EcoSynthetix Inc. ($ECO)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to EcoSynthetix's 2026 First Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Listeners are reminded that portions of today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to future events. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on EcoSynthetix's risks and uncertainties related to these forward-looking statements, please refer to the company's annual information form dated February 17, 2026, which is posted on SEDAR. This morning's call is being recorded on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Jeff MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer of EcoSynthetix. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us today. Yesterday afternoon, we reported our 2026 first quarter results. Sales were $3.8 million in the quarter, a decline of 7% compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $340,000, an improvement of 32%. Those are disappointing figures to report, particularly after the momentum we built in the second half of 2025, including 2 record quarters and our first profitable year. The start to 2026 is a short-term step back. Based on current order patterns and feedback from key accounts, we expect the softness in top line results to extend into the second quarter. With that context, it's worth reiterating where we stand and what's been accomplished and why we remain confident in the long-term opportunity. We're driving ahead in our key end markets. Our strategy is the right one. No one else like us has such a strong commercial product line and collection of blue-chip customers that continue to invest alongside us. There is a trade-off in having large strategic accounts. When they slow down, we slow down. But we would rather be working with these customers, partnering with them to drive adoption within their customer base in pulp and within their supply chain and wood composites than not have them. From a long-term perspective, each one of these accounts remains committed to the use of our biopolymers. I met personally with each of our key accounts through the start of the year and their commitment remains the same. They're actively investing in programs in the short term and the long term with us and they continue to tell us how important we are to their strategic objectives. We've built a strong foundation for future growth with the right partners in large multibillion-dollar end markets where our solutions offer value. We have the manufacturing capacity to generate significantly more volumes and we have the ability to scale further with a capital-light model when that becomes necessary. Over the course of the past 5 years, we have successfully diversified the business into strategic end markets like pulp, tissue, wood composites and personal care and away from the legacy graphic paper market. So with that, let's dive into each of the end markets individually, starting with pulp, tissue and paperboard. The geopolitical events in the Middle East have created short-term challenges for many players in the industry. The sector is experiencing inflationary pricing pressure on many of the chemical inputs needed to run operations and some that we compete with. Just as critical, supply and logistics are becoming more difficult. As an example, during a recent customer visit with a major pulp player, the Head of Sourcing left right after our meeting to travel to secure certain chemicals on an emergency basis. Our biopolymers solves long-term problems and sometimes it takes a short-term disruption to highlight the security and volatility of traditional chemicals in order to drive change. Our biopolymers are a strong solution to these challenges. The level of activity to test and adopt our strength aids has never been stronger. Our global pulp customer took maintenance downtime on the primary line that uses our SurfLock strength aids during the quarter. They used the opportunity to temporarily move production equipment to a second larger mill to conduct an extensive industrial scale trial using SurfLock. The trial was a qualified success and feeds into their planning for broader rollout of their enhanced pulp product. Their planning around these events resulted in a temporary slowdown in orders to start the year, which impacted our volumes. Based on their feedback, we expect to return to previous levels with a continued commitment to grow toward the fiber-to-fiber objectives that they remain firmly committed to. They believe their fiber-to-fiber agenda is one of their 2 core growth pillars for their overall business. On the broader introduction of SurfLock into end paper applications like tissue and packaging, our distribution partners are generating a significant level of trial activity, leading to the healthiest, most robust pipeline we've ever managed. Our partners are all established, successful and practical businesses in their regional markets. The time and dollars they are investing in introducing SurfLock are a testament to what we can deliver. Over the next few months, we're scheduled to have more trials than we've ever had. Our distribution partners are firing on all cylinders. They're highly engaged with our team facilitating these trials, including late-stage long-duration trials as well as trials with some of the largest tissue brand manufacturers in the world. In addition to these tissue trials, the partners have also made progress in other end markets, including packaging board and conventional writing paper. SurfLock is continuing to deliver strong proof of its value and opportunities continue to progress positively on all fronts. Turning to wood composites. The international retailer that is backward integrated into wood panel production is experiencing specific supply chain challenges at the primary mill that's commercial with our DuraBind resin. The same mill is also undergoing a significant capital upgrade program. These changes and challenges are unrelated to the performance of our solution. However, we've been advised to expect a slowdown through the course of Q2 and the first part of Q3. Senior leadership has been very clear with us about the importance of their sustainability goals and our part in helping them achieve those goals. They've continued to invest in existing and new developments with us for the short and long term. They're expanding usage of DuraBind at the second line, albeit off a smaller base and we started activity at a third line they own with trials expected later this year. In addition, we have kicked off a separate longer-term development program with them. It speaks to the commitment they're making in driving change, both in their own operations as well as their supply chain partners. The importance of our bio-based resin and its role in their agenda is clear. In the near term, we're navigating operational challenges that are impacting volumes, but the long-term relationship and the strategic direction remain intact. In personal care, our development and marketing partner, Dow, helped drive a strong fourth quarter for us. They built new supply chain channels, which is an encouraging sign for future growth. Volumes were softer in the first quarter as they drew down inventory, which we noted as a possibility on our last call. Based on their reports to us, they expect 2026 will be another growth year, supported by new customers and new applications. They remain as bullish as ever on the prospects for MaizeCare. And consistent with our other end markets, Dow continues to invest in developments to broaden their reach over time. With that, I'll turn it over to Rob to review the financials. Rob?

