NASDAQ:SDOT Sadot Group Q2 2024 Earnings Report $1.57 +0.00 (+0.24%) Closing price 05/2/2025 03:55 PM EasternExtended Trading$1.62 +0.05 (+3.44%) As of 05/2/2025 07:50 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings History Sadot Group EPS ResultsActual EPS-$0.20Consensus EPS -$0.20Beat/MissMet ExpectationsOne Year Ago EPSN/ASadot Group Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$175.04 millionExpected Revenue$168.00 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$7.04 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/ASadot Group Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2024Date8/13/2024TimeN/AConference Call DateWednesday, August 14, 2024Conference Call Time10:30AM ETUpcoming EarningsSadot Group's Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by Sadot Group Q2 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrAugust 14, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 6 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Welcome to the Sadat Group, Inc. Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and all participants will be in listen only mode. After management's prepared remarks, we will take questions. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Frank Poglobila, Sadat Group Inc. Operator00:00:17Investor Relations contact. Speaker 100:00:20Before we get started, we would like to state that this call may include forward looking statements pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent that the information presented on this call discusses financial projections, information or expectations about the business plans, results of operations, products or markets or otherwise make statements about future events, such statements may be forward looking. Such forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as should, may, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, projects, forecasts, expects, plans and proposes. Speaker 100:00:58Although management believes that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors and Sadat Group, Inc. Most recently filed Form 10 Q and elsewhere in documents that Sadat Group, Inc. Files from time to time with the SEC. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Sadat Group, Inc. Speaker 100:01:33Does not undertake any duty to update any forward looking statements, except as may be required by law. For this call, all numbers disclosed have been rounded to the closest 100,000 unless under 1,000,000 dollars and percentages have been rounded to the closest percent unless otherwise noted. All numbers disclosed in this report are the amounts attributable to Sadat Group, Inc. And exclude the portion related to non controlling interests. On this call, we will refer to Sadat Group, Inc. Speaker 100:02:00As Sadat Group, Sadat or the company. With me on the call today are Sadat Group's Chief Executive Officer, Michael Roper and Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Black. Michael and Jennifer will be presenting prepared remarks related to Sadat Group's financials filed on August 13, 2024, and those documents may be found on the company's website, Newswire feeds and on the SEC's website linked from Sadat Group's website at www.sadatgroupinc.com under the Investor tab. At this point, I would like to turn it over to Sadat's CEO, Michael Roper. Michael? Speaker 100:02:39Thanks, Speaker 200:02:39Frank. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we present the results of our Q2. I'm extremely proud to announce that Sadat Group reported the best quarter 6 month year to date performance in our company's history, delivering significant positive net income and notable improvements in our financial position. This record breaking performance underscores our resilience and commitment to operational excellence as we execute against our strategic vision. Importantly, we consider ourselves to be in the early stages of our growth strategy as an emerging entity in the almost $2,000,000,000,000 agri commodities market. Speaker 200:03:16As we focus on driving change in the company's business model and transitioning the company into a larger player in the global agri commodities market, we believe we are starting to see these efforts reflected in our overall results. For the Q2, consolidated revenues increased 9% to $175,000,000 driven by Sadat AgriFoods. Net income of $2,400,000 exceeded the $190,000 we reported in Q2 2023. Additionally, our 2024 year to date cumulative net income is a positive $2,000,000 compared to a net loss of $876,000 for the same period in 2023. Jennifer will discuss the financials in further detail shortly. Speaker 200:03:59Overall market conditions in the agri commodity sector started to improve in Q2 following a challenging Q1. Importantly, even though China demand remains a headwind as they focus on domestic production, the company was able to shift to other markets to drive growth, which helped drive the $76,000,000 revenue increase from Q1. Combined with our corporate strategic growth initiatives and strong execution, this significantly contributed to our Q2 results. In addition to the growth potential within the global agri commodity market, we believe several powerful industry trends are converging to support Sadat Group's strategic initiatives and long term success. 1st and foremost, the growing global demand for agricultural commodities is expected to be a crucial driver. Speaker 200:04:46Rising population, increased urbanization and evolving dietary preferences are all contributing to heightened consumption of food and feed products worldwide. We believe this dynamic creates a favorable backdrop for companies like Sadat Group that are positioned to efficiently originate trade and distribute essential agri commodities. Secondly, the heightened emphasis on food security and sustainability represents a substantial opportunity for Sadat Group. Governments and international organizations are prioritizing initiatives to ensure stable food supplies and mitigate supply chain risks, areas where our vertically integrated business model, featuring both trading and farming operations, provides distinct advantages. And finally, the ongoing consolidation and diversification trends within the agri commodity sector present exciting inorganic growth opportunities for Sadat Group. Speaker 200:05:36As industry players seek to expand their geographic reach, product offerings and value chain integration, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on strategic acquisitions and partnerships that can further strengthen our market position. By proactively aligning our business model and growth initiatives with these powerful industry drivers, Sadat Group is poised to pursue its position as a leading global player in the dynamic and essential agri commodity market. To capture a greater share of this market opportunity, we are strategically expanding our operations into key supply chain verticals, including farming, origination and trading. Longer term, we also see significant potential for expansion into other verticals such as shipping, logistics, processing and distribution. The formation of Sadat Brazil and more recently, Sadat Canada are a direct reflection of this strategy. Speaker 200:06:27Both of these new subsidiaries complement our existing operating centers in Miami, Singapore, Dubai and Kiev. We remain actively engaged in expanding our global platform and continue exploring further regional expansion opportunities. At the beginning of August, we announced the key leadership appointments for our newly formed Canadian operation. