Surely you remember ThermoEnergy Corp., the wastewater treatment and power generation technology firm that moved its corporate headquarters from Little Rock to Massachusetts in the fall?
Well, it left behind nearly $17,000 in unpaid rent and late fees, according to the lawsuit filed by its former landlord, Little Rock Union Plaza Inc., in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
The monthly rent on Thermo’s space at 124 W. Capitol Ave. was $1,358, but it stopped paying in October. Its lease runs through November 2012.
That’s just too bad, to paraphrase an email that Thermo’s CFO shot off to the property manager.
“We are a startup type company,” Teodor Klowan Jr. said in the Oct. 7 email, which was filed as part of the lawsuit. “Until we become profitable, we sustain ourselves by raising money from investors from time to time.”
ThermoEnergy, though, doesn’t necessarily fit the definition of a startup. It was founded in 1988, and its landlord could turn blue waiting for a profit. It’s never made a dime of profit in its history.
“We are presently trying to raise additional funding from investors,” Klowan continued in the email. “If we are successful, we will certainly try to get caught up with you. However, until that point in time, we need to conserve our cash for only critical company expenditures.”
In 2010, ThermoEnergy had $2.8 million in revenue and a loss of $9.85 million. For 2011, it reported $5.58 million in revenue, but its loss grew to $12.87 million.
The numbers for 2011 are unaudited because Thermo didn’t get its act together to file an audited report on time with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
They may also be wrong. Klowan said in SEC filings on April 12 that errors were found in the financial reports it filed last year. The financial reports for the first three quarters of 2011 “should no longer be relied upon,” he wrote.
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