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning. Net sales were $3.8 million in Q1 2026, down 7% or $270,000 compared to the same period in 2025. The change was primarily due to lower sales volume, which reduced sales by $710,000 or 18%, partially offset by a higher average selling price, which increased sales by $440,000 or 11%. Lower sales volumes were primarily attributable to customer inventory destocking because of challenging conditions in their end markets and the timing of orders. Average selling price improved due to the impact of foreign exchange rates and product mix compared to the same period last year. Net of manufacturing depreciation, gross profit as a percentage of sales was 30.6% in the quarter compared to 27.2% in the same period in 2025. The improvement was primarily due to higher average selling price, partially offset by higher manufacturing costs. Gross profit was $930,000 in the quarter, up 7% or $60,000. This improvement was primarily driven by a higher average selling price, partially offset by lower volumes and higher manufacturing costs. SG&A expenses were $1.6 million in the quarter compared to $1.5 million in the same period last year. The 9% or $140,000 change was primarily due to higher salaries and benefits and other miscellaneous costs offset by lower repairs and maintenance. R&D expenses were $190,000 in the quarter compared to $380,000 in the same period last year. The change primarily relates to a $200,000 refundable SR&ED tax credit recognized in the current period relating to SR&ED expenses for the current and prior year -- fiscal year in accordance with Bill C-15, which became law in March 2026. The annual benefit from this tax policy change is estimated to be $200,000 per year. R&D expense as a percentage of sales was 5% for Q1 2026. Our R&D efforts continue to focus on further enhancing the value of our existing products and expanding our addressable opportunities. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $340,000 in the quarter compared to a loss of $500,000 in the same period last year. The $160,000 improvement in the quarter was primarily due to higher gross profit and lower operating costs adjusted for noncash items. As of March 31st, we had $29.8 million of cash and term deposits compared to $29.6 million as of December 31, 2025. During the quarter, we invested $590,000 into the NCIB to purchase and retire 245,000 shares. We have demonstrated our ability to responsibly manage our cash reserves through multiple cycles while continuing to invest in our long-term growth strategy. With that, I'll turn it back to Jeff for closing comments.

Thanks, Rob. We finished 2025 in a strong position, showing momentum in both volumes and profitability. The start of 2026 has been a step back and this is frustrating for all of us. Like you, we want to move faster. Our outlook is tied to the performance of our key strategic accounts. Individually, they each had a slower start to the year for different reasons, but their commitment to our bio-based solutions remains as strong as ever. They've communicated that to me directly during my customer visits. Our strategy is the right one. We have great products and they're clearly delivering value for our customers. The pace can be uneven, but in the long run, we're absolutely doing the right things and we're not going to break from our strategy. Our relationships with our key accounts and partners are long term, durable and stable. We're contributing value to their supply chains as a trusted partner and they recognize it. And we're tied to the longer-term goals that they are committed to achieving. We believe we're still in the early innings of the opportunity from these strategic end markets and we continue to invest in expanding our reach. We've built the foundation, we have the capacity and we're engaged with the right players to deliver long-term value for shareholders. And with that, I'll ask the operator to open the call up for your questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We now have our first question, and this comes from [ Brian Morrison ].

