TIDMHUI TIDM0HUI
RNS Number : 7191Q
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
30 June 2022
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30 June 2022
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
(the "Company" or "HUI")
Final Results
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC (AQSE:HUI), a company
pioneering non-recyclable waste plastics to hydrogen technology, is
pleased to announce its results for the period ended 31 December
2021.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2021
Business Development:
-- AQSE Growth Market IPO finalised - trading commenced 6 January 2022
-- Electron Technologies BV engaged to develop with HUI a carbon
neutral cutting edge pyrolysis and gasification reactor, the
chemical conversion chamber, to run on green electricity
-- Framework agreement encompassing hydrogen extraction and gas
clean-up equipment, design and engineering services signed with
Linde Engineering at COP 26
-- Creation of substantial project pipeline in Poland, Greece
and Ireland and exploring further opportunities across Continental
Europe
Organisation and Growth:
-- Recruitment and appointment of a Board with a broad range of
skills, experience, expertise and connections in business
development, financial structuring and fundraising, sophisticated
engineering and waste solutions, project management and alternative
and renewable energy
-- Recruitment of a full-time CFO
-- Establishment of a network of contacts and consultants in target locations across Europe
Financial Highlights:
-- Net assets at period end of GBP4.6 million, including just
under GBP4.7 million of cash after payment of or provision for IPO
costs
-- In line with expectations as HUI's business is developing,
the group did not generate any revenue for the reporting period and
the loss amounted to GBP1.036 million
-- Cash outflow from operating activities amounted to GBP980,000
Guy Peters, Executive Chairman of HUI commented:
"In the very short period of time covered by these results, HUI
has transitioned from concept to a fully fledged business poised to
help tackle the worldwide plastic waste issue and to recover energy
from that waste and turn it into clean fuel. None of that would
have been possible without the help and support of our
shareholders, whom we would like to thank for all of their
support."
Aleksandra Binkowska, Chief Executive Officer of HUI
commented:
"I would like to express my gratitude to our long-term
shareholders for their continued support. It is difficult to
articulate what a challenge HUI has undergone in planning to build
a first of a kind facility which destroys plastic waste and turns
it into valuable gases. This incredible undertaking wouldn't be
possible without the help of our well-established partners such as
Linde and Electron and the efforts of the team we have built. The
world is going through a turbulent time. Following the train of
thought of a renowned Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj i ek, the world
is currently facing "Four riders of the Apocalypse: Pandemic, War,
Famine and Death". Our technology and other technologies like ours
can help create a more sustainable world. We aim to work in close
cooperation with major international businesses, national and local
government and the public and private institutions. Jointly we can
roll out our systems globally, improve them and subsequently create
an entirely new approach to plastic waste. This is my ambition and
primary goal for the years to come."
The annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December
2021 will be sent to shareholders shortly and will be available to
view on the Company's website: www.hydrogenutopia.eu.
For more information about the Company, please refer to our website: www.hydrogenutopia.eu
For further information please contact:
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC
Kate Templeman
Communications Manager
Hydrogen Utopia International
+447312530958
Kate.templeman@hydrogenutopia.eu
www.hydrogenutopia.eu
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Limited (AQSE Corporate
Adviser)
Jon Isaacs
+44 20 3772 0021
Novum Securities Limited (Broker)
Jon Belliss/Colin Rowbury
+44 20 7399 9400
Chairman's statement
Overview
This is the first published Annual Report and Accounts for
Hydrogen Utopia International PLC ("HUI" or the "Company") and it
covers the period which ended immediately preceding the Company's
IPO and admission of its shares to trading on the AQSE Growth
Market. Trading on AQSE commenced on 6 January 2022.
HUI is pioneering the use of technology using non-recyclable
waste plastic to produce hydrogen and/or other alternative energy
sources which are not dependent upon the use of coal, gas, oil or
fossil fuel derived electricity.
HUI's plants will not only provide alternative energy but also
address the major environmental threat posed by waste plastic. Vast
quantities of plastic with a huge variety of industrial, consumer
and healthcare uses continue to be produced worldwide. We believe
that attempts to limit or substitute plastic use are unlikely to
make any significant difference to the quantities of waste plastic
generated by our society in the foreseeable future - plastics are
too useful. HUI's plants will provide an alternative use for that
waste plastic without the need for incineration or landfill.
It is HUI's intention to become one of the leading new European
companies specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste
plastic into carbon-free fuels, new materials or distributed
renewable heat. The pressing need to deal with growing amounts of
waste plastic combined with a real momentum in demand for and the
use of hydrogen from renewable sources pave the way for a rapid
deployment of and investment in HUI facilities.
