Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO) Risk Factors
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1A Risk Factors text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investing in our common stock involves risks. Before investing in our common stock, you should consider carefully the factors discussed below and the information contained in this Annual Report. Each of these risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, and cause the value of our common stock to decline, which may result in the loss of part, or all, of your investment.
Our exclusive license to provide water to retail customers in the Cayman Islands is presently under renegotiation with OfReg, the Cayman Islands government utility regulatory authority, and we are presently unable to predict the outcome of these on-going negotiations.
We sell water through our retail operations under the 1990 license that granted Cayman Water the exclusive right to provide potable water to customers within its licensed service area. Pursuant to the 1990 license, Cayman Water has the exclusive right to produce potable water and distribute it by pipeline to its licensed service area, which consists of two of the three most populated areas of Grand Cayman Island: Seven Mile Beach and West Bay. In 2025, 2024, and 2023, we generated approximately 26%, 24% and 17%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue and 39%, 38% and 26%, respectively, of our consolidated gross profit from the retail water operations conducted under the 1990 license.
The 1990 license was originally scheduled to expire in July 2010 but was extended several times by the Cayman Islands government in order to provide the parties with additional time to negotiate the terms of a new license agreement. The most recent express extension of the license expired on January 31, 2018. From that date through February 18, 2025, we continued to operate under the terms of the 1990 license, treating such terms as operative notwithstanding the expiration of the express extension. We continued to pay a royalty of 7.5% of the revenue we collected as required under the 1990 license.
In October 2016, the Government of the Cayman Islands passed legislation which created OfReg and, in April 2017, passed supplemental legislation which transferred responsibility for the economic regulation of the water utility sector and the negotiations with us for a new retail license to OfReg.
Under the new regulatory legislation passed in October 2016, Cayman Water was required to first be granted a concession by the government before obtaining a new (or renewing the old) retail operations license. On February 18, 2025, Cayman Water received a new concession from the government that authorizes and maintains the terms of the 1990 license until a
15
Table of Contents
new license from OfReg is negotiated and enacted. Negotiations between Cayman Water and OfReg for the new license remain on-going.
We have been informed during our retail license negotiations, both by OfReg and its predecessor in these negotiations, that they seek to restructure the terms of the license in a manner that could significantly reduce the operating income and cash flows we have historically generated from our retail license. We are presently unable to determine what impact the resolution of our retail license negotiations will have on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows but such resolution could result in a material reduction (or the loss) of the operating income and cash flows we have historically generated from our retail operations and could require us to record impairment losses to reduce the carrying values of our retail segment assets. Such impairment losses could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
Periodically, our Bahamas subsidiary experiences substantial delays in the collection of its accounts receivable. As a result, our Bahamas subsidiary could have insufficient liquidity to continue operations, and our consolidated financial results could be materially adversely affected.
CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable balances (which include accrued interest) due from the WSC amounted to $20.7 million and $28.4 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024. Approximately 71% and 81% of the accounts receivable balances were delinquent as of those dates, respectively. As of February 28, 2026, this receivable amounted to $22.6 million, of which 75% was delinquent. The delay in collecting these accounts receivable has adversely impacted the liquidity of this subsidiary.
From time to time (including presently), CW-Bahamas has experienced delays in collecting its accounts receivable from the WSC. When these delays occur, we hold discussions and meetings with representatives of the WSC and the government of The Bahamas. All previous delinquent accounts receivable from the WSC, including accrued interest thereon, were eventually paid in full. Based upon this payment history, we have not provided for a material allowance for credit losses for CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable from the WSC as of December 31, 2025, or prior periods.
We continue to be in frequent contact with officials of The Bahamas government, who continue to express their intention to significantly reduce CW-Bahamas’ delinquent accounts receivable balances. However, we are unable to determine when or if such reduction will occur.
In a report dated October 6, 2022, Moody’s Investor Services (“Moody’s”) downgraded The Bahamas’ long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to B1 from Ba3. Moody’s also lowered The Bahamas’ local currency ceiling to Baa3 from Baa2 and its foreign currency ceiling to Ba1 from Baa3. Moody’s has maintained these ratings through the date of its most current report issued in April 2025. Based upon our review of this Moody’s correspondence, we continue to believe that no material allowance for credit losses is required for CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable from the WSC.
If CW-Bahamas is unable to collect a significant portion of its delinquent accounts receivable, one or more of the following events may occur: (i) CW-Bahamas may not have sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations; (ii) we may be required to cease the recognition of revenue on CW-Bahamas’ water supply agreements with the WSC; and (iii) we may be required to provide a material allowance for credit losses for CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable. Any of these events could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
The profitability of our contracts is dependent upon our ability to accurately estimate construction and operating costs.
