Good afternoon, and welcome to the TOMI Environmental Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2022 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, John Nesbett from IMS Investor Relations. John, the floor is yours.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today for the TOMI Environmental Solutions investor update conference call. On today's call is TOMI's CEO and Chairman of the Board, Dr. Halden Shane; TOMI's Chief Operating Officer, E.J. Shane; and TOMI's Chief Financial Officer, Nick Jennings. Dr. Shane will provide an overview of recent business highlights. E.J. will report on the company's growth and latest trends, and Nick will review the financial performance for the most recent quarter before addressing any questions you may have. A telephone replay of today's call will be available through March 30, 2023, the details of which are included in the company's press release dated March 13, 2023. A webcast replay will also be available at TOMI's website, www.tomimist.com. Please note that information contained within this presentation is relevant only to the day of which it was recorded, March 16, 2023. And we're, therefore, advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any replay. Certain written and oral statements made by management of TOMI may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements should be evaluated in light of important risk factors that could cause any actual results to differ materially from our anticipated results. The information provided in this conference call is based upon the facts and circumstances known at this time. The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements after the date of this call. In addition, TOMI will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures during this call. The company uses non-GAAP measures because it believes they provide useful information about the operating performance that could be considered by investors in conjunction with the GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures is included in the earnings release dated March 16, 2023. I will now turn the call over to TOMI's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Halden Shane. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining the TOMI Environmental earnings call. Today, we will provide operating and financial results for Q4 and full year 2022, along with a favorable update on a few key current focuses of the company. This was a good quarter for us, capping off a very important year for TOMI Environmental. GAAP revenue grew 40% for the quarter and 8% for the year. We realized efficiencies in the business and in the fourth quarter significantly reduced our losses and reported a very small adjusted EBITDA loss of only $268,000, as we continue to make substantial progress to achieve a breakeven in our financial results. Let me provide a snapshot of a few key takeaways of why I think this quarter is very exciting. First, our business has improved, with more revenue coming from large custom systems, which we refer to as CES. These are larger longer-term orders which give us improved visibility to our growth, also growth in our CES customer base. And to an extent, our new mobility customers accelerate the growth of our higher-margin BIT solution sales, as we continue to see positive signs in the marketplace, as our fourth-quarter solution sales grew by 31% compared to our prior-year fourth quarter. Facilities that install custom permanent units generally don't make such large investments unless they plan to use the system as required. Second, as our initial CES was installed a while ago, interest in our fully automated decontamination system is the request of many today. We are just really starting to lift off. As they say, there's no substitute for hard work, and there's no such thing as an overnight success. We are at the point where the bigger life science companies know us and trust us, and our referral customers are some…

Thank you, Dr. Shane, and good afternoon, everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to report some of TOMI's growth and future trends on today's call. I personally join weekly calls for SteraMist projects for partially or fully automated installs that we have won or plan on closing in the near future, attend trade shows and answer general inquiries for our mobile units across all divisions both domestically and internationally. And there has been a strong transformation in these conversations. I used to have to introduce the science of our technology and the many competitive advantages ionized hydrogen peroxide or iHP has in comparison to new and old products alike. Today, many come to us already knowing our brand SteraMist. Therefore, conversations now begin: I know your technology is superior and understand the science behind it, so what applications can you offer for a facility that fits our budget? Basically, it becomes a pitch on the equipment and the product line of SteraMist. This makes maintaining interest for SteraMist easier, as we know the versatility of the technology and what our legacy units offer. And now with our experienced team, regarding our custom engineered systems or CES, TOMI is set to offer solutions to these potential opportunities with ease and a knowledge of the process. Earlier this year, we received news of being the global disinfection standard and acceptance for another premier company, which we had already established a strong partnership with in prior years. There have been proposals and purchase orders from significant companies looking to expand their usage of SteraMist throughout multiple facilities globally. To fully win a project for our CES, we must undergo a series of steps. This can be as simple as entering an NDA to share blueprints, and a minimal amount of engineering documents are exchanged,…

