Leclanché provides 2017 revenue guidance and funding update.
YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 26th October 2016: Leclanché SA, the leading vertically integrated energy storage solution company, announced today an update to its forward guidance for revenue growth in 2017 following the most recent corporate presentation uploaded on the Company website - http://www.leclanche.com/investor-relations/financial-reports-publications/presentations/
- The Company has strong momentum to deliver over 85 MWh in 2017 equating to >75% revenue growth.
- This growth is supported by six contracted projects and backlog totalling 85 MWh, plus ongoing negotiations in excess of 300 MWh of which up to 50 MWh has the potential to convert in 2017 providing some buffer for the current backlog plus support for 2018.
- Management believes that its electric Bus opportunity continues to be substantial, with expected recognized revenue toward the end of 2017.
- The Company anticipates breakeven EBITDA profitability above 100 MWh production, currently envisaged during or before 2018, due to the Company's continued focus on improving profit margins from volume and efficiency gains.
- Leclanché Board has approved a comprehensive program to complete the funding of its current business plan, drawing upon a combination of project finance, corporate debt, licensing income from IP around upstream manufacturing partnerships and equity.
To achieve its growth funding requirements, the Company has recently secured project finance funding from Swiss Green Electricity Management Group (SGEM), an independent owner and operator of energy storage assets, for one project in North America and is in discussions on a broader project financing partnership to facilitate further non-recourse capital. This complements the CHF 11.1 million private placement of equity announced in August 2016, which brought in new institutional investors including Baring Asset Management Limited, Herald Investment Trust Plc, KBI Global Investors Ltd (formerly Kleinwort Benson Investors) and Shamir Capital alongside further investment and loan conversion from existing shareholders ACE & Cie, Bright Cap SICAV SA, Jade Crest Limited and Recharge A/S.
In addition, the Company is in discussions on a strategic joint venture for volume manufacturing in Asia, including a possible IP licensing agreement.
To execute the comprehensive funding program, the Company is augmenting the corporate advisory and equity financing being raised through the assistance of Alexa Capital LLP with further project and corporate debt financing being arranged by Canaccord Genuity Investment Banking, which brings further capital markets resources to support the Company's funding needs.
Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché SA, said: "We continue to be confident on our growth outlook as our full energy storage solution capabilities are being well received by our customers globally. We are also focused on optimizing our capital structure to support our growth, including through project finance and debt, with our objective to improve capital efficiency as we expand."
Growth targets are subject to a number of factors, including delivery of the Company's supply chain (cell and module capacity including 3rd party supplies) and secured funding for the business plan, expected from a combination of debt and project finance, equity and, also possibly complemented by technology licensing fees. The Company maintains its focus on capital efficiency and limiting shareholder dilution in funding growth.
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About Leclanché
Leclanché is one of the world's leading fully vertically integrated battery energy storage solution providers. It delivers a wide range of turnkey energy storage solutions for homes, small offices, large industries, electricity grids, as well as hybridization for mass transport systems such as bus fleets and ferries. Established in 1909, Leclanché has been a reliable partner for battery energy storage solutions for over 100 years. Founded in the tradition of Georges Leclanché, the inventor of the dry cell battery, Leclanché today has a rich portfolio of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that include bespoke battery systems from industry leading lithium-ion solutions.
Leclanché is listed on the Swiss stock exchange. SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Leclanché's business, which can be identified by terminology such as "strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected", "commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims", "would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of Leclanché's production capacity, potential applications for existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or potential future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business units.
You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanché's products will achieve any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that Leclanché, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular financial results.
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Contacts
Hubert Angleys / Florent Gaillard
Tel.: +41 (0) 24 424 65 00
E-Mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com
