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Strategic partnerships continue to deliver commercial growth

 

Ceres Power Holdings plc ("Ceres Power", "Ceres", the "Company" or the "Group") (AIM: CWR.L), a global leader in fuel cell and electrochemical technology, announces its second set of interim results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020, following the change of year end to 31 December.  

Financial Highlights

• Strong progress on major contracts has driven a 21% increase in revenue and other operating income to £19.9m (2019: £16.4m)
• Increased gross profit of £13.8m (2019: £11.5m) at sector leading gross margin of 73% (2019: 75%)
• Adjusted EBITDA loss increased slightly to £6.5m (2019: £5.9m) due to further investment in growth area of electrolysis for hydrogen
• Increased equity investment by Bosch and Weichai, of £49m, supports strong cash and short-term investments of £108m at 30 June 2020
• Order book* of £14m and strong pipeline* of £54m as at 30 June 2020

Operating and Corporate Highlights

• Bosch has commenced manufacturing of Ceres' core cell technology at its pilot facility in Germany 
• Weichai 30kW range extender system for electric buses targeting the Chinese market moving into field trials. Some delays in timing due to Covid-19 means establishment of a joint venture in China is now likely to be H1 2021
• Wider deployment of the Group's combined heat and power ("CHP") system in the Japanese market by Miura Co.
• Hydrogen Electrolysis R&D delivering positive results triggers further investment in the technology
• Successful development of Ceres' first zero-emission CHP system designed for exclusive use with hydrogen fuel
• 2MW advanced manufacturing pilot facility built, commissioned and running in Redhill, UK
• Appointment of Warren Finegold as Chairman and Uwe Glock and Qinggui Hao as Non-executive Directors

 

Covid-19

The disruption from Covid-19, coinciding with the commissioning of our new facility at Redhill, has meant that some revenues have been deferred from this reporting period. Nonetheless, we have delivered a solid set of results, with continued revenue growth through good progress with our customer programmes and increased manufacturing output; a huge credit to the entire Ceres team.

 

Phil Caldwell, CEO of Ceres Power commented:

"The urgency for climate action continues to drive the global demand for clean energy technologies, and our strategy of licensing to global partners, with a leading position in their products and markets, continues to be highly successful. "Despite the disruption from Covid we have delivered a solid set of results, with continued revenue growth and sector leading margins.  This is driven by good progress with our customer programmes and increased manufacturing output thanks to the hard work of the entire Ceres team.

"Trading since the period end has remained strong with good commercial progress with our partners globally.  Bosch has now installed prototype products of its 10kW system utilising Ceres' technology at five locations in Germany while, despite an initial delay in the early part of 2020 due to the pandemic, good progress is now being made to validate Ceres' technology for transportation applications with Weichai's SOFC team in China.

"These developments, combined with the opportunities from our new, long term growth areas of electrolysis for hydrogen, mean that Ceres is very well positioned to build on the strong momentum generated during the period as we look to play our part in delivering clean energy technology to enable a net zero future."

*Order book refers to confirmed contracted revenue and other income while pipeline is contracted revenue and other income which management estimate is contingent upon options not under the control of Ceres.

 

Financial Summary:

	12 months ended 30 June 2020 (Unaudited) £'000	Year ended 30 June 2019 (Audited) £'000
Total revenue and other operating income, comprising:	19,942	16,365
Licence fees	5,841	7,412
Engineering services revenue and provision of technology hardware	13,056	7,888
Other operating income	1,045	1,065
Gross margin %	73%	75%
Adjusted EBITDA loss 1	(6,519)	(5,881)
Operating loss	(10,081)	(7,924)
Net cash used in operating activities	(5,442)	(3,058)
Net cash and short-term investments	107,981	71,267

 



¹ Adjusted EBITDA loss is calculated as the operating loss for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020 of £10,081k (2019 - £7,924k) excluding depreciation charges of £2,683k (2019 - £1,025k), share-based payment charges of £873k (2019 - £909k), unrealised gains on forward contracts of £40k (2019 - £42k loss) and exchange losses of £46k (2019 - £67k). Management believes that adjusted EBITDA loss provides a better understanding of the underlying performance of the Group by removing non-recurring, irregular and one-off costs.

For further information please visit

www.ceres.tech

or contact:

Ceres Power Holdings plc	Tel: +44 (0)1403 273 463
Elizabeth Skerritt
Investec Bank PLC (NOMAD & Joint Broker)	Tel: +44 (0)207 597 5970
Jeremy Ellis / Patrick Robb / Ben Griffiths
Berenberg (Joint Broker)	Tel: +44 (0) 203 207 7800
Ben Wright / Mark Whitmore
Powerscourt (Financial PR)	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446<
Peter Ogden / James White

 

About Ceres Power

Ceres is a world-leading developer of fuel cell and electrochemical technology that enables its partners to deliver clean energy at scale and speed.  Its asset-light, licensing model has seen it embed its technology in some of the world's most progressive companies - such as Weichai in China, Bosch in Germany, Miura in Japan, and Doosan in South Korea - to develop systems and products that address climate change and air quality challenges for transportation, industry, data centres and everyday living.  Ceres is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("LSE") (AIM: CWR.L) and was awarded the Green Economy Mark by the LSE, which recognises listed companies that derive more than 50% of their revenues from the green economy.

 

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