Charge Enterprises Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

• Revenue increased 19% for the quarter, compared with the prior year period
• Gross Profit grew 9% to $6.7 million
• Infrastructure segment backlog surpasses $100 million; with over 20% derived from the Company’s nationwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure business
• Positive Adjusted EBITDA expected first quarter of 2024

Charge Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRGE) (“Charge” or the “Company”), today reported first quarter 2023 results. For the quarter, revenues were $193.5 million, compared with $163.0 million in the first quarter of 2022. Gross profit for the first quarter of 2023 increased to $6.7 million, compared with $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2022.

“Charge Enterprises delivered strong revenues of $193.5 million, with organic growth of 19%, with Infrastructure and Telecommunications growing at 40% and 16%, respectively. Gross profit increased 9% to $6.7 million, providing the continued opportunity of reinvesting our own resources for future growth of our businesses,” said Andrew Fox, Founder, Chairman and CEO. “We have also achieved significant and strategic milestones as of the end of the first quarter, in record backlog orders booked of approximately $107 million, as well as achieving 15% of our initial stated goal of project engagement with 1,000 major market dealerships indicating robust growth opportunities for Charge in the year ahead.”

“The environment supporting electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure has never been stronger. The current political, economic, and technological climate are all key macro-environmental drivers fueling the adoption of electric vehicles. The tailwinds for EV adoption are being driven by mandates by government entities that are propelling the EV industry forward. Charge is positioned to drive the execution of infrastructure to support the transition to EV’s.”

Mr. Fox concluded, "Charge is committed to excellence, execution of its business plan, and premium service. During the first quarter we further delivered on Charge’s diversified revenue stream within all of our business segments. In addition to diversifying our services to accommodate all industry segments touching the entire addressable market, Charge’s focus is to continue establishing and scaling alliances with top automotive dealerships and recently announced partnerships with companies such as Eaton and Autel Energy. Building out and continually maintaining the infrastructure for EV is paramount to electric vehicle adoption, which is the cornerstone to Charge’s mission of pioneering custom, high quality, safe and reliable EV charging ecosystems. At Charge, we make it simple to go electric.”

Selected Financial Information

Charge’s CFO Leah Schweller commented, “We expect to deliver positive Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024. Our first quarter performance is a powerful endorsement of our business model that leverages the foundation in place for continued growth in our higher margin EV charging infrastructure, broadband and electrical installation businesses. We look for our Charge Infrastructure (CI) business to continue to build momentum and traction, while we pursue opportunities to expand the footprint and capabilities of our BW Electrical Services (BW), Advanced Network Services (ANS) and EV Group Holdings (EV Depot) businesses within the Infrastructure segment.”

Effective January 1, 2023, the Company elected to change its accounting principle for recognizing stock-based compensation expense from a graded vesting attribution method to a straight-line attribution method. The change resulted in the recognition of a cumulative benefit to stock-based compensation expense of approximately $18.1 million ($18.0 million, net of tax). The Company believes the straight-line attribution method is the predominant method used in its industry, and more accurately reflects how awards are earned over its employees’ service periods, and better aligns the Company’s recognition of stock-based compensation expense with its peers. The effects of the change in accounting principle have been retrospectively applied to all periods presented in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the Company’s 10-Q to be filed with the SEC on May 10, 2023. Refer to “Change in Accounting Principle” in Part I, Item 1, Note 2 – “Summary of significant accounting policies” for additional information. The Company will file an 8-K with the SEC today describing the change in accounting principle. There are no other changes to the financials within the 8-K.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Revenues for the first quarter of 2023 increased $30.6 million to $193.5 million, compared with $163.0 million in the first quarter of 2022. The increase in reported revenues was driven by higher revenues in both of the Company’s business segments.

• Infrastructure: Revenues increased $7.9 million to $27.5 million, compared with $19.6 million in the first quarter of 2022. The increase in reported revenues was due to an increase in the volume of electrical contracting services, wireless network projects, and growth in the Company’s EV charging installation business.
• Telecommunications: Revenues increased $22.7 million to $166.1 million, compared with $143.4 million in the first quarter of 2022. The increase was driven by higher voice call volume.

Gross profit for the first quarter of 2023 increased $0.5 million to $6.7 million, compared with $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2022. The increase in gross profit was primarily driven by higher revenues, partially offset by lower gross profit in the Company’s Telecommunications segment due to customer mix.

Consolidated gross margin percentage for the first quarter of 2023 declined slightly versus the prior year period, driven by margin pressure in both segments, partially offset by increasing proportion of revenues coming from the Company’s higher margin Infrastructure segment.

