TIDMACTA
RNS Number : 1875D
Acta S.p.A.
26 March 2014
Press release 26 March 2014
Acta S.p.A.
("Acta" or "the Company")
Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2013
Acta S.p.A, the clean energy products company, today announces
its Preliminary Results for the twelve months ended 31 December
2013.
2013 Financial Results
-- Revenues of EUR411,000 (2012: EUR261,000 excluding EUR175,000
discontinued activities)
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-- Revenues from products sales of EUR397,000 (2012: EUR151,000)
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-- Operating loss of EUR1.1 million (2012: EUR3.1 million loss)
including share option cost reversal of EUR2.4 million as
previously announced
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-- Successful fundraising totalling GBP2.1 million before expenses
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-- EUR1.0 million grant funding received during 2013 (2012: EUR0.4
million)
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-- EUR2.1 million year end cash (2012: EUR0.2 million)
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Outlook
Paolo Bert, CEO, reports: "We believe that Acta is rapidly
gaining momentum and is on the verge of breakthrough. We look
forward to the delivery of significant customer orders during the
course of the year."
2013 Commercial Update
-- Sales and Marketing
- Commercial launch of the Acta Power: a "hydrogen battery"(TM)
with autonomous refuelling
* Five Acta Power units sold: one live site evaluation
now successfully completed; two systems installed
with evaluation in progress; one tested, approved and
awaiting installation; and one being used for
demonstration
* All evaluations performing well and according to
specification
* Larger "network evaluations" under negotiation,
typically in the range of 50 to 150 units per
customer
* Increasing number of enquiries for renewable energy
storage and hydrogen refuelling (FCEV) applications
* Sales and distribution partnerships strengthened in
SE Asia, China and India
--- ------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Operational and Product Development
- CE Certification of Acta Power achieved at end of 2013
- Increase in staffing levels in sales, production, technical
support and field service engineers
- Expansion of production facilities underway targeting capacity
of 40 Acta Power units per month for H2 2014
- Standardisation of product range on modular components
- Implementation of web interface for remote Acta Power system
management
--- ------------------------------------------------------------------
Developments since Year End:
- Cooperation agreement signed with ReliOn Inc, the market
leader for telecom backup power in North America
- Launch and joint promotion of the Acta Power HT, designed
for the US market and incorporating ReliOn's fuel cell system,
at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
- Renewable energy storage trial running in Cheshire with
positive results
- Shipment of Acta Power system sale to Singapore for renewable
energy storage evaluation
- Larger electrolyser stack development completed and released
for production
- New product launch: renewable-powered, self-recharging 200W
fuel cell back-up power system to be launched in collaboration
with ReliOn at Hannover Messe, 7-11 April 2014
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Drummond, Chairman, said today:
"As previously reported, the launch of the Acta Power system
less than one year ago has been a significant milestone for the
Company and has repositioned the business in the eyes of customers
and partners.
Acta's electrolyser technology is a unique technology platform
that has the potential to accelerate the adoption of fuel cells in
back-up power and renewable energy storage applications. The launch
of the Acta Power has demonstrated the technical and commercial
advantages of our technology and our initial sales of the system
are now moving beyond live evaluations and into negotiations for
larger application trials. We are also working with a number of
major fuel cell manufacturers to collaborate in large project
installations, especially in remote and off-grid environments.
At the same time, the pending launch of fuel cell electric
vehicles by various major car manufacturers in 2015 has refocused
attention again on fuel cells, a trend which has notably benefited
the fuel cell sector in the US market. The adoption of fuel cell
vehicles will require the installation of a hydrogen refuelling
infrastructure on both a centralised and a distributed scale, and
we are therefore seeing an increase in the number of enquiries for
automotive applications.
Together with ReliOn we have also identified a significant
market opportunity for small, off-grid self-recharging fuel cell
back-up power systems, and we will be launching this exciting new
product at the Hannover Messe in April 2014.
Each of these opportunities represents a different application
of our core technology platform, the electrolyser stack, allowing
economies of scale and increased production efficiencies as volumes
increase. We believe that we will see substantial progress in the
adoption of our products in the year ahead."
