ITM Power PLC well placed to benefit from power-to-gas momentum

"I am delighted to note the significant increase in our top line result," said Roger Putnam, chairman of ITM Power

Hydrogen fuel cell developer ITM Power PLC (LON:ITM) said its plans to expand the workforce and production capacity are on track.

The company is moving to its next phase of development as evidenced by a 36% increase in product revenue in the year to the end of April; product revenue rose to £3.3mln from £2.3mln the year before.

READ: ITM Power sees strong growth in new orders and tender pipeline in financial year

Including grant funding, the top-line rose 53% to £14.1mln from £9.2mln.

The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (LBITDA) widened to £4.8mln from £2.3mln the previous year, while the loss before tax deepened to £6.48mln from £3.55mln as prototype production and engineering costs climbed to £4.1mln from £2.6mln the previous year.

ITM incurred one-off costs associated with producing a first-of-its-kind plant and also clocked up higher expenses as a result of inefficiencies associated with testing the large plant at ITM Power's existing facilities.

The company also saw increased costs of recruitment as it seeks to prepare for delivery of its order book.

The company noted that all of the main contributors to the increased loss will be non-recurring once the company has built its new factory.

READ: ITM Power says study finds four suitable locations for power-to-gas demonstration facility

Following a successful fund-raising in December, the company ended the financial year-end with cash of £20.4mln, up from £1.6mln the year before.

The net cash burn before the fund-raising increased to £9.50mln from £5.85mln the previous year, largely as a result of delayed grant receipts on high expenditure projects.

This cash outflow, which is significantly greater than the losses in the year, shows the continued commitment of ITM Power to being a refuelling system owner and operator as the industry grows in the UK in order to gain market share and improve opportunities for fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) adoption, the company said.

"This financial year has been a period of significant development for ITM Power,” said Graham Cooley, the chief executive officer of ITM.

“With revenue increasing by 53%, the company has been focussed on the expansion of staff and the planning of the new, larger production facilities. We've also been learning how to maximise a growing portfolio of revenue generating assets in the shape of the first real hydrogen refuelling network in the UK. Finally, Power-to-Gas is now demonstrating real traction around the world and we remain very well placed to benefit from this development with our long-running reference plant in Germany," he added.