Press release submitted on behalf of Applied UV
NEW YORK, NY –
(NewMediaWire) – August 28, 2023 – Applied UV, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUVI), a leader in global food security, air quality, and intelligent building solutions, today announced an organizational restructuring plan intended to improve operational performance and drive shareholder value creation. The Company has initiated a series of steps to position the business for long-term growth while establishing a clear path to consistent profitability and sustainable free cash flow in an effort to improve Applied UV’s market capitalization.
“Applied UV is at an important juncture, and we are taking decisive steps. Our focus is on accelerating the momentum we have across our businesses while optimizing our organization to deliver profitable growth,” said Max Munn, CEO of Applied UV. “With today’s announcements, we are taking action to ensure Applied UV capitalizes on the large, immediate, and long-term opportunities in the targeted markets we serve. These initiatives are the result of diligent planning by our board of directors and executive management team to address key areas of our businesses and realign our operations so that we can execute against our strategies highlighted during our Q2 2023 quarterly earnings call.” Munn continued, “We don’t believe Applied UV’s current market capitalization is reflective of our successful achievements and we believe these efforts, coupled with achieving our revenue guidance of $45 million for 2023, will help drive a higher valuation.”
These operational efficiencies will enable Applied UV to leverage its strong leadership position in all the markets it serves and allow the Company to deliver on its core value creation drivers and strategic objectives designed to improve shareholder value. The operational efficiencies and strategic initiatives include the following:
· Substantially all SteriLumen disinfection-related product manufacturing has now been transferred to Canon, Virginia.
· Collaborating and transitioning all next generation and future R&D to Canon Virginia to leverage its vast engineering, software applications and new product launch expertise.
· A joint marketing campaign with Canon slated to begin in late Q3/2023 for major post- harvest food security product launch in Q4 2023.
· Canon to sponsor and attend one of the largest agriculture and post-harvest conventions (PMA Fresh Summit International Convention, Oct 2023) with Airocide for post-harvest food security new product launch.
· Canon Financial Services to offer specialty leasing programs for Airocide products to expand market share, reduce customer CAPEX, and drive sales by larger end-users.
· Initiated price increases across select Airocide and MunnWork’s products to improve overall blended gross margins.
· An ongoing reduction in duplicate headcount where applicable to realize cost synergies from integrating Puro Lighting – LED Supply Co. to lower corporate SG&A costs.
· Integration of Airocide and Puro sales teams and reporting software to better leverage cross-channel and cross-market sales and improve sales channel visibility.
· Expected cost savings to fund additional key investments in strategic marketing.
Mike Riccio, CFO of Applied UV, said, “We believe the implementation of these and other operational efficiencies will improve organizational integration, accountability and efficiency, and drive meaningful margin improvement in both the near and the long term, which should set Applied UV on a trajectory to achieve stronger, more predictable results and value creation for all stakeholders.”