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome both David Hanna as Executive Vice President, General Manager and Jaime Ruida as Vice President, Head of Feed Ingredients for Sadat Canada to the Sadat team. Their extensive experience I almost said expensive experience, but I guess that's accurate too their extensive experience and deep knowledge of the agri commodity markets make them invaluable additions to the company. Speaker 200:07:12Their combined leadership alongside the professional and dedicated management and team members in Miami, Brazil and Dubai will be instrumental in advancing Sadat's global growth agenda by working together to expand trade flows globally. Next, let's discuss the farm operations. Our farm operations serve as an integral part of the total food supply chain operation. Importantly, from an agri commodity trading perspective, the farm crop allows the company to trade year round with the underlying commodity as collateral in case the market turns negative, helping to insulate us from market fluctuations. Increasing our farming capabilities in strategic locations worldwide will continue to be an important focus point for the company, allowing us to expand our trading, food security and community impact endeavors around these farms. Speaker 200:08:01Regarding our legacy restaurant business, as we've been actively pursuing the divestiture of these non core assets to focus on our agro commodity origination, trading and shipping and farming. The company is engaged with numerous potential buyers, resulting in the recently announced sales to Bribit Foods. This transaction is the first of 3 restaurant concepts to be sold from our portfolio as the first step in our overall strategic plan to exit the restaurant business. We expect the divestiture of these non core assets to drive operational savings and simplification. This will ensure our resources are firmly aligned around the company's highest potential opportunities in the agri commodities market. Speaker 200:08:40Regarding Muscle Maker Grill restaurants, we have recently completed the process of converting corporate owned and operated Muscle Maker Grill locations to franchise locations. We believe this concept is now positioned to potentially attract a wider base of interested parties. For PokeMoto, this likely will be the largest transaction of the three concepts and we are in negotiations and detailed discussions with several groups for the sale of our POCOMO concept, of which there is no guarantee. As the sale of each concept occurs, we expect to reduce G and A expenses, potentially enhancing the bottom line while simultaneously generating cash flow into the business. Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CFO, Jennifer Black, to review more specifics of the financial performance of the company for the Q2 of 2024. Speaker 200:09:27Jennifer? Speaker 300:09:29Thank you, Mike. Before I begin, please note that our financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2024, on Form 10 Q were filed with the SEC yesterday, August 13, 2024, along with the press release on that same day. Our consolidated revenues increased 9% to $175,000,000 in the Q2 of 2024 compared to $160,600,000 for the same quarter in 2023. Our Sadat AgriFoods segment accounted for the majority of our revenue contributing $173,300,000 in the 2nd quarter as we completed 21 transactions across 8 different countries. The farm completed its 1st full year of harvest and in Q2 harvested over 2,500 metric tons of maize and 6.90 metric tons of soy. Speaker 300:10:20Our legacy restaurant operations, which are classified as held for sale, had $1,700,000 of revenue in Q2. SG and A expense of $2,400,000 for the quarter increased by over $500,000 versus a year ago, mainly due to the upfront costs associated with the opening and expansion of our Sadat Agri Food Trading Offices, which are integral to our growth strategy. Net income of $2,400,000 was a notable improvement from the $190,000 for Q2 2023. EBITDA was $3,200,000 compared to $656,000 in the Q2 of 2023. Now looking at our balance sheet, the company had a cash balance of $10,000,000 and a working capital surplus of 16,100,000 reflecting strengthened financial stability. Speaker 300:11:09This compares to a cash balance of $1,200,000 and working capital surplus of $13,200,000 as of March 31, 2024. It is important to note that as a part of our ongoing strategy, we continually invest our cash back into the agri food commodity trading business to increase our revenues or to add strategic assets. The company is exposed to market risk primarily related to the volatility in the price of carbon offset units and food and feed commodities. To manage these risks, we entered into forward sales contracts and hedges from time to time. The forward sales contracts are initially measured at fair value and any changes in fair value are recorded as gain or loss on the fair value remeasurement. Speaker 300:11:52The mark to market gain on these derivative transactions resulted in income of approximately $3,300,000 for the quarter. We are proud to report our best 3 6 month performance in the company's history. Significant positive change is occurring across our business, enabling us to deliver improved revenue streams and increased working capital surplus and higher cash balance. We are continuing to strengthen our balance sheet, while also reducing expenses as we divest to the restaurant concepts. With that, I'd like to return the call back over to Michael Roper. Speaker 200:12:24Thanks for the financial overview, Jennifer. In closing, I want to thank all of our investors and stakeholders for your time and continued support of The Dot Group. We're extremely proud of the progress we've made in positioning the company for sustainable long term growth, and we remain firmly committed to executing our strategic vision. As I've outlined today, we believe the combination of our growth potential in the vast global agri commodity market, our improved financial performance and strong balance sheet, our innovative risk management approach and our experienced leadership team provide us a compelling case for Sadat Group. Supported by powerful industry trends and tailwinds, we believe in our ability to continue driving value for our shareholders. Speaker 200:13:02Looking ahead, we will maintain our disciplined focus on expanding our trading operations, diversifying our geographic footprint, and further integrating our farm assets to create synergies across the supply chain. At the same time, we will judiciously manage costs and capital allocation to enhance profitability and returns. Thank you again for your time, and we look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the months and years ahead. With that, please give us a few moments while we open up the lines for questions. Operator00:13:38Thank you, Michael. Before we get to questions from our selected analysts, I believe you have some questions to address, which you received from the stakeholders. Speaker 200:13:47Yes, I do, Alexa. Thanks. Everyone, we normally get questions that get submitted to our IR email address. We try to accumulate these and kind of come up with a common theme and address those questions before we open up to the analysts to make sure that we're addressing a lot of the common questions that are out there. So the first question we have 4 of them to go through. Speaker 200:14:07The first question I have is, can you elaborate on the potential growth opportunities in the $1,900,000,000,000 global agri commodity market? And what is Sadat Group's strategy to capture a larger share of this market? So, the global agri commodity market, it represents an opportunity for Sadat, with an estimated annual value at nearly $2,000,000,000,000 It's a big market, right? Our strategy to capture a greater share of this market involves actively expanding our trading operations through strategic initiatives, such as the formation of Sadat Brazil and Sadat Canada that we recently announced. These new entities complement our existing trading hubs, They allow us to facilitate trade flows to and from key regions such as North America, Africa, Black Sea, Indonesia, etcetera. Speaker 200:14:52By diversifying our geographic presence and expanding our trading capabilities, we aim to position Sadat as a larger player in the global agro commodities market. Now one of the things I want to kind of talk to you is that's kind of the horizontal expansion, right? And we also plan on expanding vertically into additional aspects of the global agro commodities supply chain. And we actually see the industry that's divided into like 3 segments or 3 components. Number 1 is the upstream segment. Speaker 200:15:18That kind of represents the origins of the product, kind of like farming, that's in emerging markets. The second segment is really classified as midstream. I know I'm being very technical here. Midstream, which is really trading, logistics and infrastructure. And then there's like downstream, right, which is processing capacity and the ingredients and feed industries through different geographies, okay, where we can contribute value. Speaker 200:15:41So those are like the 3 areas. Now we're currently operating in the upstream and midstream segments of the markets, and there's ample room to expand there within those segments, right? But as we evolve and grow, our goal is to continue capturing additional capabilities that's going to allow us to expand vertically and fully integrate our operations