The cost estimates we prepare in connection with the construction and operation of our water plants, the water infrastructure we construct and sell to third parties, and our manufacturing contracts, are subject to inherent uncertainties. Additionally, the terms of our water supply contracts may require us to guarantee the price of water on a per unit basis, subject to certain annual inflation and monthly energy cost adjustments, and to assume the risk that the costs associated with producing this water may be greater than anticipated. Because we base our contract prices in part on our estimation of future construction, manufacturing and operating costs, the profitability of our plants and our manufacturing and operations and maintenance contracts is dependent on our ability to estimate these costs accurately. The cost of materials
16
Table of Contents
and services and the cost of the delivery of such services may increase significantly after we submit our bid for a contract, which could cause the gross profit for a contract to be less than we anticipated when the bid was made. The profit margins we initially expect to generate from an operations and maintenance contract could be further reduced if future operating costs for that contract exceed our estimates of such costs. Any construction, manufacturing, and operating costs for our contracts that significantly exceed our initial estimates could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Substantial changes to fiscal, regulation and other federal policies could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Significant changes in, and uncertainty with respect to, legislation, regulation, government policy and economic conditions could adversely affect our business. Specific legislative and regulatory proposals that could have a material impact on us include, but are not limited to, modifications to international trade policy (such as tariffs); public company reporting requirements; and environmental regulation.
We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to tariffs or trade relations between the U.S. and other countries, what products may be subject to such actions, or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict how such actions may impact our business, or the business or habits of our customers. Our business operations, as well as the businesses of our customers on which we are substantially dependent, are located in countries at risk for escalating trade disputes, including the U.S. Any resulting trade wars could have a significant adverse effect on world trade and could adversely impact our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Certain of PERC’s contracts with its customers, including the contract with the Board of Water Supply of the City of Honolulu, Hawaii, may be terminated at any time at the customer’s convenience or with relatively short advance notice. The termination of any of these contracts prior to their full performance may result in us realizing less than the full consideration payable under the contract and may negatively impact our financial results.
Certain of PERC’s contracts with its customers, and substantially all of its contracts with governments or municipalities, may be terminated at any time at the customer’s convenience with no or relatively short advance notice. Our business is highly dependent on the purchase of our products and services by government and municipalities, and we believe that contracts with similar termination provisions will continue to be a source of a substantial portion of our revenue for the foreseeable future.
If a customer terminates one of our contracts for convenience, we generally may recover, at most, our incurred or committed costs, settlement expenses, and payment for work completed or products delivered prior to the termination. As such, the termination of any of these contracts prior to their stated term may result in us realizing less than the full consideration payable under the contract. If any such contract is terminated prior to us performing a substantial portion of the work to be performed or delivering a substantial portion of the products to be delivered, prior to the termination, such termination may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations.
A significant portion of our consolidated revenue is derived from our water supply agreements with the WSC. The loss of the WSC as a customer would adversely affect us.
One bulk water customer, the WSC, accounted for approximately 22% of our consolidated revenue for 2025. If, for financial or other reasons, the WSC does not comply with the terms of our water supply agreements, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Our operations are affected by tourism and are subject to seasonal fluctuations and other factors beyond our control that could affect the demand for our water.
Demand for our water in the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas is affected by variations in the level of tourism and local weather, primarily rainfall. Tourism in our service areas is affected by the economies of the tourists’ home countries, primarily the United States and Europe, terrorist activity and perceived threats thereof, global health concerns such as
17
Table of Contents
COVID-19, and increased costs of fuel and airfare. In the Cayman Islands, we normally sell more water during the first and second quarters of the year, when the number of tourists is greater and local rainfall is less than in the third and fourth quarters. A downturn in tourism or greater than expected rainfall in the locations we serve could adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting cessation of tourism to the Cayman Islands through August 2022 significantly reduced the demand for our water and our retail segment’s profitability.
Performance shortfalls under any of our bulk supply contracts could result in penalties or cancellation of the contract.
Our bulk water supply agreements require us to meet specified minimum quality, quantity and energy consumption guarantees. Membrane fouling or other technical problems could occur at any of our plants, and if we are unable to meet the guarantees due to such technical problems, we could be in default of the supply agreement and subject to various adverse consequences, including financial penalties or cancellation of the agreement.
Our operations could be harmed by natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes.
