NEW YORK, April 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ForceField Energy Inc. ("ForceField") (Nasdaq:FNRG), a seller and distributor of energy products and solutions, today provided a business update including 2014 highlights and 2015 outlook.
Business Highlights:
- Completed strategic company transformation to focus solely on the high-growth multi-billion dollar LED Market
- Completed and fully integrated two award winning providers of LED Lighting Systems and Services -- American Lighting (ALD) and ESCO Energy Services
- Established strategic relationship with Noveda Technologies to provide advanced lighting management solutions
- Grew product and services revenues 28% year-over-year to approximately $9.1 million including acquisitions
Company Transformation and Focus on High Growth LED Market:
Based on the multi-billion dollar market opportunity for LED lighting products and solutions and the relative reduced sales cycle and lower cost of capital required to drive potential growth and future profitability, the Company divested its interest in Trans Pacific Energy and its TCS business. The combination of both transactions eliminated operating losses related to these business segments, reduced share dilution and enabled the Company to focus on the LED business segment.
In October 2013, WinterGreen Research published a study entitled "LED Lighting: Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2013 to 2019." According to that study, next generation lighting is expected to achieve a complete replacement of incandescent filament bulbs with LED lighting that is more energy efficient, lasts longer and has a significantly lower cost of operation. Sales of LEDs, that outpace incandescent bulbs in North America, are expected to completely replace incandescent bulbs over time. The LED lighting market, estimated to be $4.8 billion in 2012, is anticipated to grow 45% per year through 2019 to approximately $42 billion. The Company believes the reasons for this shift are declining price points, and increased marketing of LEDs to consumers.
Strategic Growth Initiatives:
During 2014, the company entered into several strategic transactions and agreements that significantly increased our LED market penetration and provided the Company with immediate sales opportunities and the ability to supply and service a broader customer base both in the US and internationally. The Company made two acquisitions in 2014 of award-winning LED lighting and installation companies, each with a twenty-year track record of servicing high profile clients including numerous Fortune 500 companies and other large concerns and expanded the Company's geographic reach to more than 20 states in the U.S. At the time of acquisition, these companies had combined proforma revenue of approximately $17.0 million, if they had both been acquired for a full year. Key initiatives include:
- Completed the acquisition of American Lighting, an award-winning, leading energy-efficient, commercial lighting specialist with over 20,000 installed customers and standing relationships with many of the major California utility companies, including Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
- Completed the acquisition of ESCO Energy Services, a leader in energy efficiency upgrades and lighting retrofit projects with strong utility company relationships and long-standing master agreements with global engineering firms. The company has a strong presence within New York, New Jersey, New England, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and west through Pennsylvania, and is continuing to expand throughout the US.
- Signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Noveda Technologies Inc., a leader in cloud-based, real-time energy and water management systems for Noveda's Intelligent Lighting Management Technology incorporating integrated measurement and verification for use in all LED applications. Noveda's technology provides a 360 degree view of consumption patterns including energy consumption, financial savings and carbon reduction in real-time, with high impact user interface.
- Entered into a partnership agreement with San Diego, California based WAXIE Sanitary Supply, America's largest independently-owned distributor of sanitary maintenance supplies. The companies are rolling out a joint sales and marketing program for ALD's LED Lighting Systems and Services to WAXIE's current base of customers across nine states in the Western US.
- Expanded capabilities to support growth:
-Experienced in-house installation teams in core markets
-Broad LED and energy efficiency product offering enabling tailored solutions for each client project
-Strong relationships with high-profile national energy services companies and major utilities
-Proprietary cloud-based proposal generation system and automated audit data and rebate processing capabilities
-Highly experienced utility incentive processing team
-Third party specialized installation team infrastructure across various states
Significant Streetlight Project and Bid Activity:
In November of 2014, the company's ESCO subsidiary was selected by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities ("CCM") along with two other companies to implement Connecticut's municipal Street Light LED Conversion Program. Under the five year service agreement, ESCO expects to work with CCM's 153 member-communities to implement this innovative, state-wide program; which, with full participation, is estimated to be valued between $75.0 and $90.0 million over a five year period. Based upon the preliminary scope of work the Company believes that ESCO, being the only regional company selected, could realize revenues in excess of $25 to $30 million over the duration of the agreement which spans 3-5 years.
