Kraken, Newfoundland and Labrador's underwater tech company, turns first-ever net profit

Kraken Robotic's Katfish, a high-speed device used to map the ocean bed in ultra-high definition. Kraken has delivered two Katfish to an American customer specializing in underwater security. The second sale was a big factor in Kraken's financial report for the opening quarter of 2020, which showed the Mount Pearl-based company with a net profit for the first time. CONTRIBUTED

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Kraken Robotics, Inc., is liking what’s reflected in the rear-view mirror.

The publicly-traded Mount Pearl-based marine technology company released financial results for the first three months of this year and they show a healthy increase in revenue that helped Kraken record its first-ever profit.

Overall revenue for the quarter was $6.4 million compared to $1.4 million in the same period in 2019,. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $1.3 million, compared to a loss of $300,000 in the same quarter a year ago.

That led to $700,000 in net income for the quarter. A year ago, there had been a loss of $900,000 over the same period.

In a release from the company, president and CEO Karl Kenny described it as “an extremely well-balanced quarter” for Kraken, which provides services to both military and offshore energy customers.

In the first months of 2020, that included a second delivery to ThayerMahan, a Connecticut firm specializing in underwater security, of the Katfish, Kraken's highspeed towfish that maps the seabed in ultra HD resolution. There was also delivery of undersea batteries to a military client.

Kraken Robotic's Katfish, a high-speed device used to map the ocean bed in ultra-high definition. Kraken has delivered two Katfish to an American customer specializing in underwater security. The second sale was a big factor in Kraken's financial report for the opening quarter of 2020, which showed the Mount Pearl-based company with a net profit for the first time. - Contributed

“I am very proud of our team, which has been executing extremely well in a challenging operating environment,” said Kenny. “We have many high-value projects we are pursuing which will continue to drive growth and value for shareholders.”

While Kraken (CVE: PNG) said it hasn't felt any effects yet from the pandemic, the company’s release went on to say the coronavirus “could affect our supply chain, customers, employees, and operations.

“This could impact the number of contracts we close, sales cycle lengths, and our ability to deliver product and services in a timely manner. We will continue to prudently monitor the situation and manage our business accordingly.”

Kraken, which also has offices in Toronto, Dartmouth, Boston; and Rostock and Bremen in Germany, came out of the quarter with a cash balance of $2.1 million, unchanged from the end of 2019,

The company saw its credit line, which hasn’t been used, increased to $1.5 million from $1.0 million, and including federal funding it is due to receive in the OceanVision project, Kraken said it will have $6.2 million in pre-awarded funs to draw upon from government agencies. Until that money is actually received, it isn’t included in financial statements.