(Updates with the company's second quarter results and share movement.)
EnWave (ENW.V) on Friday said its swung to a loss in its fiscal second quarter, and signed a technology evaluation and license option agreement with a "leading global packaged food company."
The company lost C$1.1 million in the quarter, compared to net income after income tax of C$0.8 million in the year-ago quarter.
Fiscal second-quarter revenue was C$1.2 million, down from C$3.7 million in the corresponding year-ago quarter.
"The decrease was primarily related to fewer machine sales and machines in fabrication due to the inherent volatility in large-scale Radiant Energy Vacuum ("REV") machine orders," stated the company.
Earlier Friday, the company also said it entered into a technology evaluation and license option agreement with "one of the world's largest multinational food companies".
According to the agreement, the partner will conduct a commercial-scale evaluation of EnWave's proprietary Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) dehydration technology for potential application across multiple food categories within the partner's "extensive global product portfolio", said the company.
Subject to successful completion of the evaluation program, the agreement provides the partner with the option to negotiate one or more commercial royalty-bearing licenses for the use of REV technology, stated the company.
The partner is a "global leader" in branded consumer foods with annual revenues exceeding US$20 billion and operations spanning retail grocery, snack foods, breakfast cereals, frozen foods, convenience meals, and ingredient solutions, noted the company, and added that the partner distributes products in more than 100 countries and maintains a portfolio of internationally recognized household brands.
"The evaluation program will focus on assessing REV's ability to preserve flavor, texture, color, and nutritional characteristics while reducing drying times compared to conventional dehydration methods," said the company. "The Partner is also expected to evaluate REV's potential to support premium product innovation and manufacturing efficiencies across select high-volume product categories."
The company expects the evaluation work to begin over the coming months at the partner's facilities and at EnWave's innovation center in Vancouver, Canada.
The company's shares were last seen unchanged at C$0.23 on the TSX Venture Exchange.