AGM Statement

RNS Number : 6113A

Ilika plc

30 September 2015

 

Ilika plc

("Ilika" or the "Company")

AGM Statement

Ilika (AIM: IKA), the accelerated materials innovation company, will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 2pm at the offices of Eversheds LLP, One Wood Street, London, EC2V 7WS.

Ahead of the formal proceedings Graeme Purdy, CEO of Ilika, will provide the following update to shareholders:

Since the announcement of our final results in July, operations at Ilika have been dominated by the activities associated with the production of our solid-state batteries. In March 2015 we announced commencement of solid-state battery production, which enabled us to enter into a dialogue with our OEM partners on integration of the batteries with their products. The principal applications being addressed are wireless sensors for smart buildings, transport and medical devices. These interactions resulted in a set of performance targets being defined for each application. The performance targets have been translated into a development roadmap with intermediate milestones to be achieved along the way. The technical team has been working hard to achieve these milestones over the summer period and solid progress is being made towards commercialisation.

Ilika's portfolio of patents, covering its solid-state battery technology, has also made good progress. We reported in March that we had received a Notice of Allowance in the United States for one of the applications and an Intention to Grant in Europe for another. Both were jointly filed with Toyota. As expected, these patents went to formal grant in those jurisdictions in June and July respectively. Earlier this week, Ilika announced that it had also received notification of grant of one of these patents in China. In July, a further three patent applications covering other aspects of our battery technology were published. We expect further filings to result from the development work currently being undertaken.

In August we reported that the European Patent Office had upheld Ilika's opposition to a fuel cell catalyst patent from a US national lab. Ilika invests significant sums in creating intellectual property to underpin the company's licensing model. Potentially competitive filings are monitored closely and are challenged where appropriate. The patent revocation means that Ilika now enjoys freedom to operate the European patent covering our palladium-alloy based fuel cell catalyst. While the adoption rate of fuel cell technology has always been difficult to predict, the recent launch of vehicles like the Toyota Mirai signals an increased focus by OEM's on cost-reduction in readiness for the mass market. Ilika's patented fuel cell catalyst materials are currently under evaluation by global car manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers.

Also of note has been Ilika's recent success in attracting funding to support its work in developing advanced aerospace alloys. Last week, we announced that Ilika had been awarded a £466,000 grant to support its role leading a £2.15 million, 3-year collaborative project with Reliance, the University of Sheffield, GKN and BAE Systems. The project will develop a new generation of self-healing alloys for additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Forecasts for the AM market (also known as 3D printing) fall into the $230 bn- $550 bn range by 2025 and developing suitable alloys for this process will be a valuable enabling technology.

This AGM will also be a time of board renewal, with the retirement of Jack Boyer OBE after 11 years in the role and his replacement, pending shareholder confirmation, by Mike Inglis. Jack has overseen the growth of the company from a University spin-out in 2004, through three rounds of venture finance and a successful IPO in 2010. Mike brings a wealth of IP commercialisation experience to the board, from his time as Commercial Director at ARM Holdings. Mike's appointment builds on the addition of Professor Keith Jackson to the board in October 2014. This development of the board is part of a broader transition for Ilika from a project-based organisation to one with a greater product focus and we'd like to thank our shareholders for their continued support and enthusiasm during this period.

For more information contact:

Ilika plc	www.ilika.com
Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Steve Boydell, Finance Director
Numis Securities Limited	Tel: [phone]
Oliver Cardigan/ Adrian Trimmings /
James Black
Walbrook PR Ltd	Tel: [phone] / [e-mail]
Paul McManus	Mob: [phone]
Lianne Cawthorne	Mob: [phone]

 

END

 

 

AGMPKCDQPBKDQCB