For further information please contact:
Acta S.p.A. Tel: +39 050 644281
Paolo Bert, Chief Executive Officer www.actaspa.com
Paul Barritt, Chief Financial Officer
Altium Capital (Nominated Advisor) Tel: +44 (0)845 505 4343
Adrian Reed / Dom Orsini
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Broker) Tel: +44 (0)20 7894 7000
Mark Percy / David Banks / Paul
Jewell
Media enquiries:
Kreab Gavin Anderson (Financial Tel: +44 20 7074 1800
PR)
Robert Speed / Christina Clark www.kreabgavinanderson.com
/ Ross Gillam
Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to present the Preliminary Results for the year
ended 31 December 2013 and to provide this statement on Acta's
commercial progress.
Overview
During 2013 we have sold electrolysers and Acta Power systems
for telecom back-up power applications in Africa, Australia, Taiwan
and to two customers in the Philippines; for renewable energy
storage applications in the UK and Singapore; and for fuel cell
vehicle refuelling in Taiwan. We have increased our distribution
channels in India, China, SE Asia and the UK, and we have announced
an important technical and commercial cooperation agreement with
ReliOn to address the US market and elsewhere.
As a result of these efforts our product revenues have grown
significantly and our products have been evaluated by paying
customers in live site conditions. This demanding process has
demonstrated the validity of our products and has increased the
size of the opportunities that we are facing.
In October 2013 we raised GBP2.1 million from shareholders and
we are investing these funds in our technical and customer support
team, in product standardisation, and in expanding our production
facilities. These investments will allow us to meet the growing
demand for onsite hydrogen solutions as the fuel cell sector
continues its rapid commercial growth.
Financial Results
2013 revenues of EUR411,000 were generated entirely from product
sales and related other income, and represented an increase of 57%
over 2012 revenues of EUR261,000 (excluding discontinued
photovoltaic contract revenues of EUR175,000 in 2012). Product
sales grew by 163% from EUR151,000 in 2012 to EUR397,000 in
2013.
Operating costs were reduced by the reversal of share option
costs from prior years (EUR2.4 million), resulting in an operating
loss of EUR1.1 million (2012: EUR3.1 million loss). Excluding the
reversal of share option costs, operating losses rose to EUR3.5
million as the business returned to full operating levels after the
cost containment measures put in place during 2011 to 2012. We
expect our cost base to rise further in the current year as we
increase our investments in commercial activities, production and
customer support.
Grant contributions of EUR177,000 were recognised during the
year (2012: EUR414,000), against grant cash receipts of
EUR1,022,000 (2012: EUR353,000). Cash balances at the year end were
EUR2.1 million compared to EUR178,000 at the end of 2012. Net
operating cash outflow was EUR1.5 million for the year (2012:
EUR2.0 million outflow), while net cash outflow excluding
fundraising was EUR2.8 million, compared to EUR2.6 million net cash
outflow in 2012.
Strategy and Prospects
Our strategy is to focus on applications where fuel cells
address large market opportunities, have reached sufficient
commercial maturity to deliver cost savings to their customers, and
where we can enhance the value proposition through cost effective
onsite hydrogen generation.
We targeted the telecoms back-up power market first, and have
seen that our success in the off-grid sector has taken us rapidly
into opportunities for distributed renewable energy storage.
At the same time, the small footprint and cost effective pricing
of our electrolysers have made them attractive for distributed
hydrogen refuelling applications, such as that for fuel cell
scooters which we are developing with our partner in Taiwan. Also
in this area the in-field success of our systems is leading to an
increase in requests for small refuelling systems for materials
handling (forklift trucks) and small fuel cell car fleets, as a
complement to large centralised refuelling stations.
Due to the standardisation achieved across our product range we
are able to obtain economies of scale from expanding into these
different applications, and this is a further testimony to the
value of our unique technology platform. Fuel cell manufacturers
are showing increasing interest in the performance capabilities of
our products as an enabler of their own sales, and we believe that
our products will become the standard component for onsite hydrogen
generation as the fuel cell industry grows to mass market
volumes.
Robert Drummond
26 March 2014
Chief Executive's Statement
Introduction
The developments of 2013 have demonstrated the core value of our
unique technology platform. The take-up of the Acta Power and its
success in customer evaluations, and the spin-out opportunities
that this has generated, have confirmed that we are positioned to
address many substantial commercial opportunities within the
hydrogen and fuel cell sectors.
Product Review
Acta Power: Back-Up Power Sector
During 2013 Acta developed and launched the Acta Power, an
integrated electrolyser and fuel cell system for back-up power and
renewable energy storage applications. To date the Company has
shipped five Acta Power systems for evaluation with four major
mobile telecommunication companies in Australia, Africa and the
Philippines.