A HUI facility uses non-recyclable mixed waste plastic as
feedstock and turns it into a high calorific synthetic gas (syngas)
from which new products such as hydrogen or methane can be
extracted or it can be used as a fuel in itself to produce
electrical power.
HUI is targeting areas where there is significant private sector
interest or potential, where financial backing is accessible and/or
where substantial EU and/or government funded sources of grants and
loans are or may be available.
In terms of conventional energy sources, the global increase in
fossil fuel-based energy prices reinforces the need for alternative
energy sources, which HUI's plants can provide. This demand for
alternative sources of energy and energy supply has been compounded
as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and current sanctions
against Russia. Western and Central European countries have either
determined to move away altogether from Russian gas and oil
supplies or they are increasingly reluctant to place any
significant dependence upon such supplies.
HUI's waste plastic to energy plants will produce syngas that
could be used as a fuel in its own right, as a gas engine fuel to
produce electrical power or to produce methane or hydrogen. Heat
produced as a by-product of the process can be sold and fed into
district heating systems, for example, which in Eastern Europe are
used extensively.
HUI believes that building new HUI waste plastic to energy
plants could be significant in allowing local communities across
Europe to ameliorate the effects of the resultant gas and energy
supply crisis and the anticipated market changes brought about by
ongoing sanctions against Russia and the reluctance to rely upon it
as an energy supplier in the future.
HUI plants were always anticipated to have the flexibility to
switch between different outputs and their modularity and
flexibility should enable HUI to build bespoke units to satisfy
local demand.
Since our IPO, we have continued our efforts to build a pipeline
of HUI facilities in Europe, with the intention of establishing a
first plant as soon as practicable. Pursuant to that aim, at the
end of April 2022 we announced that we had reached an agreement in
the Republic of Ireland which we anticipate will lead to our first
operational full scale waste plastic to hydrogen facility in
Europe. This offers us a suitable site in an EU Just Transition
Fund region, access to an investment grade plastic feedstock
supplier and the potential to agree offtake for the facility's
anticipated hydrogen and syngas outputs with a substantial customer
whose covenant would be regarded as of a very high quality.
Planning of the site in Ireland and discussions with the potential
supplier and customer are ongoing and we anticipate being in a
position to provide further updates in the near future.
Financial
The financial statements presented are those for the HUI group,
including the Company (which was incorporated in May 2021) and its
principal subsidiary in the UK (which was incorporated and
commenced trading in October 2020) together with HUI's subsidiaries
in Poland and Greece.
In line with expectations, the HUI group did not generate any
revenue in the reporting period and the total loss for the period
amounted to GBP1,036,461. The Group has not recognised a deferred
tax asset in respect of the losses incurred to date - which should
nevertheless be available to offset against profits in the
future.
Net assets at the period end amounted to GBP4.6 million. Cash
assets and receivables amounted to just under GBP4.7 million at
that date -including just under GBP2.7 million of cash at bank and
GBP1.9 million of cash receivable from the proceeds of the IPO
fundraising, the balance of which was received shortly following
the IPO. To the extent that IPO listing costs were not already paid
at period end, full provision has been made for the costs of the
IPO.
Cash outflow for the period from operating activities and in the
purchase of property, plant and equipment amounted to some GBP980
thousand. Net cash inflows from the issue of shares in the period
(excluding the GBP1.9 million of IPO proceeds shown as current
assets in trade receivables) amounted to some GBP3.68 million.
Climate Change
HUI is dedicated to helping to deliver climate change by
creating a cleaner, more sustainable future for our planet through
utilising technology to replace fossil fuels where possible.
Our vision is to accelerate a circular and net zero, clean
economy through:
-- tackling the worldwide plastic waste issue by utilising waste
plastic that is not recycled/cannot be recycled/cannot be recycled
economically as a feedstock for HUI facilities;
-- deploying innovative clean technologies that recover energy
from non-recyclable plastics and turn it into clean fuel; and
-- becoming the leader in monetising the conversion of
non-recyclable plastic waste into new products and energy.
G R Peters
Executive Chairman
30 June 2022
Chief Executive Officer's statement
HUI's business was founded on 1st October 2020 during the second
wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The timing was important, as the
world seemed to have woken up to the realisation that a utopian
aspiration of eradicating the usage of plastic was unachievable.
The Covid-19 pandemic has actually led to an increased demand for
single-use plastics that has intensified pressure on an already
out-of-control global plastic waste problem. The studies say that
it is impossible, impractical or uneconomic to recycle about 90% of
plastics, which subsequently leads to landfilling or incineration.
Neither are perfect solutions. We believe that HUI's solution is
far closer to perfection: tackling both of the burning
environmental issues - providing the world with a solution to waste
plastic and helping the transition from the use of fossil fuels by
creating alternative valuable fuels such as synthetic gas and
hydrogen.
