins that we have expected, both on the sale of equipment and also the chemicals. You can please add another question here if you need so, but.
Mm-hmm
... that would be my best answer.
Very good. How-
Let me just add, I think we also expect to have an increase in the margins over time as we have more and more sales of the chemicals. And the composition of the sales will develop over time.
Very good. And as a follow-up, I guess that answered it- answers the questions, and what about gross margins in second half of 2024? I guess you've already answered that with,
Yeah, it depends on the current tender portfolio and what goes through. Let's say, just a reasonable assumption would be that if we didn't do any equipment sales, the margins would go up because it's only chemicals. But if we do equipment sales in the second half, of course, that will adjust the margin a little bit.
Very well. Then a question on the oil industry in the U.S. "How is the full-scale projects going in the oil industry in the U.S.?
They are on track. We are now working with our partner in the U.S. As previously mentioned, we have been technically qualified. We have quite limited resources, so right now we are concentrating our resources for the oil and gas sector towards the Middle East, because we see that's the lowest hanging fruit. But we are on track with the development in the States, and we are currently in dialogue with several potential clients and projects over there.
Very good. "When do you potentially expect larger contracts in the dredging industry?
We as soon as possible, and we have, as I said, our tender portfolio that is across our all areas, including dredging in Germany. And I guess with the technical breakthrough, we will. What we are seeking is maybe frame agreements to start with, which can, over time, but let's say, not a long time span, but over time, increase in size and volume. But the dredging market is, it's quite big volumes, and that can be quite substantial during the next periods. So it's to answer very specific, we have a lot of activities in that sector, and of course, we are targeting the larger volumes in that segment.
Then there is a question on the balance sheets. "There is a -NOK 4.4 million other liabilities post in the operating cash flow statement. What does that relate to?
Yeah. Just let me have a look. That was one of the detailed questions that we have today. No, this is this just changes on sort of from like quarter to quarter. This is nothing specific, so just changes over time, so yeah.
Okay. Then over to back to Pat, who responded, "Starting costs. So there was a first question on gross margins are so low. Well, but what about starting costs or maybe fixed costs is what he means?
Mm-hmm.
Also, do you have sufficient resources to serve all the areas, meaning municipal wastewater, fish, oil in the U.S., Middle East, and Europe, as well as dredging?
There was a question about fixed costs. Yes, we have a tight cost discipline and, yeah, and we haven't increased that much in that, in that area. Our fixed cost is related to personnel and the variable cost is, of course, the raw materials and the equipment sales related costs. When it comes to do we have enough resources to cover all segments? If we see an increased activity in some areas, meaning specific sales, let's say in the Middle East or in dredging in Germany, we, of course, have to increase some of our resources in that specific area related to some of the contracts for a time. That being because of the volumes we need to produce when it comes to the chemicals.
Also some of these contracts, potential contracts in the Middle East, et cetera, they require some sort of local production components. But we are working with our agents to set it up at a very cost-effective solution in those areas.
Very good. Question on, you seem to focus on treatment of blood water for salmon slaughterhouses, but are you also looking to see if you can sell your solutions to pelagic or and whitefish processing plants?
Yes. We have focused, to start with, with the slaughterhouses and the blood water because of the regulations and the regulatory framework, and we see that is the huge drive. When it comes to pelagic, that's a completely different ballgame. They definitely need the solutions, but it's not the same kind of regulatory framework, not the same kind of incentives for the client to implement it. But we have been in dialogue with players in that area, and we are looking for solutions for that as well, and we can provide it, of course. Morten, do you have anything to add to the pelagic?
No.
Okay. Very good. Question on, are you working on sales to competitors of SAR Gruppen in Norway? Feel free to not answer that if you like it, but, at least it's there.
We are treating every potential buyer of our chemicals as a potential client, of course. So, yeah.
Very good. And then on back to the dredging market. Dredging in the U.S., mainly managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is another large dredging market. Are you focusing on Europe only, for dredging?
No. We are also looking at the U.S. market, but right now, we see that the regulatory framework and it's more low-hanging fruit because of that in Europe, and we have very good connections and projects in Europe, so it makes no sense to start in the U.S. right now before we establish this business segment and contracts in Europe first.
Okay. And then, sort of go-to-market strategy. Based on your quite different markets, is your go-to-market strategy same for all the markets, by either, selling through own personal resources or through, distributors, resellers?
No, we... Our go-to-market strategy or sales strategy is quite different across all segments. Let's say in the aquaculture industry, to slaughterhouses in mainly the Norwegian market, we have one strategy. We are going with our partner, Downstream Marine. In other parts of the area, like in other parts of segments like oil and gas in the Middle East, it is through agent agreements. In Germany, towards dredging, it's mainly direct sales with the clients, and that also goes for parts of the municipalities in on the continent. It's direct sales for... Yes, we also see the slaughterhouse in on Iceland, which we got. That was a direct sale where we did a direct sale and took our partner with us in that project.
It varies on the markets and, of course, the clients.
Okay. I think we got to the bottom of the list. Thank you, everyone, for contributing with questions. Thank you for letting us host your quarterly presentation. And with that, I will leave the word back to you, Tor Olav and Morten, for some concluding remarks.
Thank you very much for participating and following our company. I hope to see you next quarter, and if you have any questions or want to come and visit us, you are free to do so. Just contact our IR department and Morten, and we will gladly show you our premises and factory. Thank you very much.
Thank you.