Net loss for the first quarter of 2023 was $9.2 million, compared with a net loss of $10.0 million in the first quarter of 2022. Expenses after gross margin were primarily related to continued investments the Company made during the quarter to support its growth strategy. The largest drivers over the first quarter of 2022 were:

• $5.9 million in stock-based compensation expense, which represented a decrease of $1.5 million, primarily due to lower stock option grants compared with the prior year period;
• $3.3 million in general and administrative expense, which represented an increase of $0.6 million, attributable to growing the business;
• $5.4 million in salaries and related benefits, which represented a $1.2 million increase, driven by incremental headcount to support the growth of the Company;
• $1.2 million in depreciation and amortization expense, which represented a $1.0 million amortization increase driven by the establishment of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions of ANS, BW and EV Depot; and
• $0.5 million in other income, net, which represented a $2.5 million increase from an expense of $1.9 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by a $1.4 million gain related to a derivative liability and a gain on the sale of intellectual property of $0.3 million in the current year, and higher investment income of $0.5 million.

Net loss of $9.2 million in the first quarter of 2023, adjusted for non-cash and certain one-time items, resulted in an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.5 million, compared with Adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2022. See the Appendix for definition and a full reconciliation.

As of March 31, 2023, Charge held $43.0 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

For further details of the Company’s financials, please see Charge Enterprises’ Form 10-Q to be filed on May 10, 2023, with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on Charge’s website Charge | SEC Filings. Financial statements prior to December 31, 2021, were filed with the OTC Markets.

Webcast Data

Charge Enterprises, Inc. will host a webcast at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time today to discuss the first quarter 2023 financial results. The webcast can be accessed on the Company’s website on the Investor Relations page at Charge Enterprises, Inc.

About Charge Enterprises, Inc.

Charge Enterprises, Inc. is an electrical, broadband and EV charging infrastructure company that provides clients with end-to-end project management services. We operate in two segments: Infrastructure, which has a primary focus on EV charging, broadband and wireless, and electrical contracting services; and Telecommunications, which provides connection of voice calls, Short Message Services (SMS) and data to global carriers. Our vision is to be a leader in enabling the next wave of transportation and connectivity. By building, designing, and operating seamless infrastructure for electric vehicles, we aim to create a future where transportation is clean, efficient, and connected and to empower individuals, communities, and businesses to thrive in a more sustainable world. Our plan is to cultivate repeat customers and recurring revenue by deploying a multi-phased strategy, initially where investment in the EV charging revolution is taking place, the nation’s approximately 18,000 franchised auto dealers.

To learn more about Charge, visit Charge Enterprises, Inc.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or Charge's future performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", “potential”, "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends", "anticipates", "targets" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of, such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. All forward-looking statements, including those herein, are qualified by this cautionary statement. Although Charge believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include the business plans and strategies of Charge, Charge's future business development, market acceptance of electric vehicles, the success of Charge’s retail dealership initiative and the size, scope and success of the related initial installation projects, Charge's ability to generate profits and positive cash flow, changes in government regulations and government incentives, subsidies, or other favorable government policies, rising interest rates and the impact on investments by our customers, and other risks discussed in Charge's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release or as of the date or dates specified in such statements. For more information on us, investors are encouraged to review our public filings with the SEC, including the factors described in the section captioned “Risk Factors” of Charge’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 15, 2023, as well as subsequent reports we file from time to time with the SEC which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Charge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Notice Regarding Non-GAAP Measures

The press release includes both financial measures in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), as well as non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are in addition to, and not a substitute for or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. See the Appendix for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies.

APPENDIX

Non-GAAP Measures

In this press release, the Company has supplemented the presentation of its financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) with the following financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP: EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. Management uses both GAAP and non-GAAP measures to assist in making business decisions and assessing overall performance. The Company’s measurement of these non-GAAP financial measures may be different from similarly titled financial measures used by others and therefore may not be comparable. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered superior to the GAAP measures in the tables included within this material.

Certain information presented in this press release reflects adjustments to GAAP measures such as EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as an additional way of assessing certain aspects of the Company’s operations that, when viewed with the GAAP financial measures, provide a more complete understanding of its on-going business. EBITDA is defined as income (loss) before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and amortization of debt discount and debt issue costs. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted for stock-based compensation, income (loss) from investments, net, change in fair value of derivative liabilities, other (income) expense, net, and foreign exchange adjustments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230510005163/en/