On 1st January 2021 the EU banned the shipment of non-recyclable
plastic waste to countries outside the OECD and tightened controls
on exports to OECD countries and within Europe. Some poorer
countries, which are growing in affluence, are also slowly
restricting the import of unwanted plastic, increasing pressure on
every country to deal with its own plastic waste.
During the unprecedented crisis caused by the Covid Pandemic,
the EU unleashed the largest funding package in its history; EUR
1.7 trillion which would be targeted at the poorest regions within
the European Union. EU Leaders made it very clear that the Covid
Pandemic should increase our efforts to speed up the transition
from fossil fuel use and move swiftly to alternative sources of
energy. Pressure to increase hydrogen production increased, along
with an understanding that the demand for hydrogen will not be
fully met for a very long time. This means that all possible
sustainable methods of producing hydrogen must be implemented.
Currently the price of hydrogen is averaging around EUR12 per kg.
The EU has decided to allocate funds to the most impacted areas
across the Continent in regions where the transition is needed
most.
All of the above factors led to HUI's foundation and the rapid
development of its business. We believe in addressing the needs of
the most impacted regions in the EU with the help of EU funds, as
well as local, national and private sector funding. HUI's ambition
is to create a substantial project pipeline of systems across the
Continent, particularly where coal mining has to be phased out,
where unemployment is very high and where there is an urgent need
to create new employment opportunities to preserve the local
communities. Each of our systems can provide about 2.75 tonnes of
hydrogen per day, which can fuel approximately 84 public buses or
waste trucks or other heavy vehicles.
HUI is based on two fundamental pillars: building a state of the
art, 4.0. technology for converting waste plastic to hydrogen or
alternative fuels and creating a substantial project pipeline. Once
the first plant has been built, this should ensure that we can
capitalise rapidly on the knowledge and interest in the system in
our target markets.
In building a state of the art system, we are most proud of the
partners we have secured in developing the first plant. We engaged
Electron, a Netherlands based high-tech thermal engineering
company, which has worked with General Electric, Boeing, Tata Steel
and Shell to provide state of the art and highly specialised
engineering solutions. HUI. Electron and its consulting engineers
are developing a cutting edge pyrolysis and gasification reactor,
the chemical conversion chamber, which will run on green
electricity, making our system carbon neutral. Electron is in the
final phases of completing the design and material choices. We
believe that Electron has the capacity to build up to 20 pyrolysis
and gasification reactors annually, which provides us with
confidence in our ability to meet market demand. Electron also took
a shareholding in HUI in our pre-IPO funding round, which is a
strong measure of their support and confidence in our business.
Electron is currently constructing a test rig that will test the
first pyrolyzing stage of the system.
We have also partnered with Linde, the leading global industrial
gases and engineering company. Linde Engineering initially
performed a four month technical feasibility evaluation in mid 2021
in relation to the deployment of syngas cleanup and hydrogen
extraction in an HUI waste plastic to hydrogen plant. Subsequently,
at COP26, Linde and HUI signed a framework agreement under which
Linde would provide hydrogen extraction and gas clean-up equipment,
design and engineering services to HUI with a right of first
refusal on every HUI project. Under that agreement, HUI recently
tasked Linde Engineering with providing engineering guidance and
advice by assessing the interfacing of the chemical conversion
chamber and synthesis gas designs. Where necessary or desirable,
Linde Engineering will suggest improvements to enhance the
potential performance, longevity and/or integration of a complete
HUI waste plastic to hydrogen facility. They will also help
facilitate the fabrication and commissioning of a fully integrated
HUI waste plastic to hydrogen plant.
The second pillar of HUI's business is based on creating a
substantial project pipeline. Our first project on the European
Continent is anticipated to be based in Konin, Poland, where the
city has expressed interest in deploying 10 systems and an
agreement was signed with the City of Konin in February 2021. A
suitable plot for the proposed HUI plant, close to the city's
existing waste remediation facilities was identified and we were
initially given the land by Konin to commence our FEED study. Later
we entered into a 3 year lease agreement, which is expected to be
followed by a long term lease or purchase of the land. We engaged
SWECO, a pan- European engineering consultancy, to review the
necessary planning consents required for a plant in Konin and they
submitted an application for an Environmental Impact Assessment in
December 2021. Earlier this month we received a number of follow up
queries to our application, to which we are in the process of
responding.
