Cymat Provides Business Update "Getting Back on Track"

Listing:  TSX-V
Symbol: CYM

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2020 /CNW/ - Today Cymat Technologies Ltd. (the "Company" or "Cymat") provided an update on management's expectations for sales of its Stabilized Aluminum Foam ("SAF") products and a progress report on a number of business development initiatives.

Alusion^TM

Commencing from late Q3 to the end of the recently completed fiscal year ending April 30, 2020, Cymat experienced significant COVID-19 related disruption in the sales of Alusion^TM - Cymat's architectural aluminum foam product. As a result, significant anticipated orders from its Asian customers were not received when expected. As the market in Asia has experienced early recovery from the pandemic, several of these orders have now been received and fulfilled. In fact, Cymat is expecting strong growth specifically from its Chinese distributor who's stocking orders to date for fiscal 2021 reflect a high level of confidence in demand for Alusion^TM. Moreover, these stocking orders are over and above this distributor's current major project sales pipeline. In the US, Cymat received a large order to outfit a global tech giant's new head office campus as well as a high-profile condominium project in Manhattan. These orders combined with other European and US-based project orders indicate that Alusion^TM sales for the first half of this fiscal year will significantly surpass Cymat's total annual sales from last year.

Sandwich Panel Joint Venture

Earlier in the year, Cymat shipped its recently enhanced version of aluminum foam panels to its Spanish partner, Alucoil SA ("Alucoil"). Given the pandemic's devastating impact on the Spanish economy, Alucoil has shifted its focus in the short term to its core business.  As a consequence, the brazing trials originally scheduled for spring 2020 are expected to be completed this fall. Upon the successful completion of these trials, Alucoil will send brazed sandwich panels to select customers for testing and certification. During this interim period, Cymat has been conducting its own brazing trials to facilitate and accelerate the ensuing trials in Spain.

SmartMetal^TM

Cymat's line of customized, energy management SAF is sold under the SmartMetal^TM brand. Despite the turbulence caused by COVID-19, progress continues on a number of fronts.

One initiative previously announced by Cymat involves the provision of SmartMetal^TM cores for the manufacture of non-lethal projectiles as an alternative to rubber bullets. Nobel Sports of France, the manufacturer of these projectiles, advised at the end of last year that the French Military had certified this product for its use. While COVID-19 has delayed receipt of the first commercial order from the French Military, Nobel Sports is still highly confident that it will be forthcoming.

Cymat is making strong headway on its blast-mitigation and light-weighting initiatives for a number of its military OEM customers. Cymat's most advanced program involves an Asian OEM whose vehicle was slated for final blast testing by its client prior to the onslaught of the pandemic. COVID-19 related supply chain disruption resulted in significant delays with the production of these test vehicles. Fortunately, these problems have been resolved and final blast testing leading to vehicle acceptance is expected to occur this fall.

On the automotive front, Cymat has been working for the last several years with a US-based company in the development of various front-end and side impact crash mitigation devices. Pre-COVID-19, the most advanced of these initiatives was slated for final crash testing by an Asian OEM last spring. Cymat anticipates an update on the timelines for the final crash tests on or before year end., Development work with other OEMs has now resumed and Cymat will release further updates as these initiatives move forward

After a relatively dormant period for sales of Cymat's energy absorbing applications in the nuclear industry, interest in SAF solutions has recently been renewed as evidenced by robust quoting activity. Cymat anticipates this interest to translate into meaningful sales in the sector for this fiscal year.

Government Support

Cymat participated in several government employee funding and grant programs which helped the company offset significant expenses during the shutdowns in many of the countries that it does business in. Furthermore, Cymat recently received approval for its final submission under the Government of Canada's Steel and Aluminum Initiative as administered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The grant which totalled $159,000 provided significant support for Cymat's foam development initiative. This substantial government support enabled Cymat to continue advancing numerous initiatives that otherwise may have been curtailed as a result of the pandemic.

"Despite the economic uncertainty created by COVID-19, we are encouraged by the strength of Alusion^TM sales activity to date together with its strong sales pipeline for the balance of the year. We anticipate this to be a record sales year for Alusion^TM and are optimistic that Alusion^TM together with emerging SmartMetal^TM sales will anchor Cymat's cashflow requirements for the balance of fiscal 2021" said Michael Liik, Cymat's CEO.

About Cymat:

Cymat develops innovative materials for industry. The company has worldwide rights, through patents and licenses, for producing Stabilized Aluminum Foam. The ultra-light metallic foam is manufactured by bubbling gas through molten alloyed aluminum containing a dispersion of fine ceramic particles and can be either continuously produced in flat panels or as near-net shapes. The result is a revolutionary material with a wide array of features including very low density, mechanical energy absorption, thermal and acoustic insulation, is recyclable, time and temperature insensitive and has a relatively low cost of production. Cymat is collaborating with a number of partners spanning the architectural, blast mitigation and automotive industries. For further information, visit the Web site www.cymat.com.

SOURCE Cymat Technologies Ltd.