You did caution it would be a soft quarter. So I'm not totally surprised. I guess the positive here is that you had very strong free cash flow that provides support to your NCIB and longevity to reach your goals. But just going down that train of thought, there's much trialing that's a clear positive, but it's been a theme for some time now. So just drilling down more specifically, what are the main data points since we last spoke that's given you this confidence that the momentum from 2025 is continuing into 2026? And then you call out a second half reacceleration. What is this inflection to turn trialing into strong revenue growth?

Yes. I think the inflection -- the inflection really is going to be driven by the pipeline that our partners have established in those end markets when we talk about the broader trialing activity. I think I mentioned in the last call that I had met with all of our existing and new partners as we got the year started and some of those were very new. We're benefiting -- and you don't have the same visibility that I do into this on a daily basis, but we're benefiting from a trial roster from some of those existing accounts and some of those trial programs have been underway for quite some time as well as now an establishing trial program with some of these new players. I'll just -- I'll note one in particular, a blue-chip company that is a regional partner for us in one of the geographies we're active in. They've advanced with a top 10 global tissue manufacturer very quickly through the pipeline through multiple trials and leading to what is now an extended trial and I think will be a pretty impactful piece of news on the entire industry. And I'll say when because I see at this point, it's not an if, but it is a when, when that converts over. We've got a roster of trial activity that we haven't had before. It's largely in tissue, but we have some competence within the distribution network in both packaging and writing paper with some great relationships and great feet in the door already in those markets where they've managed to establish some new opportunities and make some pretty quick progress in some cases. So those are going to be, I think, key points not only that show up in our numbers through the second half of the year, but proof points with these distribution partners that resonate really well across the industry. So that's one of the things that we're obviously really looking forward to. And then I think with the big strategic players that unfortunately do have soft starts to the year, it's really clear that, especially in the case of the pulp producer, that their level of activity out there in the market, kind of similar to us building our own pipeline through distribution partners, their pipeline has continued to grow. And they've shared that through some of their own public presentations. So there is some visibility into the steps that they have to go through and how the pipeline has grown as a result. And we see that as really the main driver of growth and success in that market as well. The pulp market has taken note of what SurfLock can do. And so we've also expanded our reach into some new pulp players as well. Again, still early stage relative to the track record we have with others, but that's also very encouraging as we look towards the second half of the year. So lots -- I'm as disappointed as everybody with some of the softness in the start of the year. But I do get the benefit, I guess, of seeing on a daily basis, the activity and a step back view of the pipeline, which is continuing to grow and is extremely encouraging for what's ahead.

So this advancement with the top 10 global tissue player, is that from the handful of service providers, the 5 or 6 that you brought on late last year? Or just maybe update us on how we should think about seeing tissue wins from this new class of service providers and where we stand with, I think you said 3 others that you were negotiating with last call.

Yes. This is from one of the service providers that we brought on late last year. I met them for the first time beginning of this year as we got started together and they've made great progress alongside us in a fairly short period of time. And they're working with us in one geography with this global tissue manufacturer. We are continuing to progress with additional partners. One of the opportunities is a really significant one that we are digging in on together in advance of putting together something bigger in terms of a partnership. This is really a proof point for both of us that we're really excited about. But it's a large, fairly complex project. We've got some upcoming steps on that just in the next few weeks here, which we're quite excited about. And that -- if this continues to go well, will yield another important partnership for us in another new geography.

That's encouraging. The top 10 global tissue player, I just wondered what makes you believe it goes commercial near term as opposed to ongoing trialing for an extended period of time?

