AMTE Power Plc (LON:AMTE), a leading UK developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells for specialist applications in global markets, has announced its results for the half year ended 31 December 2022 and the conclusion of its new CEO’s strategic review.
Alan Hollis, CEO of AMTE Power, commented:
“I am pleased to report that AMTE Power continued to make good progress in the half year ended 31 December 2022, with progress continuing in line with market expectations of loss before tax for the full financial year.
“Since my arrival at AMTE Power I have been undertaking a strategic review of the people, markets, products, operational capability, functional capability and processes with a clear focus on positioning the business for success through commercialisation of its products and scaling up of the organisation to support our ambitious plans to accelerate routes to market.
“AMTE Power has rich technical capabilities and a highly differentiated product range across multiple markets. We have identified where the business needs to be positioned as a market leading cell provider for specialist applications, with planned scale up at our existing manufacturing facility in Thurso, Scotland and the UKBIC, ahead of Gigafactory scales of production in due course in our proposed new facility.
“AMTE Power is one of the few manufacturers of battery cells in the UK today and has three products in development that are close to commercialisation with samples already in the hands of customers for testing from whom we are receiving positive feedback.
“This strong foundation underpins our growth plans and, combined with the renewed vision and the team’s energy, means we look forward with confidence and focus to the year ahead.”
Operational Highlights:
Ultra High Power
· Fully functional and operationally tested cells (A-samples) leading to UN38.3 certification and abuse testing to be completed in H1 2023
· Planning to supply samples to customers in Q2 2023
· Production planning at UKBIC (“UK Battery Industrialisation Centre”) for larger scale production
Ultra Safe
· Initial order received for Ultra Safe cells and focus on strengthening the opportunity pipeline
· A-Samples already shipped to customers in Q1
Ultra Prime
· Initial batch of cells produced at Thurso shipped to customer
Financial Highlights:
Half Year Financial Performance reflects continued investment in commercialisation plans
· Turnover of £0.55 million (H1 2022: £0.82 million)
· Loss before tax of £3.72 million (H1 2022: loss £2.65 million)
Balance sheet strength underpins investment phase
· Cash and cash equivalents of £1.21 million (H1 2022: £6.26 million)
· £2 million of convertible bond facility remains undrawn
Current trading:
· Focus on converting opportunities to orders with in excess of 100% of planned capacity already covered by existing MoU’s / JDA’s.
· Cost base continuing in line with market expectations for the current year
· Positive outlook with healthy pipeline
Refined focus following new CEO strategic review:
· Growth Strategy increasingly focused on accelerating the evolution of AMTE Power from technology research to full commercialisation of products in order to capitalise on unique market opportunities.
· Products aligned to the growing high performance and fuel cell electric vehicles (“FCEV”) sectors, battery energy storage systems (“BESS”) and other specialist markets.
· Fully functional and operationally tested cells leading to UN38.3 certification and abuse testing to be completed for all products during H1 2023.
· Dundee remains the preferred site for AMTE Power’s new facility, with the long-term objective of Gigafactory scale.
· Investment strategy to accelerate time to market by scaling up production capabilities at Thurso facility and UKBIC:
o Ultra Prime commercial contract signed and initial batch of cells shipped
o Investment to support scale up at Thurso planned to commence in 2023
o Phased ramp up of Ultra Prime and Ultra Safe cells at Thurso and Ultra High Power at UKBIC
o Planned Gigafactory scale of production for Ultra Safe and Ultra High Power will be our proposed Gigafactory
o Ultra Prime will continue to be manufactured at Thurso
· Senior leadership team bolstered with augmented skills and resources critical to scale up the business and drive ambitious plans
o Appointment of Anita Breslin, Chief Finance Officer
o Appointment of Wes Simons, Corporate Development Director
o Appointment of John Valentine, Supply Chain Director
ESG is central to our business, and we continue to make good progress against our ESG strategy targets. In partnership with the leadership team, our sustainability lead and our third party consultant, we have developed an ESG strategy that comprises six pillars aligned to a number of the key goals identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework. We have already made significant progress having already achieved scope 1 and 2 emissions of 337 tonnes CO2 equivalent for FY 2022, secured 100% renewable electricity saving 136 tonnes CO2 equivalent, been recommended for accreditation to ISO14001 at Thurso and started to include sustainability as a key criteria within our procurement policies. Without a focus on this metric our current outturn would have been 472 tonnes CO2 equivalent. We have also shipped samples to a recycling company to test and confirm recyclability of product and process wastes.
Outlook:
· Developing capabilities to scale up and commercialise whilst retaining R&D expertise at our core
· Healthy pipeline:
o Five MoUs and development agreements for the supply of Ultra High Power
o First order received for Ultra Safe
o One supplier agreement already in place for Ultra Prime
o Samples for two of our three products already in customer hands with positive feedback
· Continue to focus on converting existing customer pipeline
· Complete investment plans to increase production capacity at our existing facility in Thurso
· Continue to make progress on new facility planned for start of production in 2026 and eventual Gigafactory scale
· Secure supply chain through responsible sourcing
