Acta : Product Sales and Trading Update

Acta S.p.A. ("Acta" or "the Company")

Product Sales and Trading Update

Acta S.p.A (AIM: ACTA), the hydrogen energy company, announces new product sales for its Acta Power systems and electrolysers and provides an update on trading for the year to date.

Product Sales

Thailand: Renewable Power Storage

Acta has received an order for two Acta Power systems for a renewable power storage application in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The systems, which have a combined power output of 4kW, are to be installed at a low-carbon residential and tourist development project where they will provide a secure and grid-independent source of power based on renewable energy storage. The installation will ensure a continuous power supply to local buildings and security systems, despite frequent periods of grid black-out.

The project developers are seeking to promote the development as a template for future zero-carbon building developments, particularly for villas and resorts for the local eco-tourism sector and ex-patriot community. Having demonstrated the Acta Power system's ability to provide reliable secondary power from a clean source, it is envisaged that this development will also lead to greater opportunities for Acta in the area.  

Germany: Heliocentris

Heliocentris, the renewable energy solutions supplier to the education sector, has placed an order for ten of Acta's 500L/hr electrolyser stacks. This order follows numerous previous orders received from Heliocentris since 2012.

Commercial Update

Telecommunications

Since summer 2013, the Company has been selling Acta Power systems and electrolysers for commercial trials with mobile phone operators. These systems have been purchased and installed onsite in demanding locations across the globe and have all performed with success under real-world operating conditions. Individual trial results are as follows:

Egypt

In October 2013 a 4kW Acta Power system was installed for live site evaluation at a major mobile phone operator's base station. The system was initially installed as a second-line back-up power system but, having successfully satisfied the customer beyond specification in terms of functionality and performance, its role has been upgraded to become a first-line back-up power system. Acta is in negotiations to supply a larger number of systems in the region and hopes to conclude these negotiations shortly.

Australia  

Acta has successfully concluded the live site evaluation of an Acta Power system undertaken by one of Australia's largest mobile phone operators on a telecom base station located near Melbourne and this is expected to be extended to a larger scale in the second half of this year.

Acta's Australian distributor is also in negotiations regarding numerous opportunities to install the Acta Power system for back-up power and renewable energy storage applications within Australia and the Pacific region. 

Philippines

Two of the Philippines's largest mobile phone operators have each purchased an Acta Power system for live site evaluation.

The first evaluation was successfully concluded earlier this year and Acta is now in negotiations, expected to conclude later this year, for the supply of a larger number of units for further evaluation.  The second evaluation is currently underway and is performing well and according to specification.

Taiwan

Acta's electrolyser has been adopted by M-Field Energy Ltd ("M-Field"), a telecom back-up power fuel cell system integrator, as a core component of M-Field's own back-up power system which has seen significant early success.

M-Field ordered six electrolysers from Acta in October 2013 and a further 15 systems in May 2014 plus a number of smaller units. Acta expects further orders from M-Field during Autumn 2014.

Renewable Energy Storage

Acta has sold its electrolysers and Acta Power units into a number of renewable energy trial projects, including a wind turbine project in Cheshire, UK, a remote renewable energy storage project in Singapore and, as stated above, a residential and tourist development project in Thailand. The systems have performed well in these trials and results will be disclosed in due course when evaluations are concluded.

Electric Fuel Cell Vehicles Refuelling

The Company continues to pursue hydrogen fuelling applications including the 3,000 fuel cell scooter project being implemented by the Company's partner APFCT in Taiwan, for which a new 1 m3/hr electrolyser was shipped in May 2014.  The Company expects to announce new opportunities in fuel cell car refuelling during the second half of 2014.

Partnerships

The Company's partnership with Heliocentris continues to progress well, as highlighted by the recent order stated above.  In addition, Acta's strategic US partner, ReliOn Inc has reiterated its commitment to the telecom back-up power market and to the role of Acta's products within its strategy. This follows a temporary delay in strategic progress when in April 2014 ReliOn Inc was acquired by Plug Power Inc, the leader in fuel cell systems integration for the forklift truck and materials handling market.  Acta and ReliOn are exploring numerous opportunities to develop Acta's onsite hydrogen applications within the back-up power markets worldwide.

Outlook

The Board remains confident that the Company will deliver strong revenue growth for the year with sales across all of Acta's business lines gaining momentum and a growing pipeline of  opportunities.   However, commercial experience gathered over the last six months has highlighted that the duration of sales cycles in the telecoms sector is longer and more difficult to determine than had previously been estimated. The Board is therefore adopting a more cautious stance with regard the rate of this revenue growth for the remainder of 2014, and believes that, due to the risk of delay in converting proposals and opportunities into orders, the revenue performance for the year may be below current market expectations.

The Board notes that such delays are frequently encountered during the adoption of a new technology and remains firmly convinced that the excellent results of the evaluations undertaken to date validate the inherent value and commercial potential of Acta's unique technology for onsite hydrogen generation.

Paolo Bert, CEO of Acta, commented: "Acta is making strong progress across each of its lines of business through the sales of its Acta Power and electrolyser systems and through the successful performance demonstrated by these systems in live evaluations in demanding environments.  Despite the difficulty in determining the length of sales cycles our increasing traction with clients and the growing pipeline of opportunities that we are currently experiencing demonstrates a clear demand for our solutions. We are therefore confident of increasing volume orders and strong revenue growth during this year and beyond as product adoption continues to gather pace."

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About Acta S.p.A.

Acta S.p.A. is a developer and manufacturer of a range of clean energy products.  Based on its world-leading expertise in alkaline membrane technology, the Company has developed a unique range of low-cost, compact hydrogen generators (electrolysers) which produce pure, dry compressed hydrogen at high efficiency from renewable or grid power.

In April 2013 Acta launched the Acta Power, an integrated electrolyser and fuel cell system for use in back-up power and renewable energy storage applications.  Best understood as a "Hydrogen Battery", the system converts energy from renewable or grid power when it is available and stores it in the form of hydrogen, and then converts the hydrogen back to electrical power when needed due to grid black-out or lack of solar / wind power. 

This system has extensive application as a back-up power unit for telecommunications base stations, where it competes on cost against traditional battery and diesel solutions, while offering a cleaner solution and better service.  In particular, the use of rainwater and the generation of hydrogen on-site removes the cost and logistical barriers of fuel delivery, while also avoiding the theft risk associated with diesel, methanol and battery systems. 

The supply of fuel cell back-up power systems for telecommunications base stations represents a large and fast-growing market, especially in extensively bad-grid and off-grid locations such as in Asia and Africa.  Battery sales to the Chinese telecoms industry are currently valued at $4.7 bn to $7.8 bn per annum (Fuel Cell Today, China).

Acta holds a portfolio of patents and patent applications on its key technologies, manufactures its products through a combination of production, component subcontracting, and final product assembly and quality control, and has established distribution channels through partnerships in China, India, SE Asia, Australia, Africa, Middle East, Germany, UK, USA and South America.

Acta S.p.A. is based near Pisa, Italy, and was admitted to trading on AIM in October 2005.