TORONTO, March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (“Clear Blue” or “the Corporation”) provides the following update on our corporate response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  With an abundance of caution for the well-being of our employees and consistent with federal and provincial guidance on dealing with the pandemic, Clear Blue has implemented a mitigation strategy effective today March 24, 2020.  Production at the Corporation’s Toronto assembly facility has been suspended and temporary layoff notices have been issued to most employees.  This, along with the use of certain federal government financial assistance tools, will allow the Corporation to conserve cash and maintain its assembly workforce through an extended shutdown period.  We note that this response is consistent with many of our customers, suppliers and service providers who are also dealing with reduced operating conditions related to the pandemic.  While our ability to assemble and ship systems is significantly impacted and the cost savings generated by the temporary staff reductions is required, our mitigation strategy protects both the balance sheet and our ability to quickly restart and deploy existing orders.  During this period, our service team will continue to provide our Energy as a Service management services to ensure continued operation of our customers Smart Off-Grid systems.  Additionally, all major departments remain open for business to support the needs of our global customer base, with partial teams working remotely.
Clear Blue has implemented a Supplemental Benefit Program, one of the Covid-19 mitigations provided by the Canadian government.  This program covers part of the cost of each employee while enabling the Corporation to maintain payroll at close to full payment levels.  As a result, Clear Blue will be able to hit the ground running when closures are lifted and we can proceed with the existing pipeline of business.  Additionally, this down time is a much welcomed time for us to focus on a variety of initiatives including quality control, supply chain hardening and R&D that are required to optimize scaling of the business later in 2020.Additional updates:Our audit is progressing well at this point in time, and we are working towards on-time delivery of our 2019 audited financial statements.Our historical financials have demonstrated that revenues during the first half of the year tend to be less than the second half, with the majority of our revenue in the last two quarters of the year.  As a result, the current situation is impacting Clear Blue during its traditionally slower quarters.Prior to this crisis, as stated on our quarterly calls the Corporation’s work in the telecom market has progressed positively with a number of initiatives maturing nicely in Q4 2019.  We remain confident that this pipeline of business remains intact and will continue to roll out once pandemic-related restrictions are reduced sufficiently to allow a return to full production.These times are uncertain and no one can predict the timelines, however Clear Blue’s entire team continues to work hard to position us to weather this difficult global event.  Said Miriam Tuerk, “I am unbelievably proud and honoured to work with this team of people, most of whom have not been through an period like this before.  They have all acted as community stewards and leaders, and continue to contribute as best they can to support our production systems, customers, projects, co-workers, and the community at large.”About Clear Blue Technologies InternationalClear Blue Technologies International Inc. delivers clean, managed, wireless power – anywhere and anytime.  We use our patented Smart Off-Grid technology, delivered through our Energy-as-a-Service business model, to manage lighting, telecom, Internet of Things devices, and other critical systems around the world.  Clear Blue has thousands of systems under management across 37 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.  Clear Blue is publicly traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol CBLU and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRANKFURT: 0YA).  Learn more at www.clearbluetechnologies.com.Forward-Looking StatementThis press release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Corporation’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Corporation’s control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. The forward-looking information contained herein may include, but is not limited to, the expected result of the mitigation strategy with respect to Covid-19, the short and long term impact of Covid-19 on the Corporation’s business, the anticipated resumption of operations and the effect of Covid-19 on the business pipeline and financials of the Corporation.By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Corporation is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements.An investment in securities of the Corporation is speculative and subject to several risks including, without limitation, the risks discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Corporation’s listing application dated July 12, 2018. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.In connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Corporation has made certain assumptions. Although the Corporation believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Corporation does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Corporation or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Media Contact:Becky Nye
Director
Montieth & Company
155 E 44th St., New York, NY 10017
[email protected]
+1 646.864.3517Investor Relations:Miriam Tuerk
Co-Founder and CEO
+1 (855) 733-0119 x200
[email protected]
http://www.clearbluetechnologies.com/en/investors
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