All eyes are focused on the Federal Reserve as the U.S. central bank started its two-day monetary policy meeting yesterday. The Fed is scheduled to release its monetary policy statement later today.
U.S. equities have been dragged lower for a third consecutive day as investors remain on the sidelines ahead of the monetary policy announcement. Market sentiment has also been weighed down by a sharp drop in oil prices.
Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent days as the outlook has changed amid a glut in the downstream market. Market participants are worried that the glut in refined products could lead to refiners cutting production, which in turn would hurt the demand for crude oil itself.
Also keeping investors on the sideline is the ongoing earnings season. In fact, this week is the most important week in the U.S. corporate earnings season as several big names in the S&P 500 are expected to report results.
Biorem Inc. (TSX-Venture:BRM), a Canada-based clean technology company, has also reported its second-quarter results today. BRM is engaged in the design, manufacturing and distribution of a line of air emissions control systems used to eliminate odors, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
The company operates through the manufacture and sale of air pollution control systems segment. BRM also offers Biogas Conditioning technologies specializing in biological treatment of hydrogen sulfide.
For the second quarter ended June 30, 2016, BRM reported revenue of $2.9 million, representing a drop of 38% on a year-over- year basis. The company’s revenue for the six-month period ended June 30, 2016 totaled $7.1 million, down 24% on a year-over- year basis.
The drop in second-quarter revenue was mainly due to customer delivery schedules and is not indicative of the Company's bookings or order backlog.
BRM’s gross profit for the quarter was $554,000 or 19% of revenue compared to $1.7 million of gross profit recorded during the second quarter of 2015 and $1.4 million of gross profit or 34% of revenue in the first quarter of 2016. Net loss for the quarter was $113,000, which represents a $0.01 loss per share basic and fully diluted.
Derek S. Webb, President and CEO, said that the second quarter of 2016 saw a large number of projects experience construction delays that were beyond the control of the company and the delays reflect the normal fluctuations in their business cycle and do not represent a decline in overall sales or operational performance.
Regardless of the CEO’s reassurances, shares of BRM slid on the news yesterday and are even on the day today. With shares basically at 52-week lows, it is hard to see how this story turns around in the short term.