over. So, Jennifer, you want to take the next one? Speaker 300:16:03Sure. And next question we have is when will Brazil and Canada contribute to the top line revenue? And with that, Brazil is a crucial geography for any company involved in agri food supply chain. Our expansion into Brazil through the formation of Sadat Brazil has been a key strategic priority over the past year. The team is building important foundations to support our strategy and goals in this region. Speaker 300:16:27Since we reported our 1st Brazil trade in July, the team has been involved in several other transactions surrounding Sesame and are heavily involved with our new Canadian subsidiary as well as other regions lining up future trades. Building these foundations require deep understanding and connection with the professionals on the ground. The Sadat Brasil office is establishing relationships with local producers, intermediaries and end users to grow the company's presence in Brazil and in the future allow us to leverage our global distribution network and risk management expertise. Sedat Canada is our most recent addition to our global trading team led by David Hanna and Jaime Reade. The team in Canada is currently focused on the Canadian Foltest market, building out its origination capabilities, securing financing facilities and finalizing strategic partnerships to ensure a smooth market entry. Speaker 300:17:19The Sedat Canada team is in the process of introducing the new entity to the local market, farmers, exporters, global trading counterparties. Although we cannot provide a specific guarantee, we anticipate that SEDOT Canada will begin executing trades in Q4. It's important to note that SEDOT Canada model will focus on smaller container size trades and these types of trades are usually more frequent and have higher margins. And the next question we have is, what does July revenue look like? And are you anticipating revenues to remain in the $175,000,000 to $200,000,000 range for Q3? Speaker 300:17:57I'm pleased to report that our July 2024 revenue came in at approximately $61,000,000 continuing the positive momentum we saw in Q2 and an increase of roughly 15% from July 2023. Our team remains focused on executing our strategic growth initiatives, prudently managing our risk and driving increased value for our shareholders. Mike, you want to go to the next one? Speaker 200:18:21Yes, I got another question here. Hold on a second, I am sure I got the right one. So the last question we have here before going live to the analyst is, can I provide more details on the divestiture of the restaurant assets? What is the anticipated timeline and expected impact on the company's financials? So as you guys know, we are actively pursuing the divestiture of our non core restaurant assets, which is a key part to our strategic plan that allow us to focus on the aggregate commodity business, right? Speaker 200:18:50And that's our core business. So we want to focus on that instead of being worried about the restaurants. We've already completed the sale of Super Fit Foods meal prep service, which we announced a few weeks ago. And we are in the various stages of due diligence for the remaining concepts of Muscle Maker Grill Restaurants and PokeMoto. I think I mentioned earlier, we've actually got sold groups that we're talking to regarding Muscle Maker and PokeMoto in the different stages of those discussions. Speaker 200:19:15As we complete the sale of each restaurant concept, we do expect to see a reduction in our G and A expenses, which should enhance our bottom line performance. Additionally, the divestitures will generate cash flow that we can reinvest in the Sabah Agri Food operations that will support our growth initiatives. While the specific timeline for the remaining divestitures is still being finalized, we are working diligently to complete these transactions and further streamline our business model. Let me highlight real quick, the recent SuperFit Food transaction, along with the sale of a final company owned Muscle Maker Grill restaurant, where we converted into a franchise location and the closing of an underperforming location, kind of lumping all those together. And these transactions all occurred in early Q3 of 2024 here. Speaker 200:20:01With these recent moves, we believe our expenses were reduced by an estimated $400 plus 1,000 per year on an annualized basis as we eliminate the overhead associated with operating these locations. And importantly, the current future cash proceeds of roughly about $400,000 as well from these transactions will be reinvested back into the business. So we believe Super Fit Foods represents the smallest transaction of the three concepts with PokeMoto likely to be the largest. And like I said earlier, we are in detailed discussions with multiple groups for both Muscle Maker Grill and PokeMoto. And we view the successful completion of Superfood Foods sales as an important milestone in the strategic transformation into a more streamlined and higher margin agri commodity company, right? Speaker 200:20:46Again, want to get rid of the restaurants and take that money and redeploy it towards the Sadat Agribusiness. So with that, I think that answers all the questions that we kind of summarized here. So, Alexa, do you want to take it over to the analysts on the line? Operator00:21:01Yes. Thanks, Michael. I would like to open the call to Aaron Grey with AGP for questions first, please. Speaker 400:21:10Hi. Thank you for the questions and nice improvement in the quarter here. So, first one for me. Just in terms of the agri food business, commodity business, I know there can be some volatility there, saw a nice pickup there sequentially in the quarter. So wanted to get a better line of sight in terms of whether or not you're seeing more line of sight yourselves in terms of the trajectory of where sales can go? Speaker 400:21:37Do you believe there will still be some more volatility? I know you're getting more diversified entering new markets. So just some more color in terms of where you think the top line within that business can go from here? Thank you. Speaker 200:21:48Okay. Thanks, Aaron. So a couple of things and I'll let Jennifer jump in here as well, but I'd like to start off. As Jennifer mentioned, we saw July come in at a little over $61,000,000 for the month. So that's a good start to the quarter. Speaker 200:22:01So we're continuing to see that build that momentum after the poor performance in Q1, right, which was attributed to the China market more than anything. So China has become more stabilized. They are still focusing on their domestic production, but us as a company have been pretty resilient and be able to move a lot of the trades and business to other parts of the world. And I think that's really key about the future of where we see kind of some of the revenues going is as we continue to grow by adding Sadat, Brazil and then adding Canada here recently and obviously hopefully some more as we move forward, that just gives us more diversification and allows us to move around. So we can try to stabilize some of the fluctuations that you talked to and some of the variations that might happen that's out there. Speaker 200:22:46And I think we kind of proved that in Q2 and now beginning in Q3 as well. So from a stability standpoint, I think that bodes kind of well for us as we move forward. But like you mentioned, there's always fluctuations that are out there. But I think we are nimble enough and have a wide enough footprint now or whatever to really start being able to manage around some of those things. Speaker 400:23:10Okay. Appreciate that color, Michael. And the second one for me. On the gross margin, nice improvement there as well. So on a similar level, are you already seeing some of the benefits of the trade financing that help with the gross margin or was that more so just the trades that were made during the quarter that really led to the improvement? Speaker 400:23:31So a similar question I would ask before, but on the gross margin here, in terms of how we should think about the margin profile for the different trades you're making either via products or geographies over the next couple of quarters? Thank you. Speaker 300:23:44Thanks, Aaron. On this one, it truly was the trades that we did this quarter that generated those margins. We haven't really been able to dive deep into the trade finance part yet. And so this has all been done organically. And when it comes to kind of how we're going to manage it in the future, that's