Half-year Report

RNS Number : 9307A

ITM Power PLC

27 January 2020

 

27 January 2020

ITM Power plc

("ITM Power", "the Group" or the "Company")

Half Year Results for the Period ended 31 October 2019

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, announces half year results for the six month period ended 31 October 2019. Comparable figures, where stated, refer to the corresponding period in 2018 unless otherwise indicated.

Commercial:

·    Formation of a Joint Venture with Linde Engineering, ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH ("ILE") focusing on delivering green hydrogen to large scale industrial projects

·    Transformative £58.8m fundraise to:

o  facilitate move to Bessemer park

o  fund the continuing development of 5MW electrolyser module

o  initially fund the Joint Venture, ILE GmbH

o  provide balance sheet strength and flexibility

Operational:

·    Lease for new 1GW factory signed, with Principal Contractor appointed for fitout on a 30 week programme

·    US Business development MoU with Iwatani Corporation America

·    As of today, the total backlog stands at £42.4m (2018: £33.6m) with £16.3m (2018: £23.2m) of projects under contract and a further £26.1m (2018: £10.4m) in the final stages of negotiation.

·    The qualified tender opportunity pipeline is now over £248m (2018: £240m), representing 37 projects with an average size of £6.7m.

Financial:

·    Total income of £3.8m (£5.0m), down 24%, comprising:

o Revenue of £2.4m (£1.2m), up 100%

o Grant income plus grants receivable for capital projects of £1.4m (£3.8m), down 79%

·    Loss from operations £9.8m (£5.3m), increased by 85%

·    EBITDA Loss of £8.3m, (£4.5m), increased by 84%

·    Cash balance (excluding restricted balances) of £56.9m (£15.6m) at period end

·    Cash burn (excluding fundraise) of £6.2m (£4.8m), up 29%

·    Net working capital of £9.0m (£9.4m), down 4%

Corporate:

·   Sir Roger Bone steps up to Chairman following four years on the board

·   Martin Green joins the board as non-executive director

·   Juergen Nowicki appointed non-executive director, nominated by Linde

·   Appointment of Andreas Rupieper as MD of ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH

·   Nicola Ham Edmonds appointed Company Secretary

·   Prof. Roger Putnam and Lord Roger Freeman retire from the board

Graham Cooley, CEO, commented: "The formation of the Joint Venture with Linde and the strategic investment that accompanied it is transformative for ITM Power. The deal allows ITM Power to concentrate on its core competence of developing and manufacturing electrolysis equipment. The Company is now able to offer a full turnkey solution at industrial scale with the EPC competence of a world leader in the hydrogen industry. The opportunity to bid up to 1GW per annum of electrolysis equipment from Bessemer Park gives the Company a powerful cost reduction trajectory. I am confident that ITM Power and our partner Linde have a world class offering."

Roger Bone, added: "I am delighted to take over from Roger Putnam as chairman of ITM Power and to oversee the integration of the Company's activities with Linde Engineering into a successful joint venture. I thank Roger for his contribution and commitment to the Company during his tenure and look forward to further developing our governance to drive ITM Power forward."

For further information please visit www.itm-power.com or contact:

ITM Power plc	(0)114 244 5111
Graham Cooley / Andy Allen
Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)	(0)20 7597 5970
Jeremy Ellis / Chris Sim / Ben Griffiths / Tejas Padalkar
Tavistock (Financial PR and IR)	(0)20 7920 3150
Simon Hudson / Edward Lee / Barney Hayward

About ITM Power plc:

ITM Power plc manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions for grid balancing, energy storage and the production of green hydrogen for transport, renewable heat and chemicals. ITM Power plc was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004.  In October 2019, the Company announced the completion of a £58.8 million fundraise, including a subscription by Linde of £38 million, together with the formation of a joint-venture with Linde to focus on delivering green hydrogen to large scale industrial projects worldwide.  ITM Power signed a forecourt siting agreement with Shell for hydrogen refuelling stations in September 2015, (which was extended in May 2019 to include buses, trucks, trains and ships) and in January 2018 a deal to deploy a 10MW electrolyser at Shell's Rhineland refinery. ITM Power announced the lease of the world's largest electrolyser factory in Sheffield with a capacity of 1GW (1,000MW) per annum in July 2019. Customers and partners include Sumitomo, Ørsted, National Grid, Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, Gasunie, RWE, Engie, BOC Linde, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Anglo American among others.

