TIDMCFU
RNS Number : 4418D
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited
29 January 2015
29 January 2015
Cashflow Report for the December Quarter
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (ASX/AIM: CFU), today released its
quarterly cashflow report for the December 2014 quarter.
Summary of the Quarter
-- Sales volume - 35 units sold this quarter.
-- Formal confirmation of the increased German Federal support
system has now been received. This will allow expansion into other
German States not currently operating specific capital support
arrangements and is a clear demonstration of Germany's long term
environmental objectives.
-- In support of these additional market opportunities the
company has further expanded its distribution and installation
network in Germany. The company is now seeing a significant
increase in enquiries through our distribution partners and
installers. This endorses our strategy of utilising external sales
and marketing resources to increase the efficiency of our
operations.
-- In November 2014, the company successfully completed
negotiations for the first fully funded BlueGEN programme in the
UK. The order, for 70 BlueGENs for delivery in 2015, is covered by
a contractual arrangement whereby the units are installed at no
cost to the end user. This demonstrates a significant commercial
opportunity and is both replicable and scalable.
-- Validation and introduction of improvements to the product
that have clearly demonstrated a substantial increase in the life
of the stack.
-- Fundraising - The Rights Issue completed in November 2014
raised $A1.8M (GBP1.0M) before costs.
-- In October 2014, the company received a tax rebate against
its research and development activities totalling A$4.1M
(GBP2.2M).
-- The company has successfully maintained its targeted
reductions in operational costs. They continue to be managed at a
level that is 25% below those of 10 months ago.
-- Cash position at 31 December 2014 - A$3.8M (GBP2.0M).
Operational Review
Overview
CFU makes small-scale generators that use proprietary fuel cell
technology to convert natural gas into electricity and heat for
homes and small commercial buildings. CFU has fully commercialised
its technology into products, and in addition to selling these
products to commercial customers in Europe, is focussing on the
continuous improvement on the performance of the product, including
the operational life of the fuel cell stack.
The research and product development team have validated and
introduced improvements to the product that have clearly
demonstrated a substantial increase in the life of the stack. The
graph below represents such an improved stack performance in a
BlueGEN operating at a site of CFU's key German customer, EWE. The
blue shaded section in the graph is representative of the BlueGEN
degradation band operating at 1.5kW before the implementation of
the CFCL's patented solution. The red line illustrates the
performance of the stack operating at EWE.
Please click link to see graph.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4418D_-2015-1-29.pdf
This stack is now in its linear phase of degradation and this
data has been extrapolated to show the expected life to reach the
same efficiency as the blue shaded section in the above graph. This
extrapolation indicates a stack life of approximately 60,000 hours
or close to 7 years. Further improvements are being validated to
extend this life beyond the target of 10 years. This will allow
further improvements in operational performance of the BlueGEN unit
and subsequently provide an improvement in the overall commercial
performance.
Market Developments and Sales
During the quarter 35 BlueGEN units were sold. This is greater
than the last quarter and reflects the refocus of our sales
resources towards project based schemes in the UK with much greater
unit numbers, but longer development timescales. It has also taken
time to successfully expand our distribution channels in Germany.
Following the successful commercial development of the iPower
project, the Board is confident that the contractual structure for
such schemes has been proven and a number of additional targeted
projects will be converted into orders in the near future.
As mentioned in previous announcements, the Company is actively
pursuing strategic partnerships with a number of key organisations
in Europe, Asia and North America. Discussions continue with
potential partners to explore the development of different capacity
units for specific international markets. The necessary funding to
support the additional resources is being investigated. The Board
acknowledges that our long term objectives may result in the
Company developing and providing multiple products to the
market.
A summary of the Company's sales performance by quarter since
FY11 is as follows:
Please click link to see graph.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4418D_-2015-1-29.pdf
Monthly sales for the 18 months to 31 December 2014 were as
follows:
Please click link to see graph.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4418D_-2015-1-29.pdf
Sales by geographical sales force for the 6 months to 31
December 2014 were as follows:
Please click link to see graph.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4418D_-2015-1-29.pdf
It is to be noted that the iPower units will only be recognised
as sales once they are installed and commissioned, hence they are
not included in the above graph.
Financial Review
December Quarter Cash Flows
Net operating cash inflow for the December quarter was A$1.1M
(GBP0.6M). During the quarter, receipts from customers amounted to
A$1.9M (GBP1.0M) and operating expense cash outflow was A$5.1M
(GBP2.8M). The quarter's net operating cash outflow compares to the
September 2014 quarter's net operating cash outflow of A$4.6M
(GBP2.5M). Customer receipts in the December quarter were
significantly higher than the September quarter due to the receipt
of the deposit for the 70 unit iPower order. In addition, A$4.1M
(GBP2.2M) was received as a taxation refund in October 2014.
The Board continues its pursuit of joint venture possibilities
with partners who are willing to pay for the Company's technology
or can add significant synergies to the Company's operations.
Net investing cash flow for the quarter was an outflow of A$96K
(GBP52K). The majority of the outflow was for the acquisition of
plant and equipment.
Net financing cash flow for the quarter was an inflow of A$1.2M
(GBP0.7M). Of the gross amounts, A$1.8M (GBP1.0M) was received from
the Rights Issue and A$0.2M (GBP0.1M) was received from the issue
of shares under the Investor Agreement. The share issue expenses
disclosed in the Appendix 4C relate mainly to the Rights Issue.
Cash on hand at 30 September 2014 was A$1.4M (GBP0.8M).
Cash on hand at 31 December 2014 was A$3.8M (GBP2.0M).
For more information please contact:
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited
Clifford Ashby (CFO) Tel. : +61 (0) 3 9554 2300
Email : investor@cfcl.com.au
Bob Kennett (CEO) Tel. : +44 776 4200661
Email : investor@cfcl.com.au
Arden Partners Plc (AIM Nomad)
Steve Douglas
Michael McNeilly Tel. : +44 (0) 12 1423 8900
About Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited:
Ceramic Fuel Cells is a world leader in developing fuel cell
technology to generate highly efficient and low-emission
electricity from widely available natural gas. Ceramic Fuel Cells
has deployed its BlueGEN gas-to-electricity generator to major
utilities and other foundation customers in Germany, the United
Kingdom, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy,
Poland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and the USA. Ceramic
Fuel Cells is now focusing on markets in Germany, the United
Kingdom and Benelux.
The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market
and the Australian Securities Exchange (code CFU).
www.cfcl.com.au
www.bluegen.info
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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