The market for back-up power systems in telecom base stations
and data centres is viewed as the largest end user fuel cell
market, and is estimated to be worth $2 billion. Current systems
typically use bottled hydrogen supply, which limits adoption in
remote or inaccessible locations, and the trialling of systems
which produce their own hydrogen through the reformation of
methanol as an alternative to bottled hydrogen shows recognition of
the importance of onsite hydrogen generation.
The evaluation process employed by telecommunication companies
typically involves a number of stages, including initial set-up and
demonstration of the system followed by installation and testing at
the premises of the telco's network equipment provider. Subject to
the success of these stages the equipment will then be installed on
the telco's own network for a live site evaluation, providing
real-time back-up power for an operational base station.
In the trials undertaken to date the Company's product has
progressed rapidly through the preliminary testing stages, has now
successfully completed one live site evaluation, has two further
live site evaluations installed and in progress, and has one
remaining live site evaluations due to commence shortly. Customers
have been impressed with the functionality and reliability of the
system, which, due to its onsite hydrogen production capability,
offers significant advantages not only over traditional battery or
genset solutions, but also over fuel cell systems fed by bottled
hydrogen.
The Company's first live site evaluation, which began in the
Philippines in early November 2013, has now been successfully
concluded with the customer's confirmation that the system has
performed to their satisfaction and as specified.
The next stage of adoption in each case is expected to be the
inclusion of the Acta Power in the customer's catalogue of approved
products, allowing local managers to specify the system for larger
projects and installations, and the negotiation of larger network
evaluations of the system, which are typically of 50 to 150 units
per customer network with up to 50 units in the first call-down.
Acta is now engaged in such negotiations with multiple mobile
operators, and while this stage of the process is taking longer
than had initially been expected, in some cases this is due to the
need to approve the product on a global basis, rather than a local
country basis.
The Company expects that the initial multiple-unit orders for
Acta Power systems will be signed by mid-2014. The Acta Power
system has a list price of EUR30,000 - EUR75,000 depending on
system specification and auxiliary components.
Late in 2013 the Company also obtained CE Certification for the
Acta Power, signifying an important step forwards in the commercial
readiness of the product.
Acta Power: Renewable Energy Storage
The capability of the Acta Power system to be powered directly
by renewable energy sources has given rise to commercial interest
in the system as a renewable energy storage device. During 2013 one
electrolyser and one Acta Power system have been sold for energy
storage evaluation projects, utilising wind power (UK) and solar
(Singapore), and these projects will continue in progress during
the first half of 2014.
There is significant interest in renewable energy storage
applications as a power solution for small off-grid communities and
remote locations. The energy storage market, including load
control, smart grid and remote communities, is estimated to be
worth over $10 billion. The Company is dealing with a number of
significant opportunities in this area and will provide further
news of progress in due course.
Electrolyser Systems
The sales of the Company's electrolyser systems have grown
rapidly against prior years, with increasing levels of repeat
orders from the Company's key clients. These sales typically
address the back-up power or educational sectors, although interest
in the company's product range is also growing from the automotive
fuel cell and light electric vehicle sectors.
During 2013 the Company completed the development of a larger
electrolyser stack capable of producing 6 m(3) / hr of hydrogen,
six times the volume of the Company's current largest electrolyser.
Two of these stacks will enable the assembly of a 50 kW
electrolyser with a production capacity of 24 kg / day of hydrogen.
The new stack has now completed its technical evaluation and has
been released for production.
The market for onsite generation of hydrogen for industrial and
other applications including hydrogen fuelling of fuel cell
vehicles is currently estimated to be worth $100 million.
Operational Review
Production
The Company has made significant improvements in its production
facilities, processes and volume capacity during 2013, following
the opening of new 600 m(2) production facilities during the year.
Product improvements have been developed to standardise the
Company's product range on a modular design in order to streamline
production activities. These developments have allowed the Company
to shorten customer delivery times and are expected to provide the
Company with adequate production capacity to deliver up to 40 Acta
Power units per month from the second half of 2014 onwards.
Staff Resources
We continue to build out our team in response to the commercial
and technical resource requirements of our growing product
business. Personnel increased during 2013 from 33 to 43 heads
including contract staff, with the "Production and Logistics"
department increasing from 6 to 14 and "Technical Support Services"
increasing from 5 to 10, including the reallocation of staff from
research activities. We will continue to strengthen these
departments, together with sales and sales support, according to
requirements as the business develops during 2014.