Just the fantastic results we've achieved in several trials and I'll say also at multiple locations to back that up as a proof point for them across their organization and the aggressive nature that they've taken in advancing these. Things have progressed really quickly. So that -- yes, that's what gives us confidence. They happen to be -- I mean, they're one of the top 10, but they also are probably the one that is expanding most aggressively into new geographies right now. There's a great mindset for change there, which I think fits really well with the kind of change we're trying to drive and support.

Okay. If I flip to pulp for a minute, I understand your major pulp producer. I understand the benefits of the structural gap, the fiber-to-fiber, the heightened vertical integration into tissue. And now they're trialing at 2 mills. I don't -- I know you don't want to go into great detail, but I think it's fair to ask now that as more and more resources are allocated by both of you and trialing seems to be well down the road, what are the next steps to seeing a potential material news event or even a contract?

I think it's all going to be driven, Brian, by their success in driving more customer adoption on their side. The first step-up in growth that they had was driven by the first customers that they introduced this brand-new product to like a year ago. And they've since primed the pipeline as they've shown in their public presentations to expand it quite significantly. And I think it's really that next wave that drives another step change for both of us and probably something more significant. The rationale behind expanding into other mills, we -- in meeting with them personally in the last few months, we did get some greater insight into how that works, but that's kind of proprietary to them as to how they manage to serve different customers from different mills, but it makes sense to us.

I mean, they've taken that structural gap up to 3 million tonnes from 2 million tonnes. I mean what kind of lead time or notification do you need in order for them to potentially make a big order? I mean, there's got to be some sort of lead time or process here in terms of them making progress in terms of a large contract.

We've developed the supply chain channels that gives us confidence we can keep up with whatever step change that they make. The capacity is in place at our 2 operations and we've served them now successfully from both operations to deliver. And we've developed additional supply chain partners in multiple geographies to make sure that, that's not an issue either. They've tested that out with us. They seem confident in our ability to deliver as well. So I think we have the steps in place to be able to support whatever growth they throw at us.

Do you have any color on timing, Jeff?

No, nothing stronger than what they say publicly and I would never step out in front of -- in front of their own messages on their timing for achieving their goals. So that's the best forecast we could possibly have.

Okay. I guess based on your comments on wood paneling, is it realistic that your wood panel producer can maintain a 2030 target? I mean, based on the ramp to date, you'd have to think they'd be full steam ahead yesterday.

Yes. It's a challenge. It's a significant amount of industrial change to get to the 2030 goals. They continue to reiterate that, that is their objective. They are pushing. We've seen actually through the first half of this year through scorecarding in their own meetings with their own suppliers that they are pushing their supply chain partners to change and tying that to the allocation of business to those supply chain partners. So there is some teeth behind it. Again, we're ready, but we'll believe it and respond as we see these other supply chain partners engage more significantly. In the meantime, what they're doing at their own operations continues to be positive. We're now in engineering studies and trial planning for the third mill, which is quite exciting. And we've seen a little bit of an uptick in demand from the second mill, lots of engagement there. We introduced a product there that allows them to save on some of their logistics costs, improves the value of the product overall. So good positive momentum within their own operations and the supply chain seems to be getting a kick as well.

Sorry, are you referring to their external partners?

Yes.

Are their external partners making progress as well?

Yes, that's what I mean when I say supply chain.

Got you. I guess lastly, on the Dow, you talked about the ramp year-over-year. But do we have any color upon them making progress into larger orders with CPGs or cosmetic companies?

Only what they note as good consistent activity in pushing some of these existing brands into MaizeCare. It's definitely a tougher go. You're risking significant brand products that you have on the shelf. So we have, in fact, seen one of those go very close to the goal line. And I guess, amid some technical and marketing concerns did a little bit of a U-turn where they continue to work on progressing that opportunity. And they have multiple other ones on the go. I'm giving a very removed example of one of those that we had some visibility to, but we don't have super visibility into their pipeline. We do hear regularly their enthusiasm for what's ahead. And we do -- on a year-over-year basis, we do see progress that they're making. I still believe like they've tied this to needing to take at least a 10% market share in this space and they stay convicted to that. I think in order to get there, they need to see some of these big programs break out. But they also see that in this space, often what causes a breakout is some of these upstart brands beginning to take some share and take some notice from the market, which is definitely happening. So if that's kind of phase 1, prong 1 of their strategy, they're definitely seeing that. They're also pushing into influencer markets and I'll say, geographies that are very influential around the world, which they also see as a kind of a flagship push into change within the space overall. So we see they're doing a lot of the right things from a technical and marketing perspective, but they know that space way better than we do. We don't have the same visibility into their pipeline than we do in our own direct markets.

