The Lion Electric Company had to be patient in obtaining some parts in the third quarter, in addition to having difficulty locating other components. As a result, the manufacturer of electric trucks and buses struggled to complete and deliver vehicles.
By revealing its financial performance for the three-month period ending September 30, Wednesday, after the close of the stock markets, the company based in Saint-Jérôme, in the Laurentians, testified to the disruptions in the supply chain on its activities.
These unforeseen events do not seem on the point of dissipating, according to the president and founder of the company, Marc Bédard. The disruption is expected to persist next year and Lion says he tries to minimize the impact on his “production” and “performance.”
These concrete measures include increasing the duplicity of suppliers, the selective sourcing of raw materials for the benefit of our component suppliers, the increase in in-house manufacturing of certain parts and the redesign of certain sub-components.
Marc Bédard, President and Founder of La Compagnie Électrique Lion
Lion was not able to specify, Wednesday evening, how many vehicles could not be delivered or assembled because of the problems raised. This appears to have had an impact on earnings growth, however, as the company missed analysts’ forecast for revenue.
Nonetheless, in the third quarter, the company delivered 40 vehicles – 28 school buses and 12 trucks – up from 10 deliveries made in the same period last year.
In his presentation to investors, Lion explains that the supply difficulties mainly affected parts deemed “less essential” such as metal modules, plastic components and wire harnesses.
Last August, Mr. Bédard explained to Press that Lion had been able to get out of the game thanks to its strategy of overstocking parts deemed “strategic” in the manufacture of engines and batteries.
“We continued to see that the switch to electrification of transport […] is experiencing strong momentum, as evidenced by discussions with potential customers which resulted in a concrete commitment, ”said the president of the manufacturer of electric buses and trucks, to temper matters.
On October 25, Lion announced that Student Transportation of Canada (STC) had pledged to purchase 1,000 electric buses if it got confirmation of its eligibility for federal program grants – a contract that would double the size of the order book. .
As of November 10 – after the end of the third quarter – Lion’s order book value was around half a billion, or 2,024 vehicles. These data take into account STC’s commitment.
Lion posted revenue of US $ 11.9 million in the third quarter, compared to US $ 2.6 million a year ago. Analysts polled by the firm Refinitiv expected a turnover of 25.5 million US.
Net income of US $ 123 million, or US $ 60 cents per share, was posted, but this result was mainly due to accounting items. In the third quarter of last year, Lion had lost 38.6 million US, or 35 US cents per share.
Excluding one-time items, Lion’s loss in the third quarter is approximately US $ 15 million. Its adjusted operating loss was US $ 8.8 million, down from US $ 2.8 million a year ago.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Lion’s stock closed at $ 15.20, down 46 cents, or 2.9%.
