EQTEC PLC (AIM:EQT)’s first-half results showed revenue surged tenfold and gross profits improved significantly following the waste-to-value company tightening its strategic focus.
Revenue of €1.45 million was made in the first six months of 2024, up from around €145,000 a year earlier, while gross profit of €0.826 million compared to the previous €0.036 million.
Gross margin improvement to above 50% from 15% for the whole of last year.
The improvement in revenue and margin was “a direct result of our shift towards high-margin, IP-rich services and away from high-risk, capital-intensive development activities”, said chief executive David Palumbo, while payroll costs have also been reduced by 14%.
This saw revenues generated in each month of the period, with 51% of turnover coming from design engineering services (down from 77% a year ago), 24% from equipment sales (up from 0%) and 25% from operations and maintenance services to built plants, creating the base for recurring revenues (up from 0%).
There were also no revenues from development services as the company said it had fully exited capital-intensive development activities.
Progress on client projects included the delivery and commissioning of equipment in Greece, the completion of front-end engineering design (FEED) for the Grande-Combe project in France with Idex, and ongoing FEED work for the Gardanne project with additional funding sought, while pre-FEED work was also completed for two Hawaii renewable natural gas projects as EQTEC was selected as the core technology supplier.
The company reported an EBITDA loss of €1.60 million, down 17% and a €3.2 million statutory loss for the period.
Cash balances that ended the period at €646,293 were topped up post-period £2 million settlement payment received from its Logik legal claim, and a £1.1 million (€1.3 million) equity investment raised this month, providing what Palumbo called a “clear funding runway”.
“While we have made considerable progress in stabilising our operations and delivering consistent results, much work remains to be done as we continue to rebuild value for our shareholders.
“We are operating in a competitive sector where many companies are still in the early stages of validating their technology without any real commercial application.
"In contrast, EQTEC's technology is already commercially tested and delivering real-world solutions across multiple geographies. As we scale our business, our priority remains to strengthen our foundations, drive revenue growth, and maintain our leadership in the clean energy sector."