Ilika plc (LON:IKA) Chief Executive Officer Graeme Purdy caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss first Stereax revenues, grant support for Goliath, EV market dynamics, and opportunities in defence and e-bikes.
Q1: Graeme, I see that you’ve provided an update on trading today. From the reported revenues, it sounds like Ilika’s Stereax product line has transitioned into a commercial product. Could you just expand on that for us a little?
A1: I think we’ve got to that point in the commercialisation of Stereax, where we’re seeing product-related revenues being recognised by the company. So, we put about 100,000 into our P&L from the last financial year. We expect that to increase by a number of multiples in the financial year that we’ve just started.
I think it’s at the point where the product is robust, is being shipped, and we’re seeing the front end of revenues really related to the demand for commercial-grade electrodes, which of course we’re shipping across to our manufacturing partners, Cirtec, in the US. That will also, in short order, actually translate into royalties as we see the end products being shipped to customers.
Q2: Can you just remind us of the applications for Stereax?
A2: There’s some really exciting applications. I know we’ve talked about those over the years, but they, if anything, have become even more robust and more exciting.
So, applications that range from orthodontics, so things like aligners and mouth guards, through to diagnostic devices, actually, that might be worn in the mouth. Orthopaedics, so smart orthopaedics; joint replacements, hip, shoulder, knee, really to provide movement data and exercise data to the physiotherapist after surgical implant so that patients can be coached.
Sensors, so implanted sensors, so things like blood pressure and oxygen concentration monitors. Neurostimulators for things like pain relief but actually addressing a whole host of medical conditions. Finally, ophthalmic applications, sometimes related to sight, but they can also be used for diagnostic applications.
So, a whole host of different types of devices that are being developed by our customers, a lot of which actually are starting to be rolled out either in prototype or early generation versions of the products principally in the US.
Q3: Just going back to revenues, is it fair to assume then that the remainder of the revenue is related to the Goliath grant support?
A3: Yes, that’s right. We do receive significant grant support for the programme through what’s now known as the DRIVE35 programme.
You’ll remember that we have a grant that is running at the moment, which is actually receiving steering support from Jaguar Land Rover and experts at the University of Oxford. We expect that grant to conclude in the summer. It is a very successful grant being managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre.
We are ensuring that our roadmap is perfectly aligned to the needs of our customers.
Q4: Do you expect grant support to continue?
A4: Yes, so the DRIVE35 programme continues and there’s a number of competitions, actually, where we have applications in flight for that, as well as actually some European-wide grants through the Horizon programme. So, we expect there’ll be continued support for our Goliath programme.
Q5: Now, Goliath was originally developed for the EV market. How would you describe the EV market dynamics at the moment?
A5: Well, I think in quarter one of 2026, we’ve had a significant global reset, and actually, you have to look at the different economic areas around the globe separately to understand the overall dynamics.
We’ve seen policy changes in the US and also China, which have led to a slowdown in EV sales, although still the majority of vehicles that are registered in China in quarter one 2026 have been EV, they’ve been BEV vehicles, battery electric vehicles. So, still a dominant type of car that’s being bought and registered in China.
In Europe, we’ve seen spectacular growth, actually, we’ve had a record quarter. I’d say Europe is poised for the largest growth amongst the major markets around the world and actually, this year, one in three vehicles sold is expected to be electric.
In quarter one of this year, we’ve seen a 30% growth in EV sales year on year and some of that may be being driven by the war in the Middle East, where we’ve seen a spike in petrol prices, diesel prices. Of course, people are then looking at the intensified benefits of driving EVs from an economic perspective and that’s what drives a lot of consumer behaviour. People want to save money and so that’s what’s really supporting the growth in EV demand.
Q6: You seem to have some additional opportunities outside of the EV programme. Could you tell me a bit more about those?
A6: Well, I think it’s really exciting to see that Ilika’s Goliath roadmap is intersecting other market sectors. So, you saw actually some of the publicity around the joint development programme we’ve got going with Brompton for enhanced e-bikes, safer e-bikes. So, that’s one area.
Of course, we’ve then got very positive feedback from some of the testing of our 10 Ah cells by the UK defence agency and there are lots of opportunities in defence for autonomous vehicles, land, sea, and air. We’re following up that so there’ll be additional news flow associated with that in the coming period.
Q7: Is there an opportunity coming up for investors to engage with you directly?
A7: Annual results are due out on the 29th of July and as always, we will be hosting an online presentation with IMC, Investor Meet Company. So, new and existing shareholders can register with IMC and ask whatever questions that you want and we will do our best to answer them.