CEO's Review

The tender opportunity pipeline (TOP) continues to grow highlighting the growth in interest of green hydrogen worldwide. ITM Power has increasing commercial visibility of those projects which are viable, and ready, and is becoming increasingly selective about where it focuses its sales efforts, with an increasingly rigorous bidding criteria for projects. ITM Power is working closely with Linde to develop a joint bidding strategy appropriate to the opportunities arising, and appropriate for ITM Linde Electrolysis to bid. Going forward the TOP will begin to decrease as larger industrial tenders are bid by ITM Power as electrolyser-only sales, therefore excluding the EPC element (which will fall to Linde via the joint venture). The pipeline will now reflect the element of a solution that is specific to ITM Power, therefore allowing the Company to focus on the element of a project where its technology and expertise adds the greatest value.

Products Deployed in the Period

The opening, by HM King of the Netherlands, of the 1MW electrolyser at Gasunie represented an important milestone for the Group. The north Netherlands has a well-defined plan for the deployment of electrolysis and it is now becoming an important territory for the development of green hydrogen strategies.

The Company was also delighted to open its first bus refuelling station in Pau, France, and has worked closely with Linde to integrate the hydrogen production and bus refuelling equipment.

The network of ITM Power owned refuelling stations continues to grow in the UK with the opening of our Gatwick station, on a Shell forecourt. The total amount of hydrogen dispensed in the UK from Jan-Dec 2019: 17,483 kg (£176,151) and 16,611 kg ($299,833) in the USA over the same period.

Products in Build and Order Backlog

ITM Power continues to steadily process its order book. The Group's current focus is the build of the Shell Refhyne project, consisting of five 2MW standard modules that represent an important reference plant for other quotes and deployments. In terms of the project programme, the module build is expected to complete in April 2020 with testing ongoing into the summer, which is in line with the planned timescale for the project.

Financial Results

Total Income for the period was £3.8m (£5.0m), down 24%. Revenue recognised for the period under review was £2.4m (£1.2m), up 100%. This was supplemented by grant income of £0.8m ( £2.5m) and £0.4m (£1.3m) of grants receivable for capital projects, which impacts the balance sheet by subsidising the build of assets that ITM Power owns and operates to generate income. The Company expects the trajectory towards an improved mix of revenue relative to grant income to continue as its works through the current and future backlog.

The loss before tax for the half year was £9.8m (£5.2m). This figure continues to be affected by certain legacy projects, including that of the Shell Refhyne project, resulting primarily from facing first-of-a-kind deployment challenges. These challenges have been recognised by the board: the creation of the joint venture with a global, world leading EPC partner will diminish the Group's exposure to future deployment risk, and allow ITM to focus further on developing its world-leading standard products.

Overhead costs were largely in line with expectations for the year. However, in the past the Company has been able to offset some overhead through grant income. This has diminished in the current period (£0.8m vs £3.8m) as remaining EU grants have started to reach a conclusion. Whilst there are new, UK, grant schemes becoming available, the company's last major award of EU funds was for the Refhyne project, awarded in 2016 (and contracted in 2017). Whilst the company's future will increasingly be made up of revenue through sales (and there has been a 100% year on year increase for H1), the reduction in grant income has been steeper than anticipated. The company shall continue to seek support via grant funding when this aligns with the product and technology development roadmaps.

Adjusting Post Balance Sheet Event

Since the period end the Company has received price indications for installation and commissioning on the Refhyne project which are likely to be higher than originally anticipated. The tender process is continuing, with hopes that additional clarifications of works will bring costs down from the outline estimates received to date. A provision for loss which has been reflected in the statements under cost of sales, at £1.9m, representing 16% of the total contract value. The overrun reflects ITM's learning in being able to accurately estimate the cost of installation of a major project in an international refinery. Going forward, ITM Power will be conducting these projects through ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH and the lead contracts will benefit from the estimating, quotation and EPC delivery skills of Linde Engineering.

Cash and short-term deposits at the period end were £56.9m (£5.2m at 30 April 2019 and £15.6m at 31 October 2018). This reflects the receipt of proceeds from the equity raise completed in October 2019. Debtor balances increased to £23.2m (£19.3m) reflecting pro forma and stage payments made with suppliers. In the second half of the year, cash burn shall increase as the work on Bessemer Park progresses.