In February 2015, the Company entered into three Letter of Intent agreements for three LED streetlight conversion projects in Connecticut amounting to approximately $1.3 million and are bidding on approximately $17.0 in additional work. This streetlight initiative is the Company's largest current active project. The Company estimates that it will generate between $6-10 million in revenue from this streetlight project in 2015 and believe that a fully integrated street light acquisition and LED conversion program that incorporates an array of financing options provides the Company with a competitive advantage as the Company aggressively pursues other communities in Connecticut as well as the significant opportunities in other states and communities across the US.
As of March 31, 2015 the Company had approximately $2.9 million in backlog, approximately $1.5 million in signed letters of intent for streetlight projects for three municipalities in Connecticut and one in Massachusetts; as well as 500 active bids for LED lighting projects amounting to approximately $70.0 million. Additionally and not included in the $70.0 million total, is one discrete bid for $22.0 million in Latin America. The Company does not have enough operating history to correlate the amount of backlog or bid activity that will result in revenue generation for us. The realization of revenue from these bids and especially for some of these very large prospective customers or projects, will be dependent on the successful completion of energy audits and initial trials, consummation of definitive agreements, delivery of LED product by the Company's LED supplier, and the ability of both the Company and the end-users to obtain financing on reasonable terms
David Natan ForceField's Chairman and CEO stated, "As a result of our actions over the past twelve months, we have successfully completed our transformation of ForceField Energy into a leading provider of LED products, services, and solutions to a broad range corporate and government customers across industries and types of facilities. We acquired best-in-class award winning companies that have more than 20 years' experience working with some of the largest utilities and Fortune 500 corporations in the US and signed strategic agreements which strengthened our product offerings and expanded our customer reach. I would urge you to review their websites to learn more about the strength of their operations, client projects and overall strong reputation in the market. As evidenced by the CCM, Constellation and WAXIE agreements, among others, we have already demonstrated their ability to continue to expand new opportunities for growth in the coming year. We believe the breadth of our LED products and solutions, combined with our internal sales initiatives and strategic partnerships will enable us to capitalize on this growing market, and in 2015 we will continue to undertake initiatives to further strengthen our competitive advantages in these areas. We have already made substantial gains in helping our customers implement cost effective and environmentally friendly LED lighting solutions which we believe we will continue to do going forward."
Resignation of Executive Chairman
For information about the April 19, 2015 resignation of Mr. Richard ST Julien as Executive Chairman and from all other positions he held, see the Company's current Report on Form 8-K filed with SEC this morning.
About ForceField Energy Inc.
ForceField Energy Inc. and its subsidiaries comprise a global company whose products and solutions focus on sustainable energy solutions and improved energy efficiency. ForceField is a distributor of LED and other lighting products for a number of premier LED lighting manufacturers; and through its award-winning subsidiaries, American Lighting and ESCO, have completed lighting installations and retrofits as well as energy efficiency upgrades, for numerous high profile concerns in a variety of industries. www.forcefieldenergy.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "future," "anticipates" or "anticipated," "believes," "estimated" or "estimates," "plan" or "planned," "expects" or "projected." These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond ForceField's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include (i) failure to obtain adequate financing to achieve the Company's LED revenue targets and to support working capital needs; (ii) successful installation and efficacy of the Company's LED lighting products; (iii) expansion of the Company's product offerings and services to additional states across the U.S., (iv) generating additional revenue and profitability from the Company's expected national expansion program, (v) competition within the LED industry both domestically and internationally, (vi) efficacy of ESCO's streetlight product offering, (vii) generating $25-30 million dollars from the streetlight program over the next three to five years, (viii) realizing the potential operating and financial benefits of exiting the ORC waste heat segment and focusing on the LED market opportunity, and (ix) other factors, without limitation, which are set forth in documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. For a written description of these factors, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 and any updating information in subsequent SEC filings. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update these forward-looking statements whether as a result of subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.