REG - Saietta Group PLC - Full Year Trading Update ahead of AGM

SaiettaAnnouncement

25/09/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 4430N  Saietta Group PLC  25 September 2023

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which forms part of UK law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").

 

 

Monday 25 September 2023

Saietta Group Plc

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

 

Trading Update ahead of Company AGM

 

Saietta Group plc (AIM: SED), the electric vehicle drivetrain ("eDrive")
specialist, provides a trading update ahead of its Annual General Meeting
("AGM") to be held at 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 26 September 2023.

 

The Company is concluding the preparation of the annual report and accounts
for the 12 months ended 31 March 2023 which have been delayed to allow time to
conduct the impact assessment for impairment of intangible assets arising from
the discontinuance of Retromotion activities, the revised contractual
arrangements with Consolidated Metco Inc ("ConMet") and the suspension of
marine product commercialisation.  The annual report and accounts will
therefore be released after the AGM with a target date of 29 September.

 

 

Financial Update Year to 31 March 2023 (unaudited):

 

·      Turnover (Sales and Grant Income) increased 40% to £6.0m* (2022:
£4.3m).

·      Gross profit increased 35% to £2.3m* (2022: £1.7m).

·      Adjusted EBITDA loss of £9.9m* (2022: loss of £4.4m) which
excludes exceptional losses from the discontinued activities of £6.4m.

·      Statutory Loss before Tax of £23.8 million* (2022: £11.3m)
accounting for all write downs and discontinued activities.

·      Cash as at 31 March 2023 period end of £7.3m (2022: £18.4m) and
at end of August 2023 of £1.2m which, combined with additional sums
receivable from key customers and JV partners, the Board is confident that
this provides the Company with sufficient funding to meet its current
requirements for its focused AFT eDrive production plan.

 

Operational Highlights:

 

·      Strategic adjustment to narrow near-term focus on immediate
revenue generating opportunities in the rapidly expanding global lightweight
electric vehicle (EV) sector with a particular focus on India and Asia.

·      Expansion of the product portfolio from a stand-alone axial flux
technology (AFT) motor at IPO (July 2021) to a complete proprietary eDrive
consisting of an AFT motor with integrated electronic controller in the same
housing, modular transmission, mechanical axle and vehicle control unit (VCU).

·      The AFT eDrive is in series production at Saietta's UK
manufacturing hub in Sunderland for North American and European customers and
the initial launch customer is AYRO Inc, an American company, which placed an
order for 3,000 eDrives as announced on 3 April 2023.

·      Production of the AFT eDrive has this month commenced in Delhi,
India at Saietta VNA's (Saietta's Joint Venture in India with Padmini VNA) all
new 33,000 sq-ft factory.

·      In the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) sector, Saietta restructured the
contractual arrangements with their North American client ConMet in August
2023,  which resulted in an upfront payment to Saietta of €3.3 million,
potential additional future license payments to Saietta of up to €20
million, and the transfer of the relevant project team in the Netherlands to
ConMet which reduced Saietta's annual operating costs by approximately €2
million.  Going forward, Saietta has no further costs for the development or
production of the ConMet products. Saietta's Heavy-Duty eDrive division has
moved to Saietta's Global Technical Centre in Silverstone, UK and the Company
remains free to develop any eDrive products for trucks and buses apart from
the ConMet in-wheel products for truck hubs.

·      In the marine sector, Saietta engineered and successfully
completed proof of concept for complete inboard and outboard motor products
powered by Saietta's AFT motors for the leisure marine sector. The Saietta
Board believes that both products will be highly successful but recognises the
strategic imperative to focus time and resources on the lightweight EV market
where the commercial opportunities are bigger, nearer and more certain. The
Propel operations in the Netherlands were therefore suspended and the
operation moved to Saietta's Global Technical Centre in Silverstone, UK,
reducing the annual operating expenses by approximately £1.2m. Saietta is now
actively engaged in discussion with two potential partners for the Marine
business for an arrangement to take-on the industrialisation and
commercialisation of the Propel products for which Saietta will seek
technology transfer fees and ongoing royalties on product sales.

 

Outlook

 

·      Led by immediate customer requirements, Saietta is undergoing a
transformational shift from a multi-segment product development company to a
focused eDrive manufacturing business.  The Board expects to be able to
announce production contracts and specific developments in this regard over
the coming weeks.

 

·      The Company will provide a full shareholder update following
the  publication of the accounts for the period to 31 March 2023.

 

Anthony Gott, Executive Chair of Saietta, commented:

 

"Saietta has reached the point of inflection as we expect to go into series
production at our manufacturing plants in Sunderland, UK and at our all-new
facility in Delhi, India. We are focused very heavily on our core target
market of lightweight electric vehicles (LEVs) which offers the biggest,
nearest and most certain commercial opportunities. We have therefore
restructured our operations in the heavy-duty eDrive and marine divisions,
reducing expenditure and allowing all resources and management time to be
allocated into products for LEVs I see strong evidence that Saietta is placed
to succeed in securing  a large market segment and generate meaningful long
term recurring revenue streams.  This achievement has only been possible due
to the combination of our team's world class innovation with cutting edge
production and quality standards. I look forward to updating shareholders
further once we have published our report and accounts"

 

  *Numbers remain subject to formal audit sign off and therefore could be
subject to change

 

-Ends-

 

For any further enquiries, please contact:

 

 Saietta Group                              via FTI

 Tony Gott, Executive Chair

 Steven Harrison, Chief Financial Officer
 Canaccord Genuity (Nomad and Broker)       0207 523 8000

 Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / Harry Pardoe
 FTI Consulting (Financial PR advisor)      Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

 Ben Brewerton / Dhruv Soni                 saietta@fticonsulting.com

 

About Saietta Group plc

Listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, Saietta is a global business that
designs, develops and manufactures complete electric drivetrain (eDrive)
solutions for established manufacturers of a broad range of electric
vehicles.

 

Saietta's breakthrough proprietary technologies include AFT (Axial Flux
Technology) and RFT (Radial Flux Technology) motors, power electronics,
powertrain controls, mechanical axles, transmissions and vehicle control
units. Considerable flexibility is built into the core design, meaning
solutions can be quickly and cost effectively tailored to a specific
application.

 

Saietta works in a highly collaborative way with clients, driven by the belief
that partnership is key to delivering world-class tailored solutions at pace.
Saietta's engineering team takes time to deeply understand a client's brand,
target market sector, competition and the services they require. Then Saietta
develops a bespoke suite of products and services to fast-track the client to
production with eDrive solutions which deliver a sustainable competitive
advantage.

 

 

 

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