Okay. I think that's all from me. I appreciate it. There's lots of encouraging trends here, Jeff. I think it's time for the trials to turn into financial performance.

Yes. Yes, agreed.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Matt Gaasenbeek from Stifel.

Thanks for sticking with it and grinding away. I know as a shareholder, we're always hoping to see results quicker, but it is what it is and it seems like you're doing all the right things. So great on that. The question I had was as it relates to energy prices. And if we settle in at a new higher norm, although today may not be the best day to support that. But if oil remains above traditional average prices somewhere in the $80 level, does that -- how does that impact the conversion from petrol-based products to yours? And are the customers as concerned about that as they once were in the earlier days of the EcoSynthetix story?

I would say it impacts our opportunity to transform industries in different ways, but certainly, there's some very acute ways that we're seeing right now, particularly in the Far East, where there's a huge dependence on petrochemicals coming through the strait that's in question right now where we've seen -- just an example, we've seen the largest latex supplier in Japan boost prices overnight by $0.94 a kilogram. So consider that like roughly double what it was before. So they've boosted prices significantly. And that clearly plays into our value proposition. Our input costing has been much more stable. If you look at the commodity markets and look at how [indiscernible] has responded relative to some of these chemicals, it creates a favorable gap for us. It still takes time to drive change in a market like Japan, what we heard, first and foremost, was that they were just immediately lacking in critical chemicals just to keep the lights on. And so job 1 was getting through that. But the focus has now shifted toward what can we do to solve this in the short term? And could this be a spark to just needing long-term change away from this kind of risk of volatility? So that discussion is live in some of those markets. If we think about wood panels, the chemical that we're competing with there is urea formaldehyde and there have been significant price increases, 50% or so to those inputs. So while there may be impediments to short-term change usually, I think this is also going to wake up some people that here's this volatility and here's how it's impacting us now. And I think people are thinking that this could not just be really short term, but the impact of this could drag on for another 12 months before it gets corrected, assuming that things stop tomorrow. So yes, we see it as a silver lining. It still takes the work in the operations to make the changes. So it's not an overnight thing. But it could take -- it could be that some of these short-term shocks cause people to think about this is maybe the time for us to think about longer-term change.

Also, as it relates to formaldehyde, what's the current take internationally and in the U.S. on formaldehyde and the supply chain? I know one of your big customers, the 2030 goal of getting it out. Is that as important as it was earlier on? Is that momentum behind some of the issues related with formaldehyde in people's homes? Is that sort of calming down? Or has there been changes on the laws related to emissions off of formaldehyde and other products that is slowing things down or improving things?

I think in North America and Europe both, I think there's a sentiment that there's been enough change for now at the consumer level, but the change in regulation to go to lower emitting products has come at a significant cost. Lines go slower, the materials to go into these lower emitting solutions are more expensive. And so our solution ends up looking more attractive and especially so in that it doesn't have any formaldehyde and it brings a significant carbon footprint reduction. The carbon footprint reduction is a nice to have within North America, but it's beginning to become a requirement and even a monetizing factor in Europe. And there, we're seeing that carbon footprint reduction often starts the discussions in wood panels, but really across the board. It starts the discussion, then you need the performance and cost. And I think we have all of those things. We don't anticipate further significant change in regulation, but we also don't think we need it given that. Yes. So I think it's being driven a lot more today by carbon footprint reduction and we have the performance and the cost to be able to deliver on that.

And the next question comes from Mark Wrobel from TD.

Just coming back to the pulp lines. Can you just remind me, first of all, how many global pulp players you're engaged with currently on pulp specifically?