Grant-Funded Projects and Research Activities
The Group received EUR1,095,000 in grant funding during 2013, of
which EUR1,022,000 was received in cash (2012: EUR414,000, of which
EUR353,000 was received in cash), out of which EUR177,000 was
recognised as a reduction of costs during the year (2012:
EUR254,000). Grant-funded activities during the year included work
on a European grant-funded project to provide an ammonia-cracking
reactor and catalysts for ammonia-fed alkaline fuel cells. The
Company is due to receive a further EUR1.0 million during 2014 to
2015 from current grant-funded projects based on the achievement of
project milestones.
No paid research activities were undertaken during the year.
However, the world-leading standard of the Company's scientific
knowledge base was validated by the publication of a peer-review
article about Acta's core electrolyser technology in Angewandte
Chemie, one of the world's leading general chemistry journals.
Highlights since Period End
On 13 February 2014 we announced the signing of a commercial and
technical cooperation agreement with ReliOn In, one of the largest
fuel cell manufacturers in the world specialising in back-up power
systems for telecom, government and transportation
applications.
Following the signing of this agreement we launched a second
version of the Acta Power system, designed for the US market, at
the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 24-27 February 2014, and
Acta and ReliOn will be collaborating for the promotion of this
model in the US market and elsewhere during 2014. In addition we
have developed, in collaboration with ReliOn, a renewable-powered,
self-recharging 200W fuel cell back-up power system, to be launched
at Hannover Messe, 7-11 April 2014.
We believe that the rapid development of our relationship with
ReliOn gives further commercial and technical validation to the
value of our core technology platform.
Outlook
The Company's key activities now range across the back-up power
and renewable energy storage sectors together with electrolyser
sales into a number of different applications including materials
handling and fuel cell vehicle refuelling. We continue to focus on
high volume applications with strong economic drivers, and believe
that the coming year will see substantial progress in the adoption
of our products through our growing network of customers and
commercial partners.
We believe that Acta is rapidly gaining momentum and is on the
verge of breakthrough. We look forward to the delivery of
significant customer orders during the course of the year.
Paolo Bert
26 March 2014
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
Period ended Period ended
31 December 31 December
2013 2012
EUR'000 EUR'000
Revenue 411 436
Raw materials and consumables used (147) (140)
Personnel expense (1,673) (1,678)
Share Option Costs reverse previous
years 2,398 0
--------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Total Personnel expense 725 (1,678)
Depreciation and amortisation expense (295) (424)
Other operating expenses (1,834) (1,268)
------------- -------------
Loss from operations (1,140) (3,074)
Financial income 17 25
Financial expenses (77) (82)
------------- -------------
Loss before tax (1,200) (3,131)
Current tax credits (12) (3)
Loss for the period (1,212) (3,134)
------------- -------------
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent (1,207) (3,134)
Minority interest (5) 0
------------- -------------
(1,212) (3,134)
------------- -------------
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
Year ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2013 2012
ASSETS EUR'000 EUR'000
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 982 1,076
Intangible assets 2,130 1,082
Fixed asset investment 0 6
Total non-current assets 3,112 2,164
------------ -----------------------------
Current assets
Inventories 738 127
Trade and other receivables 1,061 2,824
Cash and cash equivalents 2,086 178
------------
Total current assets 3,885 3,129
------------ -----------------------------
Total assets 6,997 5,293
------------ -----------------------------
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity attributable to equity
holders of the parent
Share capital 1,023 842
Capital reserve 33,281 33,602
Retained losses (33,445) (32,255)
------------ -----------------------------
859 2,189
Shareholders receivables - share
capital 0 (253)
Shareholders receivables - net
capital reserve 0 (2,142)
Non controlling interests 5 (4)
Total equity 864 (210)
------------ -----------------------------
Non-current liabilities
Employee benefits - non current 283 216
Long-term provisions 1,292 1,308
Long-term borrowings 1,147 1,230
Total non-current liabilities 2,722 2,754
------------ -----------------------------
Current liabilities
Short-term borrowings 174 143
Trade and other payables 3,237 2,606
Total current liabilities 3,411 2,749
------------ -----------------------------
Total liabilities 6,133 5,503
------------ -----------------------------
Total equity and liabilities 6,997 5,293
------------ -----------------------------
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
Share Reserve Retained Group Minority Shareholders Total
