OLD BRIDGE, NJ / May 6, 2022 / Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE American: BDR) announced its sales and results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. net sales increased $90,000 or 2.8% to $3,341,000 for the first quarter of 2022 from $3,251,000 for the comparable period in 2021. Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $(1,154,000) or $(0.09) per share, compared to $(414,000) or $(0.04) per share for the comparable period in 2021.
Commenting on the Company’s first quarter results, Chief Executive Officer Ted Grauch noted, “Despite continued strong demand for Blonder Tongue Laboratories’ Clearview and Drake video encoding products, our NXG IP video processing platform and other products, the Company was faced with significant semiconductor supply chain disruptions during the first quarter that resulted in a quarterly net loss of $(1,154,000). We responded to specific raw material shortages that began impacting us in late January by implementing additional operational expense reductions in the form of staffing, compensation, services, and a range of other areas. Comparing Q1 2022 to Q4 2021 the Company reduced its operating expenses by $187,000 from these efforts. Our strong product backlog from Q4 remained relatively consistent throughout Q1, and our DOCSIS product line saw particular demand growth as hotel and other hospitality markets began a recovery trend over the last few months, and which we expect to continue through the year. Although the Company is now seeing areas of improvement in semiconductor supply, we remain cautious to express recovery within a specific future period until we have the ability to ship all products needed to match product demand.”
The increase in sales is primarily attributable to an increase in sales of DOCSIS data products, encoder/transcoder products, digital modulation products and NXG IP video signal processing products, offset by a decrease in sales of CPE products, coax distribution products and analog modulation products. Sales of DOCSIS data products were $454,000 and $24,000, encoder/transcoder products were $1,518,000 and $1,167,000, digital modulation products were $377,000 and $121,000, NXG products were $501,000 and $421,000, CPE products were $27,000 and $695,000, coax distribution products were $129,000 and $353,000 and analog modulation products were $99,000 and $244,000 in the first three months of 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company experienced a reduction in CPE products due to the continued deemphasis of this product line, which the Company expects to continue during the remainder of 2022. The Company experienced an increase in DOCSIS data products due to the pent-up demand caused by the pandemic as these products are used primarily in the hospitality and assisted-living environments. The Company expects sales of these products may return to more historical levels during 2022. The Company experienced a reduction in analog modulation products due to the continued market shifting away from analog modulation solutions. The Company experienced a reduction in coax distribution products due to the reduced demand for legacy products. The Company expects the sales of the analog modulation and coax distribution products to continue to decline during 2022. The Company experienced an increase in encoder/transcoder products and NXG IP video signal processing products as these product lines represent newer products and newer technologies with higher demand from customers. The Company expects sales of these product lines to remain at these levels or increase during the remainder of 2022. Although the Company does not expect overall sales to return to pre pandemic levels during 2022, the Company does expect overall sales to be higher during 2022, due to approximately $10,194,000 of sales backlog at March 31, 2022.
The Company’s primary sources of liquidity have been its existing cash balances, cash generated from operations, amounts available under the MidCap Facility and amounts available under the Subordinated Loan Facility. As of March 31, 2022, the Company had approximately $2,180,000 outstanding under the MidCap Facility and $243,000 of additional availability for borrowing under the MidCap Facility.
As disclosed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company experienced a decline in sales, a reduction in working capital, a loss from operations and net cash used in operating activities, in conjunction with liquidity constraints. These factors raised substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. As of March 31, 2022, the above factors still exist. Accordingly, there still exists substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.