2nd Mar 2006 08:00
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited02 March 2006 Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited announces the first day of dealings on AIM Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited ("CFCL" or the "Company"), a leading flat plate solidoxide fuel cell technology company, today announces the admission to trading ofits ordinary shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission"). The admission is by way of a placing of 175 million new shares ("Placing") at21.25p (A$0.50) per share ("Placing Price"), representing 60.7 per cent. of theenlarged issued share capital of the Company. The gross proceeds of the Placingare approximately £37.2m. Following Admission the number of ordinary shares inissue will total 288,176,448. Based on the Placing Price, the Company will have a market capitalisation atAdmission of around £61.2 million (A$144.3 million). Around 90 new institutionalinvestors in the UK and Europe are being allocated shares under the placement. CFCL Chairman Julian Dinsdale said: "The European market is very important toCeramic Fuel Cells Limited, and we are delighted with the response we have hadfrom institutional investors. The funds raised will help advance CFCL'scommercialisation and technology development and will be invested in newmanufacturing facilities in Europe. We see this as a significant step for CFCLand look forward to developing the business further. The Company will remain listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Contact: Ceramic Fuel Cells LimitedBrendan Dow, Chief Executive +44 (0) 20 7554 1400 Gavin Anderson & Company (Financial PR)Robert Speed/Janine Brewis +44 (0) 20 7554 1400 Libertas Capital (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)Aamir Quraishi/Charles Goodfellow +44 (0) 20 7569 9650 Ambrian Partners (Joint Broker)Jonathan Beatson-Hird +44 (0) 20 7776 6415 More information, including images for download, is available at www.cfcl.com.au Business Summary •CFCL has been developing solid oxide fuel cells and core balance of plant for the last 12 years at its R&D, manufacturing and testing facility in Melbourne, Australia. The Company employs over 100 staff with offices in Australia and the UK. CFCL has invested a total of £64 million in its technology and facilities to date. •CFCL has achieved a number of significant technical milestones. It has 28 patent families in major jurisdictions, relating to fuel cell materials, cell and stack configurations, fuel processing and system control technologies. . •CFCL is now seeking to commercialise its flat plate solid oxide fuel cell technology for application in micro combined heat and power systems (m-CHP) for use in the home. CFCL plans to manufacture fuel cell stacks and core balance of plant and supply these to appliance manufacturers that will build m-CHP systems. These will be sold to utility companies for deployment in their customers' homes. CFCL's fuel cells run on natural gas that is conventionally piped into the home, but can also run on propane and butane bottled gases. •The Company has built several fully integrated prototype m-CHP systems incorporating its fuel cells. Several of these systems, designed to generate 1kW of power and 1kW of heat, have been deployed in field trials with commercial partners in Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Advantages of CFCL's Fuel Cell Technology •Fuel cells demonstrate a high level of electrical efficiency at the users' site - up to 50%. This compares with around 25% efficiency for coal fired power generation and approximately 40% for gas fired combined cycle power stations. CFCL's fuel cell systems are a distributed generation solution, which can reduce the need for long-distance transmission and associated efficiency losses. •CFCL's fuel cells have no moving parts, produce no vibration and no noise, and are designed for volume production. Its fuel cells reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 60% when compared to coal fired electricity generation. Commercialisation of CFCL's Fuel Cell Technology •CFCL plans to invest a significant portion of the proceeds from the placing in volume manufacturing facilities in Europe - the key near-term market for its products. CFCL plans to build a specialist ceramic powder plant and a volume fuel cell stack manufacturing plant. Fuel cell stacks manufactured from its plant are intended to be supplied to appliance manufacturer partners that will build m-CHP systems for utility customers. •CFCL is currently in discussions with a range of appliance manufacturers and utility companies across Europe. The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared and issued by and isthe sole responsibility of Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, have been approved solelyfor the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 byLibertas Capital Corporate Finance Limited. Libertas Capital Corporate FinanceLimited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by theFinancial Services Authority, is acting for Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited and forno-one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement andwill not be responsible to anyone other than Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited forproviding the protections afforded to customers of Libertas Capital CorporateFinance Limited or for advising them on the contents of this announcement or anymatter referred to herein. This announcement does not, and no part of it shall, constitute or form part ofany offer for sale or subscription of securities, or any solicitation of anysuch offer in any country, nor shall it, or any part of it, form the basis of orbe relied upon in connection with any contract or commitment whatsoever. Anyeventual acquisition of, or application for, shares in Ceramic Fuel CellsLimited should be made solely on the basis of information contained in theadmission document relating to Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited to be issued in duecourse in connection with the proposed admission to trading of shares to AIM, amarket operated by London Stock Exchange plc, and in compliance with applicablesecurities laws. This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole orin part, in or into the United States of America, Canada, Japan or anyjurisdiction where such announcement would be unlawful. The value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is noguarantee of future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ceramic Fuel Cells