RESTON, Va., March 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and provided an update on the Company's continued progress.

Seth Grae, President & Chief Executive Officer of Lightbridge Corporation, commented, “Despite the challenges faced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m happy with the progress Lightbridge has made throughout the year. In summary, throughout 2020, Lightbridge has taken steps to reduce many of the risks associated with our business. One major step in 2020 included securing US government support for our fuel development program through our GAIN voucher award from the U.S. Department of Energy. We believe that the federal government's ongoing commitment to supporting advanced nuclear technology companies like Lightbridge positions us to further enhance our fuel development efforts.”

“Importantly, we also came to terms on a settlement agreement with Framatome that resolves all disputes between the companies and terminates all agreements pertaining to the Enfission joint venture, freeing all intellectual property rights to their respective background technology. I believe this settlement agreement is the best result for all sides, allowing Lightbridge to pursue various promising opportunities in the nuclear sector, now unencumbered by any constraints on our Lightbridge Fuel™ technology platform.

“Finally, we have taken the critical step of prioritizing our fuel development program towards powering Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) of the future. SMRs are expected to have much lower capital costs per module than larger reactor designs, making their deployment easier to finance and support by private and government sectors. In addition, we expect SMR plants with Lightbridge Fuel to have the ability to load follow renewables, helping to expand markets for renewables and SMRs together as countries seek to decarbonize energy generation. We believe that Lightbridge Fuel’s™ most significant economic benefit to SMRs will be to provide a 30% power uprate that will allow SMRs greater flexibility in power levels.

“We want to position Lightbridge as an essential company for the world to meet its climate goals. While existing large reactors can present an additional market opportunity for Lightbridge Fuel™, we do not expect significant future growth in the number of these large reactors, so they will not move the needle on climate change. Lightbridge is going where the industry is heading, along with the significant government funding opportunities we expect to go toward SMRs in the coming years, and we remain focused on our pursuit of full-scale commercialization of Lightbridge Fuel™ as quickly as possible” concluded Mr. Grae.

Financial Highlights

The Company maintained a strong working capital position at December 31, 2020 and had no debt.

Cash Flows Summary

• Cash and cash equivalents were $21.5 million at December 31, 2020, compared to $18.0 million at December 31, 2019, an increase of $3.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, consisting of the following:
  
  • Cash used in operating activities increased $1.9 million, from $6.7 million in 2019 to $8.6 million in 2020. This increase was due primarily to an increase in our general and administrative expenses (see operations summary below) offset by a decrease in our research and development expenses, as Lightbridge is no longer conducting its research and development activities through Enfission.
  • Cash used in investing activities decreased $3.6 million from $3.8 million in 2019 to $0.2 million in 2020. This decrease was due primarily to the reduced investment in the joint venture, Enfission LLC.
  • Cash provided by financing activities increased $8.6 million from $3.8 million in 2019 to $12.4 million in 2020. This increase was due to the increase in the net proceeds from issuance of common stock in 2020.

Balance Sheet Summary

• Total assets were $21.8 million and total liabilities were $4.6 million at December 31, 2020. Working capital was $17.1 million at December 31, 2020 versus $18.0 million in 2019. This decrease of $0.9 million in working capital was due primarily to the factors stated above in the cash flow summary.
• Stockholders’ equity was $17.2 million at December 31, 2020 as compared to $19.2 million at December 31, 2019.

Operations Summary

• General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $8.3 million compared to $5.8 million for the prior year, an increase of $2.5 million. These increases included an increase in professional fees relating to the arbitration matter of approximately $1.7 million, an increase in total employee compensation and employee benefits of approximately $1.2 million, and an increase in insurance expense of $0.1 million. In addition, there were severance payments made of approximately $0.2 million, for employee layoffs partially due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 on our future business operations and the cessation of the Enfission joint venture. These increases were offset by a decrease in travel, promotional and various administrative expenses of approximately $0.4 million partially due to COVID-19 and a decrease in stock-based compensation of approximately $0.3 million.
• Lightbridge’s total corporate research and development costs amounted to $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. This decrease of $1.8 million was due primarily to transitioning our R&D work relating to Enfission to developing a new fuel development strategy with U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.
• On February 11, 2021, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with its former JV partner in Enfission and agreed to pay approximately $4.2 million in legal settlement costs. This amount was recorded in operating expenses as legal settlement costs for the year ended December 31, 2020.
• As a result of recent triggering events that required an impairment provision of the total carrying value of the patent costs, the Company recorded an impairment loss and patent write-off of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which included a $0.1 million write-off of patent costs and $1.1 million in impairment loss. There was no patent impairment loss provision in 2019.
• Other operating income was $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to an other operating loss of $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of $2.7 million. This change was due to a net decrease in the equity loss from the Enfission joint venture of $2.6 million and an increase in grant income from the GAIN voucher of approximately $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Grant income is recorded on a gross method with the grant income shown as other operating income and the related costs as a charge to research and development expenses. There was no grant income in 2019.
• Total net other income decreased by approximately $0.3 million due to the decrease in interest income in 2020.
• Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $14.4 million compared to $10.7 million for 2019. This increase of $3.7 million was primarily due to legal settlement costs to terminate the Enfission joint venture.

FISCAL YEAR 2020 CONFERENCE CALL & WEBCAST

Lightbridge will host a conference call on Thursday, March 25th at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company's financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, as well as the Company's corporate progress and other meaningful developments.

Interested parties can access the conference call by calling 833-519-1295 for U.S. callers, or 914-800-3866 for international callers. Please reference Conference ID: 4973186. The call will be available on the Company’s website via webcast at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/b333d62i.

The webcast will also be archived on the Company’s website. A telephone replay of the call will be available approximately two hours following the call and can be accessed by dialing 855-859-2056 from the U.S. or 404-537-3406 for international callers. Please reference Conference ID: 4973186.

About Lightbridge Corporation

Lightbridge (NASDAQ: LTBR) is an advanced nuclear fuel technology development company based in Reston, Virginia, United States. The Company is developing Lightbridge Fuel™, a proprietary next-generation nuclear fuel technology for current and future reactors, which significantly enhances the economics, safety, and proliferation resistance of nuclear power. Lightbridge invented and patented its technology with goals of preventing climate change and enhancing national security. The Company has assembled a world-class development team. The Company plans to operate under a licensing and royalty model and based on the increased power generated by Lightbridge-designed fuel, expects to offer high ROI for operators of existing and new reactors. For more information please visit: www.ltbridge.com.