Ilika plc (LON:IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, has announced its full-year results for the year ended 30 April 2020.
Operational highlights:
· Increased commercial demand for evaluation samples of Stereax® miniature solid-state batteries triggering investment in large volume manufacturing capacity
· Specified and ordered key equipment to support 70x increase in Stereax manufacturing capacity
· Implemented portfolio of Medtech and IIoT Stereax development and field trial programmes with five commercial partners, including:
o High-value asset tagging with Lightricity
o Wind turbine monitoring with Titan Wind
o Rail network infrastructure monitoring with Network Rail
o Environmental sensing with ePeas
o Miniature medical implants with multiple med-tech partners
· Innovated Stereax performance by implementing photolithographic techniques compatible with low-cost industrial manufacturing processes and achieved 10x increase in energy density for ultra-thin cells for medical implants
· Grew Stereax patent portfolio with a further eight granted patents in five jurisdictions
· Secured a Goliath large format cell development programme with Jaguar Land Rover, bringing the total grant funding support from the Faraday Battery Challenge to £5.1m over three projects
· Designed, outfitted and opened a new facility for the pre-pilot development of Goliath cells within nine months
· Received the Green Economy Classification from the London Stock Exchange for contributing to a more sustainable economy
· Maintained safe operations complying with COVID-19 Government guidelines without a material impact on the business to date
Financial highlights:
· Turnover £2.8m (2019: £2.6m)
· Adjusted EBITDA Loss for the year £2.1m (2019: Adjusted EBITDA loss £2.2m)
· Loss per share 2.95p (2019: 2.42p)
· Cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits of £14.8m (2019: £4.0m)
· Raised net proceeds of c.£14.2m via an over-subscribed placing in March 2020
Outlook
With the funding in place for the next stage of development and a roadmap to grow its portfolio of products, the Company remains strongly positioned to take advantage of growing demand for solid state battery solutions. The Company remains well placed to fulfil the strategic objectives laid out at March’s oversubscribed fundraise with the proposed transfer of Stereax into a third-party fabrication facility. The shift to the make and sell model and the ability to intensify commercial scale up of Stereax added to further progress with Goliath are expected to deliver significant revenue growth opportunities.
Commenting on the results Ilika’s Chairman, Keith Jackson, said: “This has been an extraordinary year in more than one way, and I feel enormously proud of the way the team has delivered and taken advantage of challenges. The installation of the Goliath large format battery labs was done at great pace, with very little waste and was accompanied with an overhead saving on premises to give us the facilities we require to progress Goliath. The COVID-19 lockdown did temporarily limit access to our Stereax pilot line and restrict some of our working but the team quickly set up new work processes and used the limited fallow time to investigate and improve the way they work, so on the safe return to the labs they could be even more effective.
“At a technical level the team has made great progress on the batteries, particularly with the energy density of Stereax where every increase in density increases the addressable market. Not only have improvements been made, there are options and opportunities to increase the density further and thereby the addressable markets. Finally, the team has worked hard to paint a clear picture of what we do and where we are going as a business to our investors, culminating in the Company’s successful placing in March 2020, which underpins the next phase of our growth strategy. The team is now focussed on the scale up of new Stereax capacity and further advancing the technology in Goliath. This will not be without its challenges but with our committed and agile team we are confident of a successful outcome.”
An investor presentation will be held later today, 9 July 2020, at 4.30pm and will be hosted through the digital platform, Investor Meet Company. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add Ilika plc via the following link:https://www.investormeetcompany.com/ilika-plc/register-investor or for more information please contact Walbrook PR at ilika@walbrookpr.com.
