Trading Update

RNS Number : 1649S

Ilika plc

16 November 2011

 



 

 

Ilika plc

("Ilika" or the "Company")

 

Half Year Trading Update

Ilika plc (AIM: IKA), the advanced cleantech materials discovery company, announces a trading update for the six months ended 31 October 2011.

Turnover from operations for the period is 37% ahead of the comparative period for last year at £835k (H1 2010: £607k), with total revenues (including grant income) up 37% to £1.038m (H1 2010: £755k).

Gross profit margins have improved during the period and the Company expects to announce reduced operating losses for the first half. The balance sheet remains strong with cash and cash equivalents of £1.2m at the period end (as at April 2011: £2.8m), and this has been strengthened post-period end with additional cash receipts of more than £0.4m.

The Company's expansion of business development activities has resulted in new contracts with world-leading electronics manufacturers in the US and Asia and is expected to continue to contribute significantly to increased revenues in the second half of the year.

The Company continues to see strong progress across all three areas of its activities (energy, electronics and biomedical) and so remains confident of meeting expectations for the full year.

Ilika will announce Interim Results for the six months ended 31 October 2011 on Tuesday, 10 January 2012.

 

 

For more information contact:

Ilika plc	www.ilika.com
Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Steve Boydell, Finance Director
Nomura Code Securities Limited (NOMAD)	Tel: [phone]
Phil Walker / Christopher Golden
Walbrook PR Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Paul McManus	Mob: [phone] or [e-mail]
Paul Cornelius	Mob: [phone] or [e-mail]

 

 

About Ilika

Ilika (AIM: IKA) is an advanced materials company which accelerates the discovery of new and patentable materials using its unique high throughput technologies (''HTT'') process for identified end uses in the energy, electronics and biomedical sectors. This process enables hundreds of scalable materials to be made in a single, automated operation and subsequently tested for key properties.

Traditionally, materials development has been a slow and arduous task, with manual, sequential methods used to make samples of material that are then tested for suitability. On average, it takes between seven and 10 years to move from an initial discovery through to the first commercial prototype. Experiments carried out by the Company can be executed 10 to 100 times faster than using traditional techniques.

The Company focuses on three principal sectors and has a number of active development programmes addressing markets within each sector:

Energy - developing innovative new materials for Lithium-ion batteries for vehicles for Toyota; developing high capacity hydrogen storage materials with Shell Hydrogen and Johnson Matthey through joint development programmes; developing cheaper alternatives to Platinum electrodes for use in fuel cells through a grant-funded project with the Carbon Trust; developing new materials for use in fuel cells for the transport sector for a major vehicle manufacturer; and carrying out in-house research on film photovoltaic solar cells.

Electronics - developing lead-free piezoelectric materials through a joint development programme with CeramTec; and developing phase change memory materials for high capacity memory.

Biomedical - developing polymers to enable the filtering of somatic stem cells from blood with a major global supplier of filters; it has been selling its CryoSkin® and MySkin® products for the treatment of burns and wounds in the UK through a specialist distributor and intends to commence clinical trials of its corneal bandage candidate.

The Group's commercialisation strategy is to enter into joint development or licensing agreements with large multinational companies which are seeking to commercialise products developed using the intellectual property created through jointly-funded programmes. Current commercialisation partners include large multinational companies such as Toyota, Shell, Johnson Matthey and CeramTec. The Company generates revenues from three sources: licensing and milestone payments from joint development programmes; fee for service from contract research projects; and from sales of CryoSkin® and MySkin®.

Further information can be found at www.ilika.com

 

END

 

 

TSTFFDFWIFFSEIF