New Site: Bessemer Park

The new premises continue to progress, with the developers handing over the landlord's completed build phase in November, just after this period end. The Company is now focused on adapting the site to meet its requirements. It is anticipated that the first area of works will be the installation of an upgraded 5MW power connection to facilitate the on-site testing of larger electrolysers, which will support the Group's capability to deliver large scale projects. The Clegg Group Ltd has been appointed to complete the fit out. The development will also include an extension to the existing offices and manufacturing and production areas, as well as a test room for factory acceptance testing of products. The programme of works at the factory is planned for completion by Q3 2020, and is designed to enable the company to reach a capacity of 1GW within three years.

Technology Progress

Technology progress in the year has focused on product standardisation with the Company concentrating on its 2MW standard offering, and its scalability to larger projects, as well as developing the concept for the 5MW stack module for the next generation of ITM Power electrolysis product.

Marketing

The Hannover Messe in April continues to be the company's flagship event, and ITM Power will attend again in 2020. ITM Power will also attend the Tokyo EXPO in February 2020 with Sumitomo. The Company continues to issue a newsletter to people who sign up and has launched a new website. A regularly updated list of all the events the Company will be attending can be found at http://www.itm-power.com/news-media/events

People

The Company now employs over 190 staff across the UK, USA, France, Germany and Australia, and is well placed with the skills mix to respond to the changing market for larger electrolyser systems. The company has been focussed on production, project delivery and after-sales support recruitment. Once again, the Board would like to recognise the commitment of all staff as we continue to be in a strong position, with strong industrial partners globally, and the capability to increase volume and production in the new site.

Outlook

Global energy markets are increasingly recognising the need for the use of green hydrogen as an energy storage medium and as a transport fuel, chemical fuel and for renewable heat. A number of developed economies, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Korea, Japan, China, and the UK have all developed hydrogen roadmaps. In the UK, the Commission for Climate Change (CC) Net Zero - Technical Report (published on 2 May 2019) indicates that the UK will need between 6 and 17GW of electrolysis to achieve its target of net zero by 2050. ITM Power, with its joint venture ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH is very well positioned to capitalise on this opportunity. Following the successful fundraising in October 2019, the Company also has the balance sheet strength required to take on the challenge of large scale industrial electrolysis.

Dr Graham Cooley

Chief Executive Officer

27 January 2019

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED)

Results for the six months ended 31 October 2019

	Six months ended 31 October 2019 (unaudited) £'000	Six months ended 31 October 2018 (unaudited) £'000	Year ended 30 April 2019 (audited) £'000
Revenue	2,438	1,187	4,589
Grant income against cost of sales	689	5	427
Cost of sales	(5,649)	(1,832)	(6,182)
Gross profit	(2,522)	(640)	(1,166)
Operating costs
Distribution expenses
- Research and development	(1,087)	(1,117)	(2,327)
- Prototype production and engineering	(4,318)	(3,197)	(6,202)
- Sales and marketing	(771)	(833)	(1,713)
	(6,176)	(5,147)	(10,242)
Administration expenses	(1,938)	(2,007)	(4,738)
Other operating income - grant income	807	2,506	6,799
Loss from operations	(9,829)	(5,288)	(9,347)
Investment income		15	29
Interest expense	(10)
Loss before tax	(9,839)	(5,273)	(9,318)
Tax	25	79	(133)
Loss for the period	(9,814)	(5,194)	(9,451)
OTHER TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME:
Foreign currency translation differences on foreign operations	30	65	40
Total comprehensive loss for the period	(9,874)	(5,129)	(9,411)
Loss per share
Basic and diluted	(3.0p)	(1.8p)	(2.9p)
Weighted average number of shares	331,124,871	287,311,287	324,009,397

The loss per ordinary share and diluted loss per share are equal because share options are only included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share if their issue would decrease the net profit per share or increase the net loss per share.

All results presented above are derived from continuing operations.

The loss for the period is equal to the total comprehensive expense for the period.

Prior periods have not been restated in this transition to IFRS 16 Lease Accounting. Therefore comparison with the current period may be affected for Distribution and Administration expenses and Investment income. This is explained further in the accompanying notes, which form part of these financial statements.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY (UNAUDITED)

