TIDMCWR
RNS Number : 3153P
Ceres Power Holdings plc
17 February 2021
Date: 17 February 2021
Ceres Power Holdings plc
Trading Update
STRONG COMMERCIAL PROGRESS AS PARTNERS PROGRESS TOWARDS MASS
PRODUCTION
Horsham, UK: Ceres Power Holdings plc ("Ceres", the "Company")
(AIM: CWR.L), a global leader in fuel cell technology, is pleased
to provide a post period end trading update ahead of the
announcement of its audited results for the 18 months ended 31
December 2020, which will be released on Thursday 18 March
2021.
Financial highlights
-- Revenue and other operating income for the 18-month period to
31 December 2020 will be around GBP32-33 million, above market
expectations
-- The order book* and pipeline* were GBP54 million and GBP44
million respectively at 31 December 2020, compared to GBP22 million
and GBP50 million at 31 December 2019
-- Cash and short-term investments were approximately GBP110
million at 31 December 2020, higher than expected as a result of
positive working capital movements
Strategic highlights
-- Doosan signed a manufacturing licence with a target capacity
of 50MW in 2024 and also extended its systems partnership with
Ceres to target higher power utility scale applications
-- Bosch has also strengthened its partnership with Ceres having
passed a key development milestone in December 2020. It is now
preparing to scale up to mass manufacture and targeting production
capacity of 200MW in 2024
-- Weichai continues its bus trials employing Ceres'
SteelCell(R) due to complete in H1 2021 as a key step towards
establishing a Joint Venture between Weichai and Ceres in China in
mid-2021
-- Ceres and engineering consultancy AVL List signed a strategic
collaboration to accelerate systems licensing, providing global
reach to Ceres, leveraging the significant respective fuel cell
systems IP, resources and capability and drive demand for stack
manufacturing licensees
Outlook
-- Focus remains on supporting manufacturing partners in scaling
up their production capabilities towards mass market launches in
2024 which will trigger royalty payments to Ceres
-- Ceres and Weichai intend to establish a joint venture in
mid-2021, following the successful conclusion of the bus trial
-- Ceres plans to continue the development of solid oxide
electrolysis for green hydrogen production targeting industrial
applications, following successful initial R&D stage
* 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.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic the company has continued
to deliver top line revenue growth and to meet customer commitments
globally securing new strategic partnerships with Doosan in South
Korea and AVL List in Austria while progressing our relationship
with Weichai in China and passing a key milestone with Bosch in
December.
The significant progress made in 2020 provides a solid
foundation for 2021 and, with partners aiming to scale up
manufacturing, provides visibility to future high margin revenue
and further validation of the Ceres licensing business model. The
Company has established itself as one of the world leaders in Solid
Oxide Fuel Cell technology and is well positioned for future
growth. Ceres will continue to invest in its core technology to
maintain its leadership position and expand into new applications
such as electrolysis for hydrogen and future fuels with the purpose
of providing clean energy technology that can address climate
change globally.
COVID-19
Employee wellbeing is the main priority at Ceres and the company
has implemented flexible working hours off-site and comprehensive
safety measures on-site to protect its people. Throughout the
pandemic period Ceres has successfully continued its operations and
recruited and on-boarded an additional 88 scientists and engineers
during 2020, continuing to grow a world leading UK technology
business as it supports commercial partners globally and progresses
new and existing technology programmes.
Phil Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer of Ceres commented:
"The last 18 months have been one of the most important periods
in our history. Bosch and Weichai made significant equity
investments in the business, underlining their long-term confidence
in our technology. On the supply side of our SteelCell(R) ecosystem
we announced the scale up to an aggregate 250MW of manufacturing
capacity for 2024, giving us visibility of high margin royalty
revenues. This was balanced on the OEM systems side with the AVL
relationship, which should accelerate our systems licensing
opportunities and create additional fuel cell stack demand for our
manufacturing partners.
"None of these major steps forward would have been possible
without the ongoing professionalism of our people, who have found
ways to work effectively during this challenging period. I would
therefore like to thank them for their commitment in delivering
another strong year for Ceres. Their efforts position us well to
support our existing customers and to harness the growing number of
opportunities for our technology as nations around the world
continue to promote their green initiatives."
Ends
For further information visit www.ceres.tech or contact:
Ceres Power Holdings plc Tel: +44 (0)7884 654179
Patrick Yau
Investec Bank PLC (NOMAD & Joint Tel: +44 (0)207 597 5970
Broker)
Jeremy Ellis / Patrick Robb / Ben
Griffiths
Berenberg (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0)203 207 7800
Ben Wright / Mark Whitmore
Madano
Harry Spencer / Hoda Awad Tel: +44 (0)20 7 593
4000
About Ceres Power
Ceres is a world-leading developer of next generation solid
oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and electrochemical technology. Its
asset-light, licensing model has seen it establish partnerships
with some of the world's largest engineering and technology
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) and is classified by the LSE Green Economy Mark, which
recognises listed companies that derive more than 50% of their
activity from the green economy.
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END
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