Mullen (MULN) today announced a financial update for its fiscal first quarter in 2023 ending December 31, 2022.
Fiscal First Quarter 2023 and Recent Highlights Include:
- Mullen completed the purchase of ELMS’ (Electric Last Mile Solutions) assets in an all-cash $105 million purchase in November 2022 on the heels of the successful acquisition of a controlling interest in Bollinger Motors in September 2022.
- The Company has over $100 million in cash (includes restricted cash available for Company use) available for operations and investment at December 31, 2022. The Company has additional committed capital of $90 million expected to be received prior to the end of April 2023.
- Secured exclusive sales, distribution and branding rights to the new compact electric vehicle, the Mullen-GO (formerly I-GO), and made initial delivery to distribution agent.
- Mullen Receives Purchase Order from Randy Marion Automotive Group for 6,000 Class 1 EV Cargo Vans valued at approximately $200 million.
- Mullen Automotive Announces Results of Special Shareholder Meeting with Favorable Outcome.
- Mullen Automotive, Loop Global and Menzies Aviation Pilot Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
- Launched “Strikingly Different” US Test Drive Tour of the Mullen FIVE EV Crossover on October 27, 2022, in Pasadena, CA, and continued through nine cities across the southern states, concluding with the successful close on Dec. 16th in Charlotte, NC. The second leg of the tour will continue in the Summer of 2023 and include the debut of the Mullen FIVE RS.
Management Commentary
“In a very short period of time we have built Mullen into an emerging leader in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, accomplishing a number of synergistic acquisitions, forging key partnerships and achieving important milestones,” said David Michery, Mullen’s CEO and Chairman. “With the launch of the Mullen Five Tour and our acquisitions, we are in a unique position among new electric vehicle producers, with both retail and commercial vehicles coming to market. With the recent addition of Bollinger and ELMS, we now have the portfolio in place from class 1 through 6, allowing us to drive the company toward production of our industry-leading electric vehicles.”
Electric Last Mile (ELMS) Update
ELMS (Electric Last Mile Solutions), the $105 million all cash acquisition of assets in November included: the factory in Mishawaka, Indiana, providing Mullen with the capability to produce in excess of 50,000 vehicles per year, all intellectual property, including all manufacturing data that is required for the assembly of the Class 1 van and Class 3 Cab Chassis, all inventory including finished and unfinished vehicles, part modules, component parts, raw materials, tooling all property including equipment, machinery, supplies, computer hardware, software, communication equipment, data networks and all other data storage.
Mullen-GO (formerly I-GO) Status
In addition, our move into Europe took important first steps in our fiscal second quarter commencing January 1, 2023, as we made initial delivery to our marketing, sales, distribution, and servicing agent, Newgate Motor Group. The first Mullen-GO vehicles are available for pre-order at an expected starting price of $11,999 plus VAT and local transportation charges. There is high demand for ready-to-market compact electric vehicles in Europe and Mullen has seized the opportunity to extend its branding and marketing reach to the European market through its partnership with the manufacturers of the Mullen-GO.
Mullen Signs First Commercial Dealership Partner in Charlotte, NC
Mullen announced a purchase order for 6,000 Class 1 EV cargo vans from Randy Marion Isuzu, LLC (“RMI”), a member of the Randy Marion Automotive Group (“RMA”) in mid-December. The firm order agreement is valued at approximately $200 million. RMA is Mullen’s first commercial dealer partner to offer sales, service, and parts for Mullen Automotive’s commercial vehicle lineup.
Menzies Aviation Partners with Mullen in LAX Pilot Program
Last week, we announced that Menzies Aviation, with over 8,000 vehicles in its global fleet, has started the evaluation of Mullen Class 1 EV cargo vans along with EV charging infrastructure from Loop Global across its operations at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Mullen and Menzies have commenced a 60-day pilot program that will evaluate the Class 1 electric vehicle (EV) cargo vans in several use cases across Menzies’ LAX operations.
Positive Implications of Special Shareholder Meeting Results
Concerning the Special Meeting of Mullen Shareholders, after removing certain items initially slated for consideration by Shareholders, all remaining proposals were approved. This included the implementation of a reverse stock split, which the company does not plan to enact in the event the stock eclipses the $1 mark between now and September 6th. Should the price of the Mullen common stock not reach $1 per share, management plans to implement the reverse split at a magnitude determined at that time.
Also at the Special meeting, shareholders approved the proposal to increase the Company’s authorized Common Share capital from 1.75 billion to 5 billion shares. The Company’s authorized preferred stock is 500,000,000 shares. As a result, Mullen’s authorized capital stock increased from 2.25 billion shares to 5.5 billion shares.
Mullen FIVE Completes Successful U.S. Test Drive Tour in Late 2022
In the first fiscal quarter, we completed the FIVE EV Crossover “Strikingly Different” test drive tour, a successful national tour of nine cities. We experienced an overwhelming response from the consumer. In the Summer of 2023, Mullen will be launching the second leg of the “Strikingly Different” Tour with a focus on the East Coast, Midwest and northwest before finishing up in northern California. The second leg of the tour will feature the Mullen FIVE RS, which is a high-performance EV sport crossover featuring 1,100 horsepower, a top speed of 200 mph and acceleration from 0-60 mph in just 1.9 seconds.
Mullen Production Outlook
Looking forward, quite simply our objective is to move our commercial vehicles from product development to production, including the necessary steps of completing certification. As we have said, retail production of the Mullen FIVE and the Bollinger B1 and B2 are planned to be in our Mishawaka, Indiana facility, while the commercial vehicles are planned to be assembled and manufactured in our Tunica, Mississippi facility. Our current plan is to start production of the Mullen FIVE in the fourth quarter 2024, first quarter of 2025. Bollinger B4 start of production is planned for the first quarter of 2024.
Financial Results
The Net loss attributable to common shareholders was $376.9 million and $156.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, respectively. The net loss per share was $0.28 for the three months ended December 31, 2022, as compared to a net loss per share of $8.93 for the three months ended December 31, 2021. Weighted average shares outstanding were 1.36 billion at December 31, 2022 and 17.5 million at December 31, 2021.
The $220.9 million or 142% increase in net loss attributable to common shareholders was primarily due to a $164.0 million increase in non-cash financing expenses and $59.6 million increase in operating losses for ramping-up development efforts and reflecting the addition expenses from the acquisition of Bollinger Motors and the purchase of ELMS assets.
Following is our unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended December 31, 2022, and 2021:
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For the quarter ended December 31, 2022, there were significant, non-cash expenses (approximately $306.0 million) relating to debt and equity issuances and non-cash interest. It is useful to review the operating and investing sections of the cash flow report to understand cash spend for the quarter given the large amount of non-cash charges.
Non-cash charges are detailed in the operating section of the cash flow statement below. Cash flow activity for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, shows a net loss before accrued preferred dividends and noncontrolling interest of $378.5 million, non-cash adjustment add-backs of approximately $347.7 million and operating asset and liability changes of $2.4 million. In summary, cash flows from operating activities were $33.2 million and cash flows from investing activities were $93.7 million (primarily ELMS asset purchase), offset by cash inflows from financing activities of $150.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022.