Results for the six months ended 31 October 2019

	Called up share capital £'000	Share premium account £'000	Merger reserve £'000	Foreign Exchange reserve £'000	Retained loss £'000	Total Equity £'000
At 1 May 2019	16,200	86,631	(1,973)	111	(74,760)	26,209
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	(9,814)	(9,814)
Other comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	30	-	30
Total Comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	30	(9,814)	(9,784)
Issue of share capital	7,353	50,443	-	-	-	57,796
Credit to equity for equity settled share based payments	-	-	-	-	182	182
At 31 October 2019 (unaudited)	23,553	137,074	(1,973)	141	(84,392)	74,403
At 1 May 2018	16,200	86,631	(1,973)	71	(65,338)	35,591
Adjustment for IFRS15					(161)	(161)
Adjusted balance at 1 May 2018	16,200	86,631	(1,973)	71	(65,499)	35,430
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	(5,194)	(5,194)
Other comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	65	-	65
Total Comprehensive income for the period	-	-	-	65	(5,194)	(5,129)
At 31 October 2018 (unaudited)	16,200	86,631	(1,973)	136	(70,693)	30,301

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (UNAUDITED)

31 October 2019

	As at 31 October 2019 (unaudited) £'000	As at 31 October 2018 (unaudited) £'000	As at 30 April 2019 (audited) £'000
NON CURRENT ASSETS
Software & Development Costs	1,056	486	669
Property, plant and equipment	8,302	4,217	5,742
	9,358	4,703	6,411
CURRENT ASSETS
Inventories	3,519	1,652	1,906
Trade and other receivables	23,239	19,260	31,903
Cash and cash equivalents	56,878	15,603	5,173
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS	83,636	36,515	38,982
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Trade and other payables	(14,362)	(9,905)	(17,579)
Lease liability	(310)	-	-
Provisions	(3,435)	(1,011)	(1,605)
TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES	(18,107)	(10,916)	(19,184)
NET CURRENT ASSETS	65,529	25,599	19,798
Long-term lease liability	(484)	-	-
NET ASSETS	74,403	30,302	26,209
EQUITY
Called up share capital	23,553	16,200	16,200
Share premium account	137,074	86,631	86,631
Merger reserve	(1,973)	(1,973)	(1,973)
Foreign Exchange Reserve	141	136	111
Retained loss	(84,392)	(70,692)	(74,760)
TOTAL EQUITY	74,403	30,302	26,209

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT (UNAUDITED)

Results for the six months ended 31 October 2018

	Six months ended 31 October 2019 (unaudited) £'000	Six months ended 31 October 2018 (unaudited) £'000	Year ended 30 April 2019 (audited) £'000
Loss from operations	(9,830)	(5,288)	(9,347)
Adjustments:
IFRS 15 adjustment	-	(128)	(145)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	1,089	887	1,773
Loss on disposal	92	-	-
Impairment reversal	-	-	(24)
Amortisation	126	53	122
Share based payment	182	-	184
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital	(8,341)	(4,476)	(7,437)
Decrease/ (Increase) in inventories	(1,614)	(998)	(1,251)
Decrease/ (Increase) in receivables	8,637	(755)	(13,571)
(Decrease)/ Increase in payables	(3,215)	1,974	9,651
Increase in provisions	2,624	163	757
Cash from/ (used in) operations	(1,909)	(4,092)	(11,852)
Income taxes received	52	76	77
Net cash used in operating activities	(1,857)	(4,016)	(11,774)
Investing activities
Purchases of property, plant and equipment	(3,950)	(640)	(3,052)
Proceeds from sale of plant & equipment	224	-	-
Payments for intangible assets	(513)	(183)	(436)
Net cash (used in) investing activities	(4,239)	(823)	(3,488)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares	58,822	-	-
Costs associated with fund raise	(1,026)	-	-
Net interest	(10)	15	29
Net cash from financing activities	57,786	15	29
Increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	51,690	(4,824)	(15,233)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	5,173	20,403	20,403
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes	15	24	3
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	56,878	15,603	5,173

Cash Burn

Cash burn is a measure used by key management personnel to monitor the performance of the business.

	Six months ended 31 October 2019 (unaudited) £'000	Six months ended 31 October 2018 (unaudited) £'000	Year ended 30 April 2018 (audited) £'000
Increase/ (Decrease) in Cash and Cash equivalents per the cash flow statement	51,690	(4,824)	(15,233)
Effect of foreign exchange rates	15	24	3
Less share issue proceeds (net)	(57,796)	-	-
Cash Burn	(52,621)	(4,800)	(15,230)

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

The condensed Interim Financial Statements were approved by the board of Directors on:

27 January 2019

Notes to condensed Interim Financial Statements

1. Basis of preparation of interim figures

The interim financial statements have been prepared using accounting policies consistent with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted for use in the EU. While the financial information included in this interim announcement has been compiled in accordance with the recognition and measurement principles of IFRSs, this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs. This interim financial information does not constitute statutory financial statements within the meaning of section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the six months periods ended 31 October 2018 and 2019 have not been subject to an interim review. The information relating to the year ended 30 April 2019 has been extracted from the Group's published financial statements for that year, which contain an unqualified audit report that does not draw attention to any matters of emphasis, and did not contain statements under section 498(2) and 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006 and which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.