the whole reason we are diversifying. Speaker 300:24:04We're looking at different segments like we said with the opening of Brazil and Canada. And with those entering those new markets, we're entering new areas. Like we said, we with Brazil, we did the just went blank, Stephanie, sorry, Stephanie. And then when we go into Canada, we're doing the pulses, which are the smaller containers. And like I said earlier, those smaller containers tend to generate higher gross margins. Speaker 300:24:29And when you have more options, that lets us shift the money or shift the resources on to where you're seeing that could help generate that better margins. Speaker 200:24:41And I think that just to reiterate, I think part of the key there as we move forward, as Jennifer mentioned is, the Canadian business model as we bring that one online, that one really is more oriented towards container size orders versus entire cargo ship orders. And so there's a lot more frequency and a lot more transactions that happen through that. But those do tend to be higher margin items in general than the container ships as well. So as we intermix that in there, that should help address some of the margin fluctuations that we see with some of the larger container ships. And then obviously going into different products as well, like she mentioned, we got into Sesame now, right. Speaker 200:25:22And so as we different products, different times of year, etcetera, have different margins that are in there. So having a wider option base that's out there for us bodes well. Speaker 300:25:31And in addition to with there always being volatility, we do hedge to mitigate that risk, which as always, it does kind of lower some of that, but it also is more secure and safer to hedge those risk. Speaker 400:25:46Understood. Thanks for that color there. I'll go ahead and jump back in the queue. Operator00:25:51Great. Thanks, Erin. I'd like to open the questions for Tom Curran with Zacks. Speaker 200:25:58Good morning. Can you hear me? Operator00:26:00Yes. Thank you. Speaker 500:26:02Just a question on the operating cash flow, which is really strong, I think over $8,000,000 in the quarter. What were the working capital components that drive that? And does that do they cycle back and forth where we may not see strong operating cash flow in the second half of the year? Is it the right color on how that works? Speaker 300:26:22Yes, absolutely. And all of these are going to come down to timing, Tom. When payments are received and when they're redeployed, our strategy has been and will continue to be to reinvest our cash into the company, to put that cash to work and generate margin. We don't want to sit on a bunch of cash. And I know a lot of people like that, especially analysts who like us to have cash on the books, but we want to use that cash and generate additional margin. Speaker 300:26:49And so this quarter, yes, we did have a high cash balance and that was due to timing of the receipt of payments. And we're deploying those back out and trying to earn money and earn revenue on that cash. Speaker 500:27:04Okay. That makes sense. And going back to the commodity gross margins, I think it was 1.1% and you kind of discussed this a little bit, but that's not where we want to be, right? And maybe can you publicly talk about long term goals for gross margin? Speaker 200:27:19Yes. I am not sure. I mean, look, everybody wants a higher gross margin, right? There is no question about that. We've talked in the past and we continue to look as we move forward into ways to increase the overall profitability of the company even beyond just trades, right? Speaker 200:27:33So we keep focusing on trades, but as we continue to move into the farming aspect and some of the other aspects that are there and if we get into shipping or any other areas, those will help drive some of the margin numbers. As we mentioned about Canada, those smaller trades tend to drive larger margins as well. So, as they come online, that should help push that. But reality is, it's in this industry, it just kind of depends on seasonality, it depends on the products you have and the deals you make or whatever that are out there, what's still kind of happening in the market. So, yes, we'd like to see higher margins. Speaker 200:28:09We've had some higher margins in the past. We've had lower margins in the past, right? So, I do think in that 1% to 3% range or whatever is where we want to be, where we can achieve. That's how they're big and just kind of depends on the timing of the year and the different products that are happening in the marketplace. I know that doesn't give a distinct answer, but that's probably about as good as I can get. Speaker 300:28:33That's helpful. In addition to that, once we get all these trade finance lines kicked in and going and optimize, it will provide better return on equity. Speaker 500:28:45Yes. And 2 more quick ones for me. Back to the trade financing, you put a number on it last quarter. I think you had up to $26,000,000 availability. Does that continue to increase or change or? Speaker 200:28:57It's still basically at that same point. We are working though we're getting closer on multiple other trade finance options that could be significantly larger if they come through. So we continue to work on that. I think what's really more important as part of it is we've been able to deliver what we delivered with the trade finance lines that we do have, right? And so and it's bringing some of those more on the line, if you want to say, as we move forward, we just bode well for the future on it. Speaker 200:29:25But we have been able to accomplish what we have so far just with what we have today. Speaker 300:29:30And there's other options out there that we are utilizing that are not just trade finance line and that we're looking into like supplier credit, insurances and other options that allow you to tap in there without actually having trade finance. Speaker 500:29:45Got it. Okay. Last one for me is, did I hear you say SuperFit proceeds were $400,000 Speaker 200:29:51No. So it was a combination between SuperFit and converting the 1 Muscle Make the last Muscle Maker Grill location over to a franchise location. So the total proceeds of those 2 were kind of in that $400,000 range. So again, nothing material coming out of those, but it's the first step in really truly divesting these things and moving forward. The Muscle Maker Grill restaurants will be larger, should be anyway than Super Fit Foods. Speaker 200:30:20And obviously, the big one that we're working on is PokeMoto. That's the larger of the 3 concepts that are going out there. Those are both still being worked on right now. Speaker 300:30:27And just to kind of add on to that, with that dose, so we did not take a loss on those. Speaker 200:30:33Great. Speaker 500:30:35On those two items? Okay. Speaker 200:30:36Yes. Speaker 500:30:37Got it. That's all I have for today. Thank you. Operator00:30:40Thanks, Tom. If there aren't any more questions, that concludes our Q and A portion of the call. Mr. Roper, any final comments? Speaker 200:30:47I just want to thank everybody for being shareholders and going through us on this adventure that we have as we grow this company. A lot of good things in the future that are coming up. And as I think you've seen a lot of good things that have happened here in the recent past as well that continues to propel us to become a larger player in the industry. But again, just thanks to everybody for their patience and appreciate all the questions and cooperation and comments and suggestions and everything that everybody makes, whatever that's out there. So doing our best and moving forward.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallSadot Group Q2 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Sadot Group Earnings HeadlinesSadot Group Highlights Strategic Focus in New PresentationApril 28, 2025 | tipranks.comSadot Canada enters management services agreement with Big Sky MillingApril 25, 2025 | markets.businessinsider.comWatch This Robotics Demo Before July 23rdJeff Brown, the tech legend who picked shares of Nvidia in 2016 before they jumped by more than 22,000%... Just did a demo of what Nvidia’s CEO said will be "the first multitrillion-dollar robotics industry."May 3, 2025 | Brownstone Research (Ad)Sadot Group enters green mung bean market with Brazil dealApril 24, 2025 | investing.comSadot’s Brazil subsidiary executes first Green Mung Bean tradeApril 24, 2025 | markets.businessinsider.comSadot Group Inc (SDOT) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Record Revenue and Strategic ShiftsApril 21, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comSee More Sadot Group Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Sadot Group? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Sadot Group and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Sadot GroupSadot Group (NASDAQ:SDOT) provides supply chain solutions that address growing food security challenges worldwide. The company is involved in the agri-commodity sourcing and trading operations for food/feed products, such as soybean meal, wheat, and corn; and farm operations, including producing grains and tree crops in Southern Africa. The company is also involved in the food service operations across the United States. The company was formerly known as Muscle Maker Inc. and changed its name to Sadot Group Inc. Sadot Group Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.View Sadot Group ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Amazon Earnings: 2 Reasons to Love It, 1 Reason to Be CautiousMeta Takes A Bow With Q1 Earnings - Watch For Tariff Impact in Q2Palantir Earnings: 1 Bullish Signal and 1 Area of ConcernVisa Q2 Earnings Top Forecasts, Adds $30B Buyback PlanMicrosoft Crushes Earnings, What’s Next for MSFT Stock?Qualcomm's Earnings: 2 Reasons to Buy, 1 to Stay AwayAMD Stock Signals Strong Buy Ahead of Earnings Upcoming Earnings Palantir Technologies (5/5/2025)Vertex Pharmaceuticals (5/5/2025)Realty Income (5/5/2025)Williams Companies (5/5/2025)CRH (5/5/2025)Advanced Micro Devices (5/6/2025)American Electric Power (5/6/2025)Constellation Energy (5/6/2025)Marriott International (5/6/2025)Energy Transfer (5/6/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
There are 6 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Welcome to the Sadat Group, Inc. Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and all participants will be in listen only mode. After management's prepared remarks, we will take questions. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Frank Poglobila, Sadat Group Inc. Operator00:00:17Investor Relations contact. Speaker 100:00:20Before we get started, we would like to state that this call may include forward looking statements pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent that the information presented on this call discusses financial projections, information or expectations about the business plans, results of operations, products or markets or otherwise make statements about future events, such statements may be forward looking. Such forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as should, may, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, projects, forecasts, expects, plans and proposes. Speaker 100:00:58Although management believes that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors and Sadat Group, Inc. Most recently filed Form 10 Q and elsewhere in documents that Sadat Group, Inc. Files from time to time with the SEC. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Sadat Group, Inc. Speaker 100:01:33Does not undertake any duty to update any forward looking statements, except as may be required by law. For this call, all numbers disclosed have been rounded to the closest 100,000 unless under 1,000,000 dollars and percentages have been rounded to the closest percent unless otherwise noted. All numbers disclosed in this report are the amounts attributable to Sadat Group, Inc. And exclude the portion related to non controlling interests. On this call, we will refer to Sadat Group, Inc. Speaker 100:02:00As Sadat Group, Sadat or the company. With me on the call today are Sadat Group's Chief Executive Officer, Michael Roper and Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Black. Michael and Jennifer will be presenting prepared remarks related to Sadat Group's financials filed on August 13, 2024, and those documents may be found on the company's website, Newswire feeds and on the SEC's website linked from Sadat Group's website at www.sadatgroupinc.com under the Investor tab. At this point, I would like to turn it over to Sadat's CEO, Michael Roper. Michael? Speaker 100:02:39Thanks, Speaker 200:02:39Frank. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today as we present the results of our Q2. I'm extremely proud to announce that Sadat Group reported the best quarter 6 month year to date performance in our company's history, delivering significant positive net income and notable improvements in our financial position. This record breaking performance underscores our resilience and commitment to operational excellence as we execute against our strategic vision. Importantly, we consider ourselves to be in the early stages of our growth strategy as an emerging entity in the almost $2,000,000,000,000 agri commodities market. Speaker 200:03:16As we focus on driving change in the company's business model and transitioning the company into a larger player in the global agri commodities market, we believe we are starting to see these efforts reflected in our overall results. For the Q2, consolidated revenues increased 9% to $175,000,000 driven by Sadat AgriFoods. Net income of $2,400,000 exceeded the $190,000 we reported in Q2 2023. Additionally, our 2024 year to date cumulative net income is a positive $2,000,000 compared to a net loss of $876,000 for the same period in 2023. Jennifer will discuss the financials in further detail shortly. Speaker 200:03:59Overall market conditions in the agri commodity sector started to improve in Q2 following a challenging Q1. Importantly, even though China demand remains a headwind as they focus on domestic production, the company was able to shift to other markets to drive growth, which helped drive the $76,000,000 revenue increase from Q1. Combined with our corporate strategic growth initiatives and strong execution, this significantly contributed to our Q2 results. In addition to the growth potential within the global agri commodity market, we believe several powerful industry trends are converging to support Sadat Group's strategic initiatives and long term success. 1st and foremost, the growing global demand for agricultural commodities is expected to be a crucial driver. Speaker 200:04:46Rising population, increased urbanization and evolving dietary preferences are all contributing to heightened consumption of food and feed products worldwide. We believe this dynamic creates a favorable backdrop for companies like Sadat Group that are positioned to efficiently originate trade and distribute essential agri commodities. Secondly, the heightened emphasis on food security and sustainability represents a substantial opportunity for Sadat Group. Governments and international organizations are prioritizing initiatives to ensure stable food supplies and mitigate supply chain risks, areas where our vertically integrated business model, featuring both trading and farming operations, provides distinct advantages. And finally, the ongoing consolidation and diversification trends within the agri commodity sector present exciting inorganic growth opportunities for Sadat Group. Speaker 200:05:36As industry players seek to expand their geographic reach, product offerings and value chain integration, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on strategic acquisitions and partnerships that can further strengthen our market position. By proactively aligning our business model and growth initiatives with these powerful industry drivers, Sadat Group is poised to pursue its position as a leading global player in the dynamic and essential agri commodity market. To capture a greater share of this market opportunity, we are strategically expanding our operations into key supply chain verticals, including farming, origination and trading. Longer term, we also see significant potential for expansion into other verticals such as shipping, logistics, processing and distribution. The formation of Sadat Brazil and more recently, Sadat Canada are a direct reflection of this strategy. Speaker 200:06:27Both of these new subsidiaries complement our existing operating centers in Miami, Singapore, Dubai and Kiev. We remain actively engaged in expanding our global platform and continue exploring further regional expansion opportunities. At the beginning of August, we announced the key leadership appointments for our newly formed Canadian operation. