Ilika plc (LON:IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, has announced its unaudited half-year report for the six months ended 31 October 2023.
Operating Highlights:
During the period, significant progress has been made with both Ilika’s thin-film StereaxÒ miniature solid-state batteries (SSBs) for powering medical devices and industrial wireless sensors in specialist environments, and its large-format Goliath cells for electric vehicles (EV) and cordless appliances.
Stereax
· Completed first customer shipments of stacked M300 batteries from UK pilot manufacturing facility.
· Entered into technology transfer and ten-year licensing agreement with US-headquartered Cirtec.
· Dispatched key equipment required to manufacture Stereax cells at Cirtec to its US facility; cathode manufacturing will initially remain at Ilika in the UK as a sub-contract service to Cirtec.
· Continued collaboration with Cirtec to support the development plans and launch schedules of the portfolio of 20 Stereax customers.
Goliath
· Significant development milestones achieved on technology roadmap.
· Production scale-up progressing.
· Continued execution of the Faraday Battery Challenge 24-month, £8.2m grant-funded HISTORY project, steered with input from BMW and Fortescue WAE.
· Production-intent equipment trialled at vendor sites and at its pilot facility.
· Secured the Automotive Transformation Fund 16-month, £2.7m grant-supported SiSTEM project, in which Ilika is collaborating with Mpac plc and UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).
· Continued interaction with a portfolio of automotive and consumer appliance original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) globally, resulting in a pipeline of evaluation agreements with 17 companies.
Financial Summary:
· Total revenue for the period of £1.3m (H1 2023: £0.2m)
· Grant funding of £1.3m (H1 2023: £0.2m)
· EBITDA loss, excluding share-based payments, of £1.9m (H1 2023: £4.1m loss)
· Cash & Cash equivalents at period end of £13.2m (H1 2023: £18.6m)
Post Period End:
· Completed key design-freeze D4 development milestone, the precursor to P1, the first prototype for customer release of the Goliath battery.
· Achieved lithium-ion energy density parity in its Goliath programme.
Outlook:
· Signed contract with Cirtec represents most immediate commercialisation opportunity, allowing fulfilment of order book and creating further opportunities for commercial engagement.
· Well-developed plans to move Ilika’s Goliath roadmap to the next stage, MVP, aiming to reach the D8 development milestone by the end of the HISTORY programme grant in Q1 2025, underpinning licencing opportunities.
· First half of this calendar year Ilika will manufacture and test batches of pouch cells based on the D4 development point prior to delivering fully characterised P1 cells to customers.
· Plans to increase the capacity of the Company’s existing pre-pilot production facility using automation and larger scale items of equipment.
· Targets to reach an installed capacity of 1.5 MWh/a to allow Ilika to scale production volumes and mature its technology to the level required to respond to automotive requests for quotation (‘RFQ’) by the end of 2025.
· Commercial interest and government grant support expected to intensify as the Goliath product continues to mature.
Commenting on the results Graeme Purdy, CEO, said: “The first half of this year was important for Ilika on both sides of the business. We were delighted to successfully convert our memorandum of understanding with Cirtec into a ten-year licensing arrangement. Both companies are now working hard to implement Stereax manufacturing at Cirtec’s facility in the US. This has the potential to open up many more business opportunities in miniature medical devices, given Cirtec’s position as an industry leader as a strategic outsourcing partner of complex medical devices.
“Regarding Goliath, we have successfully delivered against our technology roadmap, with two key milestones achieved at the end of 2023. Having reached lithium-ion energy density parity, and continuing to work towards further energy and power density milestones, we have proved that our batteries stand to deliver the clear benefits of solid-state architecture, and from here we will continue to pursue further energy and power density milestones. Against a backdrop of continually growing recognition of the importance of the EV sector, from both business and government, we look forward to building on this momentum and developing closer commercial relationships in 2024.”
Analyst Briefing
The management team will be hosting a hybrid analyst briefing today at 9.30am. Analysts who wish to attend should contact Nick Rome at Walbrook PR on +44(0)20 7933 8780 or email ilika@walbrookpr.com to register.