Thank you, E.J., and good afternoon, everyone. I'll provide a brief overview of our financial results for the full year 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the prior-year periods. For the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to December 31, 2021, our consolidated net revenue was $8,338,000 compared to $7,754,000, representing an increase of $584,000 or 8%. Consolidated gross profit was 60.7% compared to 59.2%, representing an increase of 1.5%. The increase in our gross profit was due to our product mix and sales. The consolidated operating loss was $2,882,000 compared to $4,924,000, representing a 41% year-over-year decline. The improved operating loss was attributable to higher sales, increased gross profit, and lower operating expenses. Our consolidated net loss was $2,880,000 or $0.15 per basic and diluted share, compared to $4,435,000 or $0.25 per basic share. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $1,899,000 compared to $4,123,000, representing a year-over-year improvement of 54%. A table reconciling the adjusted EBITDA to the appropriate GAAP financial measure is included with today's press release. For the year ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, cash used in operations was $1,234,000 and $3,824,000, respectively, representing an improvement of $2,590,000. The improved cash flow from operations was primarily due to our low reportable loss for the year, which declined 35% when compared to the same prior-year period, as well as an increase of our deferred revenue, which is up $700,000. For the three months ended December 31, 2022, compared to December 31, 2021, our consolidated net revenue was $2,812,000 compared to $2,010,000, representing an increase of $802,000 or 40%. Consolidated gross profit was 58.6% compared to 54.5%, representing an increase of 4.1%. The increase in our gross profit was due to our product mix and sales. The consolidated operating loss was $706,000 compared to $1,734,000, representing a 59% year-over-year decline. The improved operating loss was due to higher sales, increased gross profit, and lower operating expenses. Our consolidated net loss was $705,000 or $0.04 per basic and diluted share compared to $1,735,000 (sic) [$1,660,000] or $0.10 per basic share. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $268,000 compared to $1,573,000, representing a year-over-year improvement of 83%. A table reconciling the adjusted EBITDA to the appropriate GAAP financial measure is included with today's press release. Now to move on to the balance sheet. As of December 31, 2022, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $3.9 million. Deferred revenue was $700,000. Working capital was $8.8 million, and shareholders' equity was $11.4 million. Now I'd like to turn the call back over to Dr. Halden Shane.

Thank you, Nick. 2022 was a year of establishing and preparing for considerable future growth of the company. We continued growing internal departments with new position and hires, applied and received additional intellectual property, streamlined internal controls, and entered into new agreements for more studies. We continued to undergo a website redesign to provide enhanced user experience and finalize new products to meet the needs of our divisions. As mentioned before, we continue to grow and need more space for new hires and product development. TOMI is currently under negotiations for an office expansion. We look forward to 2023 with new products and partnerships as we advance our company forward. Operator, let's open the call to questions.

[Operator Instructions] Sameer Joshi, H.C. Wainwright.

Thanks. Good afternoon, everyone. Doc, E.J., Nick, congratulations on the progress that you have made over the last several quarters and, certainly, this quarter. On the OpEx front, good to see year-over-year reductions. But I do understand that, given your expected growth, you're making investments in office space, certain personnel hires. How should we look at OpEx going for the next 12 months?

I think you will see an increase in operating expenses, as we are looking to continue to grow revenue. And the two go hand in hand to some extent. So as we ramp up more, there could be an increase there in the operating expenses.

Okay. And the expected [Multiple Speakers] -- yes, go ahead.

Our revenue from it is going to greatly outpace the expenses.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I had [presumed] there would be leverage there. Just a little bit specific on that. I think during the last quarter, you had mentioned you've had hired a new salesperson for the life sciences industry, and you outlined a lot of outreach for food and various verticals within that industry on this call. Are there any hires expected for sales in the food industry?

We have hired people that are considered specialist in the area and that have moved -- allowed us to move our percentages up significantly in the food safety. And we're all very excited about food safety, as you can tell from the report. I can only see that this product becomes a natural in food safety. And we'll be fighting with life sciences of which division is the best in the company.

Understood. And E.J., thanks for explaining the sales process. But would you just explain a little bit as to when you consider a particular project or order in pipeline as against in backlog -- meaning, of course, backlog would be in order, but what is the specific time for -- considering something to be in the pipeline?

Certainly. So it comes into the pipeline once we start towards the end of our conversations with these companies, and then we sign into contracts with them to win the bid. The recognized revenue of each of these build-ins are scattered throughout the project from the beginning of design to the equipment to the end of installation and commissioning.

Okay. Okay. Thanks for that color. And then I had a specific question I think in -- while discussing life sciences applications. In the commentary, I think, Doc, you mentioned modular clean room development. Is this something that we should consider a product maybe with a strategic partner going forward? Or is this something that you are supplying to modular clean room manufacturer as a solution for them?

So it's a specific customer, but it's a design that can apply to many customers that produce and design modular clean rooms around the world. E.J., do you want to comment a little further on the advancements in that?

Of course. Yeah. So we're actually working with manufacturing companies of cage washers, decon chambers, and these module build-ins. There's about four companies that are really well known globally in which we're creating a turnkey solution of our iHP system to integrate nicely with them, in which they would manufacture and assist in the sales process of those deliverables.

Got it. And last one from me. In the food vertical, are you seeing more interest in one vertical rather than other than -- for example, the controlled environment agriculture industry? It's growing, and it's open to new technology. Is that the field that you're seeing more a spill from?

