Ilika plc (LON:IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, announced its full-year results for the year ended 30 April 2021.
Operational highlights
Ilika has continued to develop and commercialise its thin-film Stereax® miniature solid-state batteries for powering medical devices and industrial wireless sensors (IIoT) in hostile environments, as well as progressing its development of large-format Goliath cells for electric vehicles (EV) and cordless appliances. Progress includes:
· Achieved substantial progress towards completion of manufacturing facility for Stereax batteries to support 70x increase in production capacity
· Progressed factory acceptance tests for key Stereax manufacturing tools
· Sold Stereax evaluation samples to a portfolio of 16 Medtech and IIOT customers from pilot line
· Strengthened senior management team through appointment of Paul Marron to new position of Technology Transfer and Manufacturing Director, to oversee implementation of the Stereax manufacturing facility
· Continued with the execution of a portfolio of three collaborative projects supported by the UK Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge, supported by £5.2m grant funding enabling work on rapid charging with Honda and Ricardo, battery packs for high performance vehicles with McLaren and cost-effective routes for the mass production of Goliath cells with JaguarLandRover
· Signed a framework agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UK-BIC) for the production of Goliath pouch cells, targeting a growth in production 1kWh per week to 5MWh per week by 2024
· Commenced a collaboration with Comau, part of the Fiat Group, to scale up Ilika’s existing Goliath pre pilot line and deliver a plant design for a manufacturing line at a facility such as the UK-BIC.
· Grew patent portfolio with a further four granted patents in four jurisdictions
Financial highlights:
· Turnover £2.3m (2020: £2.8m)
· EBITDA Loss adjusted for share based payments for the year £2.3m (2020: £2.1m)
· Loss per share 2.53p (2020: 2.95p)
· Cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits of £9.8m (2020: £14.8m)
Outlook
Ilika plc has an intensive period of operational implementation ahead of it for the remainder of this financial year and into next year as it deploys the capital it raised in March 2020 to establish a manufacturing facility for Stereax to satisfy the demand from our medical and IoT customers. The technical maturity of Goliath is expected to continue to rise as prototype cell performance continuously improves. Ilika is looking to accelerate its plans for the scale-up of its Goliath technology such that it can reach a point of manufacturing readiness. These plans would require additional financing to realise, with potential sources of financing including additional government grant funding, equity financing and investment from strategic partners. The Board’s confidence continues to build in the commercial opportunity for Ilika’s technology across the large markets it addresses and this will provide a strong platform for future growth.
Commenting on the results Ilika Chairman, Keith Jackson, said: “A good development team is used to rising and responding to challenges, minimising impact, and finding new ways to solve problems. The Ilika team has done just that showing agility and calm resourcefulness to make excellent progress in the face of the challenges raised by the COVID pandemic. Setting up the Stereax manufacturing facility has been done with the same fast pace that was achieved last year with the Goliath Pilot line. We are now ready for final delivery and commissioning of the equipment on site. Once installed, we can ramp up the rate of innovation and delivery of products to our customers.
“The Goliath pilot line has been worked hard over the last year to optimise cell chemistry and architecture and, even more importantly, to define the manufacturing processes and methods that are repeatable and commercially viable at scale. We have delivered a number of technical breakthroughs in the year with component performance closing nicely on the design goals. The team is now confident enough to be planning the mid-scale manufacturing of Goliath cells, to validate the manufacturing design and to service potential customers.
“Our technology goals are challenging but they focus on one of the most important and valuable areas for the future of the environment and the way we live. We are well placed to address an exciting market opportunity. We are making good progress technically and structurally in our business and we have a management team which rises to challenges and inspires its staff.”