Subsequent to the Konin agreement, in January 2022 we signed a
Letter of Intent with the regional waste management company
operating in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Greater Poland, which has built a
number of modern waste management facilities in the region. It has
agreed, subject to final contract, that it will provide a plot of
land at one of its facilities with the necessary utilities to
operate an HUI waste plastic to hydrogen plant, it will provide
assistance with the permitting of the site, it will source and
provide the waste plastic feedstock necessary to operate the system
and it will assist in procuring funding for the plant from EU,
national or local grants and/or private funding. It has also
offered its full assistance in finding off-take partners for the
hydrogen and energy produced by the plant. It is intended that the
heat energy produced by a plant would be fed into a district
heating system.
Interest in the system is growing significantly - we are
currently in discussions with cities in the regions of Pleszew, Wa
brzych, Jarocin and Kalisz. The Greater Poland region and its
neighbouring Voivodships are extremely interested in hydrogen and
are focused on being the leaders in hydrogen production. Konin is
running its first hydrogen bus, whilst Poznań has ordered 84 buses
to be delivered in the next 5 years. The first hydrogen summit in
Poland was hosted in Poznań, where HUI is making many connections:
we are currently in discussions with the largest waste management
companies as well as tyre and plastic manufacturers.
We have also been very active in exploring markets across the
Continent. We have established wholly owned subsidiaries in Greece
and Ireland. In Greece we were allocated a free of charge plot of
land in the region of Florina (West Macedonia), where the largest
EU grant is being allocated. We are in discussions with local
feedstock and off take providers.
The most advanced project as of today is located in Tipperary,
Ireland, where we intend to co-locate our plant alongside other
plastic waste recycling technology companies with a view to
creating a hub. In Ireland we are also in discussions with a Tier 1
feedstock and off- take supplier.
HUI believes that speed to market is everything, so we are
relentlessly exploring opportunities in Bulgaria, Italy, Germany
and the Netherlands. We believe in engaging local, well-connected
people to open doors and spread the word about HUI's
technology.
We believe that our plastic to hydrogen facilities represent
perfect ESG projects. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a
political imperative has been added to the impetus to develop our
plants. The united response of the Western World to the Ukraine
invasion has been to change the approach to energy policies
forever. Now projects such as ours have also become much more
political in their potential contribution to energy self-reliance
and energy independence. Businesses and consumers across Europe are
facing incredible challenges from soaring gas and oil prices. Our
plants can help in this context - by producing hydrogen as an
alternative fuel and by producing syngas and heat. The price of
natural gas is a benchmark for syngas prices. The clean syngas from
an HUI system can be blended with natural gas, thereby reducing
dependence upon primary fossil fuel sources and more particularly
those sourced from Russia. We believe that this transition
represents the future and we are extremely proud to be a part of
it.
A Binkowska
Chief Executive Officer
30 June 2022
GROUP STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
Period
ended
31 December
2021
GBP
Administrative expenses (1,036,645)
Operating loss (1,036,645)
Investment revenues 184
Loss before taxation (1,036,461)
Income tax expense -
Loss and total comprehensive income for the period (1,036,461)
Profit for the financial period is all attributable to the owners
of the parent company.
Total comprehensive income for the period is all attributable to
the owners of the parent company.
Earnings per share
Basic (0.40)
Earnings per share from continuing operations
Basic (0.40)
The income statement has been prepared on the basis that all operations
are continuing operations.
GROUP STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2021
2021
GBP
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 386,533
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 1,995,864
Cash and cash equivalents 2,697,612
4,693,476
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 505,071
Net current assets 4,188,405
Net assets 4,574,938
Equity
Called up share capital 344,320
Share premium account 2,214,684
Other reserves 3,052,395
Retained earnings (1,036,461)
Total equity 4,574,938
GROUP STATEMENT OF CASHFLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
2021
GBP GBP
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash absorbed by operations (594,920)
Net cash outflow from operating activities (594,920)
Investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (386,556)
Interest received 184
Net cash used in investing activities (386,372)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares 2,558,904
Proceeds from shares to be issued 1,120,000
Net cash generated from/(used in) financing activities 3,678,904
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 2,697,612
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year -
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 2,697,612
NOTES TO PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2021
1. The financial information set out above does not constitute
statutory accounts for the purpose of Section 434 of the Companies
Act 2006. The financial information has been extracted from the
statutory accounts of Hydrogen Utopia International Plc and is
presented using the same accounting policies, which have not yet
been filed with the Registrar of companies, but on which the
auditors gave an unqualified report on 30 June 2022.
The preliminary announcement of the results for the period ended
31 December 2021 was approved by the board of directors on 30 June
2022.
2. Earnings per share
2021
GBP
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for basic
earnings per share 256,298,031
Earnings (all attributable to equity shareholders of the company)
Continuing operations
Loss for the period from continued operations (1,036,461)
Earnings per share for continuing operations
Basic earnings per share (0.40)
Basic earnings per share
From continuing operations (0.40)
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings
attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average
number of shares outstanding during the year.
- ends -
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