Forests on the Edge
Trinidad News IF TREES are the lungs of the earth, mangroves must be the kidneys. Like botanical amphibians, mangroves live life on the edge. Uniquely positioned at the dynamic interface between land and sea, they are highly productive tropical coastal ecosystems ... |
French utility company Suez has secured a contract worth about €195m from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama (MINSA) to extend and operate the Juan Diaz wastewater treatment plant in the city.
The first phase of the plant was built by the firm in 2009 and has been operational since 2011.
Under the new three-year construction phase contract, which commenced last month, the plant’s capacity will be doubled to 475,000 m3/day and will be operated by Suez for eight years.
Suez Latin America business unit CEO Ana Giros said: "We are proud to support the City of Panama in the development of a responsible water policy.
“The group’s expertise and know-how in water treatment will contribute to the preservation of resources and the region’s attractiveness.”
The extension is a part of the Ministry of Health’s ‘Sanitation of the City and the Bay of Panama’ programme that aims to protect the natural environment and meet urban population’s increasing needs of 2% every year.
Upon completion of the latest construction, the plant will have a water treatment line and a sludge treatment line for anaerobic digestion and dehydration, and is expected to treat the wastewater of two million equivalents-inhabitants.
The utility firm intends to use its Clarificators SLG, Digelis Simplex, Digelis Turbo and Drainis Turbo technologies to enhance the plant’s energy self-sufficiency by recovering sewage sludge into biogas, which can be used for electricity production.
Image: Panama City’s Juan Diaz wastewater treatment plant. Photo: courtesy of Suez.
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Global rugged computing solutions provider Xplore Technologies has released the results for its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter and full year, ended 31 March 2017.
Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Recent Highlights:
Fiscal Year 2017 Highlights:
Xplore CEO Mark Holleran said: "Fiscal 2017 was a transformative year for Xplore, characterised by fully integrating and refining the acquired Motion product lines, working through industry-wide disruptions that affected our first and fourth fiscal quarters, rebuilding of our sales team and a 21% reduction in full-year operating expenses.
"We enter fiscal 2018 as a leaner, more cost-efficient business focused on expanding sales, producing profitable quarters and generating positive free cash flow.
"As anticipated, the previously announced supply chain disruptions impacting the fourth quarter created tighter market supplies and a lengthening of lead times on several key components, such as digitizers and SSDs, leading to deferral of multiple orders into the first quarter of 2018.
"While all of the affected components remain available and shipping, we have taken a number of actions to mitigate these disruptions, including lengthening our order forecasts, increasing component purchase commitments, adjusting our inventory practices and working closely with our ODMs to manage supplier relationships, including second sourcing options where appropriate.
"We are once again fulfilling customer orders largely on schedule. We remain focused on expanding sales in key markets, such as Europe, as well as working closely with a number of customer refresh opportunities that will occur in Fiscal 2018, and additional initiatives."
Fiscal 2017 Fourth Quarter Financial Results
Xplore reported revenue of $16.9m for the fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 March 2017, compared to revenue of $24.5m in the fiscal third quarter of 2017 and compared to $20.6m in the year-ago fourth quarter.
The change in revenue reflected typical seasonality combined with the previously disclosed short-term supply chain constraints that limited shipments during the March 2017 quarter.
Gross profit in the fourth quarter was $4.8m, or 28.1% of revenue, compared to $6.7m, or 27.4% of revenue, in the preceding quarter and $6.2m, or 30.3% of revenue, in the prior year fourth quarter. The change in gross margin was primarily attributable to product mix.
Operating expenses continued to decline to the lowest level of fiscal 2017, at $5.2m for the fiscal fourth quarter, down 16.3% sequentially from $6.3m in the preceding quarter and down 27.5% from $7.2m in the prior year fourth quarter.
The company believes the reduction in operating expenses reflects the company's focus on operating efficiency to drive profitability as revenue grows.
A portion of the cost reduction benefit is being reinvested in sales, marketing and channel and distributor development to drive revenue growth into fiscal 2018 and beyond.
For the quarter, Xplore reported net loss of $488,000, or $0.04 per basic share, compared to net income of $219,000, or $0.02 per basic share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2017 and a net loss of $1m, or $0.09 per share, in the prior year fourth quarter.
The change in net loss reflects lower revenue, offset by the significantly reduced operating expenses.
EBITDA adjusted for non-cash compensation and historical integration costs was $30,000, compared to positive adjusted EBITDA of $822,000 in the fiscal third quarter 2017, and a negative $112,000 in the prior year fourth quarter.
Xplore CFO Tom Wilkinson said: "While topline was challenged by industry headwinds in fiscal 2017, we maintained our focus on operating efficiency and low operating expenses, which have significantly lowered our break-even point and improved our ability to generate free cash flow from operations."
"Looking ahead, we anticipate multiple profitable quarters in Fiscal 2018 on improving revenue, as well as solid free cash flow to fund operations and investment in planned platform refreshes."
Please contact Xplore via the enquiries form for more information.
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