| CMR Fuel Cells
plc, the Cambridge based compact fuel cell stack specialist, is pleased
to announce its second set of interim results since its successful admission
to trading on the AIM market in December 2005.
Highlights
* Entered into
a Joint Development Agreement with Samsung SDI
* Entered into
Collaborative DTI funded development partnership with Johnson Matthey Plc
and Accelrys Inc
* Developed and
demonstrated a stack delivering a power density of greater than 500 watts
per litre
* Continued to
operate well within budget, with strong cash reserves
Chairman’s Statement
The six month period to 30 June 2007
has been one of continued progress for CMR, and I am very pleased to report
that we have strengthened our already strong position with consumer electronics
OEMs and suppliers around the world. 2006 saw the Company make great technical,
organisational and corporate strides which will be the foundation for deeper
commercial engagement with our partners. CMR continues to build respect
and trust with its partners; essential pre-requisites for building strong
business relationships in our key Asian markets.
Regular and close liaison with our
potential customers has shown that as their plans are becoming more tangible
and focussed on obtaining workable power solutions and less focussed on
selecting specific technologies, CMR’s world-class team, superb facilities
and clear commercial focus mean that we have the flexibility and capability
to be confident in our ability to provide the solutions they require.
Demand for small, cost-effective
and efficient portable fuel cell systems continues to grow – driven by
the need to overcome the stagnating power density and safety issues associated
with Lithium batteries. We believe that many OEMs will field-trial Methanol
powered portable fuel cell systems into Asian markets in 2008/9 ahead of
mass-market launches from 2010 onwards. However, price volatility of platinum
and ruthenium metals, commonly used to make catalysts, is a significant
concern for these OEMs, and the elimination of these materials has become
a key objective across the industry. This should enhance the prospects
for CMR. Our R&D program has already demonstrated very high volumetric
power density in our stacks and, as anticipated in our final results for
2006, we have been successfully focussing on using lower cost materials
and achieving higher efficiencies. These will remain key activities for
the foreseeable future. We have continued to build strong relationships
with innovative suppliers of catalysts, membranes, membrane-electrode assemblies
(MEAs) and other key components whilst continuing to develop our own capabilities
in these areas.
The announcement of our Joint Development
Agreement with Samsung SDI during the period was a major endorsement of
our proposition. Major OEMs have a history of closely guarding their brand
and do not normally allow such announcements. We expect to be able to announce
more of this type of agreement, both on the customer and supplier sides
of our business, in future reports.
We continue to invest funds and resources,
as planned, to develop new and improved technologies for future products.
Our technical team is wholly focussed on developing our first generation
products, but having a credible road-map of improved products is an essential
part of being regarded as a long-term partner by our customers. To this
end we have continued to work with Solvay SA and XAAR plc on novel low-cost,
high-throughput MEA production, as well as entering into collaboration
with Johnson Matthey plc and Accelrys Inc. to facilitate the discovery
of better catalysts. These are not planned to feed into the first generation
products, but show our commitment to working with market leaders in allied
fields to attain and maintain the market leadership position from which
we aim to build CMR’s future revenue streams.
The Company’s finances continue to
be tightly managed and the Company continues to operate well within our
budget. We currently anticipate that our cash reserves are sufficient for
planned operations until late 2009. At 31 June 2007, assets totalled £10.3m
(June 2006: £12.1m), of which £9.6m was held in cash and short
term deposits (June 2006: £11.5m).
In accordance with the dividend
policy disclosed at the time of the IPO, the Board is not recommending
payment of a dividend.
Michael Priestnall, one of CMR's
founders, will be leaving the company to pursue alternative opportunities.
He will be continuing to provide intellectual property services to the
company on a consultancy basis. We wish him well for the future and
sincere thanks for his contribution to date. Further details will
follow in due course.
Finally I would like to thank all
our staff for their commitment, innovation and hard work that has produced
the sustained progress that is central to the success of the business and
I look forward to reporting on their continued success throughout the rest
of the year.
Chief Executive’s report
I am very pleased to report that
the Company has made good progress in all of the areas specified as key
activities in the 2006 Annual Report.
During the period we have maintained
a high level of commercial activity in our target areas and CMR's direct
approach to OEMs and system integrators continues to be fruitful with closer
ties being forged in a number of areas with major industry players for
both customer and supplier relationships. The highlight of this was
the announcement of a Joint Development Agreement with Samsung SDI, a world
leader in the delivery of innovative, leading-edge consumer products. Samsung
SDI is in the vanguard of major OEMs who recognise the potential that fuel
cells have to power the next generation of connected, feature rich, ‘always
on’ electronic devices. I expect to be able to announce similar agreements
in future reports.
The Period also saw the Company's
global reputation for technical leadership further recognised, with invitations
to deliver key-note presentations at major industry events in Japan, USA
and Taiwan. CMR also exhibited at the two premier global fuel cell
exhibitions where relationships, new and old, were established and strengthened
with particular interest in CMR's stack demonstrator product which was
the smallest on show at both events.
CMR remains the UK's only developer
of direct methanol fuel cell stacks and one of only a handful of such companies
in the world. Our development team continues to demonstrate the world-class
capability for which they are justifiably recognised. The stack supplied
to Samsung SDI under the Joint Development Agreement was delivered on time
and was successfully accepted at first time of testing.
We have continued to make significant
progress in developing the small, low-cost, efficient stacks that the market
needs – during the Period the R&D program targets of increasing fuel
and air utilisation in the stack from C.25% to C.50% and operation at lower
temperatures were successfully met.
Rising Platinum and Ruthenium prices
have become a major concern in the industry and we are able to actively
respond to this. Our team has the capability to develop and use a
wide variety of underlying technologies and we are evaluating alternative
catalysts in acid (proton exchange) and alkali (anion exchange) environments.
Additionally, we are working closely with suppliers of Platinum and Ruthenium
free catalysts to test and integrate their products into our stacks. Developing
solutions to such problems is not trivial, but we believe that they are
signs of a market that is maturing and moving closer to reality. Whilst
there is still much development to do, CMR’s broad technical strength positions
the Company very well to meet our customers’ stringent requirements.
During the six month period, the
adjusted loss before tax (that is, loss before tax adjusted for the cost
of share options) was £1.1m (June 2006: £0.6m), reflecting
the budgeted increased level of development activity during 2007. The increased
activity has required additional technical staff, equipment and office
space, the expenditure on which was in line with budget. At the balance
sheet date, staff numbers were 26 in total.
Our objectives for the remainder
of 2007 remain as per those outlined in the 2006 annual report, with specific
focus on:
* Developing and
announcing more commercial agreements with OEMs
* Building valuable
and committed relationships with suppliers
* Remaining responsive
and market driven – providing solutions for our customers
* Continuing
to address key technical targets – including efficiency and cost, by flexible
use of our world-class technical capability
* Securing granted
patents in key territories
The Company now has a world-class,
motivated and dynamic team with clear technical and commercial goals and
we continue to believe that the portable electronics market will embrace
fuel cell technology as the next generation of long running power supply.
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