Yes, we're -- all aspects of it. I think the -- I think everybody's a little frustrated. I mean, I know all of the -- most people are about the cost of food today. And a lot of it is a result of what's going on in the safety and the delivery and the storage of food. It used to be that nobody wanted in the industry to spend any extra money in protecting that, but it became such a viable expensive commodity today that we're getting lots of interest from food manufacturers from -- whether they package seeds -- which we're dealing with the world's largest seed producer to go ahead and disinfect the seed packages before they put them in the package -- to storage facilities and organic farming, vertical farming. So I see this going all over the place and all over the world in relationship to just food safety, and our products are natural for it now.

Great. Thanks for that color, and thanks for taking my questions. Good luck.

Thank you. Thanks so much. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] John Nelson.

Thank you. Hi, Halden. Good job on the quarter. One question - and the opportunity sounds very exceptional for the future. But one question on -- do you have any goals for profitability timing? I know you are very close on an adjusted EBITDA basis this quarter, but how about for in the coming year? Do you see a profitability anytime soon?

Definitely, in the coming year. And very likely, it could be in the next quarter or next two quarters.

Okay, great. The -- I was -- I wondered about whether your product could be used because there's going to be a significant amount of construction done in new semiconductor plants throughout the country, and they have a substantial amount of space dedicated to clean rooms. Would SteraMist be applicable for use in such a facility's clean rooms?

Most definitely. In fact, we've done the studies on them already, and it's something that every clean room in the semiconductor industry should be using SteraMist just like Pfizers and Mercks do in their clean rooms. So most definitely. Good question, John.

Are you dedicating or directing a number of salespeople to investigate that -- those opportunities with the companies involved?

Since you asked the question, we're definitely going to do it.

Okay. All right. Great.

[Multiple Speakers] John, with all these other stuff, but it makes all the sense [for us then]. And that's the person we should be looking for somebody that handles clean rooms. Thank you.

Yes. Also, any information on -- I know at one time, you had done some work with one of the ServPro franchisees. And I wondered if there was any information you could give us on potential penetration of ServPro.

I can't -- we've been focused really on these life sciences and food safety and TSN members. We're still looking for that magical person to go out and pursue them. But --

Okay.

I'll keep that in mind. And we do have a lot of other larger facilities bigger than ServPro that are very interested in using our technology for their application and their toolbox.

Okay. Good. And has there been any -- I know this is a question I ask every quarter, and I know there are some administrative and bureaucratic issues involved. But anything further on the UCLA hospital cleaning study versus manual and publication timetable?

Yeah. They're still working on this publication. It's hard for me to get them down as timetable, but the results are fantastic. And I believe we'll have an announcement from UCLA soon about further application use, but it's hard to push them. They've put out so many papers, and it's kind of in a holding pattern like landing at LAX right now. When our time is there, it will happen.

Okay. That would be great. My brother -- I have a couple of brothers who are doctors, and they say this makes so much sense as far as the utilization of SteraMist in the hospital cleaning setting.

It absolutely does, and we've proven to UCLA that in their ICUs, we can clean their ICUs in less time than they currently do manually with unbelievable results. So it's getting them -- it's getting the industry -- not so much UCLA -- but getting the industry to wake up after the COVID pandemic and have an interest in furthering other infectious disease protocols and put them in place. Right now, I think everybody is recovering and exhausted from it. But yes, we are working on that.

Okay. Understood. And I might have missed this on the call, but was there any discussion on progress on the ambulance project?

Yes. We didn't mention it on the call, but there is. E.J., do you want to talk a little bit about the ambulance project?

Yes. So we continue to work with the hospital and their team in developing our transport, which the final touches on the design are being made. And we should be in production within the next month or so.

Oh, good. And have you -- are you waiting for actual production of units, or are you going out and marketing the product at this time?

We are quietly marketing with our current customer base, and then we'll mass market once production is planned out in terms of real deadlines on procurement process and support.

Excellent. That's all I have for questions. Thank you very much.

Thanks, John.

Carl Wright, [ph] OakTree Partners.

Hi, thank you for taking my question. So it sounds like you have a great operating leverage in your business. It could happen over the next few years, particularly given the CES growth. And just to make sure I understand, how should we think about the gross margins on your solution versus your hardware?

So the CES growth is tremendous, and it's a natural for the company -- we -- our razor-razorblade model is the technology. Let's say, the CES is the razor, but the solution is the razorblade. Like we said on the call, that can be anywhere from $5,000 to $250,000 a year per unit, depending upon usage. So the natural is to -- our margins are extremely high as most chemicals are in the industry. And it's getting enough equipment out there to utilize as much solution as possible, and our margins should theoretically grow because our margin on the solution is much greater than the technology.

Okay, got it. Thank you. That's it from me. Thanks for taking my question.

Thanks so much. Thanks for your question.

Thank you. And there are no further questions in queue at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back to management for closing remarks.

I just want to thank everybody for listening to our year-end, and I look forward to reporting on our first quarter and the coming months. Thank you, all. Have a wonderful day or evening or morning, wherever you might be located. Thank you, operator.

Certainly. Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.