The Group's condensed interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the principles of IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as adopted by the European Union. The principal accounting policies adopted by the group are as applied in the Group's latest annual audited financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis. The principal accounting policies adopted by the Group are as applied in the Group's latest audited financial statements, except that in the period the company adopted IFRS 16 for the first time. The details of this adoption is set out in note 3 of this announcement.

Going concern

The Directors have prepared a cash flow forecast (the "Forecast") for the period to 31 January 2021 (the "Forecast Period"). The Forecast includes a number of assumptions, including the level of projected sales and grant income, the timing of which is inherently uncertain.

The Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company and Group can continue to meet their liabilities as they fall due, for a period of not less than twelve months from the date of approval of this condensed set of financial statements. 

Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.

2. Revenue, other operating income and investment income

The following accounted for more than 10% of total revenue:

	H1 2019		H1 2018
Customer A	£666,015		<10%
Customer B	£815,187		<10%
Customer C	£377,792		<10%
Customer D	<10%		£788,838

An analysis of the Group's revenue is a follows:	H1 2019 £'000	H2 2018 £'000
Continuing operations
Revenue from construction contracts	1,687	950
Consulting services	392	16
Maintenance services	30	34
Fuel sales	237	158
Other	93	29
Revenue in the Consolidated Income Statement	2,438	1,187
Grant income	1,496	2,505
Investment income	10	15
	3,944	3,707

Revenues from major products and services

The Group's revenues from its major products and services were as follows:

	2019 £'000	2018 £'000
Continuing operations
Power-to gas	233	959
Refuelling	908	193
Chemical Industry	822	4
Other	475	31
Consolidated revenue (excluding investment revenue)	2,438	1,187

GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF REVENUE

A geographic analysis of the Group's revenue is set out below:

	2019 £'000	2018 £'000
United Kingdom	583	314
Germany	832	(10)
Rest of Europe	868	800
North America	155	82
	2,438	1,187

3. Leases (Transition to IFRS 16)

The new accounting standard is effective for years commencing on or after 1 January 2019. Under the new standard, the distinction between operating and finance leases is removed and most leases will be brought onto the statement of financial position, as both a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability.

We have used the modified retrospective transitional approach meaning that the lease liability and equivalent right of use asset are brought on to the balance sheet at the discounted amount applicable at the transition date. Prior year financial information will not be restated, resulting in no impact on retained earnings on transition.

The right to control the use of an asset over a period of time applies when the lessee has the right to obtain substantially all the economic benefits from the use of the asset and the right to direct the use of the asset. If the lessor has the substantive right to substitute the asset during this period, then it would not meet this condition. Two potential exemptions can also be applied -for leases of less than 12 months duration or of low value. For these reasons, we have not included temporary equipment hire for projects nor the rent-a-room office and storage facilities.

A key judgement associated with the adoption of this standard is the identification of the discount rate to be used to calculate the present value of the future lease payments on which the reported lease liability and right-of-use asset are based. With no clearly defined interest rates for our existing leases and no incremental borrowing rate known for the group, we have selected discount rates of 2.5% (properties) and 5% (non-property) based on similar companies and leases.

The impact on the current period financial statements is described below:

	Liability at 1/5/19	Half-year operating costs under old standard	Interest recognised in current period	Depreciation recognised in current period
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Property leases	898	158	8	150
Van leases	59	18	2	16
	957	176	10	166

4. Business Combinations

ITM Power have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with Linde Engineering. The creation of ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH in January 2020 will require ITM Power, as 50% owner, to make a £2m investment initially with the view that the JV will provide a conduit for larger scale projects.

Under the JV, ITM Power will supply its technical know-how and products in manufacturing and commissioning hydrogen electrolysers, while Linde will supply their experience of coordinating and executing EPC projects.

The JV will operate under joint ownership of 50% ITM Power and 50% Linde shareholdings, with no one party having control. Accounting for the JV will take the form of an investment on the balance sheet of ITM Power PLC.

-ends-

 

END

 

 

IR EAXFKADXEEFA