Capital Capital Earnings Total Interest receivables
EUR'000 EUR'000 EUR'000 EUR'000 EUR'000 EUR'000 EUR'000
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
1 January 2012 284 29,540 (29,121) 703 (4) 0 699
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
Issue of share
capital 558 4,480 0 5,038 0 0 5,038
Share issue
expenses 0 (421) 0 (421) 0 0 (421)
Disposal of
discontinued
activities 0 (126) 0 (126) 0 0 (126)
Share-based
payment 0 129 0 129 0 0 129
Loss for the
period 0 0 (3,134) (3,134) 0 0 (3,134)
31 December
2012 (gross
value) 842 33,602 (32,255) 2,189 (4) 0 2,185
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
Shareholders
receivables
- share
capital 0 0 0 0 0 (253) (253)
Shareholders
receivables
- net capital
reserve 0 0 0 0 0 (2,142) (2,142)
31 December
2012 (net
value) 842 33,602 (32,255) 2,189 (4) (2,395) (210)
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
1 January 2013 842 33,602 (32,255) 2,189 (4) (2,395) (210)
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
Paid capital
increase
December
2012 0 0 0 0 0 2,395 2,395
IFRS valuation
employee
benefits 0 (63) 22 (41) 0 0 (41)
Share Option
Costs reverse
previous
years 0 (2,398) 0 (2,398) 0 0 (2,398)
Issue of share
capital 180 2,285 0 2,465 0 0 2,465
Share issue
expenses 0 (193) 0 (193) 0 0 (193)
Share-based
payment 0 49 0 49 0 0 49
Foreign
Currency
translation
reserve 0 (1) 0 (1) 0 0 (1)
Loss for the
period 0 0 (1,212) (1,212) 5 0 (1,207)
Share Capital
and Minority
Interest 1 0 0 1 4 0 5
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
31 December
2013 1,023 33,281 (33,445) 859 5 0 864
--------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------- --------------- ----------------------- --------
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
Year ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2013 2012
Cash flows from operating activities EUR'000 EUR'000
Loss for the year (1,207) (3,134)
Adjustments for:
Amortisation of tangible assets 183 255
Amortisation and depreciation of intangible
assets 111 109
Impairment of intangible assets 1 60
Allowance for future risks (16) 883
Gain on sale of intangible assets 0 1
Expense recognised in profit or loss in
respect of share based payments 49 129
Foreign currency translation reserve (1) 0
Share Option Costs reverse previous years (2,398) 0
IFRS valuation employee benefits (41) 0
Net finance income 60 58
(Increase) decrease in trade and other
receivables 1,763 (515)
(Increase) in inventories (611) (46)
Increase in trade and other payables 631 325
Increase in provisions and employees'
benefits (TFR) 67 41
Cash flows from operating activities (discontinued
activities) 0 (56)
Cash outflow from operations (1,409) (1,890)
Interest paid (77) (82)
------------
Net cash from operating activities (1,486) (1,972)
------------ ------------
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received 17 25
Payments for property, plant and equipment (162) (3)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant
and equipment 72 5
Acquisition of other investments 0 (1)
Proceeds from available for sale investments 5 0
Payments for intangible assets (1,160) (486)
Disposal of discontinued activities 0 (126)
Net cash used in investing activities (1,228) (586)
------------ ------------
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital (gross
value) 2,465 5,038
Shareholders receivables - capital increase
December 2012 0 (2,395)
Paid capital increase December 2012 2,395 0
Proceeds from minority interest 5 0
Payment for share issue costs (193) (421)
Proceeds from borrowings 82 23
Repayment of borrowings (94) (12)
Payment of finance lease liabilities (38) (42)
Net cash inflow from financing activities 4,622 2,191
------------ ------------
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 1,908 (367)
------------ ------------
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning
of the financial year 178 545
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the financial year 2,086 178
------------ ------------
Notes to preliminary financial results
1. Earnings per Share
The calculation of basic earnings per share is based upon the
net loss attributable to the ordinary shareholders of EUR1,207,121
(2012: EUR3,134,021) and weighted average number of shares in issue
of 145,938,788 (2012: 89,209,777).
2. In view of its accumulated losses and in accordance with
Italian law, the Company is not in a position to make payment of a
final dividend (2012: GBPnil).
3. These financial statements are presented in Euros as that is
the currency of the primary economic environment in which the
Company operates.
4. The annual financial statements are due to be signed by the
auditors not less than 15 days before the AGM in accordance with
Italian law.
5. Copies of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts will be
available from the Company at Via di Lavoria 56/G, 56040 Crespina
(PI), Italy. Alternatively this statement and the Annual Report and
Accounts will be available to download from the investor relations
section on the Company's website at www.actaspa.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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