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome both David Hanna as Executive Vice President, General Manager and Jaime Ruida as Vice President, Head of Feed Ingredients for Sadat Canada to the Sadat team. Their extensive experience I almost said expensive experience, but I guess that's accurate too their extensive experience and deep knowledge of the agri commodity markets make them invaluable additions to the company. Speaker 200:07:12Their combined leadership alongside the professional and dedicated management and team members in Miami, Brazil and Dubai will be instrumental in advancing Sadat's global growth agenda by working together to expand trade flows globally. Next, let's discuss the farm operations. Our farm operations serve as an integral part of the total food supply chain operation. Importantly, from an agri commodity trading perspective, the farm crop allows the company to trade year round with the underlying commodity as collateral in case the market turns negative, helping to insulate us from market fluctuations. Increasing our farming capabilities in strategic locations worldwide will continue to be an important focus point for the company, allowing us to expand our trading, food security and community impact endeavors around these farms. Speaker 200:08:01Regarding our legacy restaurant business, as we've been actively pursuing the divestiture of these non core assets to focus on our agro commodity origination, trading and shipping and farming. The company is engaged with numerous potential buyers, resulting in the recently announced sales to Bribit Foods. This transaction is the first of 3 restaurant concepts to be sold from our portfolio as the first step in our overall strategic plan to exit the restaurant business. We expect the divestiture of these non core assets to drive operational savings and simplification. This will ensure our resources are firmly aligned around the company's highest potential opportunities in the agri commodities market. Speaker 200:08:40Regarding Muscle Maker Grill restaurants, we have recently completed the process of converting corporate owned and operated Muscle Maker Grill locations to franchise locations. We believe this concept is now positioned to potentially attract a wider base of interested parties. For PokeMoto, this likely will be the largest transaction of the three concepts and we are in negotiations and detailed discussions with several groups for the sale of our POCOMO concept, of which there is no guarantee. As the sale of each concept occurs, we expect to reduce G and A expenses, potentially enhancing the bottom line while simultaneously generating cash flow into the business. Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CFO, Jennifer Black, to review more specifics of the financial performance of the company for the Q2 of 2024. Speaker 200:09:27Jennifer? Speaker 300:09:29Thank you, Mike. Before I begin, please note that our financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2024, on Form 10 Q were filed with the SEC yesterday, August 13, 2024, along with the press release on that same day. Our consolidated revenues increased 9% to $175,000,000 in the Q2 of 2024 compared to $160,600,000 for the same quarter in 2023. Our Sadat AgriFoods segment accounted for the majority of our revenue contributing $173,300,000 in the 2nd quarter as we completed 21 transactions across 8 different countries. The farm completed its 1st full year of harvest and in Q2 harvested over 2,500 metric tons of maize and 6.90 metric tons of soy. Speaker 300:10:20Our legacy restaurant operations, which are classified as held for sale, had $1,700,000 of revenue in Q2. SG and A expense of $2,400,000 for the quarter increased by over $500,000 versus a year ago, mainly due to the upfront costs associated with the opening and expansion of our Sadat Agri Food Trading Offices, which are integral to our growth strategy. Net income of $2,400,000 was a notable improvement from the $190,000 for Q2 2023. EBITDA was $3,200,000 compared to $656,000 in the Q2 of 2023. Now looking at our balance sheet, the company had a cash balance of $10,000,000 and a working capital surplus of 16,100,000 reflecting strengthened financial stability. Speaker 300:11:09This compares to a cash balance of $1,200,000 and working capital surplus of $13,200,000 as of March 31, 2024. It is important to note that as a part of our ongoing strategy, we continually invest our cash back into the agri food commodity trading business to increase our revenues or to add strategic assets. The company is exposed to market risk primarily related to the volatility in the price of carbon offset units and food and feed commodities. To manage these risks, we entered into forward sales contracts and hedges from time to time. The forward sales contracts are initially measured at fair value and any changes in fair value are recorded as gain or loss on the fair value remeasurement. Speaker 300:11:52The mark to market gain on these derivative transactions resulted in income of approximately $3,300,000 for the quarter. We are proud to report our best 3 6 month performance in the company's history. Significant positive change is occurring across our business, enabling us to deliver improved revenue streams and increased working capital surplus and higher cash balance. We are continuing to strengthen our balance sheet, while also reducing expenses as we divest to the restaurant concepts. With that, I'd like to return the call back over to Michael Roper. Speaker 200:12:24Thanks for the financial overview, Jennifer. In closing, I want to thank all of our investors and stakeholders for your time and continued support of The Dot Group. We're extremely proud of the progress we've made in positioning the company for sustainable long term growth, and we remain firmly committed to executing our strategic vision. As I've outlined today, we believe the combination of our growth potential in the vast global agri commodity market, our improved financial performance and strong balance sheet, our innovative risk management approach and our experienced leadership team provide us a compelling case for Sadat Group. Supported by powerful industry trends and tailwinds, we believe in our ability to continue driving value for our shareholders. Speaker 200:13:02Looking ahead, we will maintain our disciplined focus on expanding our trading operations, diversifying our geographic footprint, and further integrating our farm assets to create synergies across the supply chain. At the same time, we will judiciously manage costs and capital allocation to enhance profitability and returns. Thank you again for your time, and we look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the months and years ahead. With that, please give us a few moments while we open up the lines for questions. Operator00:13:38Thank you, Michael. Before we get to questions from our selected analysts, I believe you have some questions to address, which you received from the stakeholders. Speaker 200:13:47Yes, I do, Alexa. Thanks. Everyone, we normally get questions that get submitted to our IR email address. We try to accumulate these and kind of come up with a common theme and address those questions before we open up to the analysts to make sure that we're addressing a lot of the common questions that are out there. So the first question we have 4 of them to go through. Speaker 200:14:07The first question I have is, can you elaborate on the potential growth opportunities in the $1,900,000,000,000 global agri commodity market? And what is Sadat Group's strategy to capture a larger share of this market? So, the global agri commodity market, it represents an opportunity for Sadat, with an estimated annual value at nearly $2,000,000,000,000 It's a big market, right? Our strategy to capture a greater share of this market involves actively expanding our trading operations through strategic initiatives, such as the formation of Sadat Brazil and Sadat Canada that we recently announced. These new entities complement our existing trading hubs, They allow us to facilitate trade flows to and from key regions such as North America, Africa, Black Sea, Indonesia, etcetera. Speaker 200:14:52By diversifying our geographic presence and expanding our trading capabilities, we aim to position Sadat as a larger player in the global agro commodities market. Now one of the things I want to kind of talk to you is that's kind of the horizontal expansion, right? And we also plan on expanding vertically into additional aspects of the global agro commodities supply chain. And we actually see the industry that's divided into like 3 segments or 3 components. Number 1 is the upstream segment. Speaker 200:15:18That kind of represents the origins of the product, kind of like farming, that's in emerging markets. The second segment is really classified as midstream. I know I'm being very technical here. Midstream, which is really trading, logistics and infrastructure. And then there's like downstream, right, which is processing capacity and the ingredients and feed industries through different geographies, okay, where we can contribute value. Speaker 200:15:41So those are like the 3 areas. Now we're currently operating in the upstream and midstream segments of the markets, and there's ample room to expand there within those segments, right? But as we evolve and grow, our goal is to continue capturing additional capabilities that's going to allow us to expand vertically and fully integrate our operations over. So, Jennifer, you want to take the next one? Speaker 300:16:03Sure. And next question we have is when will Brazil and Canada contribute to the top line revenue? And with that, Brazil is a crucial geography for any company involved in agri food supply chain. Our expansion into Brazil through the formation of Sadat Brazil has been a key strategic priority over the past year. The team is building important foundations to support our strategy and goals in this region. Speaker 300:16:27Since we reported our 1st Brazil trade in July, the team has been involved in several other transactions surrounding Sesame and are heavily involved with our new Canadian subsidiary as well as other regions lining up future trades. Building these foundations require deep understanding and connection with the professionals on the ground. The Sadat Brasil office is establishing relationships with local producers, intermediaries and end users to grow the company's presence in Brazil and in the future allow us to leverage our global distribution network and risk management expertise. Sedat Canada is our most recent addition to our global trading team led by David Hanna and Jaime Reade. The team in Canada is currently focused on the Canadian Foltest market, building out its origination capabilities, securing financing facilities and finalizing strategic partnerships to ensure a smooth market entry. Speaker 300:17:19The Sedat Canada team is in the process of introducing the new entity to the local market, farmers, exporters, global trading counterparties. Although we cannot provide a specific guarantee, we anticipate that SEDOT Canada will begin executing trades in Q4. It's important to note that SEDOT Canada model will focus on smaller container size trades and these types of trades are usually more frequent and have higher margins. And the next question we have is, what does July revenue look like? And are you anticipating revenues to remain in the $175,000,000 to $200,000,000 range for Q3? Speaker 300:17:57I'm pleased to report that our July 2024 revenue came in at approximately $61,000,000 continuing the positive momentum we saw in Q2 and an increase of roughly 15% from July 2023. Our team remains focused on executing our strategic growth initiatives, prudently managing our risk and driving increased value for our shareholders. Mike, you want to go to the next one? Speaker 200:18:21Yes, I got another question here. Hold on a second, I am sure I got the right one. So the last question we have here before going live to the analyst is, can I provide more details on the divestiture of the restaurant assets? What is the anticipated timeline and expected impact on the company's financials? So as you guys know, we are actively pursuing the divestiture of our non core restaurant assets, which is a key part to our strategic plan that allow us to focus on the aggregate commodity business, right? Speaker 200:18:50And that's our core business. So we want to focus on that instead of being worried about the restaurants. We've already completed the sale of Super Fit Foods meal prep service, which we announced a few weeks ago. And we are in the various stages of due diligence for the remaining concepts of Muscle Maker Grill Restaurants and PokeMoto. I think I mentioned earlier, we've actually got sold groups that we're talking to regarding Muscle Maker and PokeMoto in the different stages of those discussions. Speaker 200:19:15As we complete the sale of each restaurant concept, we do expect to see a reduction in our G and A expenses, which should enhance our bottom line performance. Additionally, the divestitures will generate cash flow that we can reinvest in the Sabah Agri Food operations that will support our growth initiatives. While the specific timeline for the remaining divestitures is still being finalized, we are working diligently to complete these transactions and further streamline our business model. Let me highlight real quick, the recent SuperFit Food transaction, along with the sale of a final company owned Muscle Maker Grill restaurant, where we converted into a franchise location and the closing of an underperforming location, kind of lumping all those together. And these transactions all occurred in early Q3 of 2024 here. Speaker 200:20:01With these recent moves, we believe our expenses were reduced by an estimated $400 plus 1,000 per year on an annualized basis as we eliminate the overhead associated with operating these locations. And importantly, the current future cash proceeds of roughly about $400,000 as well from these transactions will be reinvested back into the business. So we believe Super Fit Foods represents the smallest transaction of the three concepts with PokeMoto likely to be the largest. And like I said earlier, we are in detailed discussions with multiple groups for both Muscle Maker Grill and PokeMoto. And we view the successful completion of Superfood Foods sales as an important milestone in the strategic transformation into a more streamlined and higher margin agri commodity company, right? Speaker 200:20:46Again, want to get rid of the restaurants and take that money and redeploy it towards the Sadat Agribusiness. So with that, I think that answers all the questions that we kind of summarized here. So, Alexa, do you want to take it over to the analysts on the line? Operator00:21:01Yes. Thanks, Michael. I would like to open the call to Aaron Grey with AGP for questions first, please. Speaker 400:21:10Hi. Thank you for the questions and nice improvement in the quarter here. So, first one for me. Just in terms of the agri food business, commodity business, I know there can be some volatility there, saw a nice pickup there sequentially in the quarter. So wanted to get a better line of sight in terms of whether or not you're seeing more line of sight yourselves in terms of the trajectory of where sales can go? Speaker 400:21:37Do you believe there will still be some more volatility? I know you're getting more diversified entering new markets. So just some more color in terms of where you think the top line within that business can go from here? Thank you. Speaker 200:21:48Okay. Thanks, Aaron. So a couple of things and I'll let Jennifer jump in here as well, but I'd like to start off. As Jennifer mentioned, we saw July come in at a little over $61,000,000 for the month. So that's a good start to the quarter. Speaker 200:22:01So we're continuing to see that build that momentum after the poor performance in Q1, right, which was attributed to the China market more than anything. So China has become more stabilized. They are still focusing on their domestic production, but us as a company have been pretty resilient and be able to move a lot of the trades and business to other parts of the world. And I think that's really key about the future of where we see kind of some of the revenues going is as we continue to grow by adding Sadat, Brazil and then adding Canada here recently and obviously hopefully some more as we move forward, that just gives us more diversification and allows us to move around. So we can try to stabilize some of the fluctuations that you talked to and some of the variations that might happen that's out there. Speaker 200:22:46And I think we kind of proved that in Q2 and now beginning in Q3 as well. So from a stability standpoint, I think that bodes kind of well for us as we move forward. But like you mentioned, there's always fluctuations that are out there. But I think we are nimble enough and have a wide enough footprint now or whatever to really start being able to manage around some of those things. Speaker 400:23:10Okay. Appreciate that color, Michael. And the second one for me. On the gross margin, nice