Astrotech Reports Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Results
Austin, TX - May 13, 2020
Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC) reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, which ended March 31, 2020.
This quarter was pivotal for the Company, as we continued to generate interest for our new AgLAB-1000™ product that is being designed for process control and pesticide detection in the hemp and cannabis industries. In addition, our 1st Detect subsidiary continued its sales of the TRACER 1000™ explosives trace detector (ETD) to a global shipping and logistics company. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some near-term uncertainty for the travel industry, global shipping has been less impacted and this is where we see continued demand for our product. Finally, we also launched a new company, BreathTech Corporation, to focus on the breath analysis market to potentially aid in the battle against COVID-19 and pneumonia.
“With both our hemp and cannabis product, the AgLAB-1000™, and our breath analysis product, the BreathTest-1000™, we believe we will be offering highly differentiated solutions compared to other currently available options,” stated Thomas B. Pickens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Astrotech Corporation. “Regarding the BreathTest-1000, many current COVID-19 tests require either a saliva or blood sample to be sent to a laboratory for testing, which can take days to get the results, or require a long swab to be inserted deep into the nasal cavity, which is uncomfortable and not practical for every day testing. We are hopeful that, once fully developed and approved, this could help make available regular mass testing for factories, cruise lines, air travel, sports or other domains where people congregate in crowded spaces.”
No assurances can be given that we will be able to successfully develop the BreathTest-1000 or the AgLAB-1000. The governmental approval process could be lengthy, time consuming and is inherently unpredictable, and we cannot guarantee that these products will ever be approved for sale and marketing.
During the third quarter, the Company raised approximately $5.5 million in equity offerings and borrowings as it looks to expand into the agriculture and breath analysis markets.
Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Highlights
Management continues efforts to optimize our resources while reducing costs and adding financial flexibility.
• The Company continued its commercial sales of the TRACER 1000, leading to revenue of $118 thousand for the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Additional purchase orders have already been received.
• Monthly cash outlay for this fiscal year has been reduced to approximately $550 thousand, a 24.4% reduction from our cash outlay through the first nine months of fiscal year 2019, which is partially driven by our directors and officers foregoing compensation.
• In February 2020, Astrotech secured a loan of $1.0 million from its Chairman and CEO pursuant to a secured promissory note.
• The Company completed two registered direct offerings of its common stock at the end of the fiscal quarter, raising total net proceeds of approximately $4.5 million.
About Astrotech
Astrotech (NASDAQ: ASTC) is a science and technology development and commercialization company that launches, manages, and builds scalable companies based on innovative technology in order to maximize shareholder value. 1st Detect develops, manufactures, and sells trace detectors for use in the security and detection market. AgLAB is developing chemical analyzers for use in the agriculture market. BreathTech is developing a breath analysis tool to provide early detection of lung diseases. Astrotech is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For information, please visit www.astrotechcorp.com.
About AgLAB-1000™ and BreathTest-1000™
This press release contains information about our new products under development, AgLAB-1000 and BreathTest-1000. Product development involves a high degree of risk and uncertainty, and there can be no assurance that our new products will be successfully developed, achieve their intended benefits, receive full market authorization, or be commercially successful. In addition, FDA approval will be required to market BreathTest-1000 in the United States. Obtaining FDA approval is a complex and lengthy process, and there can be no assurance that FDA approval for BreathTest-1000 will be granted on a timely basis or at all.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the U.S. and worldwide economy, the timing, scope and effect of further U.S. and international governmental, regulatory, fiscal, monetary and public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company’s use of proceeds from the common stock offerings, whether we can successfully complete the development of our new products and proprietary technologies, whether we can obtain the FDA and other regulatory approvals required to market our products under development in the United States or abroad, and whether the market will accept our products and services, as well as other risk factors and business considerations described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings including the annual report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of its publication and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements
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Company Contact: Eric Stober, Chief Financial Officer, Astrotech Corporation, (512) 485-9530
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