A natural disaster could cause major damage to our equipment and properties and the properties of our customers, including the large tourist properties in our areas of operation. For example, in January 2020, Grand Cayman experienced an earthquake which damaged three of our eight potable water storage tanks. Any future disaster could cause us to lose use of our equipment and properties and incur additional repair costs. Damage to our customers’ properties and the adverse impact on tourism could result in a decrease in water demand. A natural disaster could also disrupt the delivery of equipment and supplies, including electricity, necessary to our operations. These and other possible effects of natural disasters could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Contamination of our water may cause disruption in our services and adversely affect our revenue.
Our feed water and/or processed water may become contaminated by natural occurrences and by inadvertent or intentional human interference, including acts of terrorism. If our feed water and/or processed water becomes contaminated, we may have to interrupt our supply of desalinated potable water until we are able to install treatment equipment or substitute the flow of water from an uncontaminated water source. In addition, we may incur significant costs in order to treat contaminated feed or processed water through expansion of our current treatment facilities, or development of new treatment methods. An inability by us to substitute feed water from an uncontaminated water source or to adequately treat the contaminated plant feed water or our processed water in a cost-effective manner may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Potential government decisions, actions and regulations could negatively affect our operations.
We are subject to the local regulations of the countries in which we operate, all of which are subject to change. Any government that regulates our operations may issue legislation or adopt new regulations, including but not limited to:
●restricting foreign ownership (by us);
●providing for the expropriation of our assets by the government;
●providing for nationalization of public utilities by the government;
●providing for different water quality standards;
●unilaterally changing or renegotiating our license and agreements;
●restricting the importation or use, and/or imposing tariffs on certain goods and materials from foreign countries;
●restricting the transfer of U.S. currency; or
●causing currency exchange fluctuations/devaluations or enacting changes in tax laws.
As new laws and regulations are issued, we may be required to modify our operations and business strategy, which we may be unable to do in a cost-effective manner. Failure by us to comply with applicable regulations could result in the loss of our authorizations to operate, the assessment of penalties or fines, or otherwise may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
18
Table of Contents
Unforeseen environmental costs could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning environmental protection, including laws addressing water quality and contamination, the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and the cleanup of contaminated sites. In particular, we face increasing complexity in our operations as we adjust to new and future requirements relating to water quality, the composition of our other products, their safe use, the energy consumption associated with our operations, and climate change laws and regulations. If we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws or if our products become non-compliant with environmental laws, we could incur substantial costs or face other sanctions, which may include restrictions on operating in certain jurisdictions. Our potential exposure includes fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party property damage, personal injury claims and clean-up costs. Further, liability under some environmental laws relating to contaminated sites can be imposed retroactively on a joint and several basis, and without any finding of noncompliance or fault. The amount and timing of costs to comply with environmental laws are difficult to predict. In addition, any complaints or lawsuits against us based on water quality and contamination may receive negative publicity that can damage our reputation and adversely affect our business and trading price of our common stock.
If we fail to abide by laws, rules and regulations relating to human and workers’ rights, we could be subject to various actions and our reputation, business and financial results could be adversely affected.
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning human rights, including laws prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and forced or child labor, and establishing wage and hour standards. If we were to violate or become liable under human or workers’ laws, we could incur substantial costs or face other sanctions. Our potential exposure includes fines and civil or criminal sanctions or liability. The amount and timing of costs to comply with human and workers’ rights laws are difficult to predict. Additionally, the success of our business depends on earning and maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers, suppliers, stockholders and the communities in which we operate, our ability to compete for future opportunities, and our reputation among existing and potential clients and partners. Our reputation is critical to our business and could be impacted by events that may be difficult or impossible to control, and costly or impossible to remediate. For example, alleged or actual failures by us or our employees to comply with applicable human or workers’ rights laws, rules or regulations, expectations and perceptions of our employment and environmental, social and governance practices, threatened or actual litigation against us or our employees, or the public announcement and potential publicity surrounding any of these issues, even if inaccurate, satisfactorily addressed, or if no violation or wrongdoing actually occurred, could adversely impact our reputation and relationships with customers, suppliers, stockholders and the communities in which we operate, and our ability to renew or negotiate new agreements for projects. Any such failure or reputational harm could have an adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We rely on the efforts of key employees. Our failure to retain these employees could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our success depends upon the abilities of our Executive Officers. In particular, the loss of the services of Frederick W. McTaggart, our President and Chief Executive Officer, could be detrimental to our operations and our continued success. Mr. McTaggart has an employment agreement expiring on December 31, 2028. Each year, the term of this agreement may be extended for an additional year. However, we cannot guarantee that Mr. McTaggart will continue to work for us during the term of his agreement or will extend his employment agreement with us.