We have one commercial customer, Mark, and that's really all we've disclosed. We are engaged at different levels of engagement, different positions in the pipeline with multiple other players and I'll say multiple other players in 3 different geographies. Definitely a lot earlier stage and a lot less investments been made so far by those players. But we remain most fixated on advancing with the key player that is investing and has made this such a core part of their strategy. And in doing that, we're starting to see others taking note and getting more and more engaged, but definitely at a step back from others.

So just coming back to that, should we expect then similar time lines for adoption as you get new potential players? Or is there some shared learning, I guess, on the one that you're dealing with now that others can use to speed up the trial basis? Because I mean, this whole process, as we all know, has been taking a long time. And I'm trying to evaluate whether -- or understand really whether we're really faced with 2-, 3-year time lines for future approvals, commercializations, runs, things like that.

I mean, we clearly learn more whether it's pulp or tissue or packaging board. SurfLock is still a relatively new product. We've achieved 15 mill wins in what is in the chemical industry and the pulp and paper industry, a relatively short period of time. And we're using the learning from those without sharing anything that's proprietary to the customers we've been working with, we're using our learning to expand that further and I think it definitely would go faster. But we can't minimize just the cost and the time of industrial change. I would say like when you consider the scale of these large pulp mills and I was reminded of that, I was just down in South America, came around the corner from a road through the forest and saw this massive city and you're actually engaged in changing what this massive city of industrial equipment does on a daily basis. It just -- it takes time. And that first account invested the time. But I would say in relative terms to the scale of their operation, kind of a year of work and trialing and then a year since then in commercialization. Together, I do think we've come a long way. But to your question, like the learning is ongoing. We've had tremendous learning through the start of this year and some of it's coming through the new -- some of the new and existing service providers we've engaged with on the packaging board side as well. And I think there's some really exciting stuff coming there where we see not only the synergy we've seen of our product with wood fiber of a certain kind, but also synergies with other chemical inputs that was important for us to understand and then leverage in order to make progress in that particular space. But I think in a fairly short time here through the start of this year, we've made good progress in that learning, which definitely replicates elsewhere as well.

So just so I'm clear on this, your engagement with the other global players are primarily on tissue and packaging, not the pulp lines, correct?

No.

Is that what you're saying? No?

No. No, it's mixed. Our work with the pulp players is direct in almost every case. There's one case where it is through a partner. The work with the tissue and packaging players in almost every case is through a service provider partner. So that may be the distinction that we needed to clarify. But no, no, it's pretty well balanced, I would say, between pulp opportunity, probably overweight a little bit in tissue opportunity and then some really interesting more emerging stuff in both packaging and printing and writing paper.

I know. I got it. We're all looking for time lines that you can't give. I get it.

[Operator Instructions] And we have a follow-up question from Brian Morrison.

Jeff, I just want to -- can you elaborate on this opportunity within packaging board that has you excited? I mean, I know we went down the line with a few major players several years ago and maybe what the average line or revenue per line would be in terms of packaging board?

Yes. That initial major player that we got established with, Brian, remains a customer today, and they are actively engaged in expanding into other SKUs and it's building on some of the learning that I just mentioned to Mark as well. Yes, what we're excited about is just probably some of what we didn't know initially about the complexities of a packaging line and all the fiber and chemistries that go into that. We've had a significant amount of learning over the last 6 months in working with different players. And I think we understand a lot better today how our product interacts with the fiber and also interacts with different chemicals in that fiber mix. And we're working with some people that are very close to that as well as end customers who can benefit significantly from that. Yes, so it's through service provider relationships that we've actually primed that part of our pipeline even further. And I think we're making some really good progress, first of all, in learning, but now more so in industrial application.

Okay. And these are million dollar lines, I presume?

These are actually multimillion dollar lines, Brian. So success in one of these lines where you could get the full share is $3 million in some cases.

No further questions that came through. I'll now turn the call over back to Mr. Jeff MacDonald for closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir.

Thanks again to everyone for your support and for joining us today, and we look forward to talking to you again soon.

Thank you. This concludes our conference call for today. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect.