Ascent Solar Files 2021 10-K and Reports Full Year 2021 Financial Results

THORNTON, CO, March 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via – Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (“Ascent Solar” “Ascent” or the “Company”) (OTCMKTS: ASTI), a developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art, lightweight, and flexible thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solutions, reported full year financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021 in its 10-K filed on March 14, 2022.

Full Year 2021 Financial Summary:

• Revenue for the year 2021 was $608K, an increase of $541K, or 812%, from 2020.
• Costs and expenses were $9.4M, an increase of $6.88M, or 258%, compared to $2.5M in year 2020, when the Company was in the process of re-emerging from its dormant period.
• Net loss for the year was $6M, which included a non-cash gain of approximately $4M from the changes in fair value of derivatives and loss on extinguishment of liabilities.
• Cash balance improved greatly from $0.17M as of December 31, 2020 to approximately $6M at the close of the year ended December 31, 2021.
• Most notably, total liabilities were significantly reduced from the $27.56M balance on December 31, 2020, down $11.9M or 43%, to a $15.7M balance at the end of year ended December 31, 2021. Following the 2021 year end, $9.2M of convertible notes were converted into common stock of the Company in February 2022, further reducing the total liabilities.

As previously reported, for much of 2020, the Company was predominantly in a dormant status due to financial constraints and impact from COVID-19. Beginning in mid-2020, management pursued a restructuring process for the Company which included (not limited to):

• Securing about $2.75M financing from strategic investors between June and September 2020;
• Strengthening the Company’s board and management team between October and December 2020;
• Aligning with a leading German agrivoltaic thin-film solar tube maker to secure a strategic $2.5M capital infusion in January 2021, as well as a multi-million dollar long-term supply agreement in September 2021;
• Securing $3M common stock investment from a private investor in March 2021;
• Reducing liabilities through the conversion of $5.8M of convertibles notes into common stock of the Company in March 2021;
• Completing delivery on a supply contract with a developer of advanced unmanned, helium-filled airships in May 2021;
• Regaining its status as a current public filer with the SEC in May 2021;
• Being recognized for exceptional device stability during space flight experiments while also receiving an Innovation Award at the Defense TechConnect Conference in October 2021; and,
• Completing a strategic capital raise of $10M from the Company’s largest stakeholder between August and November 2021.

Management Comments:

“Since September of 2020, the Ascent team has been working to restart our operations and get caught up with the required SEC filings,” commented Victor Lee, President and CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. "Despite setbacks caused by various challenges including the lack of financial resources and the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, I am extremely pleased with our restructuring and recapitalization efforts, our currency in our SEC filings, as well as the new Board of Directors composition, and our appointment of Michael Gilbreth as CFO,” continued Mr. Lee. “We will continue our reorganization effort to strengthen our balance sheet and streamline our business model to focus on our core strength in the Tier-1 specialty PV markets with high entry barriers like the space and near-space, aviation (drones), military, 1st Responders and emergency power markets.

“The Company has made significant progress in these high-value markets, and will continue to focus in such areas where Ascent is truly at the forefront of the competition. Most notably, as mentioned above, Ascent’s thin-film modules were selected and launched by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to the International Space Station (November 17, 2018) as part of the MISSE-X flight experiment, and were recognized for its exceptional device stability during the space flight experiments and also received the Innovation Award at the Defense TechConnect Conference in 2021. The Company was also selected for further participation in two upcoming flight demonstrations – the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and anTenna (LISA-T) project and the Solar Cruiser solar sail project. Other notable milestones include our continuous development effort with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)’s SolarPowerSail project utilizing Ascent’s superlight thin-film modules, as well as multiple other private agencies’ selection of our PV technology for further testing and evaluation for deep space missions."

Mr. Lee concluded, “Great progress was also made in the defense and emergency power market, which we believe will add to revenue growth in 2022 and beyond.  We are optimistic and certainly look forward to stronger years ahead, as our high-value PV market focus begins to take shape. We will update our shareholders as we make continued progress.”

ABOUT ASCENT SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.:

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a developer of thin-film photovoltaic modules using flexible substrate materials that are more versatile and rugged than traditional solar panels.  Ascent Solar modules were named as one of the top 100 technologies by R&D Magazine, and one of TIME Magazine's 50 best inventions. The technology described above represents the cutting edge of flexible power and can be directly integrated into consumer products and off-grid applications, as well as other aerospace applications. Ascent Solar is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado, and more information can be found at .  

Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the Company's actual operating results to be materially different from any historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe these risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements that contain terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "expect," "intends," "intend," "anticipate," "anticipates," "plans," "plan," to be uncertain and forward-looking. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of our future revenues, stock price, or results of operations. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ascent Solar Technologies

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