REG - Ilika plc - Trading Update & Notice of Half-Year Results

IlikaAnnouncement

15/11/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 3247M  Ilika plc  15 November 2024

Friday 15 November 2024

 

Ilika plc

("Ilika", the "Group", or the "Company")

 

Trading Update & Notice of Half-Year Results

 

Stereax and Goliath progress

 

Analyst and Investor Presentations

 

Ilika (AIM: IKA), a pioneer in solid-state battery technology, provides an
update on trading and notice of results for the six months ended 31 October
2024 (the "Period").

 

Highlights:

·      Promoting Stereax for the growing range of AIMDs being
commercialised in support of 21 customers

·      Interacting closely with many of the global automotive OEMs,
sharing Goliath prototypes for their evaluation

·      Full Year guidance unchanged

 Operational Update:

 

Stereax(Ò)

Stereax batteries are miniature solid-state batteries for active implantable
medical devices ("AIMDs") and wireless sensors.

 

In July 2024, Ilika confirmed that Cirtec Medical LLC ("Cirtec") had
substantially completed the installation of Ilika's key equipment in its
expanded cleanroom facility in Lowell, MA. The focus since then has been on
commissioning activities and running trial batches of batteries to fully
qualify the Stereax manufacturing process in readiness for commencing
production runs.  These production runs will deliver commercial samples of
Ilika's M300 battery in 2025.

 

Ilika and Cirtec continue to promote Stereax for the growing range of AIMDs
being commercialised, working closely with a portfolio of 21 customers to
support their development plans and launch schedules under the 10-year
licensing and technology transfer agreement that Ilika and Cirtec entered into
in August 2023. Ilika and Cirtec will be jointly promoting Stereax at US
conferences and trade shows in Q1 2025. The integration of Stereax batteries
into sub-assemblies manufactured by Cirtec can offer MedTech customers a more
complete solution, creating a faster, lower cost route to market. Sales of
Stereax batteries will begin to ramp in 2025, aligned with the increasing
customer demand associated with testing and approval of customer devices.

 

Goliath

Goliath batteries are large format solid state batteries designed for electric
vehicles ("EVs") and consumer appliances.

 

Ilika's Goliath programme made strong progress during the Period, with key
highlights being the technical milestone verification by third party testing,
increased activity with customers and the commencement of commercial
customer-sponsored validation.

 

During the period, Ilika shipped its first batch of P1 prototype Goliath
batteries to a Tier 1 customer, met its D5 development milestone and released
a set of third-party validated safety data demonstrating significant
improvements relative to commercially available EV batteries.  The benefits,
which include reducing EV weight and cost while extending range, will be
crucial for western OEMs as they seek to remain competitive versus cheaper
Chinese imports.

 

The progress with the P1 prototype reflects the customer-sponsored testing
programme that commenced in May 2024.  This progress continues to have
support from the £8.2m grant-funded Faraday Battery Challenge in
collaboration with BMW and Fortescue Future Industries, with the aim of
integrating high silicon content electrodes into Goliath.

 

In parallel, Ilika has been trialling production equipment at both vendor
sites and its pilot facility in the UK which is important to reduce scale-up
risk and provide a basis for future process licensing. Since October 2023,
this scale-up work has been supported by the Automotive Transformation Fund's
£2.7m grant-supported SiSTEM project, in which Ilika is collaborating with
Mpac plc, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre ("UKBIC") and, since April
2024, Tata Sons' subsidiary, Agratas. Ilika continues to interact closely with
many of the global automotive OEMs, sharing Goliath prototypes for their
evaluation, as a precursor to large-scale manufacturing through licensing.

 

In addition, Ilika continues to assess non-automotive sectors for Goliath,
which offer lower volume, higher margin opportunities for commercialisation.

 

Financial Update:

 

For the six months ended 31 October 2024, the Company expects to announce
revenue of £1.0m (H1 2023/4: £1.3m) reflecting the timing of grant funded
projects. EBITDA loss, excluding share-based payments, of £1.9m (H1
2023/4: loss of £1.9m) for the Period. Cash and cash equivalents at the
Period end were £10.1m (H1 2023/4: £13.2m).

 

Notice of Results:

 

Ilika expects to announce results for the Period on Tuesday 21 January 2025.

 

Analyst Briefing

The management team will be hosting a hybrid analyst briefing at 9.30am, on 21
January 2025. Analysts who wish to attend should contact: FTI Consulting at
ilika@fticonsulting.com.

 

Investor Presentation

An investor presentation will be held at 4.30pm, on 21 January 2025, and will
be hosted through, Investor Meet Company. Investors can sign up to Investor
Meet Company for free and add Ilika plc via the following link:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/ilika-plc/register-investor
(https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.investormeetcompany.com_ilika-2Dplc_register-2Dinvestor&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=1OI9eWQUVfVpxZXWzxX2tPcSAmxw5YMa3-DImHWnbkA&m=22nIVAzynQ78VnYQ8pNvYLoiaC3r3JGnA0Gjs0X1HfI&s=GFcaJdt_WBmGcV6u2cZxJzgNoqqkh-ky8V45ELknGH8&e=)
. For more information, please contact FTI Consulting
at: ilika@fticonsulting.com.

 

For more information contact:

 

 Ilika plc                                            www.ilika.com (http://www.ilika.com/)
 Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive                        Via FTI Consulting

 Jason Stewart, Chief Financial Officer

 Panmure Liberum Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)     Tel: 020 3100 2000
 Andrew Godber, John More
 Nikhil Varghese, Joshua Borlant

 Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG (Joint Broker)      Tel: 020 3207 8700
 Matthew Armitt, Mark Whitmore, Detlir Elezi,
 Angus Murphy

 FTI Consulting (Comms Advisors)                      ilika@fticonsulting.com
 Ben Brewerton
 Elizabeth Adams
 Dwight Burden

 

About Ilika plc - https://www.ilika.com (https://www.ilika.com)

Ilika specialises in the developing and commercialisation of solid-state
batteries. The Company's mission is to rapidly develop leading-edge
IP, manufacture and license solid state batteries for markets that cannot be
addressed with conventional batteries due to their safety, charge rates,
energy density and life limits. The Company achieves this by using
ceramic-based lithium-ion technology that is inherently safe in manufacture
and usage, higher thermal tolerance and easier to recycle which
differentiates our products from existing batteries.

 

The Company has two product lines. Its Stereax batteries which are designed
for powering miniature medical implants, industrial wireless sensors and
specialist internet of Things (IoT) applications and the Goliath large format
batteries designed for EV cars and cordless appliances.

 

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