26th Jan 2017 09:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - ITM Power PLC on Thursday said it has raised GBP5.7 million through a firm placing via an accelerated bookbuild.
The funds are intended to bolster the company's finances, after ITM posted another pretax loss for the first half of its current financial year.
The energy storage and clean fuel company reported a pretax loss of GBP2.3 million in the six months to the end of October, narrower than the GBP3.2 million loss a year earlier, as revenue slipped to GBP405,000 from GBP655,000.
Gross profit for the half of GBP92,000 fell from GBP217,000 a year earlier, but ITM's operating loss narrowed to GBP2.3 million from GBP3.2 million because of lower research & development spending.
Cash at the end of the period stood at GBP1.7 million, dropping from GBP2.6 million a year earlier, as cash burn was reduced by 59% in the half to GBP1.6 million from GBP3.9 million, ITM said.
ITM on Thursday launched a firm placing of shares to raise at least GBP5.5 million priced at 17 pence each. It later confirmed it had raised GBP5.7 million, subject to shareholder approval. Details of the placing will be released shortly, it said.
ITM shares were up 3.6% to 17.00 pence per share on Thursday, the same as the placing price.
Chief Executive Graham Cooley and major investors JCB Research and Valebond Consultants Ltd together will buy 14.9 million shares under the placing. Cooley will buy 176,470 shares, JCB will buy 11.8 million shares, and Valebond will buy 2.9 million shares.
Funds will be used for working capital, to bolster the balance sheet and to help move toward positive cashflow, ITM said.
"Our first reference plant in the power-to-gas market, in Frankfurt, for the Thüga Group, has been in operation for over three years now, with the Thuga Group continuing to report 'better than expected' results," said Chairman Roger Putnam.
"The market in Germany and increasingly the UK and USA shows signs of significant growth and, with negotiations ongoing for sales in other new markets, the momentum looks set to continue," Putnam added.
ITM Power now has four refuelling units in operation, three in the UK, and one in California. The collaboration agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC will lead to the first deployment of a refuelling station on a Shell forecourt within the next few months, further extending the infrastructure in the UK.
"Shareholders should note that we continue to pursue all appropriate opportunities to reinforce our position as a leader in energy storage and clean fuel internationally and to turn that position into increased revenues for the Group as our markets mature. The board is pleased with the progress made to date and looks forward to an even busier second half of the year," said Putnam.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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