Ilika plc (LON:IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, has provided updates on trading, Stereax® manufacturing, and Goliath product development, as well as notice of its full year results for the year ended 30 April 2022.
Trading Update for FY22
Trading for the year ended 30 April 2022 has been in line with management expectations. The Company expects to announce revenues of approximately £0.5m (2021: £2.3m), and an EBITDA loss of around £7.0m (2021: EBITDA loss of £2.3m). Cash and cash equivalents at the period end were £23.4m (30 April 2021: £9.7m).
Stereax Manufacturing Update and Trading Update for FY23
Further to the official opening in December 2021 of its manufacturing facility for Stereax miniature solid-state batteries for industrial wireless sensors and medical implants, Ilika has been progressing facility process qualification to the point where it is now substantially complete. As indicated in the Company’s Interim Results on 20 January 2022, product qualification has commenced, which involves production of initial batches of batteries and testing them against specification. Whilst a series of process optimisation cycles have been carried out to date, it is taking longer than previously anticipated to ensure that product batches reproducibly meet specification.
In terms of an update on Ilika’s pipeline, the demand from potential customers is now weighted predominantly towards miniature medical device applications. The demand for such applications starts with device prototyping, followed by pre-clinical and clinical trials before regulatory approval and mass market roll-out, which has a longer regulatory approval cycle than industrial sensors. Ilika will match production volumes to customer demand.
The shift in the weighting of customer demand towards medical device applications combined with the expectation of optimisation cycles continuing into H2 FY23, means the Company now expects commercial sales to commence at the end of that period, later than originally anticipated. A number of the potential applications for Stereax exceed the capacity of Ilika’s facility, which provides longer term opportunities for partnering and licensing.
Goliath Progress Update
Product development of Goliath, Ilika’s large format battery for electric vehicles and customer appliances, has continued to progress to schedule, with significant improvements achieved in energy density (providing the potential for lighter weight battery packs) and power density (key for rapid charging). Ilika continues to explore opportunities for closer collaboration with strategic partners interested in aligning their product roadmaps with Goliath.
Notice of Results
Ilika plc (LON IKA) expects to announce its full year results for the year ended 30 April 2022 on Wednesday 13 July 2022.
