Saietta Group PLC (AIM:SED) said its Indian joint venture is ready to enter the next stage of its evolution as a large-scale manufacturer as it published results for the first half of its financial year.
The engineer of eDrive systems for electric vehicles earlier this month raised £6.7 million of new investment and announced that the Saietta VNA joint venture’s new factory in Manesar, India was now operational, producing the first units for its major OEM customer in the country.
Results for the six months ended 30 September showed income including grants of £1.4 million compared to £1.3 million a year ago, though the period saw first deliveries to its US customer with pre-tax losses from continuing operation cut to £7.9 million from £9.4 million.
Underlying losses were roughly flat, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of £6.5 million versus £6.3 million last time.
Net cash ended the period at £0.5 million before the fundraising in early December.
There were orders during the period of 3,000 AFT (Axial Flux Technology) eDrives from US-based AYRO Inc, and in September the Saietta VNA joint venture began work on an expected 40,000-unit AFT contract for the OEM customer.
Since the period ended, the JV also secured a £12.7 million order for its new RFT (Radial Flux Technology) eDrive system, the second from the Indian OEM customer, opening up the huge electric two-wheel market in the country, with target volumes expected to scale up to at least 60,000 units over the coming five years.
Chief executive David Woolley, who started in October, said: "The first half of the 23/24 financial year has been challenging but Saietta has made significant strides towards its full transition from an R&D company to a full-scale production manufacturer.”
He hailed the operational readiness reached at the joint venture facility and successful start of deliveries to AYRO, along with the transfer of in-wheel technology licence to Consolidated Metco in August, resulting in an upfront payment to Saietta of €3.3 million and potential additional future license payments of up to €20 million.
The company’s recent fundraising, he said, “with tight control over costs, will meet its working capital needs until the end of March 2024 and management continue to explore alternative sources of funds to take the company through to a cash positive position thereafter. I am therefore delighted to be at the helm of Saietta as it enters this exciting phase."