improvement there as well. So on a similar level, are you already seeing some of the benefits of the trade financing that help with the gross margin or was that more so just the trades that were made during the quarter that really led to the improvement? Speaker 400:23:31So a similar question I would ask before, but on the gross margin here, in terms of how we should think about the margin profile for the different trades you're making either via products or geographies over the next couple of quarters? Thank you. Speaker 300:23:44Thanks, Aaron. On this one, it truly was the trades that we did this quarter that generated those margins. We haven't really been able to dive deep into the trade finance part yet. And so this has all been done organically. And when it comes to kind of how we're going to manage it in the future, that's the whole reason we are diversifying. Speaker 300:24:04We're looking at different segments like we said with the opening of Brazil and Canada. And with those entering those new markets, we're entering new areas. Like we said, we with Brazil, we did the just went blank, Stephanie, sorry, Stephanie. And then when we go into Canada, we're doing the pulses, which are the smaller containers. And like I said earlier, those smaller containers tend to generate higher gross margins. Speaker 300:24:29And when you have more options, that lets us shift the money or shift the resources on to where you're seeing that could help generate that better margins. Speaker 200:24:41And I think that just to reiterate, I think part of the key there as we move forward, as Jennifer mentioned is, the Canadian business model as we bring that one online, that one really is more oriented towards container size orders versus entire cargo ship orders. And so there's a lot more frequency and a lot more transactions that happen through that. But those do tend to be higher margin items in general than the container ships as well. So as we intermix that in there, that should help address some of the margin fluctuations that we see with some of the larger container ships. And then obviously going into different products as well, like she mentioned, we got into Sesame now, right. Speaker 200:25:22And so as we different products, different times of year, etcetera, have different margins that are in there. So having a wider option base that's out there for us bodes well. Speaker 300:25:31And in addition to with there always being volatility, we do hedge to mitigate that risk, which as always, it does kind of lower some of that, but it also is more secure and safer to hedge those risk. Speaker 400:25:46Understood. Thanks for that color there. I'll go ahead and jump back in the queue. Operator00:25:51Great. Thanks, Erin. I'd like to open the questions for Tom Curran with Zacks. Speaker 200:25:58Good morning. Can you hear me? Operator00:26:00Yes. Thank you. Speaker 500:26:02Just a question on the operating cash flow, which is really strong, I think over $8,000,000 in the quarter. What were the working capital components that drive that? And does that do they cycle back and forth where we may not see strong operating cash flow in the second half of the year? Is it the right color on how that works? Speaker 300:26:22Yes, absolutely. And all of these are going to come down to timing, Tom. When payments are received and when they're redeployed, our strategy has been and will continue to be to reinvest our cash into the company, to put that cash to work and generate margin. We don't want to sit on a bunch of cash. And I know a lot of people like that, especially analysts who like us to have cash on the books, but we want to use that cash and generate additional margin. Speaker 300:26:49And so this quarter, yes, we did have a high cash balance and that was due to timing of the receipt of payments. And we're deploying those back out and trying to earn money and earn revenue on that cash. Speaker 500:27:04Okay. That makes sense. And going back to the commodity gross margins, I think it was 1.1% and you kind of discussed this a little bit, but that's not where we want to be, right? And maybe can you publicly talk about long term goals for gross margin? Speaker 200:27:19Yes. I am not sure. I mean, look, everybody wants a higher gross margin, right? There is no question about that. We've talked in the past and we continue to look as we move forward into ways to increase the overall profitability of the company even beyond just trades, right? Speaker 200:27:33So we keep focusing on trades, but as we continue to move into the farming aspect and some of the other aspects that are there and if we get into shipping or any other areas, those will help drive some of the margin numbers. As we mentioned about Canada, those smaller trades tend to drive larger margins as well. So, as they come online, that should help push that. But reality is, it's in this industry, it just kind of depends on seasonality, it depends on the products you have and the deals you make or whatever that are out there, what's still kind of happening in the market. So, yes, we'd like to see higher margins. Speaker 200:28:09We've had some higher margins in the past. We've had lower margins in the past, right? So, I do think in that 1% to 3% range or whatever is where we want to be, where we can achieve. That's how they're big and just kind of depends on the timing of the year and the different products that are happening in the marketplace. I know that doesn't give a distinct answer, but that's probably about as good as I can get. Speaker 300:28:33That's helpful. In addition to that, once we get all these trade finance lines kicked in and going and optimize, it will provide better return on equity. Speaker 500:28:45Yes. And 2 more quick ones for me. Back to the trade financing, you put a number on it last quarter. I think you had up to $26,000,000 availability. Does that continue to increase or change or? Speaker 200:28:57It's still basically at that same point. We are working though we're getting closer on multiple other trade finance options that could be significantly larger if they come through. So we continue to work on that. I think what's really more important as part of it is we've been able to deliver what we delivered with the trade finance lines that we do have, right? And so and it's bringing some of those more on the line, if you want to say, as we move forward, we just bode well for the future on it. Speaker 200:29:25But we have been able to accomplish what we have so far just with what we have today. Speaker 300:29:30And there's other options out there that we are utilizing that are not just trade finance line and that we're looking into like supplier credit, insurances and other options that allow you to tap in there without actually having trade finance. Speaker 500:29:45Got it. Okay. Last one for me is, did I hear you say SuperFit proceeds were $400,000 Speaker 200:29:51No. So it was a combination between SuperFit and converting the 1 Muscle Make the last Muscle Maker Grill location over to a franchise location. So the total proceeds of those 2 were kind of in that $400,000 range. So again, nothing material coming out of those, but it's the first step in really truly divesting these things and moving forward. The Muscle Maker Grill restaurants will be larger, should be anyway than Super Fit Foods. Speaker 200:30:20And obviously, the big one that we're working on is PokeMoto. That's the larger of the 3 concepts that are going out there. Those are both still being worked on right now. Speaker 300:30:27And just to kind of add on to that, with that dose, so we did not take a loss on those. Speaker 200:30:33Great. Speaker 500:30:35On those two items? Okay. Speaker 200:30:36Yes. Speaker 500:30:37Got it. That's all I have for today. Thank you. Operator00:30:40Thanks, Tom. If there aren't any more questions, that concludes our Q and A portion of the call. Mr. Roper, any final comments? Speaker 200:30:47I just want to thank everybody for being shareholders and going through us on this adventure that we have as we grow this company. A lot of good things in the future that are coming up. And as I think you've seen a lot of good things that have happened here in the recent past as well that continues to propel us to become a larger player in the industry. But again, just thanks to everybody for their patience and appreciate all the questions and cooperation and comments and suggestions and everything that everybody makes, whatever that's out there. So doing our best and moving forward.Read morePowered by