Our business could be adversely affected by cyber threats or other interruptions in information technology, communications networks and operations.
As part of our operations, we rely on computer systems to process transactions and communicate with our customers, suppliers and other third parties. We rely on continued and unimpeded access to secure network connections to communicate between locations and on reliable internet connections to communicate with external parties. We have physical, technical and procedural safeguards in place that are designed to protect information and protect against security and data breaches as well as fraudulent transactions and other activities. Despite these safeguards and our other security processes and protections, we cannot be assured that all our systems and processes are free from vulnerability to evolving
19
Table of Contents
and increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks, to other physical breaches or to inadvertent data disclosure by third parties or by us. A significant data security breach, including misappropriation of customer, supplier or confidential employee information, could cause us to incur significant costs, which may include potential costs of investigations, legal, forensic and consulting fees and expenses, costs and diversion of management attention required for investigation, remediation and litigation, substantial repair or replacement costs. We could also experience data losses that would impair our ability to manage our business operations, including accounting and project costs, manage our water and distribution systems or process transactions and have a negative impact on our reputation and loss of confidence of our customers, suppliers and others, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows and our business in general.
We are exposed to credit risk through our relationships with several customers.
We are subject to credit risk posed by possible defaults in payment by our customers in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. Adverse economic conditions affecting, or financial difficulties of, those parties could impair their ability to pay us or cause them to delay payment. We depend on these parties to pay us on a timely basis. Our outstanding accounts receivable are not covered by collateral or credit insurance. Any delay or default in payment could adversely affect our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We are exposed to the risk of variations in currency exchange rates.
Although we report our results in United States dollars, a significant portion of our revenue is earned in other currencies. These currencies have been fixed to the United States dollar for more than 50 years. Consequently, we do not employ hedging strategies against the foreign currency exchange rate risk associated with conducting business in foreign currencies while reporting in United States dollars. If any of the existing fixed exchange rates for these other currencies becomes a floating exchange rate and any of these currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
We may not pay dividends in the future. If dividends are paid, they may be in lesser amounts than past dividends.
Our shareholders may receive dividends out of legally available funds if, and when, they are declared by our Board of Directors. We have paid dividends in the past but may cease to do so at any time. We may incur increased operating or development expenses or capital requirements or indebtedness in the future that may restrict our ability to pay dividends. We may also be restricted from paying dividends in the future due to restrictions imposed by applicable corporate laws, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, covenants contained in financing agreements, and other factors considered by our Board of Directors. We may not continue to pay dividends in the future or, if dividends are paid, they may not be in amounts comparable to past dividends.
Service of process and enforcement of legal proceedings commenced against us in the United States may be difficult to obtain.
We are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and most of our assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, as of March 9, 2026, six of our 15 Directors and Officers reside outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to execute service of process within the United States upon us and such other persons, or to enforce judgments obtained against such persons in United States courts, and bring any action, including actions predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the United States securities laws. In addition, it may be difficult for investors to enforce, in original actions brought in courts or jurisdictions located outside of the United States, rights predicated upon the United States securities laws.
Based on the advice of our Cayman Islands legal counsel, we believe no reciprocal statutory enforcement of foreign judgments exists between the United States and the Cayman Islands, and that foreign judgments originating from the United States are not directly enforceable in the Cayman Islands. A prevailing party in a United States proceeding against us or our Directors and Officers would have to initiate a new proceeding in the Cayman Islands using the United States judgment as evidence of the party’s claim. A prevailing party could rely on the summary judgment procedures available in the Cayman Islands, subject to available defenses in the Cayman Islands courts, including, but not limited to, the lack
20
Table of Contents
of competent jurisdiction in the United States courts, lack of due service of process in the United States proceeding and the possibility that enforcement or recognition of the United States judgment would be contrary to the public policy of the Cayman Islands.
Depending on the nature of damages awarded, civil liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (or the Securities Act), or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (or the Exchange Act), for original actions instituted outside the Cayman Islands may or may not be enforceable. For example, a United States judgment awarding remedies unobtainable in any legal action in the courts of the Cayman Islands, such as treble damages, would likely not be enforceable under any circumstances.
The relatively low trading volume of our stock may adversely impact the ability to sell our shares.
The average daily trading volume of our common stock in 2025 was approximately 113,000 shares, a much lower trading volume than that of many other companies listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the market of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock at any given time. This presence in turn depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. Due to the limited volume of trading in our common stock, an investor in our stock may have difficulty selling larger volumes of our common stock in the manner, or at the price, that might be attainable if our common stock were more actively traded.